News Briefs

The U.S. Environmental Protection agency has finalized its order against Tyree Oil, Inc. for Clean Water Act violations (EW 2/14, http://goo.gl/FLqrs). 

Oregon DEQ sent CPM Development Corporation a warning letter March 13 for failure to collect required water quality monitoring data at its Eugene Sand & Gravel facility on Coburg Road along the north bank of the McKenzie River. Failure to collect such data is classified as a serious violation of Oregon environmental law.

Citing local, state and federal codes, activist Alley Valkyrie says the early morning April 5 arrests by the Eugene Police Department of four men and four women, ranging in age from 18 to 38 years old, for camping under an overpass did not follow official policy, and were also a violation of human rights. 

Union Pacific Railroad’s tracks run through Eugene’s Whiteaker and other neighborhoods, and that means when UP sprays pesticides for “vegetation control” in a 12-foot swath on either side of the tracks, people, pets and nearby gardens are affected. 

Horses were roped around their legs and neck and thrown to the ground from a gallop in a practice called horse tripping at a May 2012 rodeo in Jordan Valley, Ore. A graphic video of the events from the Big Loop Rodeo was posted on YouTube shortly after and an outcry against the practice began. Now, horse lovers have asked the Oregon Legislature to ban the practice, and SB 835 that would end horse tripping, while prohibiting treating rodeos less favorably than other events, has been introduced.

“They [abortions] really mess you up down there so you can never have children.” “Using a condom does not protect you from AIDS or pregnancy.” “The increase in abortions worldwide has caused a sharp increase in breast cancer.”

The grand public opening of the new Disc Golf Course at Alton Baker Park has been set for Monday, April 1, following the finale of the Willamette Valley Winter Series of disc golf tournaments to be held on the course Saturday, March 30.

Between tuition equity and local school budget cuts, Latinos will have a lot to talk about at the second Lane Latin@ Leadership Forum: “Latin@s and the Education System” on April 4. (The @ symbol is a gender-inclusive way to write “Latino.”) Organizer Phillip Carrasco says that the forum will include a couple of potential questions, but the format will emphasize an open dialogue between five panelists and the audience. 

Oregon DEQ sent CPM Development Corporation a warning letter March 13 for failure to collect required water quality monitoring data at its Eugene Sand & Gravel facility on Coburg Road along the north bank of the McKenzie River. Failure to collect such data is classified as a serious violation of Oregon environmental law.

City Hall may be fenced-off, padlocked and dormant, but seven proposals in response to the city’s request for proposals (RFP) from architects show that the process of redesigning and rebuilding the award-winning structure has begun. City Manager Jon Ruiz will announce finalists March 29 and is expected to select the winning firm (or firms) by April 12, after evaluating the applications on a points scale with city staff.

While former commissioner Rob Handy might have a lost a battle in the fight for better public records disclosure from Lane County government, he feels that he made some headway in the war. He said in a press statement that the goal of his suit “was to shine a light on the arbitrary nature in which Lane County” responds to public records requests, and with this goal in mind, Handy says the suit was a success. 

Eugene’s 4J School Board agreed last week to convene a work session this week to address issues that have arisen over moving all district high schools to a common 3x5 schedule. The proposal to address the schedule change came after the Eugene Education Association (EEA) asked the board to postpone the move, citing opposition by a majority of high school teachers, and more than two dozen parents, teachers and students spoke against the change at a packed meeting. The board also addressed the latest budget shortfall projections and proposed cuts to services in a number of programs.