News Briefs

Eugene City Council and mayoral candidates, both opposed and unopposed, will appear at City Club of Eugene at 11:50 am Friday, April 6, at the Hilton Vistas Ballroom, 12th floor. 

Invited are Mayor Kitty Piercy and her two opponents in the May 15 primary, Kevin Prociw and Jon Walrod. Ward 1 Councilor George Brown is unchallenged. Ward 2 Councilor Betty Taylor is invited, along with her opponents Jim Ray and Juan Carlos Valle. Ward 3 Councilor Andrea Ortiz and Ward 8 Councilor Chris Pryor are both unopposed.

While Eugene braces itself for possible coal trains and their choking dust, citizens of other states are already well aware of the high costs of coal to the environment and to human health. 

The Port of Coos Bay’s coal export proposal that would require open-car coal trains over a mile long chugging through Lane County may have hit a snag. It will cost millions of dollars to repair the Coos Bay Rail Link, the railroad track that goes from Eugene to Coos Bay, enough to carry the loads of coal.

Eugene’s environmental groups are not necessarily known for reaching out into the Latino community, but Beyond Toxics is looking to change that. The group is organizing a series of forums, panels and discussions on how toxic pollution affects the West Eugene community that runs April 11-13. Lisa Arkin of Beyond Toxics says events will include the academic and the experiential. “It will be a trip into environmental justice from all different angles,” Arkin says.

Fallen trees and branches are splattered all over Lane County thanks to the March snowstorm and rains, but more trees are on the way, via bicycle. Friends of Trees is planning on putting nearly 100 trees in the ground this Arbor Day, April 7.

The Friends of Trees event is a collaboration with the city of Eugene and Jefferson Westside neighbors as well as EWEB and Northwest Natural. After meeting at Jefferson Park, teams will be sent out to plant at the park and around the nearby neighborhood. There will also be some going into the ground near the Lane County Fairgrounds. 

Near Creswell, Gabrielson Logging, (541) 514-8353, has been hired by Rolland Richards, (541) 895-4470, to spray Garlon 4, Triclopyr Ester on 20 acres in Section 19 of Township 19 South, Range 03 West, in a site prep operation. See ODF notice 2012-781-00219.

The chemical atrazine can turn a boy frog into a girl frog. It’s a pesticide commonly used in forestry that’s been found in the urine of residents of Triangle Lake, a rural community in the Coast Range west of Eugene. Residents have been trying for years to put an end to the aerial sprays that they say drift on to the farms and homes, as well as manual pesticide applications that can affect drinking water. 

Perhaps one day the question posed by physicist Robert Socolow, “What would we do if we took climate change seriously?” will seem as absurd and archaic as “What would we do if we took the idea the planets revolved around the sun seriously?” For now Socolow, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Princeton University, has a lot of work to do.

The political season is upon us, and for many of us the task at hand is to insist that President Obama find his voice. My greater concern, however, is that there may be a diminishing audience for an active government and nation-building right here at home.

• The Opportunity Eugene Task Force on Homelessness will be meeting at 9:30 am Friday, March 30, at Lane County Health and Human Services, 151 West 7th Ave., Room 258. Contact is Michael Wisth, 682-5540 or michael.c.wisth@ci.eugene.or.us

• The SOLVE Spring Oregon Beach Cleanup will be from 10 am to 1 pm Saturday, March 31. Volunteers are encouraged to register at www.solv.org, or call (503) 844-9571 ext. 332.

Has TV regressed in its portrayal of the working woman? With TV’s spring lineup kicking off, there may be hope for contemporary portrayals of working women on TV. So where do Murphy Brown, Roseanne and Murder She Wrote fit into this picture?

One result of LTD’s public opinion survey on the proposed EmX extension to West 11th Avenue was about as surprising to the bus agency as spring rain in Eugene. Other responses were more informative.

The least surprising result to LTD, according to Director of Planning and Development Tom Schwetz, was that Eugeneans are split about 50-50 on whether they support or oppose the bus rapid transit extension. “What we were interested in was why,” Schwetz told EW.

City Manager Jon Ruiz rolled out his summary version of Eugene’s growth plan for the next 20 years at a Eugene City Council work session March 14.

Over the course of the week of March 19, his presentation and the supporting staff materials, including overall maps, became available for viewing on the city website.

The broad conceptual directions of the city manager’s recommendation follow the Seven Pillars of Envision Eugene, a framework distilled by staff a year ago from the several day-long meetings of the 75-person Community Resource Group (CRG).