We wrote about The Barn Light in this column back in August and its plans to open a new bar and coffee shop in September. The classy new watering hole finally opened the evening of Thanksgiving Day at 924 Willamette, in the newly rebuilt Broadway Commerce Center. Owners are Thomas Pettus-Czar and Dustin Kinsey, who met and worked together at a popular bar and coffee shop in Lawrence, Kan. “We look forward to participating in the rebirth of a thriving, vibrant center of commerce and community in downtown Eugene,” says Kinsey. The website at thebarnlightbar.com says “This establishment is a more sophisticated and comfortable alternative to the casual sports bars and undergraduate bars that are ubiquitous in Eugene.”
Nov. 30 is the deadline to apply for up to $2,500 in rebates from the Clean Energy Works Oregon program in Lane County. The nonprofit program set up by the Legislature offers a “one-stop shop set of energy efficiency remodeling services” for homeowners, including energy assessment and financing. See www.cewo.org and use the rebate code LGLAN or call (855) 870-0049.
A new, all-comedy radio station at 1450 on the AM dial is planning to go on the air as soon as it gets its FCC license. The studio for All Comedy 1450 is being built in the “Crow’s Nest” overlooking Tom & Johnny’s Sports Bar at 471 S. A. St. in Springfield. The new station plans to take over KLZS, a station owned by Arlie & Co. that has had various formats over the years, from Spanish-language sports to smooth jazz. The new station will be the first acquisition by Eugene Comedy Radio, a local partnership of radio and comedy professionals including Chris Warren, Alex Elkin and Benjie Wright. The three have been performing onstage at the Red Lion on Coburg Road as the Brickwall Comedy Show and on the air at KNND in Cottage Grove. For now, the show can be heard online at piratecomedynetwork.com or live weekday afternoons at Tom & Johnny’s. Find the Brickwall Comedy Club on Facebook.
The Divine Cupcake Organic Bakery & Café is opening a new outlet inside Harlequin Beads at 10th and Willamette. The café will offer coffee, tea and chai. Phone number is 543-5757.
Hawthorne Apartments, an affordable housing complex for 35 low-income adults with psychiatric disabilities, celebrated the opening of its renovated building at 2988 Oak St. on Nov. 27. Mayor Kitty Piercy spoke, along with Susan Ban, executive director of ShelterCare, and local and state housing officials. The Housing and Community Services Agency of Lane County purchased the apartments for $1.6 million and the $2.4 million year-long renovation was funded by state and local government grants, loans and tax credits.
A Ninkasi fundraiser for CAHOOTS, a crisis program of White Bird Clinic, will be from noon to 9 pm Wednesday, Dec. 5, at Ninkasi, 272 Van Buren. Ninkasi will donate 25 percent of that day’s pint sales to CAHOOTS’ winter drive for supplies for the homeless.
Annual Trashbuster Awards by Lane County Waste Management went this year to Café Yumm! in the food service category, Hummingbird Wholesale in the private business category, Albertson’s Hilyard store in the private business transformation category, The School Garden Project in the nonprofit category, the city of Eugene Waste Prevention and Green Building Program in the government agency category, students from North Eugene High Schools’s Culinary Arts Program in the school category, and Florence Area Master Recyclers in the individual category. The awards honor efforts to reduce waste of resources “while continuing to contribute to the vitality of our economy and our community.”
Eugene resident, fitness model and Complete Nutrition employee Ashley Olson will appear on “Be the Boss,” a new reality series on A&E, Dec. 2. Olson will compete with Complete Nutrition employees from around the nation to win their own franchise.
Oregon’s minimum wage will go from $8.80 to $8.95 an hour as of Jan. 1.