Pet Economy Flourishes In Eugene And Portland

“Business has been booming,” says Jody Maddox, who owns Wags Dog Emporium off Coburg Road. This is no surprise, based on the $58.51 billion the American Pet Products Association (APPA) estimates Americans spent on their pets in 2014.  Oregon happens to be near the top of the list for pet-owning states and ranks fourth overall, according to the American Veterinary Medical Foundation’s 2012 survey numbers, and those high ownership numbers seems to have translated to good business for pet-related industries operating in Eugene and Oregon in general. Continue reading 

Veteran Safe Spot Will Move To Eugene Mission Property

The Veterans Safe Spot, one of three “rest stops” managed by Community Supported Shelters (CSS), is moving from its current location at Chambers and Northwest Expressway to a 7.5-acre Eugene Mission property off West 1st Avenue. Ron Siever, a veteran at the safe spot, says he and other veterans are concerned about the new rules required to move onto Mission property, which include total sobriety, abstinence from drugs and no pets. Continue reading 

My waffle, my liege

Off the Waffle joins the Fair’s food family

You’ve bought a ticket to the Oregon Country Fair and chances are high that at some point during the three-day odyssey, you will develop the munchies, suddenly needing a place to satiate this supernatural hunger. But with the fair hosting more than 50 food vendors — including the addition of new vendors to its roster for the first time in many years — how ever will you decide where to pig out? Continue reading 

Empathy Tent A Hit At Saturday Market

On June 20, about 16 people visited the new “empathy tent” at Saturday Market for a simple reason: to be heard. In honor of the late Marshall Rosenberg, founder of Nonviolent Communication, Eugene resident Mark Roberts set up the tent so that people could be heard in a nonjudgmental way and experience relief from their troubles.  “I had the idea for years,” Roberts says, though he says the specific idea for an empathy tent was from another person who attended a memorial for Rosenberg.  Continue reading 

Flying High

Catch the breeze at Oregon’s summer kite festivals

Before Connor Doran’s indoor kite-flying performances were wowing television audiences on season five of NBC’s America’s Got Talent, he was tearing up the skies on the beach at Lincoln City’s annual Summer Kite Festival. “It’s where I started out,” Doran says, who will perform at the next iteration of the annual kite festival in late June alongside a host of other champion kite fliers. Continue reading 

Bike Tour Celebrates West Eugene Wetlands

Sunny skies are predicted for this weekend: Hop on your bike and get outside June 6 at the upcoming Love Your West Eugene Wetlands Bike Tour, presented by Beyond Toxics and Mountain Rose Herbs.  The tour begins at Mountain Rose Herbs and takes a 4.8-mile route along the Fern Ridge Bike Path as well as other bike routes. The tour will lead into the We Are Bethel: Drawn Together community celebration located at Petersen Barn.  Continue reading