The Big One is Coming
I’m not usually a fan of anniversary stories — particularly those attached to tragedies. Too often they ask us to care again about something we would have cared more about the first time, had we known...
View ArticleThere’s a Big Opportunity Coming
Today marks 318 years since the last Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake. We know the next one is coming, and that it’s overdue. By all available estimates, the next one could be the largest natural...
View ArticlePutting the Dime on Oregon’s Bottle Recyclers
Their collection trucks are still emblazoned with the web address they popularized with an advertising campaign, even though the redemption rate doubled a year ago this week. How well do you “know your...
View ArticleRecalling Some of Oregon’s Unluckiest Days
Friday the 13th isn’t a day we celebrate, but it is one we recognize. Superstitions aside, consider how much luck has contributed to whatever we call our fate — as people and as a state. On this Friday...
View ArticlePlease Take Us Back, China! Please.
Dear China, Please take us back. At least take our stuff back. We had some good years together and then things went bad. We’re sorry. It’s just not the same without you. You were right and we were...
View ArticleSearching for the Sweet Spot Between Monarchy and Anarchy
I’m not sure which end of President Trump’s pardon for Dwight and Steve Hammond bothers me more — message sent or message received? Taken together, they leave less room for those of us who want a...
View ArticleMurphy’s Law and the American Midwest
I had a visit this week from a childhood friend who comes from Trump Country. He and most of his family voted for Trump, which was a topic we studiously avoided. Nevertheless, I understand better how...
View ArticleKeep Eugene Weird
Nobody has started a full-fledged “Keep Eugene Weird” movement, because it hasn’t been necessary. Yet. Complacency about nonconformism can have grave consequences, recent Pacific Northwest history...
View ArticleWe Need a Rural WeWork Model
The University of Oregon’s 2018 Commencement speaker, Miguel McKelvey, grew up in Eugene, graduated from UO in 1999, and is probably the university’s youngest billionaire alumnus. Amazingly, he made...
View ArticleHow To Make Utility Bills More Fair
Since they’ve been much in the news lately, why don’t you run and grab your utility bills? Let’s go through them together. Go ahead — we’ll stay right here. While we wait, we have time for a quick...
View ArticleClimate Hardships Fall Unevenly
Kristen didn’t come to Eugene to visit me. She came to breathe air that she can’t see. Four weeks of visibly unbreathable air has driven smoke refugees northward from Ashland and Crater Lake. Most...
View ArticleOur Political Dysfunction (Easily) Explained
If you’re looking for a Grand Unified Theory for our current political dysfunction, watch Sen. Ben Sasse’s (R-Neb.) unexpected opening statement to last week’s confirmation hearing for Brett Kavanaugh....
View ArticleKeep EWEB Building Publicly Owned (But Not As City Hall)
I wrote last month about why and how city staff should be situated near the Park Blocks. It would be an appropriate honor of the Park Blocks’ past and a sound investment for Eugene’s future. Our first...
View ArticleRebooting STAR Voting
Lane County voters narrowly declined to endorse Measure 20-290 on Tuesday. It would have ended our traditional “Ebert-Siskel” system — thumbs-up for one candidate — and replace it with a “Rotten...
View ArticleCapitol Christmas Tree Viewing
You probably missed your chance to see this year’s U.S. Capitol Christmas tree. If you happened to be shopping at the Gateway Mall last Saturday afternoon, it was parked outside Cabela’s Sporting...
View ArticlePacifica: If At First You Don’t Secede….
California this summer passed the United Kingdom to become the 5th largest economy in the world. Since the Great Recession, California has added 2 million jobs and increased its economic output $700...
View ArticleEugene: Compare to Where?
There’s no place quite like Eugene, but what other place comes closest? That’s not a question we ponder very deeply, but what good is an Oregon winter without a little quiet pondering? I’ve thought...
View ArticleGifts This President Could Give Us
We’re a diverse nation. We don’t agree on much. We celebrate Christmas or Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or solstice. Seinfeld fans are somewhere celebrating “Festivus, the holiday for the rest of us.” Our December...
View ArticleDeFazio Has a New Tool in This Congress
U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio could have his pick of Congressional offices, but he likes his corner of the Rayburn Office Building. It’s on the second floor, which affords a bit of privacy. The balcony is...
View ArticleNation Should Hear Oregon’s Primary Concerns
The Oregon Legislature convenes its 2019 legislative session on Tuesday. Legislators’ early attention naturally turns to small or simple ideas. We already have a state bird and a state nut and a state...
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