Health Options Digest
July 18, 2004
Coalition for Health Options In Central Eugene-Springfield (CHOICES)
In This Issue
From the Editor
Week In Review
PeaceHealth's recent commentary regarding the healing value of the McKenzie River appears to have struck a nerve, prompting several skeptical letters to the editor.
McKenzie-Willamette's talks with the service employees union failed to reach an agreement. The parties will enter mediation this Tuesday.
Health care in America is in crisis, as Terry McDonald of St. Vincent de Paul, Jack Krugman of the New York Times, and David Broder of the Washington Post explain. A front-page story in the Wall Street Journal chronicles the efforts of one major corporation, Pitney Bowes, to control the rising health care costs of its employees.
In particular, Todd Huffman, M.D., a local pediatrician, calls for an emphasis on the health and welfare of children. In the United States, 11 million children lack health insurance.
Springfield is considering building its own jail, while Lane County is considering ending its participation in the State's community corrections program.
Congressman Peter DeFazio secured $12.6 million for the new Armed Forces Reserve Center in Springfield. The Willamette National Forest is considering moving their offices there from their current location in the federal courthouse in Eugene.
The United States Postal Service is asking Glenwood residents if they want to switch from a Eugene to a Springfield zip code. Although Glenwood is outside the city limits of Springfield, it is now administered by the City of Springfield.
Bus Rapid Transit has hit a speed bump as some Springfield residents object to Lane Transit District taking a wider right-of-way for the BRT route along the Pioneer Parkway Extension.
Dinah dishes dirt around the rumored write-in campaign against mayor-elect Kitty Piercy.
Milt Cunningham questions the meaning of "progress."
Eugene lost its last local talk radio host, Dan Carlin, and Bob Welch believes Eugene loses a little of its identity with the departure.
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Looking Ahead
In these dog days of summer, Eugene's favorite past time is watching the unpredictably Ems, who from night to night swing between inspired and dismal. Just as unpredictable may be the future of our two hospitals. What's likely to happen?
Having lost the first game with the Court of Appeals, PeaceHealth is trying to win the second game in a doubleheader. On the one hand, they may have learned enough from their first defeat to find a way to thread a $400 million regional hospital through the eye of the needle of state land use laws and the Eugene-Springfield Metro Plan without having to ask Eugene and Lane County if they approve of the move. On the other hand, PeaceHealth is merely replaying a variation of the same strategy that failed before. Why would they expect a different outcome the second time around? In any case, PeaceHealth appears to have little interest in talking about a "Plan B," putting them on a collision course with the Jaquas and their attorneys -- as well as 1000 Friends of Oregon and CHOICES. If PeaceHealth prevails in court, a hospital at RiverBend really will be a done deal, albeit a couple years behind schedule. If they lose, PeaceHealth will need to scramble for a "Plan B."
Meanwhile, a McKenzie-Willamette hospital at EWEB isn't a done deal, either. Triad insists that the whole deal -- land costs plus construction -- not exceed $85 million. EWEB insists that they get a price for their existing site high enough to hold ratepayers harmless. Eugene is reluctant to directly subsidize a for-profit corportation, although they are willing to pay for city-owned streets and other public facilities that would support the new hospital. And vocal citizens are warming to the idea of a hospital at the EWEB site, but want it to respect the natural assets of the river setting and not be just a cookie cutter institutional building. The rub may be that the $85 million figure may squeeze these various interests to the point that no deal is possible.
There's a good chance that next summer the future of the two hospitals may be as unclear as it is now.
Lastly, CHOICES continues to strive to offer different voices on the issues on hospital siting and the availability, quality and cost of health care. We are pleased to be offering several national voices in addition to our usual local voices. We hope to do even more in this direction.
Until then, catch a game of our very own Eugene Emeralds, now in their 50th year of play.
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Rob Zako, Editor
343-5201
rzako@efn.org
PeaceHealth
Letter -- Do patients really see the river?
By Bob Freeman, Eugene
The Register-Guard | July 13, 2004 |
The July 7 guest viewpoint by Jan Oliver and Jack Courtemanche uses the terms "healing environment" and "deprive patients of the healing value of the river." They claim that "research shows that the closer patients are to the river, the faster they heal and the less pain they receive."
Exactly what was this research, and how does it show what they claim it shows? It suggests that patients should just be dumped in the river, since that's as close as they can get. Then we can dispense with the hospital altogether.
Recently, I spent a number of days in Sacred Heart Medical Center, and all I saw was the ceiling and walls of the room I was in and the neighboring beds. Pain relief was dependent on medication and the availability of the nursing staff. I would guess that the authors must have followed a herd of bulls for miles in order to have written that article.
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Letter -- Protect river's healing for all
By Alan Wilm, Eugene
The Register-Guard | July 14, 2004 |
We owe a debt of gratitude to Jan Oliver and Jack Courtemanche, members of the PeaceHealth board of directors, for making the case that healing is an important consideration when making decisions about uses of lands fronting on water (guest viewpoint, July 7).
They argue that these healing properties are so powerful at the RiverBend site that they should be made available for exclusive use of patients at PeaceHealth's proposed regional hospital. They failed to acknowledge that powerful healing would be denied to thousands of visitors to the river whose needs fall short of admission to the hospital.
The authors attribute awesome power to improve patient outcomes to the RiverBend site. Without resorting to that kind of hyperbole, we can all point to excellent medical facilities, not blessed with proximity to water, where virtual miracles of healing have occurred. Sacred Heart's Hilyard Street location, McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center in Springfield and the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota are examples.
Having participated in the city of Eugene's process of assessing needs related to parks and open spaces, I couldn't help but smile when I read this effective argument favoring land/water interfaces using a medical rationale. We should be more convinced by this argument that water-oriented land uses should continue to be available to a rapidly growing healthy population to ensure that the powers of the river continue to sustain their health.
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Letter -- River's healing benefits Eugene
By Rick Maulding, Springfield
The Register-Guard | July 15, 2004 |
In the informative guest viewpoint piece "RiverBend a perfect hospital site" (Register-Guard, July 7), the authors, PeaceHealth board members, presented the latest scientific finding that the successful outcome of medical treatment at their hospital relies upon placing it close to a river.
It turns out that the Eugene City Council was prescient to subsidize the McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center relocation to the Eugene Water & Electric Board riverfront site. In the words of the PeaceHealth authors, "Research shows that the closer patients are to the river, the faster they heal and the less pain they experience. That saves money and alleviates human suffering."
Now educated, the city councilors must focus ever more strongly on helping establish their new hospital so that they, too, can benefit from a river's healing qualities. Clearly, any additional funds must be invested in enhancing the new facility rather than wasted trying to update Sacred Heart's old Hilyard complex, which is too far from the river to be healthy.
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Letter -- Quality of care hastens healing
By Vincenza Scarpaci, Eugene
The Register-Guard | July 17, 2004 |
The July 7 guest viewpoint describing the benefits of a peaceful, restful setting for a hospital at RiverBend overlooked a number of variables which demonstrate that it is the quality of care, not aesthetic surroundings, that hasten healing.
With today's medical technology, most operations are done on an out-patient basis. For other surgery, in-hospital time is limited.
Hear the testimony, reported recently in The New York Times, of Jennifer Moses from Baton Rouge, La., who underwent surgery for breast cancer in Glasgow, Scotland. Her room, shared with three others, "looked like something out of a gulag: stained and missing floor tiles; plaster flaking off the ceiling; filthy windows."
Yet her stay was enriched by the warm support she received from her roommates and the various nurses and aides. "The best part of the day was when the tea ladies (arrived), pushing carts filled with soggy and tasteless sandwiches ... biscuits and a few pieces of bruised fruit, and said, 'Tea, love? Something to keep the meat on your wee bones?' "
Leaving the hospital, Moses was enveloped by the kindness of her old and new friends. Departing Glasglow, Moses did not harbor terrible associations, instead a loving memory of how the entire city returned her to health.
The moral of this story will save PeaceHealth time and money. It can refurbish its Hilyard center and allow Springfield to respect current zoning guidelines, preventing sprawl and protecting the riverbank environment.
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Letter -- Two Cents
By Bob Saxton, Eugene
Eugene Weekly | July 15, 2004 |
As to the 6/24 Slant: Hell will freeze over before two hospital bureaucracies in one town will work together to do the right thing.
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Slant -- PeaceHealth
| Eugene Weekly | July 15, 2004 |
PeaceHealth and the city of Springfield are continuing to exude confidence that the RiverBend hospital is on track, despite staggering court rulings in opposition. But there is a hint of concession evident in 15 little words buried in an otherwise charge-ahead op-ed July 7 in the R-G by PeaceHealth board members. Jan Oliver and Jack Courtemanche wrote: "If the courts prevent us from pursuing the dream, we will have to accept that." Well, every court decision so far has thrown up ever-larger roadblocks to the project, so it's time for Plan B. In a June 24 Slant we called for the two hospital board executive committees to get together and hash out sitings and facilities that make sense for both patients and doctors. Come on, people! Collaboration is not an absurd idea. Read your mission statements!
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Hospital expansion of ER nearly ready
By Tim Christie
The Register-Guard | July 15, 2004 |
Expansion of Sacred Heart Medical Center's emergency department is nearly complete, and none too soon as the number of emergency patients has climbed steadily in the past 1 1/2 years. (more...)
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McKenzie-Willamette/Triad
Letter -- Hospital seeks public input
By Daniel M. Herbert, Eugene
The Register-Guard | July 12, 2004 |
A few weeks ago The Register-Guard included a remarkable insert: a newsletter from McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center. It included conceptual drawings showing how a new medical center might fit on the Eugene Water & Electric Board site.
What was remarkable was the accompanying questionnaire that invited public comment now, when comments could actually affect later development. It appears that McKenzie-Willamette officials really want to know what people think.
As a long-time Euganean and retired architect, I sent along two comments. First, the prototype forms a long, high wall that separates our downtown from the river. Architects should aim to reduce the wall effect and provide frequent pedestrian connections through the project, maybe like the walkway through EWEB's office building.
Second, the accessway under the railroad should serve more than just medical center traffic. It should support the whole riverfront district and include public functions such as Lane Transit District routes (probably including BRT), pedestrian and bike paths and, perhaps, the relocated millrace.
A third comment: A reoriented building of this size on the EWEB site could make a good companion for the new federal courthouse. Further architectural studies should consider the relation of these projects.
So the proposal shows promise. In any case, we should applaud McKenzie-Willamette's approach as a model for how a major corporate citizen can respect public interests in its development plans.
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Progress Report: Labor Negotiations
By Rosie Pryor, Director, Marketing and Planning, 744-6164, rospry@mckweb.com
McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center | July 15, 2004 |
On Tuesday, July 13th, negotiations between McKenzie-Willamette and SEIU resumed. Unfortunately, the 10-hour session failed to produce a settlement so we will proceed to mediation July 20th. We are extremely disappointed to again be at this point, after making significant concessions Tuesday on issues union leadership told us were important to its membership.
SEIU has notified us they will conduct "informational" picketing on Monday, July 19th. We respect the right of the union to engage in such activities. We do not expect this to disrupt normal operations, or affect quality of care or patient safety. We have invited SEIU representatives to meet with us and Springfield Police to discuss guidelines to ensure everyone concerned is safe.
The issues that divide the hospital and SEIU continue to be wages and benefits. McKenzie-Willamette has asked for a 3-year contract with 2% across the board increases each year, along with introduction, in January '05, of an 11-step system of annual increases (3% at steps 1-9, and 3.5% at steps 10 and 11). SEIU continues to ask for 6% across the board increases each year of a 2-year contract, and a 12-step system with 3% at each step, for a minimum total of 9% increases to SEIU employees each year of the contract.
In response to concerns about the rising cost of health insurance premiums, Tuesday we offered to subsidize employees scheduled to work 32 hours per week and earning less than $20,000 per year. The hospital would pay 100% of the employee-only coverage, or an additional $50 for employee/children or spouse coverage, or an additional $100 per month for employee/family coverage.
We maintained our offer to retain the existing medical/vision/dental plan including $10 co-pays for physician office visits and 100% hospitalization coverage. Employees who insure only themselves currently pay a flat $20/mo for coverage. Others pay a 20% share of the premium--which is rising 17.45%.
SEIU continues to tie agreement on health benefits to mandatory membership in the union. On Tuesday, the hospital agreed to accept a "closed shop," as long as individuals can opt out during the first 30 days of employment or annually on the anniversary of their hire date. Since there is no SEIU contract at PeaceHealth or other area health care providers who employ service workers, we are concerned that required membership will impact our ability to successfully recruit and retain employees.
We will continue to keep you informed of our progress. We have a long history of collaborative negotiations with SEIU and we are optimistic we will ultimately resolve the issues that divide us right now. If you have questions, please don't hesitate to give me a call.
If you prefer not to receive Fast and Painless Updates from McKenzie-Willamette, please reply to this e-mail or give me a call and weâll remove your name from our address list.
Thank you for your continued support.
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Health Care
Terry McDonald -- Health care crisis shapes up into a blockbuster
| By Terry McDonald | July 13, 2004 |
I don't need to go to the movies to see this summer's latest disaster film: It's unfolding before our eyes. Our lack of health care is a disaster. Meet the cast:
Minimum wage earners. You know these people: They pump gas into our cars, cut our hair, wait on us when we buy fast food. They are trying to raise their kids, pay their rent and make ends meet, just like everyone else. They are the working low-income folks, laboring too many hours for too little pay.
Taxpayers. That's you and me. We're desperately trying to hold budgets together, concerned that we are not going to have enough to protect ourselves in our old age or deal with our aging parents right now. We're trying to hold the line.
Our state government. During the past 12 years, our government has seen resources for fire, safety, social services and basic needs stretched and battered. But we still want good service.
The most vulnerable. As the executive director of St. Vincent de Paul of Lane County, I'm very aware of this last group -- the poor, seniors, the disabled, the mentally ill -- a cast of thousands, with very few options for relief. (more...)
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Paul Krugman -- Health Versus Wealth
By Paul Krugman
The New York Times | July 9, 2004 |
Will actual policy issues play any role in this election? Not if the White House can help it. But if some policy substance does manage to be heard over the clanging of conveniently timed terror alerts, voters will realize that they face some stark choices. Here's one of them: tax cuts for the very well-off versus health insurance.
John Kerry has proposed an ambitious health care plan that would extend coverage to tens of millions of uninsured Americans, while reducing premiums for the insured. To pay for that plan, Mr. Kerry wants to rescind recent tax cuts for the roughly 3 percent of the population with incomes above $200,000.
George Bush regards those tax cuts as sacrosanct. I'll talk about his health care policies, such as they are, in another column.
Considering its scope, Mr. Kerry's health plan has received remarkably little attention. So let me talk about two of its key elements. (more...)
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Paul Krugman -- Medical Class Warfare
By Paul Krugman
The New York Times | July 16, 2004 |
If past patterns are any guide, about one in three Americans will go without health insurance for some part of the next two years. They won't, for the most part, be the persistently poor, who are usually covered by Medicaid. They will be members of working families with breadwinners who have jobs without medical benefits or who have been laid off.
Many Americans fear the loss of health insurance. Last week I described John Kerry's health plan. What's the Bush administration's plan? (more...)
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David Broder -- Our Broken Health Care System
By David S. Broder
The Washington Post | July 15, 2004 |
When Bill Frist talks about health care, it pays to listen. Not only is he the majority leader of the Senate, but, as a physician who specialized in heart transplants, he knows the medical system as well as he knows human anatomy.
What the Tennessee Republican said at the National Press Club earlier this week confirms what many in the health field, in business and in both parties increasingly recognize: The American health care system is urgently in need of a basic overhaul.
The way Frist put it was this: "Old approaches are failing us today. They lead to costs that are growing too fast; we all know that. They lead to access that is uneven. They lead to enormous quality chasms that exist today. And these old approaches have no chance of addressing the new challenges of 2014."
"Indeed," he said, "I would argue that the status quo of health care delivery in this country is unacceptable today. It will further deteriorate unless the care sector of 2004 is radically transformed, is re-created." (more...)
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Letter -- U.S. health care lags behind
| By Russ DesAulnier, Eugene | July 17, 2004 |
The gore and bodies of the Iraq mess have been largely kept from public view, as has the tragic state of America's health care.
How many cases of cancer, heart disease and a host of fatal ailments might be detected and treated early if we had an effective health care system? Millions can't afford such routine tests, or their insurance won't cover them.
We are the richest nation on earth, and yet we have one of the worst health care records among the world's industrialized nations, being rated 19th by the World Health Organization.
The drug industry defends its price gouging by lying about the high cost of research, while defenders of American health care blithely point to our cutting edge in medical research and treatment. But this has little to do with health care delivery for most Americans.
And while we waste time defending science against moralists, the Portuguese and Germans blaze ahead, using adult stem cells for successful regenerative therapies.
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Attacking Rise in Health Care Costs, Big Company Meets Resistance
Pitney Bowes Finds Culprits, But Can't Beat Them All; $11,447 Knee Arthroscopy; Marketplace 'Wasn't Working'
By Vanessa Fuhrmans
The Wall Street Journal | July 13, 2004, Page A1 |
STAMFORD, Conn. -- Pitney Bowes Inc., the mailing-equipment and services company, has a team that aggressively seeks out ways to contain ballooning health costs. Last year, it scored a small victory. Employees who went to a hospital in 2003 stayed for an average of 3.7 days, unchanged from a year earlier. The overall number of admissions didn't rise, either.
So Pitney Bowes was startled to nonetheless discover that the average cost of each hospital visit jumped 9% to $10,600. The average cost per day jumped 17%. One of the biggest culprits? Increasingly powerful hospital groups in California, whose price increases pushed the company's average cost of a hospital admission in that state to $20,500, twice what it paid elsewhere.
By combing through data from its 46,000 U.S. employees and their dependents, Pitney Bowes can pinpoint some of the big contributors to the nation's surging health-care bill: Local hospital mergers; entrepreneurial doctors prescribing costly MRIs and CT-scans at their own private clinics; marketing for expensive drugs such as the heartburn medicine Nexium, which became Pitney Bowes third-highest drug expenditure last year after an advertising blitz by maker AstraZeneca PLC.
What Pitney Bowes learned tells the larger story of why hospital costs keep rising in America: A dysfunctional market creates few incentives for any of its participants to deliver efficient care. IN fact, competition among insurers, health-care providers and producers of drugs and equipment can often lead to higher, not lower prices.
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Children's Health
Todd Huffman, M.D. -- What if children became conventions' focus?
| By Todd Huffman, M.D. | July 16, 2004 |
Both political parties are preparing for their national conventions this month and next, with the usual arguments over the lineup of speakers and the nature of their addresses. No one, to my knowledge, is pushing to ensure that a speech directly addressing the well-being of children is part of either convention's schedule.
Such a speech might go something like this:
"On this night, I would like to depart from the usual speech demanded on such occasions when, every four years, we celebrate the process of democracy. On this night, ladies and gentlemen, I would instead like to speak about America's children.
"While our nation has dutifully kept its gaze fixed on approaching catastrophes, we have become blind to the catastrophes already upon us. In the most economically developed nation in the world, at least 11 million children are uninsured and receive little or no preventive medical or dental care. This is to say nothing of the millions more undocumented children in our midst. (more...)
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Children's health, learning improve
By Siobhan McDonough
The Associated Press | July 16, 2004 |
WASHINGTON -- The family life, education and health of America's children are generally improving, though child poverty has risen for the first time in a decade, according to the government's broadest measure of children's well-being.
Today's report by the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics finds that children are doing better for the most part. The teenage birth rate is down, young people are less likely to be involved in violent crimes and the death rate for this group has declined.
Still, children are more likely to be overweight than they were before, and child poverty has inched up after several years of decline, according to the report, which draws together findings from many federal agencies. (more...)
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Child poverty rates rise in rural America, study finds
By Robert Pierre
The Washington Post | July 18, 2004 |
COAHOMA, Miss. -- The abandoned shells of buildings along the main drag here serve as a glum backdrop for the youngsters who sit in front of them for hours, idly chatting and staring into the occasional passing car. A liquor store and convenience store are the only places to shop. The little work available is seasonal or at casinos 25 miles away.
Poverty has settled into this Mississippi Delta town for an extended stay. Fifty-five percent of households in this community of 350 take in less than $15,000 a year, well below the federal poverty line of $18,850 for a family of four. The last of the town's shacks, which lacked toilets and insulation, were retired only in the past decade, after Habitat for Humanity made destroying them a priority.
Leroy Bush has lived here all his life, picking cotton and working odd jobs to make ends meet. A decade ago, he became a homeowner in exchange for 500 hours' worth of "sweat equity'' and a promise to pay $100 a month on an interest-free mortgage that covers the cost of the land, insurance and materials. The labor was free. (more...)
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Nearby Developments
Voters may consider public safety
By Bob Keefer
The Register-Guard | July 16, 2004 |
SPRINGFIELD -- Whether the city will run its own jail is anybody's guess, but a bond measure to build some kind of new public safety facility appears to be headed for the November ballot.
The City Council will hold an hourlong work session Monday night to talk about various proposals for building a new public safety center, possibly including a city jail.
Right now, two councilors -- Dave Ralston and John Woodrow -- have said they would like to see the city build its own jail so that criminals convicted of a crime would do their time instead of being released early by cash-strapped Lane County. (more...)
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Editorial -- A Springfield city jail? Maybe the time has come
| The Springfield News | July 14, 2004 |
For some time the Springfield Police Department has had a dream of having its own city jail. Perhaps the time has come.
The police department is housed in a 55-year-old building on A Street. Not only are its 10 cells old and marginally usable, the whole building isn't very functional. About the only thing it has going for it is location.
The city rents five jail beds at the Lane County Jail at an annual cost of $165,000, but police have complained for years about jail overcrowding and its inefficiency. (more...)
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Editorial -- Jail needs a close look: Springfield council must ask tough questions
| The Register-Guard | July 18, 2004 |
To Springfield city officials, the Lane County Jail looks like a high-priced sieve: Many prisoners are promptly released because there's no space for them at the jail, and Lane County charges the city a high rate for those inmates who can be held behind bars. On Monday, the City Council will discuss whether Springfield should build a jail of its own. Before getting into the corrections business, councilors will need to ask some tough questions. (more...)
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County may cut prison deal with state
By Amber Fossen
The Springfield News | July 16, 2004 |
Lane County Commissioners want to know if holding felons for the state of Oregon is a good idea.
They also want to know if they can trust the state to hold up its end of the arrangement.
County staff will analyze participation in the community corrections program, which provides sanctions, supervision and treatment for certain felons. Under the current arrangement, the state furnishes the financial backing and counties provide the supervising personnel and necessary services.
The risk of reduced program funding -- coupled with Douglas, Linn and Curry counties' notification to the Department of Corrections of the intention to discontinue participation -- prompted the decision by commissioners to evaluate whether it is a benefit or a hindrance to the county. (more...)
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DeFazio secures $12.6 million for Guard center
By Christopher Stollar
The Springfield News | July 14, 2004 |
The army won't have to fight for this base.
Rep. Peter DeFazio, the bald, bespectacled Congressman from Springfield famous for his vintage Dodge Dart, just secured $12.6 million for construction of the new local Armed Forces Reserve Center at 3110 Pierce Parkway.
"This is a modern facility," DeFazio told The Springfield News. "It will save money and provide for a superior training environment. Particularly since the National Guard is being asked to fill an active-duty role by this administration, they need a training facility in the local community."
The funding was included at DeFazio's request in the Military Construction Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2005, which was approved by the House Appropriations Committee on July 9. (more...)
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Springfield Armory Gets 12-Million
| KEZI | July 16, 2004, 9:50 a.m. |
Springfield will be getting a new armed forces reserve centerThe $12.6 million needed to build the new armory, was secured by congressman Peter DeFazio.
What's suprising is the Willamette National Forest supervisor's office also wants to move in. That would mean over 100 forest service workers would be moving from the federal building in Eugene over to the Springfield armory.
"One of the reasons we're exploring having the F.S. come in, is they would be primary users of the building during the week, and the rest of the military units would use the building on the weekends."
Woody Fine: "well, we're very excited because it gives us a chance to manage our natural resources better by spending less money on offices."
The Willamette National Forest spokesperson says a move to the armory would save the supervisor's office $500,000 a year in expenses.
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Glenwood gets voice in choosing Eugene vs. Springfield
By Bob Keefer
The Register-Guard | July 17, 2004 |
Glenwood residents will get to vote on whether they want to be in Eugene or Springfield.
The Postal Service soon will send cards to more than 900 addresses in the unincorporated territory between the two cities, Springfield Mayor Sid Leiken said. The cards ask whether residents want their addresses to remain Eugene 97403, as is now the case, or be changed to Springfield 97477. (more...)
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Miniranches to be built on former pasture
By Joe Harwood
The Register-Guard | |
COBURG -- Four years after starting the process to create a 27-home subdivision on 278 rural acres about a half-mile east of Interstate 5 near Coburg, Mike Stevenson is ready to sell lots. (more...)
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Archdiocese bankruptcy may involve Marist High
By Jeff Wright
The Register-Guard | July 18, 2004 |
More than $41 million worth of Lane County property owned by the Archdiocese of Portland -- from schools to parishes to homes -- could become fodder in the church's unprecedented and unpredictable bankruptcy case, law experts say.
The archdiocese contends that most of its properties -- including Eugene's Marist High School, its single largest asset with a market value of nearly $14.8 million -- aren't at risk because their assets belong to the local school or parish under church law. Portland Archbishop John Vlazny has said he has no authority to seize parish property.
But lawyers for those alleging clergy abuse contend that the church must answer to state and federal law because it voluntarily sought bankruptcy protection. That means the archdiocese assets are viewed as fair game to pay off debts expected to rack up as a result of the abuse lawsuits. (more...)
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Work session to weigh bond proposals
By Edward Russo
The Register-Guard | July 18, 2004 |
Four years ago, the answer from the electorate was a resounding no -- twice.
In a few days, the public should know if the City Council will once again ask voters for a property tax increase to pay for a new police station and, possibly, a city hall.
Councilors know they must tread carefully. In 2000, voters rejected a proposed $36 million bond measure in the spring and a scaled-down proposed $25 million bond measure in the fall. Both would have paid for a new police station.
During their Wednesday work session, councilors will consider four bond issues, ranging from $12.6 million to $70.8 million. (more...)
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Split council OKs land deal to create park in Santa Clara
By Edward Russo
The Register-Guard | July 13, 2004 |
Eugene will move toward creating a large regional park on the northern edge of the Santa Clara area, a closely divided City Council decided Monday night.
Councilors voted to start the process to change the Eugene-Springfield Metropolitan Area General Plan, the growth blueprint for the area, in order to consummate a complex land deal with Lane County businessmen Melvin and Norman McDougal.
The deal would give the city 77 acres for a regional park north of Irvington Road, south of Beacon Drive West and east of Prairie Road. In exchange, the McDougals would get the right to put houses and businesses on 120 acres of adjacent farmland that is now off-limits to development.
Also under the deal, the city would buy or get easements on 130 acres of McDougal-owned land in the Laurel Hill Valley area of southeast Eugene, on which to expand the city's trails and parks. To achieve that, the city would buy 100 acres for $950,000, and get easements for 30 acres. (more...)
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City gets wish list for job creation
By Edward Russo
The Register-Guard | July 13, 2004 |
They met eight times in four months, listened to experts, pored over previous studies and debated economic policies. Late last week, Eugene Mayor Jim Torrey's Committee on Economic Development put the finishing touches on a list of ideas members believe could help Eugene's often-maligned business climate. (more...)
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Transportation
Bus Battle
SPRINGFIELD -- What will it take to get faster bus service in Lane County? Lane Transit District says more land is needed. That means moving property lines again for some residents.
Homeowner Debbie Hamilton already had her fence moved once, to make way for the extension of the current Pioneer Parkway. "Now they want another I think approximately ten feet, my understanding, that's going to be five more feet inside of what we've got here," said Hamilton.
To add the Emerald Express, formerly called Bus Rapid Transit, LTD officials say they need more land. They want to expand the planned roadway to 86-feet.
The plan impacts more than two dozen properties along the Parkway and now with the wider space requirements even more of that land will be taken, in some cases knocking down out-buildings and even homes. (more...)
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Highway Improvements
By KVAL News Staff
KVAL | July 13, 2004 |
EUGENE -- Tens of thousands of commuters will feel the impact of work on I-105 next summer.
The State Department of Transportation has laid out its plan for replacing about three miles of concrete along the highway with asphalt. (more...)
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I-105 construction will bottle up traffic for months
By Christopher Stollar
The Springfield News | July 14, 2004 |
Do you drive I-105? If so, brace for traffic.
The Oregon Department of Transportation held public hearings Monday to discuss alternate routes for drivers during the $14.5 million I-105 improvement project scheduled for early next year. Cars may congest as crews replace three miles of concrete with asphalt.
But only for a time. (more...)
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Elections
Deep Dish with Dinah -- Mistake That Call (#498)
By Dinah
<Wink> | July 16, 2004 |
That slapping sound you heard last week was from some Republican sore losers who hired Moore Information, a Portland firm to do a phone survey. They wanted to gauge the viability of the write-in campaign for the November mayoral election. I told you this was being contemplated over a month ago. (Issue #492: "Do You Hear Singing?") Unfortunately, this firm not only accidentally called a media-savvy guy like Tom Santee, but the telemarketer didn't know enough not to name the employing firm in the introductory script. Somebody is either slapping MI President Bob Moore around for these missteps, or slapping their forehead for not outsourcing the project to India, where workers are less likely to chat it up with a phone contact.
The survey, if you didn't hear about it, asked about voter interest in a write-in challenger to Kitty Piercy's presumptive win of the Eugene mayorship. The list included all the players I identified a month ago, plus one more: Jack Roberts. (Lane County Sheriff Jan Clements was on the list to lend a patina of security to the questionnaire.)
So who paid for the poll? The circle of likely suspects is small enough. Aaron Jones likes Jeff Miller, but Miller's refusal -- "been there, done that" -- was adamant, if not a tad practiced. John Musumeci hates Bonny Bettman, and her name was suspiciously on the list, but he doesn't give a damn about research. The Chamber of Commerce likes Jack Roberts best, but they're the ones who will have to work most closely with whoever becomes mayor next January. M. Jacobs furniture magnate Michael Schwartz likes Mayor Jim Torrey.
I hate to say it, but nobody loves polling data more (or uses it more effectively) than Jim Torrey. His wan "never say never" response to media inquiries sent a clear signal that he told somebody somewhere that he wouldn't throw his hat back in the ring unless the research showed he could win (and that Nancy Nathanson couldn't.) Although Torrey is the surest bet, it's still a long-shot and he's the one with the most to lose. His star is still rising among statewide Republicans. Failing at a quixotic attempt to save Eugene from itself would kill his political career. For that matter, succeeding would likely limit his ambitions just as much -- four more years in Eugene and grooming a new protŽgŽ might leave no time left for anything at the next level.
You can thank Mr. Santee for blowing the whistle on this stealth attempt, because now it will go nowhere. Santee e-mailed old friend Jack Wilson at the daily paper, who dished it to a reporter (who combined Jack's first name with Santee's last) but who also got to work on an editorial. Regardless of what the survey shows, the fact that the Arr-Gee's editorial board quickly came out against the attempt will likely dowse the flames.
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Other News
Milt Cunningham -- Sometimes progress isn't
By Milt Cunningham
The Springfield News | July 16, 2004 |
What a world! Towering mountains with their snowcaps gleaming red in the setting sun. Woods so deep they're innocent of sounds of highways and railroads. Listen -- and what do you hear? Wind sighing in tree tops, somewhere a brook quietly arguing with itself. Instead of the heavy acrid stench of exhaust that lies along the freeways and streets, on a warm afternoon when the pitch is soft you have the perfume of the pines. At night where water is fast, tumbling over rocks, you can smell it, too.
I think most of us have thrilled at that kind of beauty, wondered at the purity. And perhaps longed for a long gone day, even one we never knew, when nature reigned over the planet.
When I was a child, much adult conversation was as incomprehensible as a foreign language. I heard my father talking politics with friends, but didn't understand it and wasn't interested.
But some expressions I always wondered about. For instance, an area blanketed with wild flowers, a sparkling spring bubbling through it, and untrammeled forest around it. But its written description might be "unimproved." If someone drove an old truck in over the flowers leaving muddy ruts, with some scrap lumber, and threw up a shack, it was called an "improvement."
Never made sense to me. Improved? Over what had been there? Why was scalping away what was natural, and putting up something artificial, often grossly out of place, an improvement? (more...)
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The Register-Guard garners 23 awards in ONPA contest
| The Register-Guard | July 17, 2004 |
The Register-Guard won 22 awards for stories, photographs and design in the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association's 2003 Better Newspaper Contest.
The newspaper also finished second in the association's "general excellence" category for daily newspapers with a circulation of 25,001 or more. The Oregonian of Portland placed first, and the Statesman Journal of Salem finished third.
The awards were announced Friday in Hood River at the association's annual Summer Publishers Convention. (more...)
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Syndicated show replaces last local talk host
By Mark Baker
The Register-Guard | July 15, 2004 |
"What's your take on this?"
The familiar refrain from Dan Carlin on KUGN-AM every weekday afternoon is no longer, but the question is now circulating among local listeners of his talk show.
Cumulus Media took another swipe at local radio recently when it canceled Carlin's two-hour, drive-time program and replaced it with more nationally syndicated programming. You now can hear Fox New's conservative Bill O'Reilly in the afternoons, not Carlin interviewing Eugene city councilors or Lane County commissioners. (more...)
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Bob Welch -- Loss of local talk show a local shame
By Bob Welch, Columnist
The Register-Guard | July 18, 2004 |
I recently visited Medford and, after having not seen the place for decades, was intrigued to see what it was like.
Frankly, I don't know. Given my experience, I could have been in Medford or Des Moines or, well, Eugene. (more...)
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