Health Options Digest
July 17, 2005
Coalition for Health Options In Central Eugene-Springfield (CHOICES)
In This Issue
From the Editor
The Two Cultures
According to a recent AP news story: "A leading group of pediatricians says teenagers need access to birth control and emergency contraception, not the abstinence-only approach to sex education favored by religious groups and President Bush."
This news has little directly to do with health siting issues in Lane County, except that concerns for reproductive rights color views of the Catholic-run PeaceHealth and the secular McKenzie-Willamette. Moreover, Lane County has seen controversies over which mayors attended a prayer breakfast, displaying Christmas trees in government buildings, and displaying a cross on Skinner Butte.
But we are interested in the story as a lens through which to better understand our national divisions.
On the one hand, scientists cite evidence that abstinence-only sex education is ineffective: "Teaching abstinence but not birth control makes it more likely that once teenagers initiate sexual activity they will have unsafe sex and contract sexually transmitted diseases [STDs], said Dr. S. Paige Hertweck, a pediatric obstetrician-gynecologist at the University of Louisville who provided advice for the report."
On the other hand, the federal government says that making birth control available to teenagers who aren't sexually active sends a mixed message: "Wade Horn, assistant secretary for children and families at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said counseling only abstinence, preferably until marriage, is the best approach because it sends a clear, consistent message. Teenagers who are sexually active should have access to contraception, but making birth control available to teens who aren't sends a contradictory message, he said."
To borrow the name of the famous lecture by scientist and novelist C. P. Snow, one could see the two views as coming from "Two Cultures" -- science and religion.
But more constructively, the difference is between what is versus what is desired -- between fact and ideal.
The scientist emphasizes the fact that abstinence-only approaches don't work.
The administration official, who is probably influenced by religious conservatives, emphasizes the fact that we don't want to encourage premarital sex by teaching contraception to sexually inactive teenagers.
The scientist perhaps believes that science is free of value judgments and that the facts alone demand teaching contraception to teenagers.
The administration official is perhaps denying reality by failing to recognize that an abstinence-only approach is leading to an increased level of STDs (such as AIDS) and unwanted pregnancies, and is thus creating real suffering in the world.
Actually, scientists (and environmentalists and others who cite facts to justify their conclusions) often minimize the role their own values play in forming the approaches they argue for. In particular, the recent study on sex education argues for teaching contraception only if one values limited STDs and unwanted pregnancies more than maintaining a moral standard of behavior.
Actually, people of faith fail to appreciate that wishing it so doesn't necessarily make it so.
But there need not be a great divide between the "Two Cultures" of science and religion. Fact uninformed by values is sterile. Faith uninformed by reality is but fantasy.
The "Two Cultures" are -- or should be -- two parts of a better whole, like the left and rights sides of your brain working together.
Rather than continue the culture wars, what if the two sides were to join together, combine science and faith, fact and ideal?
What if we could have constructive discussions around the values we hold and the facts of life, with each side of the discussion informing the other?
What if the left and right sides of our society's mind could work together?
Ah, but perhaps that would be too... dull and sensible... like watching a football game in which players help members of the opposing team make good plays.
Two Weeks In Review
Is no news about PeaceHealth good news?
The Springfield News editorialized that "the EWEB site [would be] the kiss of death for McKenzie-Willamette."
Meanwhile, Lane County commissioners, nearby residents and others wonder about the future of the Lane County Fairgrounds and whether that future might include a new McKenzie-Willamette hospital.
Springfield pediatrician Todd Huffman opined that a "perfect storm" for health care in the United States is brewing -- albeit one that is avoidable.
National columnist David Broder sees reasons for hope in the national "Ceasefire on Health Care" campaign.
In Salem, lawmakers haven't reached agreement on how to ease doctors' high malpractice insurance costs. But a recent study concludes that while malpractice insurance premiums are rising, the amounts insurance companies pay out in lawsuits isn't.
Paul Conte, Esther Foss and Matt Purvis opined that Eugene's policies aimed to reduce sprawl are often counterproductive.
Some see system development charges (SDCs) for new homes and other construction to be unfair, while others are concerned that the fees aren't keeping pace with the full costs of growth.
The housing market in Lane County is sizzling, with median prices going up and up.
The Eugene City Council and the Lane County Commissioners are at odds over tax breaks in enterprise zones. As of this writing, we have not heard if their differences have been resolved.
The seeds for development happening in downtown Eugene were planted 20 years ago.
Land in the Gateway area continues to be snapped up for commercial development.
A group of concerned citizens, informally known as the "Roundtable Group," urged elected officials to move past the West Eugene Parkway controversy and develop practical solutions to solving traffic problems in west Eugene.
The Oregon Senate recently passed a watered-down bill to clarify provisions in Measure 37. But even the mild bill may be doomed if the House fails to agree to the same approach. If so, it would be left to the courts to untangle Measure 37.
Keith Aoki, a UO law professor, notes that Measure 37 addressed only some unfairness and may have unwittingly given private property rights to corporations and wealthy landowners at the expense of their less wealthy neighbors.
Yamhill County Commissioner Leslie Lewis, who is a strong supporter of Measure 37, is now seeing that all the Measure 37 waivers being given will likely increase traffic in Yamhill County -- and the need to find new revenues to pay for new roads. Lewis declines to call these new revenues what they are: taxes.
Eugene, Springfield and Lane County agreed to keep the Lane Regional Air Pollution Authority (LRAPA) -- at least for now.
Who can figure John Musumeci out? He's offered to donate up to $250,000 to help resolve a sticky issue with some dunes in Florence.
Meanwhile, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is being accused of having a conflict of interest for accepting millions of dollars from fitness magazines. [Ed. Note: While Schwarzenegger sometimes appears in this space as a guest columnist, he receives no compensation from CHOICES.]
Dave Barry, please come back and help us make sense of the ironies of life!
Rob Zako, Editor
343-5201
rzako@efn.org
Opportunities
County has volunteer openings
| The Register-Guard | July 17, 2005 |
The Lane County Board of Commissioners is looking for volunteers for a number of committees.
The county seeks applications from citizens interested in serving on the human services commission budget planning committee. The committee provides advice on services that alleviate the conditions of poverty and promote and improve the health, well being, self-sufficiency, and safety of low-income, disadvantaged and disabled Lane County residents.
The deadline to apply is Sept. 9. Applications are available in the Board of Commissioners' office located on the Plaza Level of the Public Service Building, 125 E. Eighth Ave., Eugene. Call 682-3797.
The county also is seeking applications for the planning commission, which makes recommendations regarding comprehensive plan issues and amendments.
The deadline to apply is Aug. 12. Applications at the same address above; call 682-3734.
The county also needs volunteers for the roads advisory committee, which reviews road improvement requirements and develops a five-year capital improvements program.
The deadline to apply is Aug. 12; call 682-6911.
Lane County health panel has volunteer vacancy
| The Register-Guard | June 18, 2005 |
The Lane County Board of Commissioners is seeking applications from residents interested in serving on the Health Advisory Committee.
The committee makes recommendations on matters of public health, planning, policy development, control measures, funding, public education and advocacy, and acts in a community liaison capacity to provide a link between the community and the health division.
There are four vacancies to the four-year terms.
The application deadline is 5 p.m. on July 22. To request an application by mail, call 682-4207.
LTD Vacancies
We hear that three positions on the Lane Transit District board of directors will expire at the end of this year: Position 4 for north Eugene east of River Road and the City of Coburg (currently served by Susan Ban); Position 5 for central and west Eugene, including the University area and downtown, and the Whiteaker, Jefferson, and West Side neighborhoods (currently served by Gerry Gaydos); and Position 6 for west Eugene near Highway 99 and River Road and Junction City (currently served by Dave Kleger).
As the bill to make LTD directors elected died in a Senate committee, these positions will be filled by Governor Kulongoski and confirmed by the Senate. The process of appointments by the governor is akin to black magic. Few understanding how the game is played, or even that there is a game. Nonetheless, those from the areas listed above with an interest in serving on the LTD board might begin making discreet inquiries.
For more information, visit http://www.ltd.org/about/boardmembers.html
McKenzie-Willamette/Triad
Editorial -- EWEB site looks like a bad spot for a hospital
| The Springfield News | July 8, 2005 |
McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center remains committed to the Eugene Water and Electric Board site in downtown Eugene. And that's, frankly, kind of hard for us to understand.
Now mind you, it makes no material difference to us what the hospital does once it leaves Springfield.
But the hospital's Springfield roots are so deep, and it's such a Springfield legacy. We don't want to see it go the way of the Roseburg Hospital down in Douglas County.
With that in mind, it's hard to see how the EWEB site could be anything other than the kiss of death for McKenzie-Willamette. (more...)
Letter -- Fairgrounds offers opportunity
By Paul Roth, Springfield
The Register-Guard | July 6, 2005 |
I'm glad the county commissioners are going to consider selling the Lane County fairgrounds. It's a failed facility that's no longer capable of supporting itself.
But what a golden opportunity! Think of what leveraging the $60 million or $70 million purchase price might get for this county: A new or expanded jail, a district attorney's office that could actually prosecute criminals, a new fairgrounds/convention facility with easy access to Interstate 5. Maybe even a new home for the Emeralds.
I dare these commissioners to dream. Get us out of the 1970s and into the 21st century!
Letter -- Let neighbors vote on hospital
By Kristy Murray, Eugene
The Register-Guard | July 12, 2005 |
I have lived in Eugene since 1973. I remember years ago when Sacred Heart Medical Center was devouring the university neighborhood in the name of progress. The hospital didn't listen to the pleas of residents who wanted to save their houses, nor did the hospital listen to the owners of the community businesses.
So here we are years later and now there's talk of a hospital being built on the Lane County Fairgrounds property. Bad idea. People might not realize that the fairgrounds property probably won't be enough land for the hospital, and that it will then start eating up another residential area.
For shame. I'm guessing that the folks who think that using the fairgrounds for a hospital is a good idea do not live in the Westside neighborhood. Maybe the neighbors should get to vote on whether or not it's a good idea.
Hospital talk turns to fairgrounds option
By Matt Cooper
The Register-Guard | July 6, 2005 |
Despite McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center's hope to move to downtown Eugene, hospital officials have also met with Lane County commissioners and talked about whether the county fairgrounds could be a backup site. (more...)
Fairgrounds future at financial crossroads
By Matt Cooper
The Register-Guard | July 13, 2005 |
For the Lane County commissioners, the fairgrounds has become a 55-acre boomerang: They throw the problem to fair officials, and it comes right back.
The fairgrounds at Jefferson and 13th Avenue needs hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in subsidies in order to cover its intermittent operating deficits and fund capital upgrades. The commissioners have occasionally asked how to stop the bleeding, but the response from fair officials -- put the operation in private hands and thereby eliminate expensive public-employee benefits -- hasn't appealed to them.
The issue is back again. (more...)
Subsidies offset some losses at fairgrounds
| The Register-Guard | July 13, 2005 |
Whether the Lane County fairgrounds is in a financial crisis depends on whether one believes this public facility should be subsidized, and if so, to what extent. (more...)
On fairgrounds, no deals -- yet
By Matt Cooper
The Register-Guard | July 14, 2005 |
Talk about a tough sell: Try selling land to an agency that doesn't want to buy, and try buying land that the agency doesn't want to sell.
It happened Wednesday, when the Lane County Board of Commissioners simultaneously rejected two offers. One was to move the county fairgrounds to 103 acres south of Junction City. The other was from a developer who wants to buy all or part of the 55-acre fairgrounds at Jefferson Street and 13th Avenue and convert it to medium- and low-income housing. (more...)
Health Care
Todd Huffman -- Halting the Collapse of Health Care
By Todd Huffman, For The Register-Guard
The Register-Guard | July 10, 2005 |
If there is one thing Americans of all political persuasions can agree upon, it is that our nation's health care system is broken. Despite spending $1.8 trillion -- 15 percent of our national wealth, and more per citizen than any other nation -- each year on health care, what do we have to show for it? Not universal coverage. Not longer life spans. Not lower infant mortality. And certainly not better health than most other developed nations.
As bad as things look now, on the horizon a perfect storm is brewing. An economic disaster looms. But it is not unavoidable. (more...)
David S. Broder -- Bargaining for A Health Care Breakthrough
By David S. Broder
The Washington Post | July 14, 2005; Page A25 |
When John Breaux retired from the Senate last year, many assumed that the let's-make-a-deal approach he had perfected in his 18 years of service had vanished with him. In an increasingly partisan and polarized Congress, the bargaining skills Breaux displayed seemed relics of another time.
It turns out that we underestimated the conservative Democrat from Louisiana, the canny Cajun whose willingness to negotiate across party lines had made him a valuable ally to both Republican and Democratic presidents.
In retirement to a Washington consultant's role, Breaux has resurfaced as the spark plug of a "Ceasefire on Health Care" campaign that already has achieved a few small successes and is aiming for much bigger breakthroughs in the effort to rescue America's dysfunctional medical delivery system.
In an interview last week, Breaux said the seeds of the project were sown in a speech he made at Louisiana State University while still serving in the Senate. He complained then that the CNN program "Crossfire" (which has since been axed) appeared to operate on the principle that "the more the guests disagree, the more successful the program will be. Why not," he asked, "try a program where the moderator would invite people of opposing philosophies to seek common ground?"
In retirement, Breaux said, he decided to undertake that role himself in the area of health care, believing that it is the most pressing domestic problem. (more...)
Letter -- All deserve a medical home
By Pamela L. Wible, M.D., Eugene
The Register-Guard | July 9, 2005 |
It is a cruel and unethical society that abandons the ill to financial and physical pain. Those who survive their physical ailments often are chained to lifetimes of debt as a constant reminder of a society that abandoned them.
New laws, preventing individuals from filing bankruptcy for medical bills, enslave those fortunate enough to survive their ailments. The rare lucky few are offered partial debt relief from the kindness and generosity of those who organize and support benefit concerts (Register-Guard, June 13).
I met a young couple who, four years after the death of their only child, a 3-year-old, write monthly checks to pay for the cancer treatments. How cruel!
I've worked in clinics where receptionists hang up on people who say they are uninsured. I have witnessed people in agonizing pain and fear of their undiagnosed illnesses turned away because they were a few dollars short of the required cash payment.
This is no way to treat any human being! We all deserve a personal medical home, a sanctuary, a safe place where your very own doctor provides for your health care needs, whether you are insured or not.
Nationally, the Future of Family Medicine Project encourages doctors to adopt new practice models. Local community-based solutions are surprisingly easy to implement. I recently opened the Family & Community Medical Clinic, co-created by the community, that offers the very services that patients value. I invite other physicians and communities to do the same.
Letter -- Health care system is broken
By Stuart Henderson, Florence
The Register-Guard | July 15, 2005 |
In his Commentary piece titled "Halting the collapse of health care," (Register-Guard, July 10), Dr. Todd Huffman shares some hopeful suggestions about how to deal with our country's biggest problem and closes by saying, "Let the debate begin."
Ha! The crisis was staring us in the face long before Harry and Louise trashed Hillary Clinton's efforts to address the problem with a national solution. In the ensuing years, despite warnings from every sector trying to get leaders' attention, the crisis has come to affect almost every one of us. In fact, the whole country, except perhaps the tax-break-coddled millionaire class, knows the system is broken.
But it is our leaders -- I use the term loosely -- who have had their heads in the sand, bowing collectively to big money and rigid ideology. The passage of the bloated, ill-conceived prescription drug benefit that stipulates that the government cannot negotiate drug pricing with pharmaceutical manufacturers is just one exam- ple.
Let the marketplace decide? It has decided! Our health care system is broken. Our leadership is bankrupt.
Throw the bums out and limit the special interest money that skews our elections and cripples our decision-making process.
Malpractice costs' cure elusive
By Charles Beggs
The Associated Press | July 4, 2005 |
SALEM -- Legislators have failed to reach agreement on how to ease doctors' high insurance costs, so the issue may go before voters for a second time.
"Neither side will give," said Democratic Sen. Alan Bates, an Ashland physician. (more...)
Malpractice rates keep rising, but not insurance payouts, study finds
By Noreen Gillespie
The Associated Press | July 8, 2005 |
HARTFORD, Conn. -- The rates insurers charge physicians for medical malpractice coverage rose dramatically over the past five years, but the amount insurers paid out in claims did not, according to a study from a consumer advocacy group. (more...)
Officials' Pitch for Drug Plan Meets Skeptics
By Robert Pear
The New York Times | July 17, 2005 |
SCARBOROUGH, Me., July 15 -- Four months before enrollment begins, the Bush administration has started a cross-country campaign to sell its most significant domestic policy initiative, the new Medicare drug benefit. But it is encountering skepticism from some consumers, whose participation is critical to the program's success. (more...)
Health, pension costs grow along with Oregon class sizes
| The Associated Press | July 11, 2005 |
PORTLAND -- School districts across the state pay teachers, administrators and staff 55 percent more in health insurance and retirement pay than schools across the nation, according to an analysis by The Oregonian newspaper.
The paper found that if the state's school districts did conform to the national rate, schools would save about $500 million next year. (more...)
Pediatricians say abstinence advice fails to help teens
By Lindsey Tanner
The Associated Press | July 5, 2005 |
CHICAGO -- A leading group of pediatricians says teenagers need access to birth control and emergency contraception, not the abstinence-only approach to sex education favored by religious groups and President Bush.
The recommendations are part of the American Academy of Pediatrics' updated teen pregnancy policy.
"Even though there is great enthusiasm in some circles for abstinence-only interventions, the evidence does not support abstinence-only interventions as the best way to keep young people from unintended pregnancy," said Dr. Jonathan Klein, chairman of the academy committee that wrote the new recommendations. (more...)
Nearby Developments
Paul Conte, Esther Foss and Matt Purvis -- Eugene zoning laws sacrifice livability
By Paul Conte, Esther Foss and Matt Purvis, For The Register-Guard
The Register-Guard | July 10, 2005 |
Eugene cherishes livability, but our zoning promotes blight.
Eugene hates sprawl, but we're unwittingly pushing people away from the urban core by our indiscriminate approach to density.
Trusting too much in catch-phrases such as "higher density reduces sprawl" rather than embracing a pragmatic sense of how housing markets really work, Eugene may have done more harm than good over the past 20 years, allowing deterioration of core neighborhoods and stimulating population flight to the fringes. (more...)
Those Nasty Building Fees: Services vs. surcharges: officials strive for a balance
By Joe Harwood
The Register-Guard | July 17, 2005 |
It takes a lot to shock Vicki Pattle, a successful businesswoman and mother of four grown children.
Yet when Pattle and her husband decided to move into Eugene from rural Lane County and build their dream house, they faced a crash course in civic infrastructure finance that came as a nasty surprise. (more...)
Those Nasty Building Fees: From toilets to tiles, cities charge to help cover growth
| The Register-Guard | July 17, 2005 |
For state and local elected officials, charging systems development fees to cover the costs of growth amounts to picking the lesser of two evils.
Without the impact fees, already-strained city budgets can't keep up with the infrastructure upgrades needed to serve new growth -- from building streets and parks to increasing the size of sewer and water mains.
But the $5,000 to $7,000 in development charges tacked on to the price of a typical new house in Springfield and Eugene make it even tougher for first-time home buyers in an increasingly expensive market. (more...)
Oregon cities see wide swing in costs
By Joe Harwood
The Register-Guard | July 17, 2005 |
Systems development charges in Oregon vary wildly from city to city. (more...)
Bullish home sales push some to ask what market will bear
By Sherri Buri McDonald
The Register-Guard | July 6, 2005 |
In Lane County's sizzling real estate market, some sellers and their agents are trying a new approach to pricing their homes.
They aim high, wait a couple of weeks and, if nobody bites, they lower the price. (more...)
Swift housing market quickens
By Scott Maben
The Register-Guard | July 16, 2005 |
Homes in Lane County are selling faster than at any time in the past seven years. And prices continue to rise in a market that's buzzing like a barrel of rattlesnakes. (more...)
Eugene, county spar over tax breaks
By Edward Russo
The Register-Guard | July 6, 2005 |
The Lane County Board of Commissioners wants to make it easier for businesses in Eugene, including big firms, to get property tax breaks.
But the commissioners' ideas may sink the city's shaky enterprise zone. (more...)
Editorial -- Zone needs flexibility: Why rule out capital-intensive employers?
| The Register-Guard | July 11, 2005 |
An elephant was in the room when representatives of the Eugene City Council and the Lane County Board of Commissioners met last Tuesday to discuss limiting property tax breaks available to businesses in a revived enterprise zone. The elephant's name is Hynix. Though the silicon chip fabrication plant isn't mentioned when city and county officials stake out their positions on enterprise-zone rules, Hynix is what this disagreement is all about. (more...)
Building Blocks Of A Renaissance: The seeds of downtown's rebirth were sowed 20 years ago
By Joe Mosley
The Register-Guard | July 17, 2005 |
Former Mayor Ruth Bascom was a city councilwoman and new mayoral candidate in 1992, when she used three props -- a hard hat, a rented jackhammer and a block of concrete -- to offer what now seems a prophetic suggestion for the future of downtown Eugene. (more...)
West Broadway: Possibilities for downtown can be seen in what the developers created with a Portland area mall
By Sherri Buri McDonald
The Register-Guard | July 10, 2005 |
TUALATIN -- On a recent summer day at Bridgeport Village, a large, new shopping center south of Portland, a silver-haired man in khakis and a polo shirt strides past the storefronts booming into his cell phone.
"I'm at that new mall," he shouts, taking in the window displays of expensive clothing and contemporary home furnishings.
"This is like a little city -- no, really," he insists.
This "city" of stores and offices was built on a 29-acre former gravel quarry by the Minneapolis-based Opus Group -- the same developer that's teaming up with local businessmen Tom Connor and Don Woolley for a proposed $180 million redevelopment of West Broadway in downtown Eugene. (more...)
Opus' Eugene project may add living space to the mix
| The Register-Guard | July 10, 2005 |
A key difference between the Opus Group's Bridgeport Village, a shopping and office complex in Tualatin, and the development they're proposing on West Broadway in downtown Eugene, is that the Eugene project includes housing. Bridgeport Village has no housing. (more...)
On The Street: A snapshot of opinions about revitalizing West Broadway
| The Register-Guard | July 10, 2005 |
A snapshot of opinions about revitalizing West Broadway: (more...)
Development Report: International Way parcels consolidated
By Joe Harwood
The Register-Guard | July 12, 2005 |
SPRINGFIELD -- The rush to snap up land in the Gateway district continues, with a local investment group last month buying a 7-acre parcel north of the shuttered Sony compact disc plant for $1.5 million. (more...)
Development Report: Chambers builds for future operations under one roof
By Joe Harwood
The Register-Guard | July 5, 2005 |
GLENWOOD -- Chambers Construction Inc. has finished gutting the former Pepsi warehouse in Glenwood and is now working to turn the shell into a new home for itself. (more...)
Glenwood digs in its heels
By Stacy D. Stumbo
The Springfield News | July 15, 2005 |
The flames of controversy over a City of Springfield-Glenwood Water District contract for fire protection services have yet to be extinguished, according to people involved in discussions.
The city decided to reopen negotiations for the fire services it provides to the Rainbow and Glenwood water districts and Willakenzie Fire Department after recently implementing a 12-percent nonresident charge to cover its costs. (more...)
Retail Notebook: Ray's grocery chain to anchor Santa Clara development
By Joe Mosley
The Register-Guard | July 7, 2005 |
Ray's Food Place got its start 48 years ago with a single 3,200-square-foot store in Brookings. Since then, it has grown into a chain of 50-plus stores by claiming a niche primarily in the small towns of Oregon and Northern California.
Now, the family-owned grocery is coming to Eugene, its largest market yet, with its largest store to date -- a 55,000-square-foot outlet that will anchor The Commons, a new commercial and residential subdivision in the Santa Clara area. (more...)
Letter -- System favors urban sprawl
By Robert Emmons, Fall Creek
The Register-Guard | July 17, 2005 |
At least he's upfront about it: Lane County Land Management Division Manager Jeff Towery says he welcomes urban sprawl because it "helps pay for the cost of processing applications while providing (the) department with working capital." He sees sprawl "as a sign of a healthy economy" (Register-Guard, July 3).
However, while Towery and his employees thrive on the developers' dollar, Lane County's farm and forest land gets leaner. As long-range planning is funded by building permit fees, who is Towery more likely to listen to? Public interest groups, such as LandWatch Lane County and 1000 Friends -- who are committed to protecting our farms and forests through sound land use planning -- or special interest shills whose livelihoods, like Towery's, depend on the conversion of crops to concrete and condos?
Favoritism, not favorable interest rates, is the prime mover in this universe.
According to developers, though, infrastructure is too costly and there's "not enough land" inside Eugene or Springfield urban growth boundaries, so they have no choice but to follow Towery's lead and sprawl into the countryside.
In an economy modeled on the cancer cell, the costs will always be too high and there will never be enough. But as my 95-year-old neighbor says, "We keep making more people; we can't make any more land."
We can't make any more oil and water, either -- but as long as dollars are made, we may rest assured that Towery and his clients will look upon the wasteland of their creation and pronounce it "healthy."
City leaders, county discuss public safety
By Amber Fossen
The Springfield News | July 8, 2005 |
It's no secret that Lane County's public safety system is in a dire state.
Leaders from 12 cities and county representatives joined together Thursday for an overview of the public safety system's erosion.
How to solve the system's shortcomings will be the Public Safety Task Force's goal. To solve it, members will examine the need for additional safety services, develop a plan to address those needs and identify a funding mechanism to make it possible.
It's no easy feat, but members agree that the problem belongs to all. (more...)
Transportation
Eugene City Beat: Group seeks transit alternatives for West 11th
By Edward Russo
The Register-Guard | July 17, 2005 |
A discussion group with a short but impressive track record has another idea to share with leaders.
The Roundtable Group wants the City Council, Lane County Board of Commissioners and Lane Transit District officials to figure out ways to reduce traffic congestion on West 11th Avenue. (more...)
Letter -- Left, right both support LTD EmX
By Robert Lofft, Eugene
The Register-Guard | July 13, 2005 |
A July 7 letter blames liberals for the $18 million "wasted" on the Franklin route for Lane Transit District's new EmX service -- pronounced "M-X," short for "Emerald Express." The liberals, however, had plenty of help from the conservatives.
LTD's elaborate construction projects over the years, heavily subsidized with federal grants, were encouraged and approved by local officials from both the liberal and conservative camps. Currently, a local construction company has a $13.9 million LTD contract to build the four-mile Franklin route. The project was approved by the Eugene City Council at a time when a majority of its members were conservatives.
Whether federal money spent on nonessential and even inane projects is really wasted is debatable. The construction industry and its employees certainly benefit. Those who sell products and services to the construction industry and its employees also benefit, and on down the line.
Those of us not in this loop, if we know about the projects at all, generally don't think about them, except perhaps while reading the morning paper over a cup of coffee. But with regard to EmX, we're fairly sure the pro-public-transportation liberals are no more responsible for it than the pro-business conservatives.
North Bank bike path headed for smooth future
By Diane Dietz
The Register-Guard | July 16, 2005 |
The grubby North Bank bike path will get some of the respect that its comely counterparts along other stretches of the Willamette River have long enjoyed.
By the end of next summer, the crumbling asphalt of the neglected North Bank Path should be replaced by a ribbon of concrete. (more...)
Train group on track for budget fight
By David Steves
The Register-Guard | July 4, 2005 |
SALEM -- The Choo Choo Caucus is being rolled out onto the track -- not a good sign for those who thought the Legislature for sure was coming through with money for the two Amtrak Cascades trains. (more...)
Editorial -- Keep Amtrak rolling: Senate should follow House's lead on funding
| The Register-Guard | July 7, 2005 |
At a time when gasoline prices are skyrocketing and Americans need more, not fewer, transportation options, federal and state governments should be looking for ways to preserve and even expand Amtrak interstate rail service. (more...)
Money for Amtrak route at risk
Oregon's Republican-led House wants to stop funding for one of the two runs between Eugene and Portland
By Janie Har
The Oregonian | July 17, 2005 |
SALEM -- It looked like an easy ride for fans of passenger trains in Oregon.
Gov. Ted Kulongoski and the Legislature's top two budget writers included enough money in their 2005-07 spending plans to maintain Amtrak's two daily roundtrip runs between Eugene and Portland.
But the Republican-led Oregon House veered onto a new track two weeks ago, eliminating one of those runs from the Oregon Department of Transportation budget. (more...)
Editorial -- Improve transit security: Congress has focused its spending on aviation
| The Register-Guard | July 11, 2005 |
The 29 million people who ride buses, subways, ferries, trains and light rail across the United States every day are an inviting target for terrorists, as evidenced by Thursday's bombings in London.
Yet the federal government has spent less than $550 million since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks to protect such basic public transportation. During the same period, more than $22 billion has been spent on airline security. (more...)
Orval Etter -- Road funding scheme ignores constitution, physics
By Orval Etter
The Register-Guard | July 11, 2005 |
Oregon, like other jurisdictions, faces headline-grabbing problems of highway maintenance and finance. But who is paying attention to laws of physics regarding exponential highway damage, and who is honoring them under the constitutional requirement of proportionality in Oregon highway finance?
The physical laws seem to be a well-kept secret in Oregon public affairs. The constitutional requirement, not mentioned in the June 24 guest viewpoint by an Oregon Department of Transportation official, seems to be honored as much by breach as by observance. The guest viewpoint may raise more questions than it answers. (more...)
Letter -- Frank Opinions
By Frank Skipton, Springfield
Eugene Weekly | July 14, 2005 |
In response to "Stuck in Eugene" letter (6/23): You are absolutely right, Emily. When it comes to jobs, Eugene SUCKS. Eugene is a "class" society mired in its conflicts and doomed to go nowhere. If you are not in the right class -- you are out of luck.
In response to the "Ill-fated WEP" letter (6/23): Sorry Rob -- the WEP will go through. The career bureaucrats want it that way and they have the manpower, the budget and all the time in the world -- you don't.
In response to Kera Abraham's story (6/23) on school drop-outs: We spend an enormous amount of money on "free" education. And then these yo-yos drop out. Anyone who does not graduate from high school or get an equivalent education should be denied a driver's license until they are 25 or 30. Students should be told this when they enter ninth grade.
Measure 37, Oregon's Land Use Planning System
Mild Measure 37 bill passes
Senate Bill 1037, which now goes to the House, addresses appeals and some construction rights but doesn't resolve other major issues Measure 37: Bill caps costs, sets deadline for filing claims
By Laura Oppenheimer
The Oregonian | July 8, 2005 |
SALEM -- A diluted how-to guide for Oregon's property rights law passed the Senate Thursday, leaving the biggest questions unanswered.
Senate Bill 1037 spells out how landowners apply under Measure 37 and can appeal decisions on their claims. It also provides a fast-track option for rural residents who lost the right to build a single home on their property. (more...)
Land-Use Reforms
| The Oregonian | July 8, 2005 |
What: Senate Bill 1037 sets guidelines for evaluating claims under Measure 37, Oregon's new property rights law. The bill, which passed the Senate 20-10 Thursday, lays out an appeal process and allows construction of one house on rural land where owners lost that right.
Key issues: The Republican-controlled House wants to amend the bill, letting Measure 37 claimants pass on new development rights when they sell their land. That provision is unlikely to pass in the Democrat-controlled Senate.
What's next: House Speaker Karen Minnis, R-Wood Village, plans to refer the bill to the State and Federal Affairs Committee. House land-use chairman Bill Garrard, R-Klamath Falls, will be involved in negotiations.
Contacts: Sen. Charlie Ringo, D-Beaverton, sponsor: 503-986-1717; Rep. Bill Garrard, R-Klamath Falls, House land-use chairman: 503-986-1456; House Speaker Karen Minnis, R-Wood Village: 503-986-1200
Senate passes bill adding provision to Measure 37
By James Sinks
The (Bend) Bulletin | July 8, 2005 |
SALEM -- After six months of negotiations about the popular but flawed Measure 37, state lawmakers have failed to find common ground over how to compensate aggrieved landowners who file claims or whether development rights obtained under the law can be sold.
But on Thursday, the Oregon Senate agreed that there should never be another case like that of Barbara and Gene Prete of Cloverdale. (more...)
Land-use bill reform gets Senate approval
By Don Jepsen for The Mail Tribune
The (Medford) Mail Tribune | July 8, 2005 |
SALEM -- The Senate on Thursday approved a watered-down Ballot Measure 37 rewrite that fails to address two contentious issues in the property-rights initiative approved in November.
The first is the lack of a funding source to compensate land owners if zoning restrictions devalued their property. The second is a question of transferability: If a property owner is granted a waiver, can that waiver be transferred to a subsequent owner? (more...)
Senate sends Measure 37 bill to House for consideration
By Mark Engler, Freelance Writer
The Capital Press | July 15, 2005 |
SALEM -- The remnants of the Oregon Senate's once ambitious effort to rewrite Measure 37 has been passed along to the House of Representatives.
With time running out for the Legislature to do something to "clarify" Measure 37, Sen. Charlie Ringo, D-Beaverton, said the scaled-back contents of Senate Bill 1037 represent the essence of what's politically doable given sharp political divisions over the 2004 property rights initiative, which passed with 61 percent of Oregon voters in support last November.
The bill, approved on a 20-10 Senate vote on July 7, establishes a standardized Measure 37 claims filing process and grants the state specific authority to waive regulations in lieu of paying compensation. Also in the bill, an individual "who is adversely affected by a final decision of a public entity," relating to the approval of a Measure 37 claim, is granted "a cause of action in the circuit court."
In addition, SB1037 establishes a "tract-of-record" process outside Measure 37 channels that Ringo says "streamlines (the) process" for approving construction of a single-family home on rural lands. Land-use rules that took away people's rights to build a home are the source of "great frustration," and likely fueled much of the support for Measure 37, said Ringo.
Language granting the state clear authority to waive regulations challenged under a Measure 37 claim is also in the bill, and "is absolutely essential," he said. Without legislation addressing how the state can legally "modify, remove, or not apply a land-use regulation," as directed under Measure 37, "it's not clear...that the state has the authority to waive," said Ringo. (more...)
Land use claims to be in limbo without legislative action
By Niki Sullivan
The Associated Press | July 17, 2005 |
SALEM -- Claims under a voter-passed property compensation measure will be tangled up in legal challenges if the Legislature adjourns without making any significant changes to the law, property rights experts say.
Supporters and opponents of Measure 37 are unhappy about the lack of legislative action. Without it, they say, the courts could shape Oregon's land use policy through piecemeal decisions and cause uneven application of Measure 37, which voters approved in November. (more...)
Keith Aoki -- The strange new bedfellows of Measure 37
In a world of rich and poor, there is private property and then there is private property.
By Keith Aoki
The Oregonian | July 14, 2005 |
In a world of rich and poor, there is private property and then there is private property.
The U.S. Supreme Court's decision earlier this month upholding broad powers of local governments to condemn private property (Kelo v. City of New London) makes for some strange bedfellows: Activists on the left attacked the decision as a blow to the struggles of communities of color trying to battle environmental racism; activists on the right criticized the decision for eroding the inviolability of private property rights.
But what might these strange bedfellows tell us about property rights in terms of our own Measure 37 here in Oregon? (more...)
Letter -- 'Control' collides with planning
By David Seigneur, Oak Lodge
The Oregonian | July 14, 2005 |
The following are in response to a previous question: What do you think of how Measure 37 is working out?
The early incentive for the eventual approval of Measure 37 began back in the late 1970s and early '80s when many of Oregon's counties were going through the planning and zoning process.
Unfortunately planning in Oregon soon deteriorated into the desire to "control." This urge to control was infused into and facilitated by the state planning laws known as "Oregon's Planning Goals."
They are not goals, but "planning requirements" devoid of any real goals or objectives.
Any goals the state has are incorporated in the state's "Benchmarks" program. But the benchmarks are not required to be implemented by the state's planning program.
If the planning had been less into control and a little more understanding, it would have allowed people to build a home on a lot of record. That single factor was the real incentive to "dump" the planning program in Oregon. In the end it was the straw that broke the camel's back.
Had the Oregon Planning Program been required to implement the appropriate benchmark goals then Oregon would have been outstanding in its planning, and the people of Oregon would have something to show for the effort.
Had that happened it would have been very unlikely for Measure 37 to have been approved.
Lewis looking for new county road money
By David Bates
The (McMinnville) News-Register | July 5, 2005 |
The spate of subdivision plans that have been unleashed this year by Measure 37 has put an unlikely topic back on the table for the Yamhill County commissioners -- systems development charges, which are commonly referred to as SDCs.
That's surprising for two reasons.
First, Leslie Lewis and Kathy George, both strong private property rights advocates, make up a majority of the three-member board.
Second, the board has not only stood fast against new or increased systems development charges, assessed against builders to compensate for the burden their projects put on public infrastructure. It actually repealed a county road SDC when Lewis followed up on a campaign pledge by siding with then-colleague Tom Bunn on the issue.
Recently, however, Lewis and Public Works Director Bill Gille have increasingly been worrying about how the county is going to meet its road needs. And with Measure 37 claims opening the door for new subdivisions big and small, those roads stand to have a lot more vehicles using them. (more...)
Measure 37 claim for mine gets nod
County commissioners vote to allow the use on land south of Molalla, but other hurdles must be cleared
By Sarah Hunsberger
The Oregonian | July 14, 2005 |
Faced with one of the most controversial Measure 37 claims to be filed in Clackamas County, commissioners on Wednesday voted to allow a gravel mine on about 80 acres of farmland south of Molalla. (more...)
County's first Meas. 37 clash?
Winery owner says a housing development made possible by a Measure 37 claim could ruin his vineyard
By Damian Mann
The (Medford) Mail Tribune | July 13, 2005 |
Tucked away in an idyllic little canyon, Wooldridge Creek Winery is miles from any housing development.
Owner Ted Warrick nervously eyes the surrounding hillsides, seeing a threat to his 53-acre vineyard from a proposed subdivision that would be allowed under a Measure 37 claim. (more...)
A golf course on Ashland's east hills?
Medford couple considers building a 437-acre resort-style development near Ashland's airport
By Damian Mann
The (Medford) Mail Tribune | July 16, 2005 |
Ashland's picturesque eastern foothills could become the setting for a resort-style development if ancestors of a local pioneer family get approval of their recently filed Measure 37 claim. (more...)
Oregon law inspires rights fight
Landowners' group wants Legislature to act
By David Slade
The (Charleston, SC) Post and Courier | July 5, 2005 |
Putting into play a sweeping new property rights law, Larry and Karen Waide have issued an ultimatum to Oregon, their home state:
Either pay them $15 million or allow them to develop their 173-acre property into 1.5-acre lots.
South Carolina and its local governments could face similar demands from landowners if a property rights group founded in the Lowcountry gets its way. (more...)
Steve Candee -- Tax limitation measures paved the way for eminent domain ruling
By Steve Candee
The Register-Guard | July 8, 2005 |
The U.S. Supreme Court's decision to allow local governments to appropriate private property under an expanded interpretation of the power of eminent domain was greeted with predictable shock and outrage.
The decision conjured in many Americans' minds visions of black-booted government thugs kicking elderly widows out of their long-term residences for the sake of private developers' elite golf courses, shopping centers and condos.
I believe the actual picture is much more complex. What few pundits have commented on is the situation that apparently has compelled local officials to make such drastic claims on private property, and which led the court's primarily liberal wing (Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Anthony Kennedy, David Souter and John Paul Stevens) to condone such action.
The reality is that for more than two decades, cities, counties and even states have periodically faced fiscal insolvency. (more...)
Editorial -- Individuals' land rights challenged by ruling
| Oregon Daily Emerald | June 30, 2005 |
This week, in a 5-4 decision, the United States Supreme Court ruled that local governments have the authority to seize private property if that property can best be used to benefit the public and the economy.
Before this decision, the U.S. Constitution limited government seizure to taking private property for public use. With the new ruling, local governments can buy up houses and land, then use that space for strip malls or other private interests that will eventually generate more taxes. The Supreme Court has put into place an economic incentive for local governments to seize their citizens' property. (more...)
Debra Saunders -- Your home can be Pfizer's castle
| By Debra J. Saunders | June 30, 2005 |
Americans who want to keep government out of the bedroom, beware. Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision that makes it too easy for the government to seize your bedroom -- and kitchen, parlor and dining room -- then hand your precious home over to a corporation. (more...)
Smart growth?
Sprawl-reducing policies suffer setbacks around the country
By C. Kenneth Orski and Jane S. Shaw
The (Denver) Rocky Mountain News | July 9, 2005 |
"Smart-growth" policies, which became popular nationwide during the 1990s, are regulations designed to reduce suburban sprawl and control growth. They encourage people to live close together within walking distance of shops and offices. One goal is to reduce the use of the automobile. Another is to create neighborhoods full of interesting "streetscapes." A third is to cluster people in high densities in order to preserve large areas of open space. Today, smart-growth policies seem to be in retreat. Setbacks have occurred in Maryland, Virginia and Oregon, and new census information suggests that the public does not really embrace the smart growth way of life. (more...)
Sustainable Development, Smart Growth and Kelo -- Organized theft by any name
Put yourself in the homeowner's shoes. You buy a home for your family. Perhaps it's even handed down from your father or grandfather. It's a place you can afford in a neighborhood you like. The children have made friends. You intend to stay for the rest of your life. (more...)
Land-Use Ruling Shakes Hawaii Developers
By Jim Carlton
The Wall Street Journal | July 6, 2005; Page B1 |
KEALAKEKUA, HAWAII -- When Arizona developer Lyle Anderson applied to develop a golf-course subdivision here, he did what many other residential developers had done before him in rural Hawaii: He got a construction permit zoned for agriculture.
In 2000, two years after Mr. Anderson obtained the permit, environmentalists and coffee farmers filed suite in state circuit court alleging that the subdivision was an illegal development; the farmers were later joined by a native Hawaiian's group called protect Keopuka Ohana. IN 2003, after a trial, a state judge halted construction of the $1 billion project on the island of Hawaii. The reason: Mr. Anderson's 1,550-acre Hokulia (pronounced hoe-hak-LEE-ah) project was a luxury home development -- not a farming venture.
The fact had been obvious from the start to everyone, including the planners who approved the project. While a 1976 amendment to a state law intended to protect Hawaii's agricultural lands stipulated that only "farm dwellings" were allowed as residences on lands classified as agricultural, developers had typically observed the law with a splash of green, such as decorative avocado trees, and built what they wanted.
Other News
Sharon Banks -- LRAPA would be tough to replace
By Sharon Banks
The Register-Guard | July 5, 2005 |
In spite of budget cuts and strife, great work is being done at the Lane Regional Air Pollution Authority. (more...)
Pollution authority falls victim to politics
By Diane Dietz
The Register-Guard | July 7, 2005 |
The Lane County Board of Commissioners on Wednesday parsed the Lane Regional Air Pollution's recent problems and determined that it's mainly politics. (more...)
Deadline for LRAPA post near: For citizens, time to apply for air pollution authority seat is growing short
By Amber Fossen
The Springfield News | July 8, 2005 |
An open seat remains on the Lane Regional Air Pollution Authority Board of Directors and so far, only five applications have been submitted. (more...)
Air pollution board avoids collapse, talks of healing
By Diane Dietz
The Register-Guard | July 13, 2005 |
The Lane Regional Air Pollution Authority has avoided collapse and dissolution, but it's likely to be on probation through the rest of the year. (more...)
LRAPA board patches things up
| The Springfield News | July 15, 2005 |
The Lane Regional Air Pollution Authority is moving forward in the search for its ninth appointment as a new interim director takes the helm.
On Tuesday, LRAPA Board of Directors agreed to interview five of 10 Springfield residents who applied for the at-large seat. This after the board was previously unable to agree on an appointment.
At that same meeting, interim director Jim Johnson announced his departure from the local air pollution authority. His resignation was effective Wednesday. (more...)
Editorial -- Back from the brink: Partners won't disband air pollution agency
| The Register-Guard | July 14, 2005 |
The Lane Regional Air Pollution Authority has been around since 1968, long enough to seem a permanent fixture of the bureaucratic landscape. But one lesson from the recent dispute over the composition of the agency's board is that institutions are vulnerable. Starve them of political support, and they'll die. (more...)
Slant -- LRAPA
| Eugene Weekly | July 14, 2005 |
The local air pollution agency, LRAPA, seems to be taking baby steps to straighten itself out after the rockiest six months in its 37-year history. At the monthly board meeting July 12, conservative board member Faye Stewart made some progressive suggestions, such as working more closely with the J.H. Baxter neighbors and pushing biofuel production in Lane County (see news story on biofuels this week). But we're disturbed by the implications of recent decisions by the Lane County Commissioners and the Springfield City Council to withhold half of their annual LRAPA contributions. The county suggests that it will pay up if it's happy with the agency's new director hire, and Springfield hints that it will fork over its share if it's pleased with LRAPA's new (dubiously created) at-large board appointment. Both jurisdictions have implied that they want more industry-friendly policies from the already industry-friendly agency. There's a word for that: blackmail. Eugene is LRAPA's biggest contributor. The Eugene City Council and local environmental nonprofits could pressure the agency to hire a public-health-minded director and appoint an environmentalist board member -- or lose the city's funding. What's good for the goose is good for the gander. We may find hope, however, in Merlyn Hough, LRAPA's newest hire. He came on board to fill Robert Koster's old role as permitting and compliance manager, but he'll also take over Jim Johnson's spot as interim director.
Piercy joins other mayors for session on climate protection
| The Register-Guard | July 7, 2005 |
Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy will be among 45 mayors this weekend at the Sundance Summit, a mayor's gathering on climate protection in Salt Lake City. (more...)
Zooming in on species' protections
By Greg Bolt
The Register-Guard | July 13, 2005 |
Four protected species found in the west Eugene wetlands are among five in Western Oregon being reviewed by federal biologists to determine whether they merit continued or increased protection under the Endangered Species Act.
The four species found locally are the Fender's blue butterfly and three wildflowers: the Willamette daisy, Bradshaw's desert parsley and Kincaid's lupine. Another flower found in other parts of the Willamette Valley, Nelson's checkermallow, also is under review. (more...)
Editorial -- It's tempting, but state should butt out of Coburg
| The Springfield News | July 8, 2005 |
When it comes to its police department's money-making antics, the city of Coburg is sort of like Larry Flynt.
Flynt, of course, is the sleazy pornography publisher who was at the center of a big dust-up over the First Amendment.
Many Americans held their noses and rose to his defense when the government tried to shut him down -- not because they supported porn, but because if Larry Flynt's First Amendment rights can be suspended, so can yours and mine.
So it is with Coburg, for years known as the Hazzard County of the I-5 corridor because of its habit of supporting itself with traffic tickets written to speeding motorists rocketing down the interstate. (more...)
Senate OKs Coburg measure
By David Steves
The Register-Guard | July 12, 2005 |
SALEM -- The Oregon Senate on Monday sought to put a crimp in Coburg's reliance on freeway speeding tickets to run city services. (more...)
Springfield City Beat: Draft city manager profile ready for review
By Serena Markstrom
The Register-Guard | July 9, 2005 |
A recruitment tool designed to woo potential applicants to succeed retiring City Manager Mike Kelly is ready for the City Council to review Monday.
Executive search specialist Bob Murray had each councilor's input before writing the city manger profile.
The draft brochure also includes information about the community, the city government's organizational structure and information about the compensation and benefits package.
The council will review the document during a work session at City Hall and vote whether to finalize it during the regular council meeting.
Russell Sadler -- Political parties lose touch with ordinary Oregonians
| The Register-Guard | July 6, 2005 |
One of the bigger unreported stories of the year is the steady "drip, drip, drip" of defections of traditional Republicans from their party.
The news of these Republican defections is being reported largely in local newspapers and circulated in the "blogosphere" -- that growing collection of Web sites that recirculates newspaper stories to a national audience. (more...)
Lars Larson -- Introducing a new column by radio guy Lars Larson
| The Springfield News | July 8, 2005 |
Editor's note: The Springfield News is proud to welcome Oregon pundit Lars Larson as a new columnist. Lars' column will run every Friday in the paper, and in it Lars will address mostly topics of state government outside the Portland metro area. Most Springfield-area residents are familiar with the Lars Larson show, carried on local radio station AM 1120 KPNW in the early afternoon. Lars is an articulate voice on local talk radio and likes to jokingly refer to himself as "part of the vast right-wing conspiracy." A hallmark of his show is a high degree of outspokenness -- when Lars minces words, he uses a double-bit ax to do it. That outspokenness comes through loud and clear in his column. Many folks reading his column will likely find at least one point to disagree on, and we strongly encourage readers to keep the dialogue lively by responding with letters to the editor.
Springfield News honcho Finn John e-mailed the other day to say he thought that talking for seven hours a day on the radio probably didn't give me a chance to get everything I want to say off my chest. He's right, of course. By the time you read this, most of the words I mumbled into the microphone are already halfway to Mars. So, he offered me the chance to share a few thoughts every week with you right here.
Consider the upside. When I make you mad on the radio, all you can do is pound the dashboard. Now, you can wrap me around the corpse of a fish or some coffee grounds and toss me in the garbage.
So, here we go. (more...)
Developer offers to donate funds for Florence parcel
By Winston Ross
The Register-Guard | July 12, 2005 |
FLORENCE -- This town's most famous dune found a possible savior on Monday night: one of Eugene's biggest developers.
Arlie & Co. Vice President John Musumeci has offered to donate up to $250,000 so the city of Florence can buy a coveted 80-acre parcel of property known for a giant sand dune lining the banks of the Siuslaw River near Old Town.
His condition: that the city never sell it or develop it, and that the man who lost it to Lane County in a tax foreclosure be allowed to remain on the property until he dies. (more...)
Governor accused of conflict
| The Associated Press | July 15, 2005 |
SACRAMENTO -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger came under fire Thursday for accepting millions of dollars from fitness magazines in a consulting deal that critics say represents a clear conflict of interest. (more...)