The Oregon University System and its classified workers have reached a tentative agreement on a 2-year contract, averting a threatened strike on the first day of classes. The agreement was reached at 2:30 Thursday morning .
Home canning is regaining popularity as part of the local food movement. If done right, families can enjoy home grown fruits, vegetables and even meat all through the winter. But if done wrong it can be devastating, if not deadly. A lawyer for the state of Washington recently learned that lesson the hard way.
Classes begin next week at Lane Community College. LCC President Mary Spilde talks with KLCC's Rachael McDonald about expectations for the coming year. The college is experiencing a drop in enrollment which means a possible $2 million budget deficit. But Spilde is hopeful the legislature will restore some state funding to community colleges when it meets for a special session in Salem Monday.
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Classes begin next week at state universities around Oregon. This year Oregon becomes one of 15 states with a tuition equity program. That means some young undocumented immigrants will be paying in-state tuition rates rather than out-of-state rates that are three to four times higher.
Filing opened earlier in September for candidates hoping to run for local office. There was a smattering of activity, but the only incumbent to declare candidacy early on was Lane County Commissioner Faye Stewart.
Now two more incumbents have made it official.
Eugene City Councilor George Poling says he will run for a fourth term. Poling represents Ward 4 – northeast Eugene – and currently serves on the LTD–EMX Steering committee and the Travel Lane County Committee.
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Matisyahu rose to stardom with his unique combination of reggae, hip-hop, rock, and spirituality. He then shocked the Chasidic Jewish community by shaving off his beard, letting go of the traditional clothes, and opening up his spirituality to other influences. His latest release, Spark Seeker, is a multi-layered album produced in Israel and Los Angeles with producer Kool Kojak. Before his performance at the Cuthbert Amphitheatre in Eugene, Matisyahu spoke to Eric Alan about his personal and musical evolutions. Passages from Spark Seeker are merged with the interview.
A pilot program from the Neighborhood Economic Development Corporation, or NEDCO, is focusing on helping seniors with home upgrades.
“Aging in Place” started a few months ago as collaborative effort between the state of Oregon and NEDCO. So far, they have allocated more than $175,000 to home improvement projects. NEDCO’s Community Lending Director Lynn Meyer says a lot of seniors have been dealing with deferred maintenance or medical issues.
Author Keith Scribner has been the recipient of a New York Times Notable Book of the Year award, as well as being chosen for the Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers Series. His new novel, The Oregon Experiment, details the life of a family moving to a small Oregon town from the East Coast. Eric Alan talks to Keith Scribner, before his coastal appearance in the Writers On the Edge Series.
The Eugene City Council Monday voted 6 to 2 to allow small homeless camps. I spoke with City Councilor Claire Syrett Tuesday to get more details on the ordinance. Syrett says it was proposed by City Manager John Ruiz who will bring the council a list of potential sites on public or private property or religious and non-profit organizations. Claire Syrett spoke with KLCC's Rachael McDonald.
First, it was Washington and Colorado. Now, Oregon is in the running to legalize marijuana. Supporters are gathering signatures for a pair of initiatives to allow pot for recreational purposes. But here’s something that hasn’t happened in any other state: Oregon lawmakers are actually thinking seriously about taking on the issue.
Halie Loren has just released a new recording in the U.S. called "Simply Love". It has already reached #1 on the Japanese billboard Jazz chart, having been released there some time ago. Ms. Loren visited the KLCC studio to play with her trio with Matt Treder on piano, and Mark Schneider on bass. She plays a CD release party this Saturday night at the Wildish Theatre in Springfield.
The Republican-controlled House has approved a bill to sharply increase logging in national forests. It includes a plan drafted by members of Oregon's congressional delegation to raise money for beleaguered counties.
The O & C Bill sets aside about million acres of Oregon's public land for preservation. Another million or so would be managed under the state forest practices act. Timber harvest revenue would help counties like Lane. Sid Leiken is Chair of the Lane County Board of Commissioners.
Last week, the House of Representatives voted to cut nearly 40 billion dollars from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAPS. The decision will influence more than 800,000 Oregonians currently enrolled in the program.
Take a drive down any highway in the Northwest, and you'll pass signs for dozens of small towns. There are more than 700 cities under 10,000 people in Washington, Oregon and Idaho. Many of these towns came about because of railroads or timber or mines and now they're trying to figure out what comes next. Today, we begin an occasional series on Northwest small towns.
A major collection of Arctic artifacts has found a new home at the University of Oregon's Museum of Natural and Cultural History. The collection of more than 5,000 artifacts is part of a transfer between the U of O and Western Oregon University. WOU decided to cease operation of its Jensen Museum this year because of financial problems. State Representative Nancy Nathanson from Eugene helped to secure more than 900,000 dollars as part of a statewide mission to preserve significant collections.
Nature has the power to destroy and to heal. Eight years ago Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast, hitting New Orleans especially hard. One family made the difficult choice to flee their place of birth for a new life in Oregon.
The eldest daughter has had a difficult time adjusting and finding her way. This summer she and her younger sister enrolled in a five-week job training program in the woods with Northwest Youth Corps.
August: Osage County is the Putlitzer Prize-winning play by Tracy Letts, which opens Oregon Contemporary Theatre's new season in Eugene. Eric Alan talks with director Tara Wibrew and OCT artistic director Craig Willis about the darkly comedic play, and its universally relevant reflections about
This week we’re looking at the illegal drug trade along the west coast. In this third story in our series, reporter Jill Replogle from Fronteras: The Changing America Desk, looks at San Diego, California’s role in the methamphetamine trade. More than 70 percent of methamphetamine illegally trafficked into the U.S. passes through U.S.-Mexico border crossings in the San Diego area. And as Jill reports, that’s despite laws in both countries designed to crack down on the drug.
Customs and Border Protection agents here at the San Ysidro Port of Entry face a tough balancing act.
White house budget officials say they will advise the president to veto a logging bill the House is discussing this week.
Lawmakers from the Northwest introduced the controversial bill.
Washington representative Doc Hastings wrote half of it. His part of creates a logging quota in each national forest.
Oregon house members wrote the other half. Their section would sign over about a million acres of forests in Western Oregon to a logging trust managed by the state.
Some of literature's most classic works have also been banned for various reasons at various times. The 31st annual Banned Books Week celebrates the freedom to read, with a week of events from September 22nd through 28th. As part of that, Reed College professor Pancho Savery gives a presentation entitled "To Cut or Not to Cut: Censorship in Literature," at the Newport Public Library. He speaks with Eric Alan about censorship, from the time of Homer to the current day.
Drug traffickers are doing big business up and down the West Coast. When you go by freeway, you’re driving a Silk Road of sorts for heroin, meth and cocaine. This export industry is evolving. Drug experts say heroin is back on the rise, fueled in part by prescription drug abuse. This week, in a series we call Border to Border Drugs, we’re reporting on drug trafficking rings that rely on every freeway in the West. In part two of the series, correspondent Chris Lehman reports on how the supply side of this business may change, but the demand remains strong.
The Eugene City Council heard from numerous members of the homeless community and their advocates at a packed meeting Monday night.
Last week, the Lane County Board of Commissioners closed Free Speech Plaza in Eugene. They said they needed to clean the plaza after people had pitched their tents there for three weeks protesting the city's camping ban. Angela Bartow, a member of the protest group SLEEPS, spoke at Monday's council meeting. She identified herself as un-housed, a mother and a student.
Oregon's coast range forests are a patchwork of private, state and federal land, much of it heavily logged for the past century. One pocket of old growth forest southwest of Eugene has avoided the chainsaws, mainly because of its steep terrain. There's a bill in congress to designate the 30-thousand acre tract as Wilderness. KLCC's Rachael McDonald took a guided hike to the secluded Devil's Staircase.
Our journey begins at the end of a logging road about 10 miles northeast of Reedsport.
