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LETTERS IN THE EDITOR'S MAILBAG.


Byline: The Register-Guard

City lacks plan for downtown

Several readers have written demanding that Eugene City Council jump on the Beam and KWG KWG Kreditwesengesetz (German: banking act)
KWG Kids With Guns (band)
KWG Kaiser Wilhelm Gymnasium
KWG Kernkraftwerk Graben
 downtown development scheme.

The developers and their supporters insist that we have done nothing to save downtown and must act now. They have conveniently forgotten that we have already spent roughly $100 million renewing downtown.

A few years ago we invested our taxes in Broadway Place. Like numerous previous schemes, Broadway Place has disappointed. Meanwhile, downtown is improving - except for the part that has been treated to our development department's special blend Special Blend is a morning radio show airing weekdays from 7 AM to 10 AM on the community-based campus radio station CKCU-FM in Ottawa, Canada. The show is entirely produced by volunteers; each of the 15 weekly programming hours is hosted by a different volunteer, with  of Agent Orange.

Downtown outside the Urban Renewal District is thriving. It is renewing itself with little or no public subsidy. The Farmers' Union, East Broadway and the Fifth Street Market area are just a few examples.

Similarly, Corvallis refrained from throwing public money at private projects and has a successful downtown built by local investors. In a well-run city, I would be writing to praise or criticize a detailed plan supported by good evidence and exposed to public scrutiny. The problem is that, as yet, there is no plan.

Apparently we are to have meaningless public participation after the City Council has already committed roughly $35 million to these developers with a vain hope that they will come up with a plan that makes downtown better. We really need to have our council display enough backbone to resist the development department's pressure. We shouldn't buy another pig in the poke.

PAUL NICHOLSON Paul Nicholson (born June 16, 1954 in Listowel, Ontario) is a retired Canadian ice hockey forward who played for the Washington Capitals. He was originally selected in 1974 by the Capitals, and by the Michigan Stags of the World Hockey Association.  

Eugene

Troopers nowhere to be seen

On a recent trip to Reno, Nev., we took our annual route, Highway 58 to Highway 97 down to Klamath Falls Klamath Falls, city (1990 pop. 17,737), seat of Klamath co., SW Oreg., at the southern tip of Upper Klamath Lake; inc. 1905. It is the processing and distribution center of a lumber, livestock, and farm area.  and into California and to Alturas, and on into Reno.

In Oregon, we did not see any Oregon State Police troopers on the road all the way to California. In California, we must have seen a dozen California Highway Patrol highway patrol
n.
A state law enforcement organization whose police officers patrol the public highways.
 cars before we got to the Nevada border.

On the way home we saw one Oregon state trooper at the junction of Highway 97 and Highway 58. That was it all the way to Eugene.

We need more OSP (Online Service Provider) See online service.

OSP - Optical Signal Processor
 troopers on our Oregon roads and hope that the state gets this done in the next year to make our roads safer. The speeds on Highway 97 are terrible.

BOB FISHER For the chess player, see .

For the baseball player, see .
Bob Fisher is an American screenwriter living in Los Angeles, California.

Writing credits include Wedding Crashers, The Trouble with Normal and We're the Millers.
 

Eugene

Wastewater has little effect

Ann Guthrie's May 19 letter put a welcome spotlight on the health of the Willamette River Willamette River

River, northwestern Oregon, U.S. It flows north for 300 mi (485 km) into the Columbia River near Portland. Oregon's most populous cities are in its valley. The Fremont Bridge, a steel arch with a main span of 1,225 ft (373 m), crosses the river at Portland.
. However, measurements show that summer water temperatures are hardly affected by wastewater from Eugene-Springfield citizens.

For example, based on measurements by the Corps of Engineers, the Willamette at Eugene reached its yearly warmest on Oct. 7, 2004, at about 63 degrees. The river flow was 3510 cubic feet per second A cubic foot per second (also cfs, cusec and ft³/s) is an Imperial unit / U.S. customary unit volumetric flow rate, which is equivalent to a volume of 1 cubic foot flowing every second. . If our community discharged 49 million gallons of wastewater at 70 degrees that day - maximum dry-weather flow and discharge temperature, a worst-case scenario worst-case scenario nSchlimmstfallszenario nt  - then that discharge would have warmed the Willamette by less than one-fifth of one degree.

I calculate that since 2004, when the Corps began recording Willamette temperatures above Eugene, our community has probably never increased the river's summertime temperature by as much as half a degree. Rather than install massive, energy-gobbling refrigeration refrigeration, process for drawing heat from substances to lower their temperature, often for purposes of preservation. Refrigeration in its modern, portable form also depends on insulating materials that are thin yet effective.  units at the treatment plant, effort would be much better spent retrofitting Dorena, Lookout Point and Hills Creek Hills Creek is a name found in several places in the United States.

In Tioga County, Pennsylvania:
  • Hills Creek State Park, a Pennsylvania State Park in Tioga County
  • Hills Creek, a tributary of the Tioga River in Tioga County, Pennsylvania
 dams with variable-level overflows, as has been done at Cougar cougar: see puma.
cougar
 or puma or mountain lion or panther

Species (Puma concolor) of large, graceful cat that lives in a wide variety of habitats in the Americas, from southern Alaska to Patagonia.
 Reservoir.

Sadly, the Willamette will never return to pristine conditions: flood control, channelization chan·nel·ize  
tr.v. chan·nel·ized, chan·nel·iz·ing, chan·nel·iz·es
1. To make, form, or cut channels in.

2. To direct through a channel.
, riparian riparian adj. referring to the banks of a river or stream. (See: riparian rights)  farmlands and invasive species
See also: Introduced species


Invasive species is a phrase with many definitions. The first definition expresses the phrase in terms of non-indigenous species (e.g.
 make that certain. We must do what we can to improve the river, but the Department of Environmental Quality should properly evaluate environmental impacts and avoid wasteful projects which will make no perceptible difference in the river's health.

DON STAHL

Eugene

Citizens could refine tax ideas

Jessie Taylor and Bob Cherney's letters on May 20 are a valuable part of a much-needed conversation that more people should join.

Cherney correctly observes that all people who receive government services are not paying taxes to fund those services and that there is a need to equally distribute the tax burden to all citizens. Taylor correctly observes that taxation is a statewide problem. Both correctly recommend that a consumption tax is the answer and that it should be offset by relief from the property tax and that the income tax is not the answer.

That is a lot of agreement among three independent views. Would Cherney also agree with Taylor and me that a consumption tax should have a cap that only the voters can change? Would Taylor also agree with Cherney and me that all who receive services should pay taxes to fund those services and that the tax burden should be distributed to all citizens?

I have no doubt that a group of interested, nonpolitical citizens could study and agree upon a tax solution for Lane County. Such a group should be gathered, organized and encouraged by the county commissioners to hammer out a tax solution for Lane County.

DALE CRABTREE

Eugene

Water rate hike seems huge

I've heard for years that water might sometime be worth its weight in gold, but I didn't realize it would be so soon.

Does everyone realize that Eugene Water & Electric Board may be giving us the best tasting and cleanest water but we are facing a 20 percent increase in rates next year?

Reporter Jeff Wright Jeff Wright can refer to:
  • Jeff Wright (defensive tackle), former NFL player for the Buffalo Bills.
  • Jeff Wright (defensive back), former NFL player for the Minnesota Vikings.
 explained that a typical bill of $16.54 now would go to about $32 in 10 years (Register-Guard, May 21). With such a large number of Eugene residents on limited incomes, I have to ask why such a huge increase now? Surely it couldn't be just old pipes.

RUTH DUEMLER

Eugene

Illegals destroying our country

I would like to ask President Bush, Gov. Ted Kulongoski Theodore R. "Ted" Kulongoski (born November 5 1940, in rural Missouri[1]) is an American Democratic politician. Since 2003, he has served as the Governor of Oregon. He was re-elected in 2006. , Sens. Gordon Smith and Ron Wyden a question. I'd like to ask the same question of all politicians, union leaders and the editors of The Register-Guard. Why are they betraying us? Why are they allowing illegal behavior to destroy our country?

Why are they caving to big business in their efforts to assure cheap labor at the expense of the middle class worker and taxpayer?

Why are the unions promoting illegal immigration that takes work from their members and fills classrooms with illiterate, disruptive children?

Why is the state granting driver's licenses to those who are uninsured and unable to read and understand English?

Why haven't we shut down the meth meth
n.
Methamphetamine hydrochloride.
 traffic up the Interstate 5 corridor moved primarily by Mexican mules?

What's in it for the editors of The Register-Guard? The immigration immigration, entrance of a person (an alien) into a new country for the purpose of establishing permanent residence. Motives for immigration, like those for migration generally, are often economic, although religious or political factors may be very important.  bill currently being debated in Congress is a travesty and amounts to amnesty. If the agriculture industry needs employees, let farmers go to the border, hire them, bus them to the job site and then be responsible for returning them. They might consider paying a decent wage to legal citizens.

We must protect our borders and demand that employers hire only legal immigrants. There's no need to deport de·port  
tr.v. de·port·ed, de·port·ing, de·ports
1. To expel from a country. See Synonyms at banish.

2. To behave or conduct (oneself) in a given manner; comport.
 anyone. Simply deny illegals jobs, welfare and other benefits and they'll go home on their own. If they don't like it in their own country, let them fix it instead of destroying ours.

TOM PREUSS

Creswell

County scare tactics didn't work

Well, here we are. Lane County Commissioner Faye Stewart said that there would be 300 job cuts if he and his colleagues didn't enact the income tax. A few weeks later it was 250, then 200.

You know, it's funny, I was looking at the Lane County job site on the Web page, and the county is still hiring - even the sheriff's department. I guess human resources is telling the new hires that the job is only temporary.

Their scare tactics didn't work. So now we are going to hear how it's all the voters' fault for the next month and a half. Commissioner Bill Dwyer was on KPNW radio recently almost screaming that you get what you pay for and that if you need a cop and he doesn't show up just look in the mirror. Blah, blah, blah.

Here is the county's top priority: public safety. That's No. 1. Not buying a gravel pit out in Glenwood or a building for the Lane County Public Health Department. It is public safety. Lane County's leaders knew this coming in and they just flat didn't do anything about it.

Right now I couldn't care less - close the jail down, let the criminals out. The commissioners shouldn't blame the voters; they should blame themselves.

GLENN McMULLEN

Eugene

City could save street money

Regarding the editorial on street repair (Register-Guard, May 20):

I do not understand how the city cannot have enough money for street repairs when it has enough to continually build all kinds of concrete curbs, dividers and myriad other street obstructions all over Eugene. The most absurd of all is Polk Street between 24th and 28th avenues.

Five years ago, on a rainy night, my wife hit one of those dividers. Two wheels were broken and two tires blown out. Luckily no one was coming the other way as she careened all over the road. Cost of repairs was a tow and over $800.

Notice all the divots in those jutting jut  
v. jut·ted, jut·ting, juts

v.intr.
To extend outward or upward beyond the limits of the main body; project:
 concrete curbs. The ones on Oak Street between 18th and 11th avenues are really telling. Talk to any of the tire dealers and they will tell you of a huge market in replacing broken wheels, more in Eugene than any other city. And how many accidents?

And we need more taxes to repair the streets? Stop spending millions on useless, dangerous concrete curbs and use that money for repairs.

JIM Jim

Miss Watson’s runaway slave; Huck’s traveling companion. [Am. Lit.: Huckleberry Finn]

See : Escape
 SHOWKER

Eugene

Mail letters to: Mailbag, P.O. Box 10188, Eugene, OR 97440-2188

Fax: 338-2828

E-mail: rgletters@guardnet.com
COPYRIGHT 2007 The Register Guard
No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
Copyright 2007, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.

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Title Annotation:Letters
Publication:The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR)
Article Type:Letter to the editor
Date:May 30, 2007
Words:1617
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