HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Newsletter - 02/16/06
EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER
February 16, 2006
City of Eugene
777 Pearl Street, Room 105
Eugene, Oregon 97401-2793
(541) 682-5010
(541) 682-5414 (FAX)
www.eugene-or.gov
IN THIS WEEK’S EDITION
BETHEL DRIVE PEDESTRIAN PATH CONSTRUCTION UNDERWAY
BUSH ADMINISTRATION BUDGET INCLUDES ACQUISITION FUNDING FOR EUGENE
READIN’ IN THE RAIN AUTHOR AT HULT CENTER
LIBRARY “AUTHORITIES” PROJECT A SUCCESS
AROUND THE CITY
Bethel Drive Pedestrian Path Construction Underway
The contractor has begun work on a pedestrian
path along Bethel Drive. The five-foot-wide path
will be located on the east side of Bethel Drive
between the Red Cross facility at the north end of
the path and Roosevelt Boulevard on the south
end. Depending on the weather, the contractor,
KLH Construction of Keizer, may begin pouring
concrete this week.
The path was identified at a Trainsong Neighbors
meeting as a much needed improvement for the
neighborhood. It will improve pedestrian safety on
a busy street. In a separate but related project,
the City, in partnership with Lane Transit District,
is constructing a pedestrian island near the
intersection of Bethel Drive and Roosevelt
Boulevard.
As a neighborhood improvement in an eligible neighborhood, the Bethel Drive path project is funded
primarily by Community Development Block Grants funds. For more information about the construction
project, contact Project Manager Chuck Mueller, Public Works Engineering, 682-5295. For information
about the Community Development Block Grant program call Linda Dawson in the Planning and
Development Department, 682-5071.
Bush Administration Budget Includes Acquisition Funding for Eugene
The Bush Administration has included funding to purchase habitat in the south Eugene hills in its
proposed Forest Legacy Program FY2007 budget. The Forest Legacy Program is a partnership between
the United States Forest Service, state and local governments, and private landowners. It identifies and
protects ecologically important forest habitat threatened by possible development or unsustainable
practices. The City of Eugene submitted a request to the Forest Legacy Program for $460,000 in federal
funds to be leveraged with local funds in order to purchase a 24-acre parcel in the south Eugene hills that
has both high recreational and habitat value. If the budget is approved, the funding will help conserve a
mosaic of habitats including remnants of imperiled upland prairie and oak savannah. The project will
also protect scenic views, provide for a safe trailhead access point and better connectivity between the
south Eugene ridgeline and the west Eugene wetlands, and assist in the City’s efforts to more effectively
manage oak-dominant parklands.
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Since its inception in 1992, the Forest Legacy Program has conserved over one million acres across 33
states and territories. The final congressional budget is expected to be approved in fall of 2006. For
more information contact Parks and Open Space Landscape Architect Philip Richardson at 682-4906 or
philip.s.richardson@ci.eugene.or.us.
Readin' in the Rain Author at Hult Center
This February, Readin’ in the Rain invited the
Eugene/Springfield community to read, talk about, and
celebrate Crescent, Diana Abu-Jaber’s award-winning love
story set in L.A.’s Arab-American community. Starting with
a bellydancing extravaganza at the Downtown Eugene
Public Library, this year's Readin’ in the Rain events have
been enjoyed by enthusiastic crowds.
On Thursday, February 23, at 7 p.m., Abu-Jaber will visit
Eugene for a free reading at the Hult Center. An engaging
and entertaining reader, she will share passages from her
novel, which The Washington Post Book World described
as “a sensual feast.” Crescent won the 2004 PEN Center
USA Award for Literary Fiction and the Before Columbus
Foundation’s American Book Award. Abu-Jaber’s other
works include Arabian Jazz, winner of the 1994 Oregon Book Award and nominee for the PEN/Faulkner
Award, and The Language of Baklava, a 2006 Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association award-winner
and finalist for the Oregon Book Award. According to Kirkus Reviews, “What might have been the stuff
of any romance is forged into a powerful story about the loneliness of exile and the limits of love.” In a
starred review, Booklist reported “Abu-Jaber’s language is miraculous.”
Warmly remembered locally for her time on the University of Oregon faculty, Abu-Jaber is currently a
writer-in-residence and associate professor at Portland State University living in Portland and Miami.
While visiting Eugene/Springfield, she will also conduct a professional staff training and college-level
writing workshop sponsored by Readin’ in the Rain. Other opportunities to meet Abu-Jaber include a
fundraising “Dinner with Diana,” Saturday, February 25, 7:30 - 9:30 p.m. at 5th Street Public Market,
hosted by Café Soriah (tickets are $15 or greater donation and are available at the UO Bookstore and
Tsunami Books).
Now in its fifth year, Readin' in the Rain is organized and sponsored by a consortium of organizations
and businesses including Eugene Public Library, Springfield Public Library, University of Oregon
Libraries, Lane Community College Library, Fern Ridge Public Library, Northwest Christian College
Kellenberger Library, Hult Center for the Performing Arts, Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association, UO
Bookstore, Borders Books, Music, and Café, Eugene Barnes & Noble, Smith Family Bookstore, Tsunami
Books, Café Soriah, Harold, Leahy and Kieran, and W. W. Norton & Company. For a complete Readin’
in the Rain calendar of events, visit www.read-rain.org, or call 682-5450.
Library "Authorities" Project a Success
In January after months of complex preparation by Library Technical Services staff, the "authorities"
project was completed. Explains TS Manager Sam Richmond, “Authorities are the catalog's hidden
resource for organizing entries; for example, catalogers use authority records to track relationships
between different names for the same author—such as Mark Twain and Samuel Clemens—to make sure
they cross-reference properly. The update means improved searchability and better all-around
performance of the catalog.”
An unavoidable side effect of this update was a period of three days during which returned materials
could not be checked in as usual. Impressively, once the catalog was online again, Circulation staff
caught up from the backlog in only four days, while also handling the current incoming returns. This
achievement is due in part to a new shelving procedure proposed by LA1’s Priscilla McCool and Jon
Levitt, and honed by a logistics planning group including Wendy Beck, Jeff Blonde, Marilyn Kent, Lemia
Mahayni, Betsy McCluer, Suzanne Schmidt, Meg Stewart-Smith, Rick Slama, Terri Theobald, and Honey
Vizer. The enthusiastic teamwork of all involved has contributed to this immediate success, with all
signs indicating that the new system will meet its goal of speeding bookdrop-to-shelf turnaround and
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lessening staff’s physical stress. For more information, call Jeff Blonde, assistant circulation supervisor
at 682-5046.
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