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Home My WebLink About05/10/12 - City Council Newsletter EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER May 10, 2012 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 EDITION OPERATION VIGILANT GUARD THE CITY SINGERS LIVE – TWICE NEW SERVICE SPEEDS POPULAR BOOKS TO READERS AT EUGENE PUBLIC LIBRARY KIDCITY’S SUPPORT FOR RELAY FOR LIFE HOLDS LIFE LESSONS KATHMANDU DELEGATION TO STUDY EUGENE PROGRAMS AROUND THE CITY Operation Vigilant Guard Eugene Emergency Management in partnership with the Oregon National Guard and the University of Oregon (UO) conducted a full-scale exercise on May 2. The exercise was funded by a Department of Homeland Security Grant and is designed to test the interoperability of local and state first responders and the National Guard. The exercise simulated a bleacher collapse at the 2012 Olympic Trials on the UO campus causing a mass casualty incident (MCI). City of Eugene emergency personnel joined forces with local, county, state, and federal agencies to conduct a mass evacuation drill using several Oregon National Guard Chinook and medevac Blackhawk helicopters. The full-scale exercise featured military personnel pretending to be injured, groups carrying injured personnel to and from helicopter land zones located at Alton Baker Park, and UO Howe Field and soccer field. The U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials is the largest national championship track event and results in the final selection of the athletes who will represent Team USA at the London Olympic Games in 2012. The City of Eugene has hosted the 10-day Olympic Track & Field event four times: in 1972, 1976, 1980, and 2008. Based on the 2008 experience, the City of Eugene and the surrounding community anticipate a similar impact, with an estimated 1,000+ athletes and over 40,000 Track Town Festival attendees during the 10-day, 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials. The Olympic Trials are scheduled from June 21 – July 1, 2012. Please click on The Official Site for the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Track and Field for more information. For questions regarding the article, please contact Stacy Burr, Emergency Management Risk Services Division, at 541-682-5850 or at Stacy.m.burr@ci.eugene.or.us. The City Singers LIVE - Twice The City Singers will share programs of madrigals, art songs and popular tunes twice this month: Saturday, May 12, at th 2 p.m., in the Atrium (northeast corner of 10 and Olive) as part of the Emerald Chamber Players series; and Thursday, May 24, at 6 p.m. in the Downtown Library Rotunda. City Singers The are an a cappella chorus comprising City of Eugene employees - current and retired - who volunteer their lunch hour each Thursday to sing together. Begun approximately 13 years ago, the group has had participation EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 1 May 10, 2012 from each City department at one time or another. They perform a variety of music including folk songs, doo wop, madrigals, popular ballads, and songs from around the world. They have performed for the Mayor's State of the City Address, the NAACP Freedom Fund Dinner, First Friday @ the Library, SHOcase at the Hult Center, and Human Rights Day. They also perform for community centers and retirement homes, employee and volunteer recognition events, and Interfaith Services at First Christian Church. The singers have in common a love for music, and a belief in its therapeutic benefits for their audiences as well as for themselves. For more information, please contact choir director Maureen Robeson at maureen.t.robeson@ci.eugene.or.us or call 541-682-5336. New Service Speeds Popular Books to Readers at Eugene Public Library For those who have wanted to read a new bestseller – and found there was a waiting list at the library - there is now the Eugene Public Library’s Lucky Day shelves, open at all three library locations. Lucky Day books are extra copies of new and popular titles that are available to borrow immediately. They have bright blue Lucky Day labels and are displayed together for easy browsing. The Lucky Day service includes books for adults, teens, and children. At the Downtown Library, find the Lucky Day books next to the Check Out desk. There are Lucky Day shelves at the Bethel and Sheldon branches, too. Each cardholder can borrow up to two Lucky Day books at a time. In order to keep lots of Lucky Day titles available, no renewals are allowed. As Library Director Connie Bennett explains, “We want to deliver the books local readers want most, as quickly as possible. The new Lucky Day service will help make that happen.” For more information, contact Eugene Public Library at 541-682-5450 or www.eugene-or.gov/library. KidCity’s Support for Relay for Life Holds Life Lessons Children in Youth and Family Service’s KidCity program will hold a Family Fun Carnival to support Relay for Life 2012 on Friday, May 18, 6-8 p.m. at Sheldon Community Center. Youth in KidCity’s school-age programs selected Relay for Life 2012 as their community project and worked all year to support the organization that celebrates the lives of people who have battled cancer, remembers loved ones lost, and encourages students to eat healthy and get active. Games at the Family Fun Carnival are just 10 cents per play. Dinner for the first 350 guests is free. Free swimming at Sheldon Pool, too. For more information, call Kim McManus at 541-682-5312. Kathmandu Delegation to Study Eugene Programs A delegation from Eugene’s Sister City of Kathmandu, Nepal will visit the Eugene area next week, to learn about local solid waste and recycling programs, and to seek advice about technological issues. The eight-person delegation will be led by Kathmandu Executive Officer and Mayor Kedar Bahadur Adhikari. Kathmandu became Eugene’s first Sister City 37 years ago. Civil war in Nepal has caused a major influx of thousands of people into the city of Kathmandu from outlying areas, and the city is now suffering the effects of that population increase. The leaders of Kathmandu reached out for assistance and, because Eugene and Lane County have great experience in these areas, the local Sister City Committee invited a delegation of Kathmandu city officials to visit Eugene to learn about how these services are provided here. The group will spend three days, May 14 - 17, touring City of Eugene and Lane County solid waste and recycling offices and facilities, as well as local businesses, in order to gain a full view of effective solid waste management programs. A goal of the local Sister City Committee is to create ongoing professional connections between Eugene and Kathmandu city offices to assist Kathmandu with its serious infrastructure concerns. The Kathmandu officials will also visit City of Eugene Information Services for advice and assistance. Providing city services in Kathmandu has become increasingly difficult because of the huge increase in population in the city. Computers are widely available and used in Kathmandu; if the city government can begin to provide services such as building permits, licenses, etc., via the internet, this will be a significant benefit to the public. In addition, because Nepal is a new democracy, the delegation will also visit Lane County Elections offices on Election Day, May 15, to observe how Oregon elections are handled by mail and computer systems. EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 2 May 10, 2012 As a complementary cultural event, an opening reception for the Chitrakar Exhibition of historical photographs of Nepal will be held on Monday, May 14, from 6 to 9 p.m. at the New Zone Gallery, 164 West Broadway. The photographs were taken over three generations beginning in 1890; 45 large-format prints from the original glass plate negatives will be on display through the month of May. For more information about the Sister City program, please contact Beth Forrest at 541-682-5882 or email beth.l.forrest@ci.eugene.or.us. For information on the group’s itinerary and additional background on the Sister City committee, please see www.redi-org.com/EKSCC . EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 3 May 10, 2012