Ted Taylor's blog

A CITIZEN INITIATIVE was filed today (April 8) to try to force a vote on EWEB’s $85.5 million bond sale. If enough signatures are gathered, the measure will be on the Sept. 16 special election ballot. The window for gathering signatures is already half over. The group needs to gather 4,208 valid signatures by April 28, which a daunting task.

Another challenge is that the public does not appear to be particularly excited about the financing of EWEB’s new facilities at its Roosevelt site. People are more interested in what happens with the EWEB property along the river that will be sold to help pay for the new facilities. EWEB will keep it’s current headquarters building, but a large tract of land between EWEB and the Riverfront Research Park will become available for development.

Lance Robertson, spokesman for EWEB, says if the measure is approved, it could delay construction of the new facilities by a year, costing an extra $4 million to $6 million. The construction bonds are scheduled to be sold in 2009, 2010 and 2011.

Is Air America really leaving Lane County? We just heard today (Nov. 27) that Air America content might remain on the local airwaves despite the pending sale of KOPT AM 1600 to OPB. Sadie Dressekie of Churchill Media tells us Churchill “has been in discussions with a number of parties that are interested in taking over the format and putting it back on KOPT’s original signal, 1450 AM.” The frequency currently broadcasts Deportes Radio, 24-hour sports in Spanish.

Churchill’s other station is the LaX network, broadcasting Spanish language news, talk and music at 660 AM in the Eugene-Springfield area.

The Bus Project’s monthly Brewhaha political debate in cahoots with Eugene Weekly is happening from 6 to 8 pm Wednesday, Nov. 28 at Davis’ Restaurant on Broadway downtown.

Last month we debated the pros and cons of ballot measures, and this month we’re looking at “What the (Bleep) Happens Next with Our Downtown?”

The list of speakers is still being finalized, but regardless it promises to be a lively discussion, looking at both lofty visions and practical possibilities.

Tonight (Tuesday) the City Council is meeting with developers to talk about various options now that the big project is off the table. So Wednesday’s Brewhaha should be a good opportunity to get up to speed on “what the (bleep) happens next.”

Breaking news: We heard from a reliable source today (Monday, Nov. 26) that KOPT AM 1600 has been sold to Oregon Public Broadcasting. KOPT will become another public radio station in partnership with KLCC. A formal press release announcing the sale is expected Tuesday, Nov. 27. No other details were available at this writing.

KOPT was owned by Churchill Media and was an Air America affiliate. The station also had a strong local news and progressive talk show element until the lay-offs in August of a string of award-winning local broadcast journalists. National programming has continued. Will the new KOPT revive local progressive talk radio? We certainly hope so.

Here’s a bit a breaking news with interesting timing regarding downtown Eugene. We heard today (Monday, Nov. 19) that the old Symantec Building, aka Bon Marché, at 175 W. Broadway, is getting a major new tenant, a call center for Enterprise Rent-A-Car, National Car Rental and Alamo Rent A Car.

The facility will employ about 200 people and serve customers of all three car rental companies, according to a statement from Jack Roberts of the Lane Metro Partnership. Hiring is set to begin in February and about 120 of the 200 positions are expected to be full-time.

The announcement follows the defeat at the ballot box of a city measure that would have subsidized a large redevelopment of downtown, mostly along Broadway, but not including the building owned by Connor & Woolley at 175 W. Broadway. The three-story building is on the tax rolls valued at about $5.5 million.