BEAVERTON, Ore. – A new invention could revolutionize solar energy – and it was made by a 12-year-old in Beaverton.

Despite his age, William Yuan has already studied nuclear fusion and nanotechnology, and he is on his way to solving the energy crisis…(more)

Alan Grosso, another frequent conservative initiative pusher, sponsored Measure 63, which prohibits State and Local governments from requiring building permits for residential or farm projects under $35,000 (with annual increases for inflation). The $35,000 limit renews every calendar year, potentially allowing for “bridging” projects over two years to reach a $70,000 maximum. The Measure does require compliance with height and setback limitations, does not allow for the addition of a new story to a house, and requires the use of a licensed electrical contractor. The Measure would reduce local government revenue by $4 million to $8 million per year and $450,000 to $750,000 for state revenue, largely from lost permit fees. It would also require disclosure of unpermitted additions to the buyer upon a sale of the property.
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Usually we don’t talk about National politics on the Lane Bus Blog, but when a candidate with these credentials enters the ring, you have to stand up and take notice.

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about transportation.  Not just for Arcimoto (which aims to make a difference on the individual level), but also for mass transit.  Buses are nice and all, but all the cool cities have good light rail too.

So I thought I’d put out a proposal for how Eugene could solve many of its people transit issues (initially in west Eugene), fuel infill in the center of the city, remove the need for additional parking at the new UO arena, and collaborate with other local municipalities to remove the need for extra vehicle miles.

I call this proposal “Southern Willamette Intercity Fast Transit” or SWIFT.  Last night I put together a google map of the proposal… check it!

The first key to the proposal would be to utilize existing ununsed or underused rail- initially the line from Coos Bay to Eugene (and particularly the stretch from Veneta to Eugene) that is currently in the process of being abandoned by its owner, Rail America.

Right before this line hits the main rail line through Eugene, it could be diverted to run down Blair Blvd, and from there through downtown and to the university.  It’s possible (though not likely) that the rail lines currently buried under Blair could be reused.  See, Eugene used to have a street rail system back in the day:

Eugene on rails!

The next phase of the project would extend the rail service line to Springfield along either the EMX line, existing rail or otherwise.

Phase 2 of the SWIFT plan would call for a second line running from Oregon State University in Corvallis, down the existing rail along Hwy 99, adding a new stretch of rail between Junction City and Monroe, and linking up with the first SWIFT line.  An extension to this line would run from Glenwood to Cottage Grove.

This idea also calls for the creation of the Oregon Transit Research Center, a collaboration between UO, OSU and federal, state and local governments.  Sited at the rail junction in west Eugene, this would be a hub for engineers from OSU and designers and planners from the UO to craft forward-looking solutions to Oregon’s transportation needs.

Anyone who has an interest in getting involved in seeing what’s involved in developing an idea like this can drop me a line.

What is 350?

Yes, it is my IQ, good answer!

350 is also the number leading scientists say is the safe upper limit for carbon dioxide–measured in “Parts Per Million” in our atmosphere. 350 PPM–it’s the number humanity needs to get back to as soon as possible to avoid runaway climate change.

Visit http://350.org/ for more info.

Thanks to Blue Oregon, where I poached this from

Let’s take a little breather after a long night of election results watching!

Harrison Ford is doing some interesting things to talk about slash and burning rain forests. What is equally disturbing is that a 65 year old man has a better upper body than I do!

If you are able to give some time in these last days to put her over the top and let her continue building the Eugene we all want to live in, see the times and places below!

In my opinion the most important race for this May 20 election is the one for Mayor of Eugene.  Just for the fact that the two candidates come from two very different sides of the political landscape.  If you didn’t know the Lane Bus Project supports Kitty Piercy for this post!

Monday, May 12th:

Sign waving-
Ferry St Bridge and 18th & Chambers - 4-5:45pm
Phoning-
SEIU Office (basement of Oregon Community Credit Union, corner of 11th and Ferry) - 6-9pm

Tuesday, May 13th - Thursday, May 15th:

Phoning-
SEIU Office (basement of Oregon Community Credit Union, corner of 11th and Ferry) - 6-9pm

Friday, May 16th:

Sign waving-
Morning-Ferry St Bridge- 7:30-9am
Afternoon-Ferry St Bridge and 18th & Chambers - 4-5:45pm

Saturday, May 17th:
Bus Project GOTV Canvass! Monroe Park (10th and Monroe)
10am - Meet Up 11am - Canvass

Sunday, May 18th:
Final GOTV Canvass- University Park (24th and University) - 1pm

Monday, May 19th:
Last Night of Phoning!
SEIU Office (basement of Oregon Community Credit Union, corner of 11th and Ferry) - 6-9pm

Let me know if you can help! Contact Ashley at 541-968-8269 or ashley@kittypiercy.com.

Coming soon to a hip downtown restaurant near you: Get on the Budget! The Bus Project and Eugene Weekly will showcase the lane county budget and four candidates for Lane County Commissioner.

What do you want to know about candidates Bobby Green (incumbent), Rob Handy, Steve Sherbina and Nadia Sindi?

Come ask a question!

Wednesday, April 30th
7-9pm
Davis’ Restaurant
94 W. Broadway (corner of Broadway and Olive)
Eugene

(Davis’ is an all ages venue with food and beverages for kids and adults)

We made fun of this a while back, but the amount of excess waste caused by bottled water is real. I am bad about drinking enough water in the first place, but I have changed my ways and only drink out of reusable water bottles. Check out this video and this Article about options to cut back on the bottled water waste.

My company just gave us all some nice aluminum bottles so we don’t waste bottles…Colbert has gone an alternate route!