dkSez : : : : : : Don Kahle’s blog

Our community was saddened at the loss of Willamette Repertory Theatre, but sadness without action is pity. And Kirk Boyd and others deserve more than our pity. Ten years of struggle can teach us something, if we’re willing to learn. Some of those lessons can be learned by watching what Springfield is up to. The [...]

[Read more →]

I had two angles on the pothole issue, but I found a way to combine them. The first was the “Broken Windows” revelation, that pure logic won’t lead you to the best solutions when you are dealing with anything that involves a deteriorating infrastructure, be it windows in abandoned buildings, graffiti on fences, or street [...]

[Read more →]

One mayoral candidate says he got into the race because of them. Another mayoral candidate attacks the incumbent first on the same issue. The new city manager makes it known that they are a top priority for him as he settles into the job. Even characters in “Stone Soup,” a nationally syndicated cartoon strip drawn [...]

[Read more →]

I had coffee with new city manager Jon Ruiz last Friday. He asked for names of people he should call to learn more about the town and how to be effective. I gave him a list of maybe half a dozen names; people who wouldn’t be on the way to other people that he might [...]

[Read more →]

I’ve always marked the beginning of summer with the Willamette Valley Folk Festival, which always occurs the third weekend in May. Now, thanks to the Eugene Marathon, summer can begin in Eugene two weeks earlier. That’s only fair, because the official end of summer has always been marked by the Eugene Celebration and that event [...]

[Read more →]

I use two measures for a good City Club program: the quality of the questions from the audience, and the amount of time people linger afterwards because conversations that have been sparked are just that compelling. The format City Club is using for debates doesn’t allow for questions in the usual way, so that’s no [...]

[Read more →]

People tell me that I earn my keep around here by thinking outside the box. I don’t know exactly what that means. I don’t think anybody does. It might just be a polite way of saying that nobody understands me. But then I try to parse the phrase and square it with my experience. I [...]

[Read more →]

All Democrats in Oregon should be rooting for Hillary this week in Indiana and North Carolina. In fact, all Oregonians should be hoping the race for the Democratic nomination continues after Tuesday, because that means Oregon will get its turn in the national spotlight. Maybe we’ll even get a debate between these two. Obama doesn’t [...]

[Read more →]

Every Thursday I read to kids for an hour at Harris Elementary School. It’s often the highlight of my week. Start Making A Reader Today (S.M.A.R.T.) is an Oregon original and it’s something to be proud of. The stated goal for the program is not to teach kids to read, but to teach them to [...]

[Read more →]

Thomas Hacker was in town last week to show the public a master plan for what the new city hall might look like. It’s good work wasted, I’m afraid. By the city’s own calculations, the project will top $100 million and may approach double that, depending on when they get the money and whether building [...]

[Read more →]