For those of you in the beer world who keep tabs on the Brewers Association or the craft beer scene, you may have heard: Goose Island, a craft beer brewery, has just been bought by Anheuser-Busch (newly acquired by InBev). What this means is that Goose Island beer could turn into the same watered down piss that AB already brews and bottles. Typically the bigger company will sacrifice good ingredients like real hops, malt and barely to replace it with cost effective extracts and artificial flavors. Speaking of beer tasting like piss, the Brewmaster Greg Hall himself brewed his own concoction of beer the other night. Huffington Post reports:
It’s been a real up-and-down couple of weeks for Greg Hall.
The brewmaster at Goose Island announced in late March that he’d be leaving that role, as the Chicago-based craft brewer was bought up by Anheuser-Busch for a hefty $39 million. He’ll be leaving for an undisclosed new project, according to statements at the time.
And last Friday night, Hall celebrated his 45th birthday at Bangers and Lace, a self-described craft beer and sausage bar that Time Out Chicago recently named its Best New Bar.
Unfortunately, according to the Chicago Tribune, the celebration got a bit out of hand. In a conversation with the Tribune on Monday, Hall didn’t deny accusations made by the Bangers staff that he urinated in two beer glasses and left them at the bar.
Looks like someone partied a little too hard. The intoxicated Brewmaster made his father’s brewery (of 23 years) become known for more than just beer the other night while celebrating his 45th Birthday at Wicker Parks Bangers & Lace. Folks, this is quite the drunken tale.
Hall unveiled a brew all his own: pissing in two pint glasses. After throwing a few back Hall proceeded to go behind the counter of the bar and proceeded to urinate in two glasses, leaving them on the bar. At this point Hall probably should have discreetly left, but he had to be escorted from the premises by staff to his car (hopefully he wasn’t driving).
Yes we can all laugh at the silly over-the-top drunken escapades of a man threw one too many back, but there is a bitter note to this story. What beer lover might not realize is that Hall’s company has just sold out to a corporate giant which has a monopoly on almost half of the beer industry. As Huffington Post points out though, craft breweries like Goose Island are doing well, but I guess if I was offered that much money I would probably allow myself to be bought too.
John Hall, the head of Goose Island, said that the company was quickly outgrowing its capacities, having to limit production of some of its most popular beers, and that the deal with Anheuser-Busch would help the company continue to expand. “This agreement helps us achieve our goals with an ideal partner who helped fuel our growth, appreciates our products and supports their success,” Hall said, in a statement on the buyout.
Looking at the real numbers, small breweries are popping up all across the country, the BA lists 85 breweries just in Oregon. Understandably Goose Island was growing but as the rest of the HP article points out, small breweries are gaining attention while bigger companies are losing it.
As the Wall Street Journal points out, craft brewing has been an exceptionally solid performer in an otherwise unexceptional beer market in recent years. Craft beer sales were up 11 percent last year, while the broader industry was down one percent.
I do not disagree with smaller breweries expanding, but typically with these sorts of expansions in the beer industry, it leads to a more generic product using lower quality ingredients just to cut costs. It also moves the flow of money from within a state economy into the wider commercial economy, which results in states losing money to outside sources. Whether it is sourcing ingredients for the product from farther away or giving jobs to workers who are out-of-state, it hurts the local economy.
When a consumer buys beer from a small or local brewery they are more likely to receive a fresher, higher quality product because the ingredients used in the beer were sourced locally (fresh is good). Sourcing ingredients locally means that brewers are supporting local farmers, creating a co-op effect within the community. Radical thoughts: local people stimulating local economy by buying products that are made locally. I am sorry for the locavore commotion train, but the dollar signs make sense.
Too lazy / perpetually hung over to keep up with what’s going on in our wonderful state over spring break? Let the OC do it for you. Here’s the first installment of news briefs from around the state (that we haven’t covered already).
UO News
– GQ magazine named fans of the Oregon ducks basketball team as being some of the worst in the nation, citing “numerous violations of the ‘Code of ConDUCKt.'” The Ducks came in at number 14, ranked as just slightly more annoying than fans of the LA Lakers.
“With a firm dedication to taking taunts too far, the Oregon Duck faithful have a storied history of degeneracy that can be traced all the way back to the days when someone beaned legendary coach John Wooden with a half-eaten apple.”
Storied history of degeneracy, or promoting healthy dietary choices for our most esteemed visiting members? You decide.
– A group of UO students alerted local media and stormed the beaches of the Jaqua Center yesterday, asserting their right as UO students to use lavish but otherwise unexciting services reserved for student athletes. The end.
– The Oregon Ducks football team has been chosen as grand marshal of the 2011 Spirit Mountain Casino Grand Floral Parade. Organizers cited “has brought unprecedented pride, spirit, and enthusiasm to the state of Oregon and the Northwest.” (more…)
Peter Wong of the Statesman-Journal writes about possible amendments being made to the state constitution allowing law enforcement officials to set up roadblocks and the measure that would call checkpoints to a vote :
It was law enforcement against civil libertarians Monday on the issue of whether voters should be asked to change the Oregon Constitution to enable police to set up checkpoints to deter drunken drivers.
Along with Washington and Idaho, Oregon is among the dozen states that do not allow such roadblocks. The state Supreme Court, by a 5-2 vote in 1987, disallowed them as a violation of the state constitutional guarantee against unreasonable searches and seizures without “probable cause.” The other 38 states do allow them.
House Joint Resolution 25, sponsored by Rep. Andy Olson, R-Albany — a retired state police lieutenant — and others, would put the issue to the voters. Previous attempts to do so have not made it past the Legislature.
Drivers in Oregon wanting to drink on the road may have to become more clever than popping breath mints to evade DUII citation and arrest. State voters have not wanted checkpoints in the past, but the latest bill announcement of House Joint 25 not only calls personal liberty into question but also driver protection. Rep. Andy Olson is presenting the proposal along with House Bill 3133 (HJ’s sister bill), which would change Oregon constitution to allow sobriety checkpoints throughout the state.
Cheap Kelly stopped at a favorite local pizza shop on Christmas Eve. He was served two of the freshest possible slices. It is a small town, Chip. In your moment of luck and fame and good fortune (and obscene contract money), it seems like you might have enough class to leave a tip.
Until then, your name is Cheap Kelly. Go Ducks.
Editor’s note: It may have been Chip’s doppelganger.
The Register-Guard is reporting that LTD is trying to avoid major cuts in the new fiscal year. Matt Cooper reports:
After the second-largest cut to service in its history this year, Lane Transit District plans to tap federal money and delay major projects to avoid another big cut in 2012, officials said.
Buffeted by stagnant payroll-tax revenue and rising personnel costs, the district in April cut $3 million from the current fiscal year, which ends next June, in part by eliminating six public bus routes and four school routes. The district said then that it planned to cut $3.5 million more — about 8.5 percent of this year’s $41 million general fund — in the 2012-2013 fiscal year.
But the district’s financial outlook has improved considerably thanks to federal grants that have been awarded at higher levels than expected, spokesman Andy Vobora said.
This is good news, really. Whether the good fortune will last or not remains to be seen, but at least someone is looking out for the multitudes of UO students who use the bus to get to school.
The ASUO certainly isn’t.
The ASUO Senate passed an (illegal) 4.31% benchmark for the Athletics and Contracts Finance Committee at its November 17 meeting, reflecting full funding for the currently-defunded Oregon Student Public Interest Research Group and zero percent growth for the LTD contract, which allows students to ride the bus by flashing their student IDs.
First of all, zero percent growth for the LTD contract is a pipe dream. The ASUO negotiates its contract with the bus service based on projected enrollment numbers and a group rate — currently set around $15.69 per person. The contract was recently changed, however, to account for existing enrollment instead of projected enrollment. (Editorial: by projecting our own enrollment, we could get a better deal by low-balling the number. No longer, said LTD.) The 2011-12 numbers will be based on student enrollment in the 2010-11 school year. Every year the group rate goes up a little reflecting a huge increase when that number is multiplied by the number of enrolled students (currently over 23,300).
With this benchmark, the ASUO professed that it doesn’t care if students can get to school, so long as their “greater needs” (?) are being met by paying a statewide lobbying organization for lobbyists time — specifically while they’re NOT lobbying, as per OSPIRG’s 501(c)(3) tax designation.
But really, benchmarks are non-binding. And that’s the beauty of all this. When the LTD contract is done and negotiated — well over the zero percent the Senate assumed — there won’t even be room for OSPIRG in the budget while still growing by less than the legal cap of seven percent. Last year, the ASUO Senate gave the ACFC a zero percent total benchmark, and they hit seven percent anyway.
Why, you ask? LTD.
LTD is going to keep needing more money from students. The ASUO’s is the largest contract LTD works with, and without that money, they would be in real trouble and students and Eugene residents would have a significantly more difficult time getting around.
Additionally, LTD is one of the most visible and highly used services that the incidental fee funds. The only other service that is more visible is the contract with the Athletic Department.
The ASUO is divided on how these types of services should be handled. Last year’s ACFC chair Alex McCafferty saw the demand for student football tickets and created a shared responsibility model where some season tickets would be up for sale at the beginning of football season while a smaller amount would be up for grabs before each game.
Some senators think that LTD should be handled the same way. Obviously, none of these students use the bus. The ASUO’s contract with LTD helps students gain access to the university. When there are big pushes to take away what little student parking remains on campus, the bus is invaluable to students who live too far to bike (or who, indeed, cannot afford a bike).
The most unfortunate thing about this benchmark business is how many people voted for a zero percent LTD increase in order to “send a message that we need to take LTD off the incidental fee.” I think sending messages is fine, but not with your vote, playing with student money. If LTD is voted off the ACFC’s budget but doesn’t get picked up by the administration, as some senators are hoping, there will be many students who can’t get to school. Literally.
Granted, I could be totally wrong. The UO administration could pick up the contract during the year and the burden could be taken off the incidental fee. According to some, UO VP for Student Affairs Robin Holmes has expressed interest, but without a definite yes or no, it’s hard to say.
The only thing that is certain is that students need the bus. The ACFC would do well to remember that during the budget process.
Just received an email from the UO Office of Communications regarding a kidnapping and assault near campus, and a separate incidence of assault on campus.
From the email:
KIDNAP AND ASSAULT
On Saturday, November 20, 2010, at about 11:30 p.m., a University of Oregon student reported being the victim of a kidnapping and assault. The victim stated that she was walking on 15th Avenue, between Alder and Kincaid, when an unknown individual grabbed her arm and told her to come with him. When the victim refused, the suspect cut the victim’s wrist with a key, which caused a superficial laceration. The suspect forced the victim to walk with him to a campus bench, where she was able to flee. The victim described the assailant as a white male, mid-to late-20’s, slight husky build, with brown hair, light beard, wearing blue jeans and brown running shoes.
ASSAULT
In a separate incident occurring at approximately 12:10 a.m., a University of Oregon student reported being the victim of a sexual assault near Gerlinger Annex. The victim stated that an unknown individual pushed her into a wall and then groped her. She was able to escape after pushing the suspect away and screaming for assistance. The victim described the assailant as a white male, mid-20’s, brown hair, beard, husky build, wearing blue jeans, a black collared button-up shirt and dark shoes.
Within minutes of receiving the second report, University of Oregon Department of Public Safety Officers detained an individual matching the suspect’s description. After being positively identified by the victim, the suspect was arrested and lodged in the Lane County Jail on a charge of Sexual Abuse 1. The suspect arrested in this crime has a similar description to the suspect in the Kidnap and Assault crime.
Anyone who has information about either incident is asked to contact University of Oregon Department of Public Safety at 541-346-2919.
Updates about the situation or investigation will be available at http://safetyweb.uoregon.edu
In a stunning display of independence and maturity, 400ish freshmen rioted in the intersection of 14th and Patterson last Friday, the 24th. It took about 50 police in SWAT gear to subdue the drunken masses, which finally cleared out a little after midnight (can you say after-riot party?). Tear gas was thrown, street signs torn down, and nine people arrested on alcohol-related charges. UO President Richard Lariviere called the rager “completely unacceptable,” and pledged to improve the University’s relations with the surrounding neighborhood. Longtime West University residents seemed nonplussed by the incident, stating that it was, “earlier this year than in previous years.” The damages, which also included broken car windows (not cool, Freshies,) will cost the city about $10,000.
Both police and citizens have speculated on the cause of the riot, one theory being a deficit of large houses that, in years past, could accommodate tens of partiers. Without these Animal Houses smaller apartment parties have become the norm, but with small space and loud people come the inevitable spillage of drunks into the street.
One may wonder what this ridiculous episode means about the incoming class of ’14 and the future of UO partying in general. Clearly, these freshmen are ready to get their swerve on right away and at unprecedented levels. True, the first exhilarating taste of freedom can go to one’s head, but their overly enthusiastic antics spell problems for the rest of us. Increased party patrol vigilance will be a definite result, and pissing off residents could mean police visits to your house if your little Gleek party gets a smidge too loud.
If only there was a place where underage students could gather and get super shitfaced without getting arrested. Imagine, a gymnasium sized room to which freshman alchies could bring their 30-bombs and cheap handles and drink their little brains out. It wouldn’t need anything inside, no chairs, no decorations, just let them bring their pong tables, boomboxes, and nude playing cards. Who would need to riot when you have a chill spot like that?
Personally, this writer believes the true victims in this incident are the street signs. Every street in the West University neighborhood is a mish-mash of aging houses and pop-up apartment complexes that shit all looks the same. It is easy to get lost and impossible to find what street you’re on due to a large amount of missing street signs, which the city refuses to replace. It is understandable that they are frustrated with stupid kids stealing them all the time, but is there truly no way to bolt that them down a little better? It appears, from looking at the remaining signs, that they are just thin rectangles that slide in and out of a metal frame. Let’s try something a little more substantial, hmm?
If you like reading about silly freshmen making a fuss on a Friday night, you can read about it in the Register Guard and the Oregon Daily Emerald. From the RG article:
“The mass of people was admonished to disperse, but ignored commands, continued chanting obscenities, threw bottles and projectiles at officers, broke car windows and tore down street signs,” [Eugene Police Lt. Doug] Mozan said in a statement. “Tear gas was deployed only after the admonishments were ignored and when the crowd began throwing objects at police.”
The end of the Daily Emerald article shows a real victory for students, with President Rousseau making the best statement of her presidency yet:
ASUO President Amelie Rousseau condemned EPD’s response to the event, and said she believes that the use of weapons against students was an uncalled-for escalation of force, and identified it as “crude and disproportionate.” She also said that she believed the incident has affected her views on whether or not DPS should adopt a sworn and armed police force pending the passage of state legislation.
“I think this should make all students and the University administration think twice about bringing this type of intimidation on to campus.” Rousseau said, “This is exactly why we don’t want a police force on our campus.”
There was totally a riot in Eugene last night, in the West University neighborhood. Someone got a video:
Wow, freshmen are crazy. WELCOME TO COLLEGE, WOO! Sophie will have a longer post about it later. From what I hear, it was between 300 and 400 kids. Nuts.
ASUO President Amelie Rousseau was published in the Register-Guard this week, along with a UO alum and a grad student, with an opinion on the UO’s proposed riverfront development. As is the general student opinion on the riverfront, they’re not too pleased:
More than two years has passed since the University of Oregon announced plans for the Oregon Research Institute’s office building and parking lot along the banks of the Willamette River, yet construction has not begun. Instead, the university is burning through taxpayer money and public goodwill by defending a development plan approved when Ronald Reagan was president and mullets were fashionable.
Rather than rolling out the bulldozers at one of several viable sites that aren’t shrouded in controversy, the university has chosen to tout the proposed building’s green design features. Instead of addressing the fundamental problem with the site — that construction on the riverfront forecloses on all other options for using this precious public land for generations to come — the university has been tinkering with the placement of its 200 parking spaces.
They go on to appeal to the reader, mentioning taxpayer funding of this project and how there are other locations that might have been more appropriate had the UO gone through an extended public hearing process.
I can only imagine that Rousseau’s name on this letter shows that she is representing students and our thoughts on the riverfront projects. I certainly applaud that. But I also understand the University of Oregon administration’s reluctance to consult with students on larger-scale building projects. In reality, most students are either ignorant or apathetic, or both. This is more evidence of the UO’s inability to engage, but I think it goes both ways. The administration should be consulting with students on their development projects. Whether or not most students would care is another story.
The fifth annual zombie walk was held on Valentines Day, described as a general screw you to the cliches of the Hallmark Holiday. Bloody festivities started at Pioneer Cemetery, where the organizer laid down the rules, including “Don’t bite anyone, don’t get in the way of traffic, and don’t overcrowd the bars.”
After waiting roughly an hour for stragglers, the horde began its grisly walk to Taylors and the festivities began. If a venue was at capacity, the almost-undead moved on to the next. Walking dead were seen at Diablo’s, John Henry’s, and the Horse Head in addition to the bars around campus.
“Bar’s love us,” remarked a participant, her mouth caked with fake blood made from starch and food coloring. Indeed, Diablo’s had gone out of its way to accommodate the walking dead with skeleton themed decor and DJ’s that played Thriller.
But all good things must end, and by the time the horde left Diablo’s, it had fractured into smaller cells, which quickly split off to go to their own pubs. See all the gruesome action below.
Costumes ranged from super elaborate to smeared blood.
Zombies drink red ales, because red is also the color of blood.
A number of zombie hunters also hit the bars on sunday, seen here delivering a coup de grâce.
Full Disclosure: Unfortunately the OC had a problem with our printer and our issue won’t be out until tomorrow morning. In the meantime, since Cheba Hut paid for an ad for their event on Saturday, we figured we’d throw them a little plug here on the ol’ blog since we’re not well-acquainted enough with this fancy-pants Internet to figure out how to put it on the sidebar.
Cheba Hut, over on 11th and High, is having a big block party type of affair this Saturday the 30th. They’re going to have a raffle and live music, including local Ninkasi-sponsored act Cambio alongside two other bands. The music starts sometime around mid-day, and there will also be a Ranch Dressing-chugging contest to win $100 and free subs for a year.
Not Sarah Michelle Geller or Sarah Jessica Parker, but Eugenes own favorite Sarah Palin! According to the Register Guard, she’ll be at the Hilton Eugene April 23 to “speak to the faithful”. My question is whether they’ll have the meeting in the conference center or if they’ll be able to fit everyone in Sarah’s hotel room.
From what the article says, Palin’s coming as a keynote speaker for the republican annual Lincoln Day Fundraiser (they’ll be a few months behind by April 23). Republican Party Leaders have been working for almost a year to bring her to Eugene.
No information was disclosed as to how much it cost the party to bring Palin to Eugene, or how much seating at the convention will cost. Interested Republicans can sign up by calling 541-342-4166.
