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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (March 13, 1996)
Future of Rasor Park concerns locals ■ ARENA: Area residents are concerned the city's proposed soccer facility will rum the ecosystem By llaiiaaa Lnbnhn Many in I he River Road com munity oppo*e a city plan to build an indoor ana <** la. iliiy ai fiaaor Park becaute it li one of iha only remaining large open •para* left in the area Several year* ago. the city of Kugene began looking at Raa.il Park, a grant\ meadow along the Wlllamirtte River about a half a mile from th* Chamber* Sirwi (joiuwrtar. m m p»itentlal tile for an indoor arena becau** of (be dlktance to the neat neareti facility in Salem Hut <tom« cttiten* who live around Hava Pari have mid the facility would over populate ihe area and depredate it* natural beauty In November IW4, tha city identified Ihe jwri m a |M*enliat •tie fur a propael imlonr mem facility After a capability atudy. the city found the vile to be eco nomically featible The city then pf»* ended to get a gnwmway permit, which pro lect* the green land near Ihe river, and latar aaked for an analyti* of alternative tile* for ihe tttciM facility In ihuae find tog* an alternative *tt# waa found to tie a belter chon * than Rator Park However. ta»t Fntmi ary. the hearing* official granted a greenway permit to build at the park (In March 4. the River Road (immunity *tgned an appeal again*! the U»e of the tile The community i» wailing for the Fomm Planning (nmmiumn to make a ruling on the appeal and tha Eugene City Council, which haa the power lo art on the (can mission’* ruling Members of (be community said they felt the placement of a soccer facility in Kasor Park is inappropriate They said the area sbuuld be cherished, pre served, enhanced and restored, not cluttered and polluted with a large, unattractive metal ware house, a large paved parking kit and increased automobile leaf fie. Be* ky Riley, the head of Friends of Kasor Park Commune ty. said the park is an open space and should remain open 'll is a unique ecosystem on the river and should stay that way,” Riley said The community claims the soccer facility would increase Ira flic and create safety prob lem* It would also increase notse, night-time lighting and litter around the facility, they said, and home property value* and the value of tile park would decrease The community suggested that rather than tearing up the park, the city should look for a plate that already has a paved parking lot They suggested the fairground*, constructing a dome over Auixert Stadium or use of the proposed private fascii iiy in Springfield Jim Johnson, director of Uhrary Recreation and Cultural Services, said the fairground* would he an appropriate site, hut the city would nave to get approval from the fairgrounds’ board of directors Doming Autien Stadium, on the other hand, would be anuth ft paMfbiltty. but it would cost more money than the city ha* planned tor the protect, fohnson •aid He said the problem with the proposed cite to Springfield w*» that there isn't a guarantee that the facility would be there for ever. where** the facility at Rasor Put would Itartucr* heller, < *n council woman, said thi* facility would be a grwil opportunity be people to play roarer alt year around "Not only it It a recreational facility, but tt i* an excellent nm matronal opportunity for kid* and adulu.*' Keller *aid She <u*id the new facility would save the current soccer field* because during the win ter. people can't play on the field* because it tear* them up "Thi* lot will be c hanging, but we will use !«•* than 20 percent of the site — including the park mg lot.* Keller said “It wit! still remain a* park land and it wilt link to a bike path Thi* facility can carve the whole city * As a member, ! *m involved in making decisions on all aspects of the bookstore with a dynamic team made up of a good cross section of tbe University. I bc*e decision-making and personal skill* that i am learning s ill be a great asset to me in tbe future. Chr» tncMon UNIVERSITY OP OISCON Mat* Than A Buukalta* i * 1 2 ODE Classifieds... Worth Looking Into! Sex offenders are raising 1 area residents’ concerns ■ FORUM: Police are no! required to inform neighbors when criminals move m By Mm Etttmada Springfield resident Shaw im Tallerday remember* (he October day whan bar 15 y«ar old daughter was harassed by a convicted sex offender as she walked to her I friend's house by herself "The one lime she decided to walk without her pepper spray was the day she dacid «d to walk by herself." Taller day said "He kept on coming and craning and try ing to talk bet into getting into his car If she had pepper sprayed him. she would've been tit# one in trouble — not him “ Tallerday and her family immediately took action against the man. who lived fust two block* from their home Tallerday wrote an anony mous letter to the offender She passed out flier* inform ing her neighbors that a sex offender lived near them Because of ihe pressure from his neighbors, the offender moved out of the area fust two weeks ago However. Tallerday- and a group of Springfield resi dents vented their frustration during a public forum on Tuesday mghl with a (usttce system they said was too lax on sex offenders and gave them too few legal tools to protect themselves and their children "Were providing them with more service* than I get, and they can tom around and hurl us.* Tallerday said. "These people can pick up on my daughter and get thrtt ten tat tom fmm that It's fro* (rating to rmaltce that we have the law* {on one stdai and the moral* loo the other I “ The number of wt offend era <n the state and county, recited by |eff Collin* a parole anti probation officer with the Oregon Department of Corrections, alarmed the residents In Lan* County alone, about 300 sex offenders live in the Eugene Springfield are# “under strict supervi sion," he said. Statewide, 3.000 sex offenders are on parole Oregon's prisons hold 2.000 sex offenders, and within an average of six years, 08 percent of them are released. "The reality is that when I hey coma out. they have to live in our cities." Collin* said. "I can't put them out in the countryside near the coy ote* in Dexter The bottom line is. they are free," Coupled with a strict bat tery of parole regulations that severely limit the movement of convicted *«s offender* within a community, the best way for residents to protect themselves is to become informed "Then you tell your kids, in the same way you tell them not to stick their Anger In a light stx.ket. you also tell them not lo talk to strangers." Collins said. Under current Oregon law. authorities are not required to inform the residents of a neighborhood if a sex offend er is living in their midst But this does not prevent resi dents from taking steps such a* distributing fliers warning their neighbors of potential problems. Collin* saui If you’ve had Chlamydia is »he most common unprotected sevoally transmitted disease m sex, you are the United States today. One m at risk for fifty men is infected and shows chlamydia. no symptoms of the disease.
