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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (March 27, 2003)
coverage, no car horn blasts or shouts and chants. At one point two men identifying themselves as Eugene police officers video- taped the event from across the street. The scene was eerily quiet, as drivers slowed to stare at the crumpled, twisted, bloody bodies lying in the rain, and then moved on. — Steve McQuiddy PHAEDRA FILLÉ PISGAH STILL FREE WAR’S BLOODY FACE As American television screens showed Baghdad blowing up in colorful explosions last Friday morning, March 21, a group of in- dividuals lay in the damp and cold of the Park Blocks in downtown Eugene for a “die-in” during morning commute hours. More than 20 people lay for two hours in blood-red heaps, or crumpled against tele- phone poles and sprawled along curbs, with the biodegradable dye they used running into puddles in the rain. Others held enlarged pho- tographs of Iraqi children born with birth de- fects from their parents’ exposure to spent uranium shell casings used in the 1991 Gulf War, and signs that read “This is what war looks like.” They said they were simply a group of concerned citizens who felt compelled to do something more than attend a rally. “We wanted to counter the sanitized version of war being shown by the media,” said partici- pant Janine Sepulveda. “If people find this disturbing, they should be much more dis- turbed that this war is happening.” Unlike the rallies held at the courthouse in recent weeks, this display brought no TV Discussion is still happening around the parking fee at Mt. Pisgah/Howard Buford recreational area, but county commissioners have recommended that the Lane County Parks Department develop alternatives to that fee. This means, for now, that the public can continue to enjoy the recreational area with- out paying to park. Commission chair Peter Sorensen says, “There was a fair amount of unanimity that Lane Parks’ financial problems are severe, with a $60,000 deficit for maintenance at Mt. Pisgah.” But, the board recommended that the Parks Department consider increasing the car rental tax (the main source of county parks’ financial support) or increasing the percentage of the car rental tax that goes to county parks, rather than charging the public for parking. While there was no formal vote on the park- ing fee, discussion indicated Commissioners Dwyer and Green in favor of the fee and Commissioners Morrison, Lininger and Sorensen against. — Bobbie Willis BRIDGE BROUHAHA Lane County commissioners recently voted 3-0 to postpone awarding bids on a $1.7 million renovation to the one-lane Frank Parrish bridge and gravel entrance at Howard Buford/Mt. Pisgah recreational area. The postponement allows the county to open the project for public evaluation, first through a public meeting from 6:30 to 8:30 pm Thursday, March 27, at the EWEB Training BY PAUL NEEVEL Center (500 E. 4th Ave.) and then in an April 2 public hearing. Although the renovation has been in plan- ning for years now, current economic circum- stances have forced the county to reevaluate spending money on the project. “As we consider all of our other pressing needs, both county and city,” says East County Commisisoner Tom Lininger, “we must look closely at how the money is getting spent.” Commission chair Peter Sorensen echoes this sentiment, saying, “In a time of very dif- ficult financial constraints, we have to be ex- tremely careful about making sure that this is a reasonable expenditure of funds, rather than moving ahead just because it’s the next pro- ject in line …” Sorensen is interested in alter- natives to building a new bridge, such as an engineering fix that might improve traffic flow without the high cost. Thursday night’s meeting will be an infor- mational session through Lane County Public Works. It will present the proposed construction and provide time for questions from the public. Community members will then be able to directly address or submit written testimony to the commissioners dur- ing the April 2 hearing. — BW BLUES FOR HUES More than 6,500 households in Lane County are on waiting lists this month for the Low Income Energy Assistance Program (LIEP) and among them are more than 1,000 seniors and disabled people who are unable to pay for their basic utilities. “The situation is grim,” says County Commissioner Peter Sorenson. “The need is really huge.” The problem is exacerbated by high energy prices, Lane County’s (and Oregon’s) exceptionally high unemployment rate, our nation’s economic woes and war with Iraq. Sorenson and other county and city offi- cials are supporting a fund-raising concert and other events to raise money for Heat Up Eugene/Springfield (HUES). The main events of Blues for HUES begin with a silent auction from 5 to 7 pm Friday, March 28 at the Eugene Hilton, followed by an evening of music (see Friday Calendar). Organizers Paul Biondi and Lynda Duffy say they hope the event will “give the people hope and keep the children warm,” and that “this will be an annual event as long as it’s needed.” They also hope the success of the event will inspire other cities and counties across the country to organize similar com- munity-building events. Concerned that Oregon leads the nation in unemployment and hunger, the two musicians say they would like to see Oregon become “number one in people helping people.” “I’d like to have $150,000 in the pot for these people,” says Biondi, who admits the Alice Endo Aikens Volunteer manager Alice Aikens oversees 45 plots in the Amazon Community Garden. “We have very low turnover,” she observes. “This year we had four openings — they were snapped up in 10 minutes.” (Other community gardens still have space — inquire at 682-4800.) In 1942, as a three-year-old Sansai (third-generation Japanese-American), Alice Endo moved with her family from California to Utah on a two- week deadline to avoid being sent to a concentration camp. “It was a hardship,” she recounts. “We lived in a warehouse, in a chicken coop, in back of a dry-cleaning shop for years.” After high school and college in Salt Lake City, she taught junior high before she married Mel Aikens, who joined the UO anthropology faculty in 1970. “We have so many trees at home,” Aikens says. “I signed up for a plot in ‘91 so I could grow vegetables and flowers that need sun.” Two years later, she was asked to manage the site. “I said, “I guess so, then,’” she relates. “And here I am!” The output of one communal plot plus excess produce from other gardeners is hauled off weekly in season to FOOD for Lane County. “Last year we donated over 2,000 pounds,” Aikens notes. MARCH 27, 2003 7
