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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (April 10, 2003)
PARTICIPATE FOR PEACE Progressive Responses, an arm of CALC that formed after 9-11, is sponsoring a peace march and rally this Saturday, April 12. Participants will gather at noon at Charnel- Mulligan Park at 17th and Charnelton Streets, then march to the Federal Building at 7th and Pearl Streets for a rally that begins at 1 pm. CALC board member Carol Van Houten says Progressive Responses decided just re- cently to organize the event. “Many people felt discouraged they hadn’t been able to stop the war even with all the organizing they’d done,” she says. “We didn’t stop the war, but many believe we did have some impact on the nature and timing of it. Now, we have to stay organized, committed and energized for the long haul.” Organizers oppose the current administra- tion’s point of view that the U.S. is “the po- liceman of the world, that the U.S. has the right to do things unilaterally and that the in- terests of multinational corporations come before local people,” Van Houten says. “Plus there’s the disregard for civil liberties and human rights.” At the rally, war veterans will address the crowd, to show that those who oppose the war still support the troops, and “to empha- size war’s horrible impact on our troops and on civilians,” says Van Houten. Other speakers and informational booths will be at the rally. Van Houten adds, “People should come out so they don’t feel so iso- lated, depressed and discouraged, and so they don’t slide back into the apathy they were in prior to the anti-war movement.” — Aria Seligmann ROMANIA SUES TWO After several delays, a trial in Joe Romania Chevrolet Inc.’s civil suit against two imprisoned environmental activists has been scheduled for June 11 in Lane County Circuit Court. The company sued Jeffrey “Free” Luers and Craig “Critter” Marshall for $28,213.40 each after they were convicted on charges stemming from a fire at the dealership’s lot on Franklin Boulevard. The June 2000 blaze, set to protest gas-guzzling SUVs and similar vehicles, destroyed one truck and damaged two others. The upcoming trial will involve only BY PAUL NEEVEL STACY BIERMA When she was 17, Stacy Bierma departed Des Moines to follow the Grateful Dead. “I traveled all over the U.S.,” she says. “I sold beadwork on tour.” Along the way, Bierma discovered both Eugene, where she and friends rented a house, and New York City’s bead district, where she could buy beads in quantity. “I sold off the excess to Deadheads,” she notes. Bierma sold beadwork and beads at the Banyan Tree in the mid-’80s, then opened Harlequin Beads down- town in 1988. In 1996, a bicycle accident helped her kick a longtime alcohol and drug problem. “It sobered me up,” she says. Harlequin has prospered in Bierma’s era of sobriety, growing from one employee to 15. One third of sales occur online. Since 2000, Bierma has donated 10 percent of every Sunday’s sales receipts to the Buckley Center, a chronically underfunded sobering-up and detox facility. She has also orga- nized and sponsored two benefit concerts for Buckley at the McDonald. “My life is so much better. I wanted to give something back,” she says. “The first year we had 200 people and raised $3000. This year it was twice that.” 6 APRIL 10, 2003 Marshall, who will be in prison for at least another 18 months. Luers is appealing his 22- year arson sentence. The dealership is pursu- ing the case even though both men have al- most no money. “I had about $2 when I was arrested, and it was a rare occasion that I had more than that,” Marshall told EW. “The idiots are spending more on this lawsuit than they’ll ever get from me.” Frank Bocci Jr., the attorney representing Romania Chevrolet, said the activists should be held civilly as well as criminally liable for the fire. The dealership is simply covering its financial bases with the lawsuit, he said. “You never know when they’ll come into money,” Bocci said. “If we don’t proceed to get a judgment against them and they do come into money, shame on us.” The lawsuit was filed in February of last year. Luers, who is serving his sentence in Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem, did not respond to the lawsuit or attempt to arrange transportation to the court hearings, accord- ing to court documents. In September of last year, the court found him in default and awarded Romania the full amount, plus 9 percent annual interest until the debt is paid. Marshall, however, has opposed the law- suit vigorously, even though he’s locked up on the other side of the state in the Snake River Correctional Institute in Ontario. The case was referred to arbitration at one point. Marshall’s paperwork did not reach the arbi- trator in time, and Romania won a judgment. Marshall appealed, arguing that he shouldn’t be punished because the prison mail system is slow and unpredictable, and Lane County Circuit Judge Kartsen Rasmussen agreed. “The court finds … that Mr. Marshall at- tempted to participate in the arbitration in this matter but was not allowed to do so by the ar- bitrator,” the judge wrote. Rasmussen set aside the arbitrator’s decision. Marshall’s case is now scheduled to go before a jury. Bocci acknowledged that the lawsuit be- comes costlier the longer it continues: “Any time you have a delay in justice it’s more ex- pensive,” he said. That suits Marshall, who said he was glad to be costing Romania more money while in prison. “They’re not going to get any money out of us,” he said. “We didn’t burn their trucks to give them money. We burned their trucks to cost them money.” — Alan Choate SASS UNIONIZING In a March 26 board meeting, Sexual Assault and Support Services (SASS) staff announced to its board of directors that they would be unionizing under the International Workers of the World (IWW). In that meet-
