DELTA PONDS TO GET
FRESH WATER FLOW
The city of Eugene is planning a $6.2
million project to better connect the iso-
lated Delta Ponds in north Eugene with the
Willamette River. Improved water flow
will allow better fish access and water
quality through the old ponds left by gravel
mining. The project north of Valley River
Center also includes expanding and
improving the existing trails, parking
areas, interpretive signs and viewing
areas.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is
paying for most of the work. State lottery
funds will contribute $250,000 and the city
will kick in $450,000, including $200,000
from a 1998 parks bond measure.
McKenzie River Broadcasting has donated
land and easements and six Rotary Clubs
have volunteered labor. Removing
invasive species will begin this fall
with construction scheduled for next
summer. — AP
FIRE STATIONS SOLD
The city of Eugene auctioned off three
surplus fire stations this summer and sold
two. Old Dominion Carstar had the high
bid of $198,987 for Station #2 in the
Whiteaker neighborhood. Paul Nicholson
of Paul’s Bicycle Way of Life had the high
bid of $276,001 for Station #6 on Coburg
Road. No one bid on Station #4 at 9th and
McKinley in west Eugene. — AP
• Where will the McKenzie-Willamette/
Triad medical center land in the Eugene
area? Too early to tell, but one rumor
has the hospital eyeballing the old
armory site on 13th Avenue west of the
Fairgrounds. Nice spot, but likely too
small. Meanwhile the Eugene Planning
Commission is quietly wrestling with
whether to create a hospital zone over-
lay map, or simply open the entire town,
including residential areas, to hospital
sites. We hear a surgical center is also
looking to build in Eugene. Complicating
the zoning rules process is the disclo-
sure that several members of the
Planning Commission have business
interests associated with hospital con-
struction. City attorney Glenn Klein has
been asked to give his opinion on
whether they should recuse themselves
from voting on the zoning. Klein will
probably say “No problem,” since
Oregon’s conflict of interest rules are
notoriously weak. But we say full disclo-
sure is in order, and those with conflicts
should abstain from voting. Such pre-
cautionary actions build credibility for
local government.
• Cynics in our crowd question the effec-
tiveness of Peg Morton’s vigil and fast
this week on the steps of the state
Capitol building (see news story this
week). So what are the cynics doing to
protest relentless state budget cuts to
human services and education? Peg and
her colleague, Michele Darr of Salem,
are camping on the steps surrounded by
cardboard cutouts of Oregonians who
have died or been near death because
services have been cut off. Decision-
makers cannot avoid the 72-year-old
Eugenean and her younger friend pow-
erfully making their statement beneath
these words carved on the exte-
rior of the Capitol: “A free
state is formed and
maintained by the vol-
untary union of the
whole people
joined together
under the same
body of laws for
the common wel-
fare and the shar-
ing of benefits just-
ly apportioned.” Peg
and Michele invite you
to join them.
absurd White House initiatives have
local as well as state and national impli-
cations, and if we the people don’t chal-
lenge these atrocities, who will?
Congress? The Oregon Legislature?
• The Springfield City Council
balked this week at taking a meaningful
stand on the USA PATRIOT Act, citing
some of the usual arguments (It’s none
of our business, etc.), and one councilor,
Stu Burge, even voiced his support for
the act, which has been denounced
nationwide as an unprecedented affront
to our basic constitutional rights. Even
the Justice Department, which enforces
the act, is admitting this week that 34
complaints of civil rights abuses are like-
ly substantive. Granted, it is a distrac-
tion and even expense for local govern-
ments to draft resolutions on national
issues, but the PATRIOT Act and other
P R E S E N T S
• Non-white motorists refer sarcastically
to being stopped for “driving
while black” (or Hispanic)
but another kind of police
profiling gets less
attention: driving
while hippy. One
Santa Cruz resident
named Freeman tells
us he was pulled
over on I-5 on his
way to the Oregon
Country Fair and
harassed with petty
traffic tickets just because
of his counterculture appear-
ance and his funky old van.
“Tons of police were all up I-5 targeting
hippies going to the fair trying to shake
them down for weed,” he says. “I don’t
drive through the South any more
because of this kind of prejudice. I hope
Oregon doesn’t take the same route.”
Too late. Cops will be cops, and until
they get more enlightened leadership or
experience more public outrage, they
will continue to abuse their power and
harass people unlike themselves,
whether it’s hippies, pierced and tat-
tooed punks, dark-skinned people, or
leftist protesters on Eugene streets. Tell
us your stories.
Bun d le Your Fun!
Gotta Be There!
AUGUST 12-17, 2003
796 W. 13TH AVENUE
EUGENE, OREGON
Buy your
541-682-4292
www.atthefair.com
Rides!
Exhibits!
Food!
Entertainment!
Concerts!
FAIR FUN PASS
$12 now through August 11
Good for
6 Days/6 Nights
of family fun
& entertainment
Heart Tuesday 8/12
The Beach Boys
Wednesday 8/13
Sixpence None the Richer
Thursday 8/14
Rascal Flatts Friday 8/15
Lonestar Saturday 8/16
Pepe & the Bottle Blondes
& Hit Explosion Sunday 8/17
Sewing, Vacuum, Spa & Stove
8 JULY 24, 2003
For tickets call TicketsWest
1-800-992-8499
Fair Fun Pass
on sale now through August 11
at all Lane County
Bi-Mart stores
F
A I R
S P O N S O R S
Always Natural. Always Fresh.
Always Oregon Grown.