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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 5, 2004)
• Oregon GOP Chairman Kevin Mannix said after the failure of Measure 30 that Oregonians have sent a message to the governor and the Legislature that “state gov- ernment should live within its means.” He also called for a special session of the Legislature “to secure funding for programs that protect our most vulnerable citizens, ensure public safety, and educate our children.” So where does he think this funding is going to come from, if not from social services, public safety and education? Still fresh in our minds are the lies fed to us by the GOP leadership about a “secret plan” to fund state services — a plan so secret it will never be publicly revealed. But it’s not hard to figure out: eliminate all land use laws and pollution controls, allow unfettered logging and mining, give more tax breaks to industry, fund private education, and rely on churches and charities to provide social services. What can we do about this 19th cen- tury agenda that refuses to die? Educate ourselves and our leaders, take the offensive in legislation locally and statewide, make noise and keep the faith. This century has only just begun. • What’s really going on with PeaceHealth, Springfield, LUBA, ODOT and DLCD? State agencies are hesitant to get formally involved in the appeal at this point, but they are already on record and their statements are sure to be used in arguments for and against the development. What’s not useful at this point is for our local mayors to get all excited and exaggerate implications. The LUBA ruling does not mean that all devel- opment must stop in Oregon — only massive projects that create decades of traffic snarl. And the state agencies’ pulling back does not mean a big whoop-de-do victory for PeaceHealth. Meanwhile, why isn’t Torrey siding with LUBA to stop PeaceHealth from leaving Eugene? Does he want to be Springfield’s next mayor? • The mad cow scare has made business more brisk for Long’s Meat Market on Willamette Street, but the threat to the market may lie elsewhere. Known for its locally supplied, high quality meats, the market is a town fixture that has occupied the same space in L&L Market since 1947. With new ownership of the L&L building, that may change. Since taking over in September, the new L&L landlord has been implementing changes including negotiating new leases. Long’s owner Mike Wooley, who bought the business from his father in 1996, declined to comment while lease negotiations were transporation and the economy. For more in- formation, call LCOG at 682-4107 or visit www.lcog.org/metro • Carolyn Raffensperger and Martha Dina Arguello, two nationally known advocates for the precautionary principle, will join forces at 7:30 pm Tuesday, Feb. 10 in Gerlinger Hall at UO, in the inaugural Joy Belsky Lecture. Raffensperger is executive director of the Science and Environmental Health Network; Arguello is director of health and environment programs for Physicians for Social Responsibility in Los Angeles. • Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch (HRW), delivers a free public talk about “Human Rights as a Response to Terrorism” at 7:30 pm Wednesday, Feb. 11 in Room 175, Knight Law Center at UO. HRW investigates, re- ports on and seeks to curb human rights abuses in some 70 countries. “Many think underway. But it’s possible that a new lease structure would force Long’s, with its four full-time employees, to relocate. Rumor has it that the new landlord will occupy the space in the building left by French Horn Bakery’s closure last year. • Some new scuttlebutt in Ward 7 this week. Majeska Seese-Green and Michael Carrigan have taken out preliminary filing papers for the race, but we hear they are collaborat- ing and one will drop out by the filing deadline March 4 or the withdrawal deadline March 12. Seese-Green is co-chair of the Neighborhood Leaders Council and Carrigan is former director of Oregon PeaceWorks. The newcomers join incumbent Scott Meisner and Andrea Ortiz in the growing field of candidates. Track candidate filings at www.ci.eugene.or.us/ • How do we evaluate local candidates and elected officials on land use and other key environmental issues? It’s getting easier thanks to the Oregon League of Conservation Voters. The OLCV is coming out next week (Feb. 9) with its scorecard on the Lane County commissioners and Eugene councilors. Back in 2002, Sorenson and Dwyer got top county ratings, followed by Weeldreyer, Green and Morrison (0 percent). Top city ratings went to Bettman, Kelly and Taylor, followed by Meisner, Nathanson, Rayor, Papé and Farr (0 percent). Something new this year will be OLCV interviews with council and commission candidates, followed by endorsements. Let’s hope all the candidates partic- ipate. • Gotta hand it to the Genesis Juice folks who have been squeezing raw organic fruits and veggies in Eugene for 30 years despite chronic financial woes and FDA threats and pressure to pasteurize their products. The co-op is now planning to shut down in mid- February, though we hear some investors are interested in keeping it going, perhaps with pasteurization. If Genesis does slip into oblivion, the market for raw juice is still strong and we hope small juice bars (which don’t have to sterilize their products) will rise to fill the niche. SLANT includes short opinion pieces, observations and rumor-chasing notes compiled by the EW staff. Heard any good rumors lately? Contact Ted Taylor at 484-0519, editor@eugeneweekly.com that human rights must give way in the face of a serious security threat,” Roth says. But he believes that this approach is dangerously shortsighted. Citing examples from Guantanamo, Afghanistan, Iraq and else- where, Roth says that the U.S. government’s willingness to breach human rights in the name of fighting terrorism is actually making us less safe by breeding resentment and dis- couraging cooperation. CORRECTIONS/ CLARIFICATIONS • Tom Lininger’s column in last week’s edition inaccurately reported two votes by the Board of County Commissioners in the summer of 2003. The vote on pesticide re- form was 4-0 (with Commissioner Anna Morrison absent). The vote on the resolution opposing the PATRIOT Act was 4-1 (with Morrison dissenting). Create a special kind of valentine... from the heart. 1020 Pearl Street Hours: Mon.- Sat. : 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. Sun.:11 a.m. - 6 p.m. 683-2787 member of FEBRUARY 5, 2004 9
