• 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).
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