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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (May 28, 2009)
NEWS BRIEFS slant and quality of life. • UO journalism associate professor Debra Merskin will speak following the screening of a documentary about the porn industry, The Price of Pleasure, at 7 pm Tuesday, June 2, in Room 221, A painting by Russian artist Aleksandr Sheltunov Allen Hall at UO. The free event look- and oil and was known for his unique land- ing at sexism, racism and free speech in a scapes of northern Russia, snowy village $13 billion industry, is jointly sponsored by scenes, boats on Lake Baikal and the birch the Center for the Study of Women in forests of Siberia. Photos of some of his Society, Department of Women’s and paintings can be found by doing a Google Gender Studies, Women’s Center and the image search for his name. UO School of Journalism and St. Mary's Episcopal Church in Eugene Communication: Communication Studies has displayed Sheltunov’s art over the years, Program. and a final showing will be Friday and • Management of Oregon's state- Saturday, June 5-6, at the church, 166 E. owned forests, including a recommenda- 13th Ave. Call 343-9253 for more informa- tion that could increase timber harvests over tion. recent averages, will head the agenda when the Board of Forestry meets at 8 am Wednesday, June 3, in the Administration Building (C) at ODF headquarters, 2600 State St., in Salem. Comments will be received on forestry-related items not • Oregon Attorney General John included in the agenda during a public com- Kroger will speak at City Club of Eugene ment period shortly after 8 am. Those wish- at 11:50 am Friday, May 29, at the Hilton. ing to comment on specific agenda items Kroger is expected to speak about his efforts can address the board during the time each to safeguard Oregonians, protect our envi- item is scheduled. See www.oregon.gov/ ronment and improve access to drug treat- ODF/BOARD for more information. ment. He'll also discuss the challenges that • Lane County Sheriff Russ Burger stand in his way, and will outline his goals and Lane County District Attorney Alex beyond the current legislative session. Gardner are holding a series of public meet- • Author and architect Charles ings to raise awareness of challenges and Durrett will be speaking and signing his opportunities facing the public safety sys- just-released book, The Senior Cohousing tem, listen to community concerns and Handbook, 2nd Ed. at 2 pm Saturday, May answer questions from area residents. The 30, at Tsunami Books, 2585 Willamette. His next meeting will be at 11:30 am Wednesday, free talk will discuss cohousing for seniors, June 3, at the Creswell Community Center. custom-built neighborhoods organized by The next meeting will be at the same time seniors who want to live in a social and July 15 at the Junction City Council cham- vibrant community and fulfill their real bers on Greenwood Street. needs and wants and aspirations for health ACTIVIST ALERT happening people • The debate over funding for Lane County services has devolved into not very useful finger-pointing by those with agendas. One thing is obvious: It’s going to take a complex rehashing of revenues and expenses over time to stabilize county funding. See our cover story this week. Meanwhile, how about a bake sale for the jail? Actually, something along that line is in the works. Local activist Carol Berg-Caldwell has huddled with County Commissioner Bill Fleenor to talk about an ongoing fundraising campaign. A county website would be set up whereby individuals and groups could donate to the county service of their choice and get a tax write-off. Fleenor envisions a checklist on the website, everything from jails to animal services, and each would have a link to a video advocating for that service or department. Donations could be one-time or peri- odic by automatic withdrawal. But will the conservatives in our county who are screaming rabidly for more cops and more jail beds come through with the cash? How about the empathetic advocates for social services? Fleenor’s trying to get this “Passion in Action” project up and running, but he’ll need some donations to pay for the website and its maintenance. • Golasso! will be the word June 2 at Willamette High School when Club America brings its reserve squad to play a classy team of local all-stars called the Eugene Metro Futbol club reserve team. Club America, probably the N.Y. Yankees of Mexican soccer, is bringing a young goalkeeper considered the best in the Western hemisphere. Anybody know his name? Probably not, because the American sports establishment still doesn't get the soccer craze in this country. But we predict that thousands of local fans who do get it will come out to Willamette High at 7:30 pm Tuesday. Golasso means "big goal." That's what announcers yell in Spanish when a goal is scored. • Coffeeshop conversation at Barry's in Southtowne tells us that Eugene True Value Hardware on south Willamette did better in April 2009 than it did a year ago. No surprise that home repairs are on the rise while new housing starts and home sales sink. April housing starts were the lowest ever in this country. • Wild turkey gangs are strutting fearlessly through Eugene neighborhoods like a scruffy feathered mafia. If you live near Hendricks Park or other parts of town adjoining woods, you're probably pestered with the ungainly fowl. Aside from fences, does anyone have any tricks to scare them away? Smells, sounds, sights, noises? Scarecrow, maybe? Email editor@eugeneweekly.com • An ethics question for our readers: We’ve heard about a grassroots national campaign targeting the jury pool (that’s almost all of us). The campaign is to pre- dispose citizens, when they get called for jury duty, to acquit all nonviolent drug offenders. If prosecutors can’t get convictions in drug cases, they will stop prose- cuting them. Is this a perversion of our justice system through massive jury tam- pering, or is it an ethical and effective form of civil disobedience against an insane War on Drugs that’s doing more harm than good? And would it be ethical in the jury selection process for potential jurors to say they have no preconceived notions about drug cases, even if they do? • Congrats to Keystone Café, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. The unassuming eatery at 5th and Lawrence now serves dinner and alcohol and has live music on weekends. BY PAUL NEEVEL MARIE MEDLEY GRAY A descendant of pioneers who arrived by wagon train, Marie Medley Gray learned to ride before she could walk on the 5,000-acre Medley Ranch east of Oakland, Ore. A star athlete at Oakland High, she organized a Eugene women's softball team that played at Civic Stadium when she arrived for col- lege. "I spent two years at the UO," she says. "I disagreed with the professors." She married "Red" Gray, a returning WWII vet from Arkansas, raised two kids, and worked for Mutual of Omaha. From the late 1960s until the 2000s, she did market research and political surveys for more than 200 companies from her home office. A member of the River Road community since 1949, she has been active as a watchdog for neighborhood interests at City Council and County Commission meetings. She and her friends Wanda Simmons and Betty Donaldson were the bane of developers. The "three musketeers" drove to Salem to testify at land-use hearings. "The governors knew me by name," she notes. After 30-plus years on the board of the River Road Water District, Gray will retire this year. You will recognize her in the Jan Spencer mural on the south exterior wall of the River Road Goodwill Store. WWW.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM • BLOGS.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM Good for You. Good for Your Wallet. Good for Your Planet too! EUGENE WEEKLY MAY 28, 2009 9
