Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (July 30, 2009)
NEWS BRIEFS to expand police into old Fire Station #1 at City Hall. “This would leave around $10 million to address seismic prob- lems at the airport, the Overpark and the Atrium,” he said. — Ted Taylor DOGS GET POISONED station does nothing to improve public safety: “It doesn’t hire one new cop, open one new jail bed, etc. The current police staffing level would only occupy slightly over half the building. At our current rate of adding FTEs to police, the building would be fully occupied in 30 years or so.” He called it a “bad policy” to move a major city department out of downtown, “an area we are trying to make more active, not less. We talk about sustainability, but now we are encouraged to embrace a strategy of abandonment, this time with the very real possibility for a new ‘pit’ covering a whole city block. Whatever happened to the idea of reuse, refit, recycle?” As an alternative, Brown said the city should spend $8 million to retrofit City Hall, $2 million to create secure police parking across 8th Avenue, $1 million to upgrade police locker rooms and $1 million For decades, poisons have been used by farmers and state and federal officers to control predator populations by killing coyotes, wolves and other preda- tors that might attack livestock. Unfortunately these poisons don’t always kill just the predators; they can kill family pets. M–44 cyanide ejectors are one of the most deadly poisons commonly used to kill predators. These poisons are usually set as traps on farms near livestock pens and fences. According to Brooks Fahy of Predator Defense, these poison traps are sometimes found on public lands where people and their dogs regularly hike. “I've dealt with too many situations where people are in these idyllic settings. And the irony is there are no livestock around,” Fahy said. Part of the danger of M–44 ejectors is they are usually accompanied by a smelly bait that is especially attractive to canines. When they investigate it, it ejects the poison forcefully into their faces — up to five feet into the air. Another problem with M–44 ejectors, Fahy says, is that they aren't always marked with posted signs, especially on public lands like state parks. Compound 1080, or sodium fluoroace- tate, is colorless, odorless, tasteless and dissolves easily in water. A single teaspoon could kill 100 people, according to Predator Defense’s website. Compound 1080, which is usually hung around the necks of live- stock in balloons or laced into carcasses, can kill an animal in anywhere from 10 to 18 minutes. M–44 ejector sodium cyanide can take anywhere from a few minutes to many hours for an animal to die. The EPA lists sodium cyanide and sodium fluoroace- tate as Category 1 toxicants — the deadliest known to humans. Several dogs in Oregon have died as a result of encounters with the toxins. Predator Defense has worked with Congressman Peter DeFazio to introduce legislation put an end to these poisons. Earlier this year, DeFazio offered an amendment to HR 2997, the agriculture, rural development, and FDA appropriations bill, that would have denied funding for purchase of those poisons to Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service,. The amendment died in committee. Fahy says that if a dog returns from a hike with symptoms such as seizures or an inability to stop urinating or defecating, owners should immediately contact an emergency veterinarian. Sometimes a vet- erinarian will be able to give the animal charcoal to absorb the poison. But Fahy warns that even immediate action might not work: “Once your animal gets into these poisons, there's not a lot you can do. This happens a lot more than people realize.” — Shaun O’Dell ACTIVIST ALERT • The monthly joint meeting of the local chapters of Health Care For All-Oregon and the Archimedes Movement will be from 6:30 pm to 8 pm Wednesday, Aug. 5, at the EWEB Community Room, 500 E. 4th Ave. Topic of discussion will the federal health care legislation. To get on the HCAO mail- ing list, email healthcareoregon-subscribe@ yahoogroups.com • A Hiroshima-Nagasaki Comm- emoration is planned for 7 pm to 9:30 pm Thursday, Aug. 6, at Alton Baker Park's small shelter, near the park entrance. A 7 pm community potluck will be followed by a 8 pm program featuring Bob Watada, Mayor Kitty Piercy and U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley’s Eugene staffer Dan Whelan speaking about nuclear weapons abolition. The event will also feature poetry and Japanese Koto music, Taiko drumming and Obon danc- ing. The event will close at dusk with the floating of candle lanterns on the duck pond. Call CALC at 485-1755 for more information. • “Clear Skies: A Community Celebration of the End of Field Burning” is being planned for 6pm to 8 pm Wednesday, Aug. 12, at King Estate, 80854 Territorial Road. The free event (donations welcome) is being organized by the Western Environmental Law Center and those attending are asked to RSVP to kemp@westernlaw.org or call 485-2471, ext. 100 by Aug. 7. See details at www.westernlaw.org ON THE WEB THIS WEEK • More letters to the editor • On the blog: More songs on “The Next Big Thing” local music contest. Molly blogs her response to Torchwood: Children of Earth, the five-part mini-series on BBC America. Todd posts photos of the July 18 Thriller Dance-Off at The District. The Bizblog reports on the suc- cess of three summer outdoor events: Oregon Bach Festival, Art and the Vineyard, and the Oregon Country Fair. Suzi goes to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival this weekend and blogs about the plays and the people. slant • Local Dems are huddling this week to nominate three to five contenders to fill the state Senate District 7 position being vacated by Vicki Walker, and they have some good choices. All things considered, we favor Rep. Chris Edwards. He’s made an impressive showing in the House and was effective in pushing through the field burning ban, saving the Metolius, and working on other environmental issues. He’s also good on GLBT issues. We can see him taking a leadership role in the Senate, which could use an injection of reliable progressive energy. The Democratic Party of Lane County convenes at 6:30 pm Thursday, July 30, at the Oregon Community Credit Union, 2880 Chad Dr. • Judge Gregory Foote really stuck it in his mouth. Foote last week blamed a rape not on only the rapist, but on the Lane County Board of Commissioners. Did the commissioners rape someone? No. They just didn’t give the sheriff as much money as the judge wanted. In Foote’s reasoning, the crime committed by a per- son released from the jail is the fault of “the irresponsible actions of a group of politicians,” some of whom weren’t even in office at the time. In this case he’s not focusing on the criminal, the jail officials who chose to release the criminal over less violent offenders or the deputy union that demands big salaries for work requiring only a GED. If a homeless person freezes to death or a mentally ill person turns to suicide due to lack of services, who should we then blame for pushing to spend all the county’s money on the jail? • Mary Leighton is talking up a fine idea for downtown Eugene. The enthusiastic director of the Network Charter School, she hopes to move her 120 kids plus staff into 858 Pearl St., the city-owned building now for sale. It probably would be tough to buy the building in one gulp, but with Leighton's savvy supporters, a lease-purchase arrangement seems plausible. The city staff should support this effort at least as strenuously as they have traditionally supported big develop- WWW.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM • BLOGS.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM ers. The life and energy of the Network Charter School certainly would boost the park blocks, exactly what we need to do in downtown Eugene. • Move the cops to Country Club Drive? We’ve opposed this absurd and illogical idea from the beginning. Now it looks like the City Council will give it a nod this week. The will of the people is being ignored in this decision process. City staff- ers know very well that this plan would be about as popular on the ballot as wicker furniture at a nudist retreat. • We hear EWEB’s General Manager Randy Berggren is talking about retiring in June 2010 but might stick around part-time as a consultant after he cleans out his desk. The rules are changing on PERS benefits, and a lot of public sector people near retirement age are wrestling with the math. • This week’s heat has led to warnings from the Oregon DEQ, the Southwest Clean Air Agency (SWCAA) and the Lane Regional Air Protection agency. All are urging people to keep a close eye on the Air Quality Index (visit http://mdas. lrapa.org/DataSummary.aspx). The chronically poor air quality in Eugene and Springfield should be the major factor in any development decision, such as Seneca’s biomass generator or other polluting industries. No one will want to live or do business here if our air gets much dirtier. • The search is on for a single hit that could put Eugene on the musical map, and EW’s The Next Big Thing is exceeding all expectations — even getting attention in the R-G. Last time we checked, 30 songs are posted on our website with bios and photos of the participating musicians. Check it out on our website or at http://nextbigthingeugene.com EUGENE WEEKLY JULY 30, 2009 9
