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