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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 6, 2009)
news briefs slant resident white nationalist hate group, is cer- tainly no stranger to the battle over what constitutes freedom of speech vs. hate speech. Pacifica has gained attention in recent years by hosting controversial speakers and revisionist historians, most prominently British revisionist historian David Irving and Forum regular Valdas Anelauskas, whose opinions have been met with vigor- ous cries of anti-Semitism, among other accusations. “They consistently have programs that are promoting anti-Semitic statements, ideas ideologies and histories. During the last three years since Valdas Anelauskas began lecturing at Pacifica Forum, they have incor- porated Neo-Nazi ideology, Holocaust deni- al, overtly racist attacks on Martin Luther King and the civil rights movements and anti-feminist attacks on women’s rights,” said Michael Williams, a member of Eugene’s Anti-Hate Task Force. happening people “Trial by Indymedia: Anti-racism or Anti-freedom?” will be presented by Jay Knott and the Pacifica Forum from 3 to 4:45 pm Friday, Aug. 7, in the Walnut Room of the EMU on campus. Knott (aka Roderick McLaughlin) is a Portland-based Forum regular who maintains a website dedicated to Pacifica. The meeting’s topic comes from a controversy that sprang up after Irving delivered a speech on his controversial ideas, including his revisionist ideas about the Holocaust, in Portland on July 19. Portland Indymedia covered Irving’s lecture, and the online coverage drew com- ments from both supporters and critics of Irving. Indymedia removed some of the comments, generally in support of Irving’s ideas, from the site because, according to Indymedia volunteers, they could be catego- rized as hate speech under the Indymedia editorial policy. The policy allows com- ments to be removed if they “promote rac- ism, homophobia, sexism, or other oppres- BY PAUL NEEVEL WILLIAM KASPER "I've always been exposed to art," says William Kasper, who grew up in Lind, a small town in Eastern Washington. "My mother was the high school art teacher." Kasper got started in photography at Central Washington University, pursued painting and jewelry- making while working in LA in the early 1970s, then had a darkroom and worked at a photo store in Spokane during the ’74 World's Fair. He got married, had two sons, and returned to Ellensburg in 1980 for a job in facilities management at CWU. "I met the art professors, hired the students, and used their darkroom," he says. "I visited galleries and brought the kids." In 1999, when their sons had finished high school, he and his wife moved to Eugene for his current job as purchasing manager for facilities services at the UO. "I've gotten into digital photography and using software to manipulate images," says Kasper, who serves as president of the New Zone Artists' Collective. This year he established the New Zone's Gallery on the Bus project, a partnership with LTD that has placed posters by local artists in each of its buses, plus an intern- ship program for students of the UO, LCC, and alternative schools. Learn more at kasperart.com and newzone.org. 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Lauren Regan, director of the Civil Liberties Defense Center, spoke out at City Club last week saying we simply can’t trust Eugene police with these zappers. And apparently we can’t trust EPD statistics either. In its May report on Tasers, the EPD said Tasers were used in six cases where the use of deadly force was justified. So six people would have other- wise been shot by EPD in 15 months? EPD hasn’t killed anyone in years. Six shoot- ings would have certainly put our town on the map, and likely spurred investiga- tion by the federal Department of Justice. Maybe federal intervention is not such a far-fetched idea. The EPD and its union are dead set against accountability and transparency; and our city manager, mayor and council majority are apparently ignoring the auditor’s scathing 2008 annual report on EPD violence, unlawful entry, abuse of the homeless and viola- tions of free speech (see our news story, July 2). Instead of bold action toward reform, the council majority and staff are busy blowing most of our city’s facility reserves on moving EPD to an overpriced building across the river in a flood- plain. • Is Dawn Reynolds on her way out? Our exceptionally bright and otherwise excellent former interim police auditor is now back in the number two position, and is rumored to be resigning her post and seeking less frustrating work in a more enlightened community. As of press time she had not returned our phone calls or email. Meanwhile, new rules for the auditor and Civilian Review Board are on the agenda of the City Council this week (see Activist Alert) and we urge our status quo-loving council majority to read the graffiti on the wall: If we do not adequate- ly empower our independent police auditor, EPD conduct and public trust in police will continue to erode. • We want to welcome Kellee Weinhold back to the wild world of newspapering in Eugene. As the new publisher of the Oregon Daily Emerald on the UO campus, she'll have fun fighting figures on that relentless bottom line. Not a new experi- ence for Kellee — she was once the bookkeeper for EW. Sonja Snyder, her old boss in our Lincoln Street house, says Kellee was "terrific." We expect she'll be terrific in her new office in the EMU. • Our cover story this week explains why Oregon is different from Michigan when it comes to unem- ployment, but the two states have some things in common. Flint, Mich., is a college town about the same population as Eugene and is stag- gering from the auto industry col- lapse much like Eugene did when Flint, Michigan our timber industry collapsed in the 1980s. Flint is now doing something unthinkable — bulldozing or salvaging 1,000 homes on the outskirts and paying people to move to the city core. Another 3,000 homes may be next, all to be returned to fields and farmlands, saving the depressed Vehicle City millions in public safety, street maintenance, schools and other expenses of suburbia. Will other cities follow? Will “Flint” become a verb? Will governors across the nation call on cities to go Flint themselves? Eugene might not be ready to Flint, but conservatives on the Eugene City Council are joining land speculators and builders in trying to expand our urban growth boundary. Ironically, Flint is already much more compact than Eugene and is working to become even more dense, while some players in spread-out Eugene are demanding that we become even less dense. • Did we see a woman raise her hand to run for the Democratic nomination for governor in 2010? Not yet. So far all the chatter is about John Kitzhaber (will he announce in August?), Peter DeFazio (will he announce in September?) Bill Bradbury (already unofficially announced), Brian Clem (young legislator from Salem — is it too early for him?). Sounds like an opportunity to be the second woman governor of the state of Oregon. Barbara Roberts was the first way back in 1991. • Makes us proud! Shelley Poticha, who grew up in Eugene and went to South Eugene High School, has just been appointed senior advisor for sustainable hous- ing and communities at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Legislation is in the works to create an office of sustainable housing and communi- ties which Poticha will head, says HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan. He says she "will help lead HUD's effort to change the way we think about how our communities fit with how Americans live their lives ... her wealth of experience will help move us forward in creating sustainable, greener, and smarter communities." Based in Oakland, Calif., Poticia is president and CEO of the national nonprofit Reconnecting America. She's a national leader for the reform of land use and transportation planning and policy. She’s the daughter of Sharon and Otto Poticha. 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 EUGENE WEEKLY AUGUST 6, 2009 9
