news briefs
and trim in America. But it appears unlikely
that would produce much in the way of local
wages as that would undermine the point of
the tactic. — Alan Pittman
an extensive system of annual bike counts at
165 locations. The data there show a six-
fold increase since 1991 in the percentage of
commuters who across bridges by bicycle
into downtown. — Alan Pittman
BIKE RIDING
OLCV
DROPS, OR NOT SCORECARD
RATES
LAWMAKERS
Bike commuting in Eugene declined
from 8.5 percent in 2007 to 8 percent in
2008, according to the American Community
Survey (ACS), but it’s hard to tell if that
means much.
The ACS reports a margin of error of 1.7
percent for its biking in Eugene number,
making a half a percent change statistically
insignificant. The U.S. Census Bureau does
the ACS by sending forms to about one in
40 households in the nation.
In the past the ACS bike commute num-
bers have fluctuated wildly from 5.2 percent
in 2006 to 8.5 percent in 2007. The 2007
number had a 2.1 percent margin of error.
More accurate historical numbers have
come from the 10-year Census long form
sent to one in six households. Those num-
bers show bike commuting declined in
Eugene from 8 percent in 1980 to 5.5 per-
cent in 2000.
The Census will do another count in
2010, but dumped the long form to save
money. That leaves only the less accurate
ACS survey for commute data. It’s difficult
to tell how to compare the fluctuating ACS
numbers with the 10-year Census numbers.
ACS survey results on bike commuting
could vary widely depending on the time of
year the survey is conducted, for example.
To get more accurate data, Portland uses
Lane County’s state lawmakers beat
state averages with higher scores in the
Oregon League of Conservation Voters’
2009 Environmental Scorecard, released
last week.
The OLCV assessment looks at how
Oregon legislators voted on 21 key bills
addressing clean energy, water manage-
ment, transportation, land use and public
health.
Earning 90 percent scores were Sen. Bill
Morrisette, and Reps. Phil Barnhart, Paul
Holvey and Nancy Nathanson. Not far
behind were Sen. Floyd Prozanski at 79
percent, former Sen. Vicki Walker at 78
percent, former Rep. Chris Edwards at 86
percent and Rep. Terry Beyer at 71 percent.
“Lane County legislators know that their
communities care about clean air and water,
energy independence and a better legacy for
our kids,” says Andy Maggi, OLCV Lane
County organizer, in a press release. “We
applaud our local representatives and sena-
tors for their work.”
Bringing up the rear was Rep. Bruce
Hanna of Roseburg with a 10 percent rating.
Hanna was included since parts of south
slant
• The Eugene police auditor’s Civilian Review Board
is scheduled to do its long-delayed, first full-on review
of a community impact case this Thursday just after
EW hits the streets (see Activist Alert). But the city has
refused to say just what the review board will be actu-
ally reviewing. Huh? That’s right. Whether the police
chief decided to discipline any officers involved in the
Tasering of a peaceful environmental protester last
May is a secret. It’s also a symptom of the wacky police
oversight rules the Eugene mayor and City Council set
up in defiance of two citywide votes for police account-
ability and transparency. Elected officials and the
police union have long shown that they care more
about keeping police misconduct secret than actually
stopping it. We saw how well that worked when Eugene
police officer Roger Magaña was out in uniform raping
women.
• Looks like the clipboard gang wrangled more than
enough signatures to put tax fairness before the vot-
ers next January. Two ballot measures will attempt to
override the Legislature’s modestly higher taxes on
corporations and Oregonians who can afford it. The
big argument for blocking the tax hikes is to protect
jobs in Oregon. But we heard from a local home health
care worker who tells us, “If the tax fairness legislation
does not [prevail], it will actually cost jobs.” Jewel Hall
works for Senior and Disabled Services. “Before the
tax fairness legislation, we were looking at extreme
cuts to services, and in turn workers losing hours and
jobs,” she says. She goes on to say that more seniors
and the disabled will have to be institutionalized, “or
WWW.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM • BLOGS.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM
Lane County are included in his House
District 7. Likewise, Sen. Joanne Verger of
Coos Bay was included. She earned a 70
percent in Senate District 5.
“More times than not, legislators repre-
sented the will of the vast majority of
Oregonians, voting to protect public health,
preserve fish and wildlife habitat, and take
responsibility for making sure we pass on
Oregon’s natural legacy to our grandchil-
dren,” says Evan Manvel, OLCV legislative
affairs director. “But despite significant
progress, the science is clear that we’ve got
much more work to do.”
More information can be found at www.
olcv.org/scorecard
WAR DEAD
Since the U.S. invasion of Iraq
began on March 20, 2003
(last week’s numbers in parentheses):
In Iraq
• 4,348 U.S. troops killed* (4,347)
• 31,510 U.S. troops injured* (31,501)
• 185 U.S. military suicides* (185)
• 1,123 U.S. contractors killed
(accurate updates NA)
• 101,805 to 1.2 million civilians
killed*** (101,608)
• $686.6 billion cost of war
($684.5 billion)
• $195.2 million cost to Eugene
taxpayers ($194.7 million)
In Afganistan
ACTIVIST
ALERT
• 844 U.S. troops killed* (835)
• 4,081 U.S. troops injured* (4,004)
• Eugene’s Civilian Review Board
will meet at 6 pm Thursday, Oct. 1, in
the
Bascom-
Tykeson Room
of the Eugene
Public Library
to conduct its
review of the Ian
• $227.9 billion cost of war
($227.3 million)
• $64.8 million cost to
Eugene taxpayers ($64.6 million)
* through September 28, 2009; source: icasualties.org;
some figures only updated monthly
** sources: icasualties.org, defenselink.mil
*** highest estimate; source: iraqbodycount.org; based on
confirmed media reports; other groups calculate civilian deaths
as high as 655,000 (Lancet survey, 2006) to 1.2 million
(Opinion Research Business survey, 2008)
Lane Area Herbicide Spray Schedule
• Damage from gypsy moth spraying (SE Eugene)?: If you feel you or your
family members were sickened, property contaminated, or your rights were
violated by the forced exposure to the Oregon Department of Agriculture's
aerial spraying of the biological (and chemical) insecticide FORAY 48B during
April and May, you need to file a Notice of Tort Claim against the state of Oregon
no later than Monday, Oct. 26, in order to preserve your right to recover dam-
ages. For forms and information, go to forestlanddwellers.org/News/
GypsyMothSpray/
Compiled by Jan Wroncy, Forestland Dwellers: 342-8332, www.forestlanddwellers.org
their families will have to come up with the money to
keep them in their homes.”
About 93 percent of the state’s budget goes direct-
ly to education, health care, human services and public
safety (see www.defendoregon.org), which means not
only social service workers are at risk. Add teachers
and cops to the list.
• Former governor John Kitzhaber was in Eugene last
week talking about what’s broken in our state govern-
ment. He wants to be our chief executive again, due in
large part to his frustrations: Kids in Oregon today are
less likely than their parents to graduate from high
school, and they will die younger. These disturbing
trends, he tells us, are the result of our continuing to
prop up obsolete education and health systems. He’s
right. Our health care dollars support a bloated system
rather than targeting improved health outcomes. Our
education system invests little in the pre-school years
that are so critical to keeping kids in school, and out of
jail later in life. He also talked about how our energy
dollars support an obsolete, fossil fuel–based transpor-
tation system. “Everybody loses under the status quo,”
he says. “We’re on a trajectory of failure.”
What about the national health care debate?
Kitzhaber doesn’t expect any significant reforms to
come from “inside the Beltway,” but he is optimistic
that his Oregon Health Plan could be expanded to
become more of a “public option,” perhaps even as a
regional demonstration project including Washington
state.
When it comes to ideas, eloquence and experience,
Kitzhaber has set the bar high. Now let’s see what Bill
Bradbury and other governor candidates have to say.
Bradbury is scheduled at City Club Oct. 30.
• Convicted eco-saboteur Jake Ferguson was inter-
viewed on CNN this week, and it was irritating to
watch. Ferguson didn’t have much to say, but Anderson
Cooper trotted out the same old misnomers of “eco-
terrorism” and “domestic terrorism,” leading viewers
to link sabotage of property with the bloody acts of
real terrorists. And CNN didn’t bother to check facts.
The Earth Liberation Front (ELF) was talked about as
though it were a real organization. It’s actually has no
central leadership and no membership. And “The
Family” was mentioned several times, even though the
loose collaboration of activists didn’t call themselves
that. For another view of Eugene’s eco-avengers,
search our archives for our national award-winning
“Flames of Dissent” series, and follow-up stories on
the activists and their trials.
• We hear Corvallis radiation oncologist Dr. Michael
Huntington has arrived in Washington, D.C., for a big
rally this week. He’s been traveling cross-country with
the "Mad as Hell Doctors" caravan. Along the way he
has been quoted saying, "Americans aren't getting the
information they need to make an educated decision
about health care. The reality is that a single-payer
health care system has been working in other coun-
tries for decades and it can work here. But there's so
much misinformation, so much undue corporate influ-
ence, that the truth doesn't penetrate."
EUGENE WEEKLY
OCTOBER 1 , 2009 9