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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 13, 2011)
NEWS BRIEFS strategy for population control and hunting for the species. Lennard says that the new plan should take into account the growing academic research about the importance of top predators to ecosystems as a whole, which isn’t done in the current plan. “Most wildlife is managed at state level to provide hunting licenses,” Lennard says. “They can essentially do what they want to do with any species, as long as they don’t tip it over to species endangerment.” — Shannon Finnell CLEAR WATER AND CLEAN WATER As a result of Lane County’s recent efforts to protect Eugene’s drinking water as well as the effort to prevent critical structures like hospitals from being built in floodplains, a group of homeowners in the McKenzie River drainage basin have formed the Clear Water Coalition. Will Rutherford of Vida, who chairs the coalition, spoke before the EWEB commissioners at the Jan. 4 board meeting. He said in a statement that the goal of the coalition is to, “protect the legacy of the McKenzie River Valley while respecting individual rights.” The coalition will address citizen participation, communications, forums, stewardship and a “vital river community,” the statement said. Many landowners along the McKenzie and other waterways that provide drinking water to Lane County communities have expressed concern over the process by which drinking water protections were being proposed. Lane County’s code has allowed homes and septic systems to be built very close to the river, which has led to concerns over the effects that future development could have on Eugene’s clean water. See EW’s series on the river (12/9, 12/16) for more information. EWEB, which provides Eugene and surrounding areas with clean drinking water, is planning meetings with affected landowners in February. The utility is also working with the Institute for Natural Resources at OSU to develop an incentive plan for landowners to encourage good stewardship along the river. EWEB General Manager Roger Gray, in an email to Rutherford thanking him for attending the board meeting, wrote that he appreciated “your stepping forward to organize the community to work on some issues critical to all of us (up and down river).” He added, “EWEB really wants to reopen a constructive and open dialog with the community and we share the goal of reestablishing and rebuilding relationships.” The Clear Water Coalition has selected representatives in 4-mile road increments from Hayden Bridge to the uppermost slant residential properties on the river to form a “confluence team” to improve communication with EWEB and the county. For more information on the Clear Water Coalition, Rutherford can be reached at willmarford@msn.com — Camilla Mortensen ACTIVIST ALERT • Springfield Mayor Christine Lundberg’s 2011 State of the City Address will be at 11 am Thursday, Jan. 13, at the Wildish Theater, 630 Main St. This is Lundberg’s inaugural address after being appointed mayor. • Planned Parenthood Advocates of Oregon is launching the Lane LAT (Legislative Action Team) at 6 pm Thursday, Jan. 13, with a general meeting. Interested community leaders will meet once a month to plan political strategies and organize local events. For location and other information, contact Nichi Masters, field organizer, at 510-2025 or nichi.masters@ ppcw.org to register. • Community members are invited to attend upcoming Restoration Celebrations in Alton Baker Park, which are listed on Nearby Nature’s website at www. nearbynature.org. The group’s next work party will be from 1 to 4 pm Monday, Jan, 17. For more information, call 687-9699 or email info@nearbynature.org • Palestine Action Week at UO began Tuesday, Jan. 11, and continues with a presentation on “Anarchists Against the Wall” at 7:30 pm Thursday, Jan. 13, in the Ben Linder Room in the EMU. The last in the series is a presentation by Portland’s Boycott Israeli Apartheid project at 7 pm Tuesday, Jan. 18, at Straub 146. All events are free and put on the by the UO Survival Center, Multicultural Center and Arab Student Union. • Lane County Commissioners Pete Sorenson and Rob Handy are teaming up with Environment Oregon and Surfrider for a discussion about the future of plastic bags in Lane County and in Oregon. From 6 to 8 pm Wednesday, Jan. 19, at Harris Hall, 125 E. 8th Ave. in Eugene. The town hall panel will feature an ocean advocate, grocer, local retailer and public works official, followed by questions from community members. EARLY DEADLINES EW offices will be closed Monday, Jan. 17, to observed Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The early deadline for reserving display advertising in our Jan. 20 issue will be 5 pm Thursday, Jan. 13. Questions? Call 484-0519. lighten up I read in the newspaper that Catholic Community Services turned down a $71,000 grant from United Way to help the needy in Lane County. As I tried to follow the logic of this move, I had a feeling I was about three drinks behind. — Rafael Aldave, Eugene WWW.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM • BLOGS.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM • Seldom is a memorial service a clear call to make the world the better place, but the Jan. 6 gathering for Nick Klonoski was exactly that. Nick, the 29-year-old son of U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken and the late and revered UO political science professor and Democratic leader Jim Klonoski, died in late December. A graduate of South Eugene High School and the University of Michigan, Nick loved and worked in politics and public policy, even attending the Stewart-Colbert Rally to Restore Sanity in D.C. in the fall. Outgoing Gov. Kulongoski slipped quietly into Nick’s memorial at Temple Beth Israel along with lawyers and judges, young political activists and old friends of the family. Retired Judge Greg Foote directed the service with music by David Helfhand, Siri Vik and Vicki Brabham. Remembrances came from brothers Zach, Jake and Sam, who presented pictures. Other speakers were CydneyVandercar, Helen Yu, Jefferson Smith, Martha Pellegrino, Nick Caleb and Jon Osborne, with Judge Aiken closing the service. This quote from the late Sen. Paul Wellstone of Minnesota, was a part of Nick Klonoski’s memorial program: “Politics isn’t about observations or predictions. Politics is about what we create, about what we do, what we hope for and what we dare to imagine.” Contributions should go to the Bus Project and the Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics graduate fellowship honoring James R. Klonoski. • Congrats to the UO Ducks for a remarkable season and a valiant performance at the national championships. Congrats to the fans, both at home and in Glendale, for showing dignity and good sportsmanship. And we gotta give a shout-out to some heroic performances Monday afternoon and evening by the overwhelmed workers in pizza shops and sports bars all over the county. Hopefully they all went home that night with big tips. • Springfield Schools Superintendent Nancy Golden’s talk to the City Club of Eugene on Jan. 7 prompted the right question from the audience. How does her appointment, announced on Jan. 7 as Gov. Kitzhaber’s adviser on education, affect the elected role of Oregon Superintendent of Public Instruction, now held by Susan Castillo of Eugene? Golden, Oregon Superintendent of the Year, carefully skirted that question. She spent much of her time affirming her confidence in our new/old governor as an intelligent advocate for education in this state. Many legislators and the governor already have spoken out for appointing rather than electing the state’s top education advocate. Watch this session for the law to change. • What’s going on behind the scenes as the 4J School Board debates which schools to close and or merge? Parents are fighting to keep their kids’ schools intact, and it can get heated, as we see from the Facebook page comments for the Crest Drive PTA (see http://wkly.ws/yw). One eyebrow-raising posting was taken down twice, but we saw a screen shot. A parent named Pamela wrote, “I had a phone conversation with (board member) Jim Torrey today. His guess is that right now the board is split 4-3 for closing Crest. He requested that our group organize speakers to each address one issue clearly and thoroughly at the next board meeting.” She goes on to quote a list of talking points allegedly provided by Torrey. Is it appropriate for Torrey to be coaching parents on how to testify? • We would like to hear from Rupert Murdoch, owner of Fox TV and much other media, and the Koch brothers, billionaire backers of extremist candidates and rhetoric, to find out if they have any concerns about terrorism in America. Jesse Kelly, who narrowly lost to Gabby Giffords in their 2010 congressional race in Arizona, was one of the “top 10” Tea Party candidates, much more extreme than Sarah Palin. We wonder how the big financiers feel about the political climate they’re helping create in their country. • Should people who are homeless have pets? We heard about a heated conversation on the streets downtown recently among former county commissioner Steve Cornacchia, Carol Berg-Caldwell, a longtime advocate for the disenfranchised, and a homeless man with a puppy. Cornacchia, an attorney with Hershner Hunter, told the homeless fellow that if he cannot provide shelter for himself, he cannot provide shelter for the dog. Berg-Caldwell says she spoke up for the homeless man and told Cornacchia this is just another example of how the homeless are harassed on the streets downtown. Cornacchia tells us he has seen this dog shivering on the streets several times, and “the puppy needed an advocate so I said something. Hopefully my admonishment prompted him or Carol to find adequate shelter for the puppy.” Is it irresponsible to own a pet and not be able to provide it with vaccinations, adequate food and shelter from the cold? Would this dog be better off if taken to the pound? Should we assume that “scruffy” people on our streets cannot provide adequate care for animals? And should we assume that well-dressed, privileged people take good care of their pets? Should we care more about homeless people or homeless dogs? We can debate this all day, but what is clear is that every person, homeless or not, is unique in how he or she cares for animals. A dog can happily keep his master warm at night under a bridge or be neglected and miserable in a mansion kennel. Happily, there are some local resources for homeless people and their pets. Pro-Bone-O provides vaccinations, spay/neuter vouchers and other services, more info at www.proboneo.org and word on the street is that the Egan Warming Centers will take in both the homeless and their pets on icy cold nights, eganwarmingcenter.com 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 JANUARY 13, 2011 9
