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