CARS TAKE BIG TOLL
ON NON-DRIVERS
EUGENE
BUSINESSES
USING
FEWER TOXICS
FILMS EYE
INDIGENOUS
JUSTICE
Filmmaker David Martinez will screen
two films during a benefit for the Civil
Liberties Defense Center (CLDC) at 7:15 pm
Thursday, March 10, at the David Minor
Theatre. The films, K’ixba’l/Verguenza/
Shame produced by Carlos Flores and
Cuando La Justicia Se Hace Pueblo/When
Justice is Made by the People produced by
Tlachinollan (a legal defense group in
Guerrero, Mexico), both address issues of
indigenous justice in rural areas of Latin
America.
“In some parts of Latin America where
these films take place, if you are thought
guilty of committing a crime they just douse
you in gasoline and light you on fire,” says
Martinez, when speaking of Shame. The film
is shot almost by accident of the camera
having been in the right place at the right time
during a communal dispute over what to do
with or to three boys caught stealing a truck
in rural Guatemala.
Martinez says that both flicks are prime
displays of a previously colonized people
attempting to organize and administrate law
in otherwise lawless environments. The
CLDC film night will be followed by brief
discussion also lead by Martinez who has
produced documentaries in Iraq (500 miles to
Babylon) and Darfur (Songs to Enemies and
Deserts). He also contributed footage to
Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 911. Admission
is sliding scale, $2-$12, but no one will be
turned away. — Dante Zuñiga-West
Toxic chemical use by Eugene
manufacturers has declined 55 percent
since 2004, according to the city’s Toxics
Right-to-Know (TRTK) program.
Toxic releases to the environment
declined 73 percent, according to the
latest TRTK 2004-2009 data.
Still, local manufacturers reported
using 8.5 million pounds of toxic
chemicals in 2009 — about 55 pounds of
deadly poison for every man, woman and
child in Eugene.
The departure of Hynix, which used a
river of acids and solvents to make
memory chips in the west Eugene
wetlands, accounts for a large part of the
drop in toxic chemicals. In 2004, Hynix
brought in more than a third of the
chemicals used in Eugene. The Korean
company moved its chip production to
China in 2008 after $77 million in tax
breaks expired.
The largest user of toxic chemicals in
Eugene is now Forrest Paint, which
accounts for almost half of local toxics.
But Forrest Paint has won praise from
local environmentalists in the past for
installing filters to reduce its air emissions.
Toxic chemical use by the company has
declined 40 percent in the last three years,
according to TRTK data.
The Willamette Valley Company is the
second largest user of toxic chemicals in
Eugene, accounting for 18 percent of
reported local toxics. The company makes
chemical products for wood treatment
and coatings in west Eugene.
Voters
overwhelmingly
passed
Eugene’s Toxics Right-to-Know charter
amendment in 1996, creating the TRTK
program after Hynix refused to provide
an accounting of what dangerous
chemicals it was bringing to town.
Cars injured or killed 320 bicyclists and 141 pedestrians in a five-year period
in Eugene, according to a city analysis.
Cars did the most damage on 11th and 18th avenues, Willamette Street and
Coburg Road, according to the study of 2005-2009 ODOT crash data.
Drivers killed four people riding bikes and killed 11 people walking during the
period, according to an analysis by a Portland consultant, Alta, for the city’s new
Pedestrian and Bicycle Master Plan.
“Busy roadways designed to carry high volumes of vehicles are potentially
more dangerous for walking and bicycling and may require additional treatments
to decrease crash risk and improve their safety,” the consultant found. “Enhancing
walking and bicycling routes that are on lower-traffic roadways may be a
successful strategy to improve safety by allowing cyclists to travel on roadways
that afford them lower exposure to vehicle traffic, and by increasing the numbers
of Eugene residents who are cycling (by realizing the “safety in numbers”
principle).”
The consultant did not identify any overall trends in the data, but the draft
Pedestrian and Bicycle Master Plan for the city includes many improvements to
increase safety at intersections and roadways identified by the consultant as having
the most accidents. — Alan Pittman
Table 1: Reported Bicycle and Pedestrian Collisions by Roadway
Bicycle and Pedestrian Collisions by Roadway
Street
Collisions Collisions
Total
Involving
Involving
Collisions
Bicyclists
Pedestrians
11 th Avenue
Percent of All Reported
Ped/Bike Collisions
34
17
51
11.0%
18 Avenue
32
12
44
9.5%
Willamette Street
26
6
32
6.9%
Coburg Road
21
8
29
6.2%
th
th
13 Avenue
17
8
25
5.4%
River Road
18
7
25
5.4%
Chambers Street
18
5
23
4.9%
6 Avenue
11
11
22
4.7%
Hilyard Street
13
9
22
4.7%
7 Avenue
14
6
20
4.3%
Percentage of All
Reported Ped/Bike
Collisions
28.4%
59.6%
63.0%
th
th
lighten up
If life were fair, a county commissioner would be hauled into court for consorting
with lobbyists rather than for meeting with other commissioners.
— Rafael Aldave, Eugene
NOTICE TO FAMILIES
It’s
school choice time
Visit your neighborhood school—and more!
It’s school choice time in Eugene School District 4J. Families who live in the district
may enroll their children in any 4J school, provided there is space available.
You can enroll in your neighborhood school at any time. To request enrollment in
another district school for 2011–12, turn in a school choice request form any time
before the deadline for your student’s school level. Placement order is determined
by the annual school choice lottery.
School Visitation Week
Monday, Mar. 14–Friday, Mar. 18
4J schools are open for visitors!
Each school offers different activities
and times when parents can visit.
Please phone ahead or visit
www.4j.lane.edu/choice for details.
School Choice
Information Meeting
4J Education Center, 200 N. Monroe Street
Thursday, Mar. 10, 7–8 p.m.
Learn about the school choice process.
Spanish translation will be provided.
More information is available at:
www.4j.lane.edu/choice 541-790-7570
Eugene School District 4J
200 N. Monroe Street, Eugene
WWW.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM • BLOGS.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM
School Choice
Forms Due:
High School: March 18 at 5 p.m.
Elementary & Middle School:
April 22 at 5 p.m.
NOW OPEN
AT WOODFIELD STATION
2864 WILLAMETTE STREET, EUGENE
(4 doors down from Market of Choice)
OPEN 1:00–10:00 PM SEVEN DAYS
(541) 505-5399 WWW. LAUGHINGPLANETCAFE .COM
EUGENE WEEKLY
MARCH 10, 2011 7