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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (April 28, 2011)
NEWS BRIEFS HOUSE TARGETS PREDATORS A bill that would allow hunters to trophy hunt cougars passed in the Oregon House with a 45-14 vote on April 20. House Bill 2337 would allow counties to decide which ways cougars could be hunted. Sally Mackler of Predator Defense says county officials are often not well-versed in the issues related to cougars. She says that if this bill passes it would go against the will of Oregon voters who have twice voted down efforts to reinstate sport hound hunting of cougars, a practice which was banned by voters in 1994. The Oregon House currently is divided evenly, 30 Democrats and 30 Republicans. Of the Eugene area Democrats, Nancy Nathanson, Phil Barnhart and Paul Holvey voted against the bill and Val Hoyle voted for the cougar bill, as did Terry Beyer of Springfield. LIGHTEN UP The Register-Guard should give the editorials attacking county commissioners Rob Handy and Pete Sorenson a rest. If I want to know more about how public officials threaten our way of life by meeting in private, I’ll tune into the Glenn Beck show. — Rafael Aldave, Eugene Mackler points out that hound hunting of cougars is already allowed to address livestock and property damage, as well as public safety concerns. It’s important, she says, that people recognize the difference between sport hounding of animals for a trophy versus using hounds to track and remove a specific cougar that has caused problems. “Sport trophy hounding is a whole different animal,” she says. Most trophy hunting occurs in areas where there is little to no cougar-human conflict, Mackler says, and the bill won’t save Oregonians any money. And she adds that studies out of Washington state have shown that “in areas that have been heavily hunted, conflicts increase,” due to “a disruption on the social system of these animals.” Hunters go for the trophy animals and kill the dominant cougars, leaving juvenile cougars to move in. She says “Ninety percent of the complaints when checked out turned out not be cougars at all.” The eyewitness reports usually turn out to be sightings of coyotes, foxes and orange tabby cats. The bill moves next to the Senate. The Oregon House also passed a HB 3562, which would allow endangered wolves threatening the life of a human to be shot and killed. Josh Laughlin of Cascadia Wildlands says that was already allowed under the Oregon Wolf Management Plan. He calls the bill, which was introduced at the request of the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association, an effort to vilify the predators. Mackler says when it comes to cougar issues, “There is some responsibility that should be put on farmers and ranchers to protect their livestock.” — Camilla Mortensen CORRECTIONS/ CLARIFICATIONS An April 14 news brief incorrectly reported a bill number regarding creating a UO police force. The correct bill number was SB 116, which the city of Eugene opposed. The city supported SB 405. slant • Look for our endorsements next week on candidates and issues on the May 17 Special Election ballot. Ballots should arriving in mailboxes early next week. Which way will the election go for the temporary income tax? We haven’t see any scientific polling data. We predict a very close election and that means victory will go to whichever camp gets more people to actually vote. What’s disturbing in this election is that the opposition to the tax is organized and funded by out-of-state, anti-government interests and a lot of distortions and outright lies are being foisted on the public. See Alan Pittman’s news story this week checking the facts of the tax measure campaign rhetoric. • A police memorial service with full honors for EPD officer Chris Kilcullen will be held at 2 pm Friday, April 29, in the Matthew Knight Arena. This is a time for our community to come together and remember an exceptional police officer. We hear from many directions that Kilcullen was a thoughtful and compassionate public servant with a high level of personal integrity. His death is a great tragedy, and once again we are reminded that there’s no effective gun control in Oregon to prevent the mentally ill with tendencies toward violence from wielding deadly weapons. The police could provide a strong voice for gun control in the name of officer and public safety. The best memorial for Kilcullen would be preventing this tragedy from happening again. The 12th annual Million Mom March to Prevent Gun Violence will begin at 2 pm Sunday, May 8, Mother's Day, at the EWEB Plaza fountain. • Springfield City Councilor Dave Ralston is at it again, making more ignorant, bigoted statements about Latinos and this time focusing on funding for Centro LatinoAmericano. His views might be his own, but as an elected official he represents the entire city. Why hasn’t the Springfield mayor and council removed him from his committee assignments? By allowing him to continue as a city councilor, Springfield residents are prolonging what we thought was the city’s fading reputation as “Springtucky.” Big Springfield employers like RiverBend, Symantec and Royal Caribbean need to speak out that they value diversity to distance themselves from the racism. Find a link to KVAL’s bizarre interview with Ralston at blogs.eugeneweekly. com/camilla ACTIVIST ALERT • The local Sierra Club will give a free screening of the film Gasland at 7 pm Thursday, April 28, at the Eugene Garden Club, 1645 High St. The controversial film looks at hydraulic fracturing methods developed by Halliburton. Screenings in other states have been monitored by Homeland Security agents. • Author and cancer activist Sandra Steingraber will speak at 7 pm Thursday, April 28, at the UO’s Robinson Theatre. $11, $9 students. See story last week. • The Oregon Board of Forestry will address state forest issues and landowner charges for wildfire protection when it meets from 8 am to 2 pm on April 29 at ODF headquarters, Building C, 2600 State St., in Salem. The afternoon has been set aside for the second phase of a workshop on board policies governing the use of pesticides in forest management. Representatives of the Pitchfork Rebellion and Oregon Toxics Alliance will speak before the board. Also on the agenda is the new draft Elliott State Forest Management Plan. More information at http://wkly.ws/120 • Canvassing in north Eugene in support of the temporary income tax on the May ballot will begin with a gathering at 10 am Saturday, April 30, at Cascade Middle School, 1525 Echo Hollow Road. To phone, write a letter, endorse, or donate, visit www.StrongSchoolsEugene.org 10 APRIL 28, 2011 EUGENE WEEKLY • It turns out burning logging slash and other wood fiber in a furnace to generate electrical power is a dirty business no matter how “advanced” the pollution controls might be. The smokestack might look clean but it’s the stuff you can’t see that kills you. And despite our already polluted air, the advice of local medical experts and serious environmental problems with other biomass plants around the country, the Lane Regional Air Protection Agency in 2009 violated its primary reason for being and granted a permit for Seneca Sustainable Energy to build a huge biomass burner in west Eugene. The R-G editorial board endorsed this asthma-exacerbating atrocity that will pump up to 17 tons of toxins into our air each year; but progressive county commissioners fought it, adding fuel to the timber industry’s campaign to discredit the commissioners. Now the plant off Highway 99 is fired up and running and we hear that Seneca will be celebrating with a so-far unpublicized grand opening and ribbon cutting at 10 am Thursday, May 5. Will LRAPA Director Merlyn Hough and other local officials be there to make laudatory speeches and smile for the cameras? Or will we see gas masks and protest signs along Highway 99? • Remember when you read Greg Mortenson’s Three Cups of Tea and then joined the mob at Mac Court in May 2009 to hear him speak? Now he’s the subject of investigations and detailed stories about his alleged mishandling of facts and funds for his school building projects in Pakistan and Afghanistan. We heard him speak early in his adventure when he was pleading with Congress to fund teachers in those schools for $10 a month. It’s hard to tell if the current allegations are true, and if they are we don’t excuse him, but this guy has been building remote schools under daunting circumstances. Compare him to the hedge fund bandits, still mostly faceless, who brought down our economy. Compare him to the military-industrial complex flying deadly drones into those tribal societies. Bring me my third cup of tea, please. 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 • An Earth Day/Arbor Day celebration and tree planting will be from 10 am to 2:30 pm Saturday, April 30, at 2nd and Broadway in downtown Veneta, sponsored by the Veneta Parks Board. Lots of family activities planned, along with the dedication of downtown improvement projects. • Local sustainability activist Jan Spencer is on a speaking tour, titled “Creating A Safer, More Secure and Healthier Neighborhood” this month through early June. His next free talk will be at 7 pm Wednesday, May 4, at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, 255 Maxwell. A half-day seminar will be from 1 to 5 pm Saturday, May 7, at the Unitarian Church, 477 E. 40th Ave. Next will be at 7 pm Tuesday, May 10 at the United Lutheran Church, 2230 Washington St. Next will be at 7 pm Wednesday, May 18 at Temple Beth Israel, 1175 E. 29th Ave. Call Spencer at 686-6761 or see the full schedule is at www.suburbanpermaculture.org • The Al-Nakba Awareness Project will show historic footage of the original Nakba (dispossession to create Israel in 1948), along with Reel Bad Arabs, a documentary on the role of Hollywood in dehumanizing Arabs and Muslims, at 7 pm Wednesday, May 4, at Harris Hall, 8th & Oak, Eugene. See www.al-nakba-history.com • Colin Goddard, survivor of the VA Tech massacre, is on a national tour and will speak and show a video Living for 32 at 7 pm Thursday, May 5, at PLC 180 on the UO campus. Sponsored by the Survival Center. LANE AREA SPRAY SCHEDULE • ODOT: highway spraying in District 5 (Lane County) was delayed, now to begin May 2, depending on weather (see “update” in Notices/ODOT/2011). Call District 5 at 744- 8080 or (888) 996-8080 for herbicide application information. ODOT spraying may have already started in other parts of Oregon. • Eastern Lane County: Seneca Jones (461-6245, 607-7299) will ground spray roadsides with Milestone VM, Forestry Garlon XRT, and LV6 2,4-D herbicides starting May 15 (#771-00297); and Strata Forestry (726-0845) will ground spray for Giustina Resources (485-1500) with Westar and Oust herbicides near Noisy Creek and Dexter Reservoir starting immediately (#771-00309). Compiled by Jan Wroncy, Forestland Dwellers: 342- 8332, www.forestlanddwellers.org WWW.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM • BLOGS.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM
