letters
TO THE EDITOR
UNDERMINING CAHOOTS
I’m not sure how many people realize
what a complete and total disaster it
will be for the people of Eugene and
neighboring communities if Willamette
Family Treatment Inc.’s Buckley Center
“sobering station” shuts down; obviously,
not enough people, or the service
probably wouldn’t be threatened with
losing its funding to begin with (see Slant
last week).
Eugene is constantly debating what
to do about the “homeless problem”; or
the problem with panhandlers downtown;
or how the police could better be doing
their job or using their resources; or
what to do about the overuse, misuse
and abuse of emergency department
services and the fi re department, etc.
Out of these discussions, rarely, but
occasionally, interesting and innovative
ideas are implemented. The expansion of
CAHOOTS services last year — making
them available from 11 am to 3 am, with
two vans in service during the peak hours
of 3:30 pm to 10:30 pm — is one example
of an approach to societal problems that is
both economical and humanitarian.
One way to undermine the efforts of
CAHOOTS, and to dramatically worsen
the other problems mentioned, would be
to allow Buckley’s sobering station to
close. No more sobering station means
more intoxicated people sleeping, going
to the bathroom, fi ghting and using
(alcohol and other drugs) in public spaces
or on private property (maybe yours); it
means more people dying on the streets;
it means more emergency room and jail
beds used for people to “sleep it off,”
rather than being used for true medical
patients or to contain criminals who pose
a real threat to the public; it means more
law enforcement and emergency medical
staff tied up dealing with “drunks” and
other addicts rather than responding to
true emergencies.
Closing the sobering station due to a
supposed funding crisis is absurd beyond
words, because the cost of not having a
sobering station is so much greater, so
absurd, in fact, I have a feeling it will
not happen. I just don’t think we are that
stupid. Hopefully, this is not wishful
thinking.
Thomas Perkins
Eugene
SOCCER FOR CIVIC
It was very exciting to see last week’s
cover story [5/10] of the creation of a new
soccer team in Eugene. This news reinforces
the strategy of the Friends of Civic Stadium
to repurpose our historic Civic Stadium as a
multi-purpose facility, with a minor league
soccer team as an anchor tenant.
By supporting the Eugene Azul, you
will also be supporting the effort to save
Civic Stadium. So if you want to show
support for Civic Stadium while enjoying a
competitive soccer game with your friends
and neighbors, come to the game at South
Eugene High School Friday evening, June
1. Let’s show the 4J School Board and
the community at large that both soccer
and Civic Stadium have a strong future in
Eugene.
Lonnie McCullouch
Eugene
SOURCE OF DIRTY POLITICS
Seriously ... Pat Farr?
Remember folks, dirty politics come
from dirty politicians.
Rhonda Lindsten
Eugene
CRUEL & UNSPORTING
It’s admirable that Mike Martell is
dedicated to stopping the cruel practice
of trapping and snaring of Oregon black
bears [“Un-bearable” news story, May
10]. As he rightly points out, government
agents are killing hundreds of black bears,
including nursing mothers and orphaned
cubs, largely at the behest of the Oregon
timber industry. The Humane Society of
the United States will continue to work
with like-minded citizens who wish to see
an end to wildlife abuses such as snaring.
Bears may suffer severe injuries in
the frantic attempt to escape the snare.
Trapped bears may languish for hours or
days before the trapper fi nally arrives to
kill the animal, especially in a state like
Oregon with no time requirements to
check traps after setting them. The voters
of Oregon passed Measure 18 because they
found the practice of baiting and hounding
of black bears to be unacceptably cruel and
unsporting. Eliminating those methods of
hunting certainly didn’t slow the rate of
bears being killed by sport hunters using
traditional hunting methods. Rather, it
proved that hunters can pursue bears
without using extreme and unsporting
tools like hounds or snares.
Thank you, EW, for covering wildlife
issues like this one. Hopefully, wildlife
managers will continue to adopt practices
and policies that are more in line with
the humane values of the overwhelming
majority of Oregonians.
Scott Beckstead,
Oregon senior state director,
The Humane Society of the U.S.
BUILDINGS & GRAVEL
It was ironic that the article about whether
to demolish City Hall came the week after
the “Plea for Parvin Butte,” protesting
gravel mining. While gravel may not be
high on our list of nonrenewable resources,
it is widely used in the construction of
virtually all roads and buildings and some
nearby place has to get wrecked in order to
produce it.
For the city of Eugene to consider
demolishing City Hall — a building less
than 50 years old — is yet another example
of the same short-sighted lack of respect for
materials, energy and future that has gone
into countless fl imsy, single-story strip
malls, big boxes, burger joints and tract
houses across the country.
I have told city staff for 15 years that
any new construction along major transit
corridors or at major intersections should be
multi-story. Not only would such increased
density improve the effi ciency of public
transit, but it would also add an intrinsic
value to any building, reducing the pressure
to nonchalantly demolish it 30 years later.
Breezy & Beautiful
The sign on Puff & Ray Smith’s booth
asks “Wanna Spoon?” Once you see
the abundance of handcrafted wooden
utensils of all shapes and sizes,
made from reclaimed woods of all
kinds, your answer will be “Yes!”
Local Crafts • Great Food • Live Enterta
tainment
a inment
in
Eve r y S atu r d ay • 10 a m - 5 p m • R ai n o r Shi n e • 8 t h & O a k
w w w.eugenesaturdaymarket.org
Full Lounge• Lots of Parking
O
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F
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F T WISE
FOO
Lunch 11-2 Tue-Fri
Dinner 5-10 Tue-Sat
Happy Hour 5-6:30
Bonus Happy Hour
an hour before close
Shown: The Valerie in Canvas Blue Hawaii
closed Sundays and Mondays
New Owners
New Menu
New Look
4
MAY 24, 2012
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