Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 23, 2012)
ACTIVIST ALERT YOUNG DEMS OFF TO RESCUE PATRIOTISM • Raise the Roof about Coal Trains! Beyond Toxics and partners Power Past Coal, No Coal Eugene and Many Rivers Chapter of the Sierra Club are calling on Lane County residents to make a strong statement against coal trains in the Eugene Celebration Parade entry “King Coal and the Fossil Fools.” Meet at 9 am for a 10 am parade start on Saturday, Aug. 25, on 19th Avenue between Ferry and Patterson, entry number 71. Costumes and messaging will be supplied. Bring family members, friends and energy (and homemade signs are welcomed too). For information call Beyond Toxics at 465-8860 or see our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/ beyondtoxics • “Postal Road Warrior” Jamie Partridge, a retired mail carrier, will hold an organizing meeting at 7 pm Monday, Aug. 27, at EWEB, 500 E. 4th Ave. in Eugene. Focus will be on saving the Springfield/Gateway mail sorting plant from being shut down. Sponsored by Communities & Postal Workers United, Rural Organizing Project, and ESSN/Jobs with Justice. He will also speak at 7 pm Thursday, Aug. 23, at the Walton General Store. • The Occupy Eugene Foreclosure Committee will hold a roundtable discussion on the new Oregon Foreclosure Law, which gives homeowners new rights to help defend against foreclosure at 7 pm Thursday, Aug. 30, at EWEB. Contact: Three Lane County Young Democrats, Andrew Becker, Steven Coatsworth and Celine Swenson-Harris, are embarking on a “Great American Adventure” Aug. 24 in a well-worn 1989 Honda Civic freshly painted with stars and stripes. The three are traveling cross-country to the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C. Becker and Coatsworth are among the youngest delegates elected to represent Oregon at the DNC, while Swenson-Harris will be filming interviews for their video-blog KeepingAmerica.org, according to their friend Chris Wig, a UO grad student who left this week to work for the Obama campaign in Ohio. Coatsworth, the Young Oregon Democrats of America (YODA) national committeeman, says the vlog is a universally American project. “The tough problems facing us are not the problems of any political party,” he says. “They’re not North, South or coastal problems. They are American problems, and they need American solutions.” The team plans to interview anyone along the way who is willing to talk about “the everyday struggles of everyday Americans and highlighting their views on the state of our nation,” Coatsworth says. The project is in part motivated by what he sees as the inability of cable news networks to accurately depict Americans’ views. They also plan to stream footage from the floor of the convention. Becker is the secretary of the Democratic Party of Lane County and YODA, and he views their journey as a repudiation of the political paradigm propagated by the funders of the Tea Party. “Patriotism has been hijacked. It means a lot more than waving a flag. It’s supporting the struggles the flag stands for,” he says. Swenson-Harris is YODA vice president and community action chair for the Democratic Party of Lane County and a recent graduate of South Eugene High School. She will be voting for the first time this November, Wig says. She was drawn into politics in 2011 during the Strong Schools, Strong Eugene campaign. “I realized my high school was dying from lack of funding. In one of my classes, I had to literally sit on the radiator every day because there weren’t enough seats in our 60-student classroom.” The three will distribute information about Oregon’s vote-by-mail system to delegates from other states. To that end, they have drafted an organizer’s guide, “Bring Vote-By-Mail Home,” which details how to implement the system. Fundraising for the trip has been part of the political experience, and they have not yet covered all their expenses for gas, food and shelter. “The Democratic Party is not known for its billionaires, but for its people-powered politics which pushes us to find pragmatic, grassroots solutions,” Coatsworth says. Donations thus far have come in all shapes and sizes, many in checks for $20.12. Contributions can be made online at keepingamerica.org — Ted Taylor Fergus Mclean (541) 937-3034 • On Aug. 16, the Oregon State Court of Appeals issued a stay on altering the Willamette Valley’s canola restriction zone. The Oregon Department of Agriculture’s plan to reduce the restricted zone in which canola could be planted was met with opposition from specialty seed and vegetable farmers who fear genetic contamination with their crops. Friends of Family Farmers was part of the suit to stop canola in the valley and to find out more about the issue go to their website at friendsoffamilyfarmers.org • Swanson Brothers Lumber Co., 935-2231, plans to hack and squirt or broadcast spray 38 acres near tributaries to the Long Tom River near Low Pass with glyphosate and/or imazapyr. See ODF notice 2012-781-00594. • Weyerhaeuser, 746-4600, plans to ground spray 63 acres in the Fish Creek and Hayes Creek drainages with Polaris SP, Polaris AC, Chopper, Garlon 4 Ultra, Arsenal Applicator’s Concentrate, MSO and/or non-ionic surfactant. See ODF notice 2012-781-00603. • Giustina, 345-2301, is hiring Western Helicopter, (503) 538-9469, to do aerial spraying of aminopyralid, glyphosate, metsulfuron methyl and/or sulfometuron methyl on 45 acres near Camas Swale Creek. See ODF notification 2012-781- 00607. • Giustina, 485-1500, is hiring Applebee Aviation, no phone number given, to do aerial spraying of Rodeo, Chopper, Escort, Oust, MSO and/or Dyne-Amic on 76 acres near Noisy Creek and Dexter Reservoir. See ODF notice 2012-771-00553. Compiled by Jan Wroncy, Forestland Dwellers: 342-8332, www.forestland- dwellers.org WWW.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM PHOTO BY CHRISTY DESERMAUX OF ON AIR MEDIA LANE COUNTY AREA SPRAY SCHEDULE Andrew Becker (left), Celine Swenson-Harris and Steve Coatsworth with their car, ‘Liberty.’ EUGENE WEEKLY AUGUST 23, 2012 7
