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