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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 11, 2012)
NEWS ACTIVIST LERT TOXIC TAR SANDS PROTEST IN TEXAS • The annual Walk to End Alzheimer’s will be at 2 pm Sunday, Oct. 14, at Alton Baker Park. Registration begins at 1 pm. See http://wkly. ws/1d8 for more information or to donate. Toxic tar sands oil has not been in the news lately in the Northwest, but a blockade against the controversial Key- stone XL pipeline that would carry the crude from Canada to the Gulf Coast of the U.S. has drawn Eugene-based ac- tivists down to Texas to oppose the pipeline’s construction. Ben Jones, a member of the Cascadia Forest Defenders who is in east Texas with the Tar Sands Blockade, calls the Keystone XL is one of the largest and most destructive infrastructure projects in the world. Johannes Pedersen, a Eugene activist who recently re- turned from a 10-day trip in September to support the anti- pipeline action, says he doesn’t think this country or any other country has any business participating in a project as destructive as the oil extraction in the Canadian tar sands. Tar sands oil extraction takes place in massive open- pit mines in Canada that remove boreal forests and leave behind toxic mine tailings. The crude, which is said to be dirtier than sweet crude extracted through conventional oil drilling. The Keystone XL is a planned route for shipping the crude oil. Construction of the northern portion of the pipeline from Alberta, Canada, to Steele City, Neb., going through wetlands and aquifers, was held up when President Obama rejected the permit for the pipeline in January and asked for more review. The pipeline was then split into a northern and southern portion, and Obama fast-tracked the Oklahoma-to-Texas portion in what Pedersen calls an act of “political duplicitousness.” Jones calls the protest “an amazing conglomerate of the environmental movement and grassroots organizers.” He says local landowners are supportive of the protest and have invited protesters onto private land to conduct actions against the pipeline. Many landowners object to the gov- ernment using eminent domain to seize portions of their land to build the pipeline. Jones says some of the landown- ers got involved over the land issue, but then became aware of the environmental concerns as well, such as increased CO2 emissions. Awareness of the Texas protest has grown since actress Daryl Hannah was arrested alongside 78-year-old great- grandmother Eleanor Fairchild as they attempted to block pipeline construction on Fairchild’s farm last week. Jones says in addition, two nonviolent protesters were subjected to “pain compliance,” pepper sprayed and Tased while locked down to construction equipment in late September. • Occupy Eugene’s first anniversary Monday, Oct. 15, will begin with the Eugene Philanthropy Network gathering at noon at Ninkasi at 272 Van Buren, followed by a bank action at 2 pm beginning at the Park Blocks. Pro-women activists will gather at 4:30 pm at the Wayne Morse Free Speech Plaza at 8th and Oak, for “Women Amplified: Uniting Against the War on Women.” After the rally, the marchers will take to the streets. They ask that attendees bring signs or sign-making materials and pots and pans or other noise-making devices. Tabling will go on all day at the Park Blocks followed by entertainment and talks from 6 to 9 pm. • Noted psychiatric survivors Celia Brown from New York City and Jacki McKinney, MSW, of Philadelphia will be speaking at a free gathering at 3 pm Monday, Oct. 15, at the Eugene Public Library downtown. Call 345-9106 or email oregon.united@ gmail.com for more information. • Author Greta Berlin, co-founder of the Free Gaza Movement, will speak at 6:30 pm Monday, Oct. 15, at Cozmic, 8th and Charnelton in Eugene. Free. Sponsored by the Al-Nakba Awareness Project. • The Oregon Education Investment Board is holding community forums and webinars at which stakeholders can provide input and feedback on education funding. The Eugene forum will be from 6 to 8 pm Wednesday, Oct. 17, at the UO’s Ford Alumni Center, 1720 E. 13th Ave. Each speaker will be given two minutes. Public comments may also be emailed to: education.investment@state.or.us • The deadline to apply for the daytime option of the OSU Extension Service Master Gardener Program in Lane County has been extended until Oct. 17. Orientation will be Dec. 5 and classes will meet Wednesdays, Jan. 9 to March 13, 2013. Contact the Extension Service office at 344-5859, or stop by 783 Grant St. to pick up an application. • The Good Works Film Festival will be back Oct. 28-29 with multiple screenings of the award- winning labor film Brothers On the Line, which documents the leadership of the United Auto Workers union from 1946 to 1970. Director and producer Sasha Reuther will be available on Skype for all screenings at the Bijou. The showings will be free but seating will be limited. Get advance tickets at the Bijou or online at goodworksfilmfestival.org lighten up BY RAFAEL ALDAVE Sun ., Oct 14 - 11 am EWEB - Community Rm 500 E 4 th Ave Eugene 1-877-MEDITATE Sant Mat meditation on the inner light and the inner sound as taught by Sant Baljit Singh talk given by authorized speaker Admission Free www.santmat.net 10 October 11, 2012 • eugeneweekly.com Jones, Pedersen and the other Eugene- and Oregon- based activists who traveled to Texas for the tree-sit and blockade are not new to the tar sands issue. They pro- tested the megaloads of tar sands equipment that were be- ing brought through Oregon, Idaho and Montana and the Keystone XL pipeline last summer at the Montana state capitol in Helena. Pedersen was arrested while practicing nonviolent civil disobedience locking down in the capitol building. More information on the blockade can be found at tar- sandsblockade.org — Camilla Mortensen FILM FESTIVAL FLOWS IN EUGENE Or egon’s vivid landscapes will hit the big screen at the Living River Film Festival, a three-day event presented by the McKenzie River Trust. The festival, which begins Oct. 12 and includes 11 fi lms with guest appearances by the fi lmmakers, provides the public with an opportunity to connect to MRT’s conservation goals. “We purchase land in order to protect critical fi sh and wildlife habitat,” says Liz Lawrence, operations manager for MRT. “Basically, we’re in the conservation real estate business.” MRT protects areas span the length of western Or- egon, including the recently acquired Railroad Island, a 63-acre piece of land in the Willamette River that MRT will preserve as protected habitat for sensitive species. “We wanted to connect the festival to the landscapes directly around us,” says Brandi Ferguson, development manager for MRT. One fi lm, Letters from the Big Man, tells the story of an Oregon fi eld biologist who “encounters a sasquatch in the wilderness,” the fi lm’s director Christopher Munch says. His movie, which makes its fi rst Eugene appearance on Oct. 13, explores how “dangerously removed many of us have become from nature,” Munch says. The festival kicks off at 6 pm Friday, Oct. 12, at the Wildish Theater in Springfi eld, with a sneak peak at the fi lm Willamette Futures and catering from local busi- nesses, including Oakshire Brewing and Sweet Life Pa- tisserie. Seven more fi lms will show at Bijou Art Cinemas on Saturday, while free fi lms and activities for children will take place on Sunday at EWEB’s River Edge Pla- za, with tree-climbing and crafts with the Slug Queen. — Amy Schneider After reading the R-G’s editorial endorsing Juan Carlos Valle for City Council over Betty Taylor — where Taylor is described as “a woman of incorruptible conviction,” as a person who is “willing to stand for what she believes in,” and as unwilling to compromise those beliefs — I felt like moving to her ward just so I could vote for her.
