• We lost Edgar Peara Feb. 22
at the age of 93, but the longtime
Eugene peace activist’s words live
on. “War is demonic, immature,” he
wrote in an EW Viewpoint March
22, 2007. “It is incompatible with
morality, high-minded religion and
common sense. Peace is an active condition more difficult to achieve than any
military objective.” Peara was a highly decorated officer in the Combat Engineer
Corps during WWII and spent the rest of his life working for peace and spiritual
healing. “War must be abolished,” he wrote. “How willing are we to believe in peace,
to work for it and vote for it? Do we have the moral strength to demonstrate for it
until the world is emancipated from war?” A celebration of life is planned for 2 pm
May 17 at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Eugene.
NEWS
SLANT
• One thing to love about Eugene is that activism springs eternal. Ten-year-old
Keegan Keppner is fighting a brain tumor, and he’s also fighting to support
Eugene’s homeless. He set out walking from Whoville last week to deliver a
handwritten letter to Gov. John Kitzhaber in Salem on March 11. The Eugene City
Council still intends to shut down the Whoville camp but also voted to open
another camping spot near the Cuthbert Amphitheatre for the unhoused. Other
recent bright spots of activism include Green Party presidential candidate Jill
Stein’s March 3 participation in a Eugene 350.org Keystone XL pipeline protest at
the old Federal Building. On a national scale nearly 400 people, mainly college
students chanting “climate justice now,” were arrested in front of the White House
on March 2 also protesting the controversial tar sands oil pipeline.
• Endorsements are still important in political campaigns. Think Ted Kennedy’s
endorsement of Barack Obama. That’s why Dawn Lesley and Kevin Matthews, both
Lane County Commission candidates against sitting commissioners, are eager for
us to know their latest high profile endorsers. Congressman Peter DeFazio
supports Lesley against Jay Bozievich. Pete started his political career as a Lane
County commissioner. He knows how it should be done. Working people, enviros,
Mayor Kitty Piercy, former commissioner Jerry Rust and the savvy Blackberry Pie
Society of Cottage Grove are signing on for Matthews against three-term incumbent
Faye Stewart. That includes the Lane County Labor Council, AFL-CIO, Many Rivers
Group of the Sierra Club and the Oregon League of Conservation Voters.
• After reading our cover story last week about tiny houses that are mobile,
one Eugene historian wryly observed that we had tiny mobile houses around here
in the 1960s. They were called “old school buses.”
• Great sound filled the third floor of the Downtown Athletic Club March 7 when
Emily Pulley sang a bit of Puccini’s The Girl of the Golden West for the City Club of
Eugene. Without amplification, the operatic star teased the Eugene Opera
performance March 14 and 16 in the Hult Center. She and Mark Beudert, general
director of the Eugene Opera, spoke to the club as part of our opera’s brilliant
community-wide effort to bring a big audience to this drama of the gold-mining
1850s West.
• Public school teachers are underpaid, overworked, underappreciated and
sometimes even blamed for systemic problems in our education system. But we
think differently. This week we are beginning an occasional series of profiles of
exceptional teachers in our “Happening People” features by Paul Neevel. His first
profile is on Julia Harvey, an inspired science teacher at South Eugene High
School. Do you know of an exceptional teacher, K-12, in Lane County? Send a note
explaining why to editor@eugeneweekly.com.
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
>>> CONTINUED FROM P. 9
really started blossoming in terms of people be-
ing drawn and seeing the appeal, and it made the
statement of the kind of place they want to live.”
Hancock says this project is different because
it will utilize a corridor of five blocks rather than
a single intersection.
“More than likely what’s going to happen
is we’ll see some sort of repeating design or
theme,” Hancock says. He adds that the mural
will be painted on the street’s surface using a
city-approved stain or anti-slip additive.
Neighborhoods Program Coordinator Cindy
Clarke says the applicants will have to collabo-
rate on the design with the Public Works Depart-
ment.
“We want to make sure from a safety stand-
point that the mural is safe, that the design is not
distracting and that it’s something everyone can
live with,” Clarke says.
Alder Street Advocates has raised $5,402 and
is applying for $2,850 more through the city’s
Neighborhood Matching Grants program. The
grant will award a total of $30,000 to neighbor-
hood projects aimed at encouraging community
involvement and building relationships.
“This year it’s really competitive,” Clarke
says. “It’s been competitive in the past, but this
year the ask is almost double what’s available in
funding.” — Missy Corr
NUKE PLANT
INCIDENTS RENEW
SAFETY QUESTIONS
Under Oregon law a nuclear power plant
can’t be constructed in this state until there is
a safe, permanent way to deal with nuclear
waste, and even then, citizens reserve the right
to vote on whether a plant can be built, accord-
ing to Chuck Johnson of Oregon and Washing-
ton Physicians for Social Responsibility. While
Oregon does not have a commercial nuclear re-
actor, Johnson is concerned with the Columbia
Generating Station (CGS), a Washington nuclear
power plant just across the Columbia River from
Oregon.
Johnson cites a March 7 report from the
Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) that notes
three “near-miss” incidents at CGS in 2013. Phy-
sicians for Social Responsibility have previously
criticized CGS, which is located on the Hanford
Nuclear Site, as not being economically worth-
while or geologically safe.
Johnson says that while “near-miss incidents”
are in decline nationwide, the three incidents at
CGS are the most by a single plant since UCS
began issuing the reports in 2010. The Nuclear
We believe in
Greenpower
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Join thousands in the community who support
Greenpower from Eugene Water & Electric Board.
Get started for as little as $1.50 per month.
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541-685-7000.
10
March 13, 2014 • eugeneweekly.com