ACTIVIST
LERT
• The Eugene Toxics Board meets at 3:30 pm
Thursday, July 17, at the Eugene Emergency
Services Center, 1705 W. 2nd Ave. Fire Conference
Room. On the agenda is an Envision Eugene
overview and other items. Call 682-7118 or email
joann.c.eppli@ci.eugene.or.us
for
more
information.
ALEX DANIELL WORKING
AT OPPORTUNITY VILLAGE,
A TRANSITIONAL COMMUNITY
SIMILAR TO THE NIGHTENGALE
HEALTH SANCTUARY
PHOTO: CAMILLA MORTENSEN
UNHOUSED SANCTUARY
FINDS A HOME
The Nightingale Health Sanctuary Steering Commit-
tee has found a 1.1-acre lot on which they will start the
Nightingale Health Sanctuary, a self-governing commu-
nity of homeless people intended to promote health and
recovery.
Steering committee member Mary Broadhurst asked
that the location not be disclosed because the group is
still doing neighborhood outreach.
Residents will start out living in tents. Organizers
hope to build Conestoga huts — semi-permanent 6-by-
1-foot structures — and then move on to micro-housing.
The site will eventually be similar to the transitional tiny
house community, Opportunity Village Eugene, says
Michael Carrigan, a steering committee member and
community organizer for Community Alliance of Lane
County.
Land use laws limit the starting capacity to six resi-
dents, but the steering committee hopes to increase that
number over time, Broadhurst says.
Tenants will sign a community agreement prior to
moving onto the site. The contract obligates them to
attend weekly meetings and work at least 13 hours per
week on the maintenance or operation of the site, and it
prohibits violence and alcohol, among other stipulations.
Tenants who don’t follow the rules will be asked to leave
either temporarily or permanently.
BEE-KILLING
PESTICIDES LINKED TO
BIRD DECLINES
The latest in a number of recent studies looking at the impact
of neonicotinoid pesticides has shown declining bird popula-
tions in areas where the pesticides are used in high concentra-
tions. Neonics have already been associated with bee die-offs,
and a new study published in Nature found that common bird
populations such as barn swallows and starlings decreased 3.5
percent each year in areas associated with neonics use.
“It clearly demonstrates that neonicotinoid pesticides are af-
fecting the entire food chain,” says Jonathan Evans, toxics and
endangered species campaign director for the Center for Bio-
logical Diversity. “The cascading impacts of these pesticides
are poisoning the food chain and causing ripples of impacts
in higher level species like bird species that eat a lot of these
insects.”
According to the study, the decline began during the mid-
1990s, the same time that imidacloprid, of the neonicotinoid
pesticide class, was introduced to the Netherlands. It goes on to
explore other factors the researchers examined such as land-use
changes to explain the population decline, though no other fac-
tors were supportive of their data. The study suggested “further
legislation should take into account the potential cascading ef-
fects of neonicotinoids on ecosystems.”
An anonymous donor pledged $400,000 to fund the
sanctuary in April following the city’s closure of Who-
ville — a homeless camp of between 20 and 40 people that
was located on the intersection of Broadway and Hilyard
Streets for eight months.
The community will be a more positive and healing-
oriented environment than Whoville, Broadhurst says, be-
cause they will be able to kick people off the land who do
not comply with rules.
Community volunteers will teach yoga, cooking and
peer-to-peer mediation, among other activities, to site resi-
dents. Long-term goals include a two-day per week health
clinic, gardens and an emergency overnight shelter where
people stop in only to sleep.
The committee announced plans for the project at the
July 9 Whiteaker Community Council meeting. Reactions
from the approximately 40 people attending ranged from
the notion that it could be an asset to the neighborhood, to
concern about the site bringing more drug use or otherwise
unpleasant behavior to the area.
Nathan “Red” Showers, steering committee member
and former Whoville organizer, says he and other former
Whoville residents will live at the new site. He says many
of them are willing to embrace a more structured environ-
ment. There are a lot of homeless people in the area who
have substance abuse issues or disabilities, he says, who
could benefit from living somewhere like Nightingale
Health Sanctuary. “That is our plan — to help those kind of
people get back on their feet. And the elderly that need just
a place to stay and put their stuff,” he says. — Missy Corr
In a statement by Bayer CropScience, producer of neonic-
otinoids and specifically imidacloprid, the company said the
study “provides no substantiated evidence of the alleged in-
direct effects of imidacloprid on insectivorous birds” and that
this class of pesticides is “safe to the environment when used
responsibly.” Imidacloprid was one of the neonics sprayed on
linden trees in a recent Eugene bee die-off.
“There is a wealth of peer-reviewed science that shows the
negative effect on pollinators and other non-target species,”
Evans says. “Clearly all of these products are toxic and de-
signed to kill, and it’s a question of whether their impacts are
worth overlooking in terms of their benefits to society. In terms
of neonics, they are devastating the same agricultural sector
that they are ostensibly benefiting by destroying the pollinator
species that is the backbone of our agricultural system.”
The European Union recently put a two-year moratorium
in place on neonicotonoids until further research on the impact
may be completed.
“In the United States, I’m not sure why, but our pesticides
really get the benefit of the doubt and are innocent until proven
guilty,” says Aimee Code, pesticides program coordinator for
the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation. “We don’t
have a smoking gun, but we have significant scientific evidence
that shows us there is a serious problem that needs response.
And we can’t wait until we get every last bit of data in before
we act.” — Anna V. Smith
• Two benefits for CAHOOTS and LCC Student
Nurses’ Association are this week. The first is an
event from noon to 10 pm Thursday, July 17, at
Ninkasi, 272 Van Buren, and the next is a showing
of Alien Boy: The Life and Death of James Chasse
at 8 pm Friday, July 18, at Wandering Goat, 268
Madison St. $5 suggested donation.
• An all-day block party benefit for the
nonprofit Community Supported Shelters will be
from 8 am to 8 pm Saturday, July 19, at 12th and
Grant in Eugene. Local businesses will be holding
sales, live entertainment is planned and a raffle
prize is a Mazda Miata. CSS serves basic shelter
needs, such as building Conestoga huts and
supporting legal rest-stop camps. See
communitysupportedsshelters.org.
• The Little Dog Corner park will have its grand
opening celebration from 1 to 3 pm Saturday, July
19, at the southeast corner of the Amazon Dog
Park along the bike path. The new half-acre, fenced
park with its shade shelter, water source and small
pool is open for dogs under 25 pounds. All
construction and maintenance has been funded
through community member donations. The park
was inspired by the mauling death of a small dog
by a large dog in the off-leash area five years ago.
• Umpqua Watersheds is planning River
Appreciation Day from 11 am to 5 pm Saturday,
July 19, at the Elkton Community Education
Center, 15850 Hwy. 38 West in Elkton. Live music
during the day and a barn dance to follow. Call
672-7065 for more information.
• Occupy Medical, normally providing free
medical services in the Park Blocks downtown, will
be heading to the coast this weekend. The bus will
be open from noon to 4 pm Sunday, July 20, at the
St. Vincent de Paul parking lot in Florence. The
weekend visit is sponsored by the Florence
chapter of Healthcare for All Oregon. The bus will
return to the Park Blocks Sunday, July 27. Occupy
Medical is a group of health care professionals
and support personnel who believe health care is
a basic human right that must be made accessible
to everyone regardless of ability to pay. See hcao.
org or call 997-2997.
• Skateboard and electric bike regulations
are on the agenda of the Eugene City Council
public hearing at 7:30 pm Monday, July 21, at
Harris Hall, 125 E. 8th Ave. One proposed new law
would allow electric bikes to be ridden on off-
street paths with the motor engaged. The other law
would modify rules for skateboards downtown.
Call 682-5471 for more information or see eugene-
or.gov/bikeskatelaws.
• A public hearing on Eugene’s proposed paid
sick leave ordinance will also be on the agenda at
the City Council meeting at 7:30 pm Monday, July
21. Those wishing to speak should sign up at 7 pm.
See everybodybenefitseugene.org or call 868-
7924 for more information.
• A public hearing on the city’s draft of the
Climate Recovery Ordinance will be at 7:30 pm
Monday, July 21, at Harris Hall, 124 E. 8th Ave.
Time is allotted for public testimony. The City
Council will vote on the ordinance (with no public
comment) at the meeting at 7:30 pm Monday,
July 28, also at Harris Hall. Call (512) 712-0068 or
email ebrown@ourchildrenstrust.org for
information on public comments.
eugeneweekly.com • July 17, 2014
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