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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 14, 2014)
MUSIC BOOKED FOR TRANS ACTION CAMP BENEFIT BETTY AND THE BOY Betty and the Boy and four other folk, pop and punk bands will play at a benefi t show to raise money for the annual Trans and/or Women’s Action Camp. TWAC was initially born from the idea of creating a safe space for trans and/or women in the social and environmental justice movement, according to Ariel Howland, organizer of and participant in the benefi t show and camp. Eventually, that idea came into its own: a weeklong camp that focuses on community building and political activism. “Environmental destruction, oppression of humans and oppression of animals is interconnected,” Howland says, “[the camp is] a reaction to patriarchy, and homophobia and transphobia.” Josh Harvey, the “boy” of the fi ve-piece folk group Betty and the Boy (winner of EW’s 2011 Next Big Thing), says the band gets an overload of requests to play at benefi t shows throughout the year, but this one specifi cally piqued POLLUTION UPDATE ACTIVIST ALERT Oregon DEQ followed up on the pre-enforcement notice it sent to Keven Cruickshank in June for operating a failing septic system since at least February at 82855 N. Butte Road in Creswell (EW 7/10, goo.gl/KbsSuw) with a $9,305 civil penalty on July 31. DEQ also assessed a $4,707 penalty against Albany-based Dave Hunter Company on Aug. 4 for hazardous waste law violations at its industrial machine shop in Albany. The company was cited for illegally treating hazardous chrome plating waste, including allowing hazardous fumes to enter the air, posing a risk to employees in contact with the fumes. The company has modifi ed its practices since the time of the violations, and DEQ took the modifi cations into consideration in determining the amount of the penalty. — Doug Quirke/ Oregon Clean Water Action Project • The ACLU of Lane County’s “Civil Conversation” series is holding a public discussion on the “Eugene Police Department’s Policy on Biased Conduct” from 5:30 to 6:45 pm Thursday, Aug. 14, at the Eugene Public Library downtown. Speakers will include Juan Carlos Valle, a former Police Commission member, and Eric Richardson, president of the NAACP of Eugene and Springfi eld. For more information, email lanechapter@aclu-or.org. • Congressman Peter DeFazio is holding a town hall at 6 pm Thursday, Aug. 14, at the Willamalane Center, 250 S. 32nd St. in Springfi eld. • Rep. Val Hoyle is hosting a campaign kick-off event at 9 am Saturday, Aug. 16, at Cascade Middle School, 1525 Echo Hollow Road, with canvassing to follow. RSVP to cody@valhoyle.com. SLANT • We hear rumors that Eugene City Hall could fall to the wrecking ball as early as the fi rst week in September. Gone will be the iconic round council chambers and a city block of massive reinforced concrete understructure — despite earlier decisions by the City Council to repair, rebuild or reuse the $40 million building. The decision-making process is obscure and puzzling, particularly since the evidence is clear that many millions of dollars can be saved by reinforcing and rebuilding on the existing understructure and its valuable underground parking. The people of Eugene don’t really know what’s going on here. The heavy cost of demolition plus the cost of new construction means we will end up with an itty- bitty City Hall and taxpayers will be stuck paying $1.2 million a year to continue renting city offi ce space around downtown. If that continues for the next 30 years, taxpayers will spend $36 million plus infl ation and have nothing concrete to show for it. City Hall as it stands is dilapidated and uninviting, but we’ve seen architectural drawings that indicate it can be transformed relatively cheaply into something we can all be proud to show off . Or it can be sold to a private redeveloper and go on the tax roles. City voters might just give a nod to a bond measure for a new City Hall that makes sense economically and environmentally. • Michael Gottfredson quit without notice as UO president and got a severance payment of nearly $1 million? None dare call it extortion, but we understand he agreed to not sue the UO. What’s that all about? We may never know. Regardless, we can’t help but wonder if this eyebrow- raising decision by the Board of Trustees will lead to a drop in donations to the UO Foundation. Perception is everything in the world of institutional development. • Just a suggestion: Interim UO President Scott Coltrane should pencil in lunch with Bill Harbaugh at least once a month, and the next president should do the same. Harbaugh is the economics professor who puts up uomatters.com off ering gossip, opinions, rumors, but most importantly, document after document that skewers the administration of the university. The Oregon press, and now the national media, go to him for the inside story. Call him a muckraker. And speaking of muckrakers, Doris Kearns Goodwin’s 2013 book The Bully Pulpit, Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft and the Golden Age of Journalism, details how Teddy Roosevelt worked with the rebel press to reach his goals. It’s hardly a parallel with today’s UO, but it is instructive. • The annual SLUG queen coronation Aug. 8 was briefl y interrupted by a woman who many thought was drunk and was actually suff ering from mental illness. We hear through social media that not only did her friends and Eugene’s network of local humanitarians step up to help a friend in need, but the Eugene police get a shout out for delicately handling her. She is now getting help at the Johnson Unit. his interest because of the unique educational experience that TWAC seeks to provide. He says he is interested in becoming more familiar with the trans community. “I just think what they’re doing is cool, that they’re trying to educate other folks,” Harvey says. “[The trans] community is very stereotyped and so learning more about their culture is going to be cool.” The benefi t show will also feature Jessie Williams, Cat Hands, Up to No Good and Litto Fox. It will be open to transgender, cisgender (those whose experience of gender matches the gender assigned at birth) and allies alike, and Howland stresses that the show will have the same “safer space” policy as TWAC, meaning zero tolerance for any form of harassment, bullying, homophobia, etc. TWAC materials and band merchandise will be for sale or by donation, and some food will be provided including vegan and gluten-free options. The benefi t show for TWAC is at the Campbell Club Co-op 8 pm Friday, Aug. 15. The event has a $3-$10 sliding scale suggested donation. For more information: wkly. ws/1sr. TWAC is Sept. 1-8, location TBA. For updates and registration info: wkly.ws/1sq. — Anna V. Smith • Canvassing in Corvallis for Congressman Peter DeFazio and Rep. Sara Gelser will begin at 10 am Saturday, Aug. 16, at a location to be announced. RSVP to jake@ defazioforcongress.org. • Elected Democrats and campaign volunteers are gathering at the 11th annual Democratic Party of Lane County Chili Cookoff at noon Sunday, Aug. 17, at a location to be announced. Suggested donation is $5. Contact Chrissy at community@dplc.org. • Rep. Phil Barnhart is hosting a town hall on global warming and jobs from 6 to 7:30 pm Tuesday, Aug. 19, at LCC Downtown Campus, Rooms 112-114. State Treasurer Ted Wheeler will be on the panel along with Angus Duncan, Tom Potiowsky, Jenny Liu and Jeff Renfro. • Festival of Eugene coming up Aug. 22-23 is still a little shaky but is looking to move to Alton Baker Park as we go to press. The ambitious attempt to fi ll the void of the canceled Eugene Celebration needs more money to pay for security and other expenses and we hear small donations are adding up to thousands of dollars. It’s easy to make donations at festivalofeugene.com and the website also provides ways to volunteer or rent space for a vendor booth. Eugene Weekly is one of the sponsors of this free event and we hope it succeeds. We also hope to see a full Eugene Celebration return next year, maybe in late September when college students are back in town. Meanwhile, the big Eugene Celebration Parade will go on Saturday morning, Aug. 23, followed by an evening concert at the Cuthbert. • Great turnout for the “War No More!” gathering at the Wayne Morse Family Farm Saturday, Aug. 9. It was a lively afternoon of 1960s-style teach-ins, speeches about Wayne Morse and his stand against the Vietnam War, music by the Raging Grannies and Eugene Peace Choir and a very creative and entertaining fashion show. Models, including students from Churchill High School, showed off costumes representing war protests, military spending, corporate greed, polluters and much more. Kudos to Community Alliance of Lane County, the Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics, Women’s Action for New Directions, Beyond War, Veterans for Peace, Eugene PeaceWorks and others for an exceptional afternoon, complete with ice cream. See photos on the EW Facebook page. EUGENEWEEKLY.COM • A UGUST 14, 2014 08-14-14 shorts slant.indd 7 7 8/13/14 10:50 AM
