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
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