NEWS
to the Legislature Thursday, Nov. 13. “September’s
outlook does bring us close to the kicker threshold,” State
Economist Mark McMullen says. “A considerable amount
of uncertainty will remain until tax returns are processed
in April and May.”
A decision on the kicker will be made in September
2015 at the close of the legislative session. The kicker has
been embedded in the Oregon Constitution since 1999,
but an emergency vote could cancel the kicker rebates this
cycle, if the political will is there. Gov. John Kitzhaber
is reportedly working on reforming or eliminating the
kicker, but many anti-tax Republicans support it.
If the kicker is triggered, personal income taxpayers
will see a credit carried over to their next year’s tax
liabilities. So the impact won’t be felt until the next
biennium when state revenues could be better — or worse.
“The kicker is wasteful,” Sheketoff says. “It makes no
sense.” — Ted Taylor
CASCADIA WILDLANDS
TO HOST FORUM ON
ELLIOTT STATE FOREST
The fate of the Elliott State Forest, a sprawling, 93,000-
acre forest northeast of Coos Bay and home to some of the
oldest trees on the coast, is the topic of a Nov. 17 public
forum hosted by Cascadia Wildlands. About half of the
Elliott has already been logged, and for the remaining
half, Cascadia Wildlands believes in preserving the land
instead of privatizing and selling it.
The Oregon State Land Board will discuss the Elliott’s
future next month.
“We’re trying to galvanize Oregonians,” says Josh
Laughlin, campaign director at Cascadia Wildlands. He
says he hopes this event will “educate the public and
activate them around the issue.”
REESE ELRICH
The event will feature a panel of experts familiar with
the Elliott. “We would like the public to be more informed
about what they have,” says Francis Eatherington,
conservation director at Cascadia Wildlands and panel
member at the event. For example, forests like the Elliott
“have the potential to sequester more carbon per acre
than any other place in the world, including tropical rain
forests,” Eatherington says.
Kelsey Reavis, also on the panel, says she is “someone
who spent much of their childhood there” and her family
owns land in the area. She volunteers with Coast Range
Forest Watch doing surveys in the Elliott for the marbled
murrelet, an endangered seabird found in coastal forests.
“It’s really amazing to be out in the forest that early in the
morning,” Reavis says about the pre-dawn surveys.
The forum is 7 pm Monday, Nov. 17, at Cozmic, 199
W. 8th Ave, moderated by EW’s Camilla Mortensen.
— Daemion Lee
JOURNALIST REESE ERLICH TO SPEAK ON
SYRIAN CIVIL WAR AND THE ISLAMIC STATE
As a peer of the journalists infamously executed in online videos recently distributed by ISIS, the horror
of that footage felt particularly real to Reese Erlich. Erlich, a longtime Middle East correspondent for NPR,
recently returned from Syria and will speak in Eugene Nov. 19 and 20 about his on-the-ground account of the
ascendance of ISIS (the Islamic State) and the United States’ effort to halt it.
Erlich sees an illogical, destructive “third war” coming to a head in the U.S.’s escalating response to ISIS.
“I feel personally quite upset — that could have been me as a freelancer,” Erlich tells EW. “There’s no
excuse for carrying out that kind of activity.” But, he adds, “The U.S. claims that it’s trying to stop the Islamic
State with this bombing and the new military offensive. In fact, it’s going to help them, because they’re now
claiming to be the great fighters against U.S. imperialism and it’s actually helping their recruitment efforts.”
Though ISIS first came to the attention of American journalists in the wake of the execution videos, Erlich
says that ISIS has been very well known in the region for several years — “a massive intelligence failure by
the U.S.”
While American media waits to confirm reports that ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has been killed in
Iraq, Erlich says that we have to re-examine the way we consume news about the conflict. The current flow
of information, he says, which originates in the U.S. or Iraqi military, is practically impossible for media to
confirm because of safety concerns.
“So you’re completely reliant on those in power,” Erlich says. “And in a day or two or three, if it turns out
that he wasn’t killed, then there’s a small article written about that in the back pages. Whenever you see any
accounts of heroic victories by the U.S. and its allies, you take it with a grain of salt.”
On Nov. 19, Erlich will speak at 12:30 pm at the UO Law School, Room 175, and at 7 pm at Tsunami Books.
At 2 pm Nov. 20, he will speak at Lane Community College. Expect him to explain his position on the U.S.’s
role in the region, which would include no intervention at all, and to talk about his conversation with Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad, who Erlich describes as “a little stiff, but generally friendly.” — Ben Stone
PHOTO BY JANYCE ERLICH
TURTLES
541-465-9038
2690 WILLAMETTE ST.
BAR &
GRILL
& The Loft
TWO UNIQUE SPACES • ONE GREAT MENU
Thank you Eugene
for voting us #1
BEST BAKERY
& BEST DESSERTS!
10
November 13, 2014 • eugeneweekly.com
THANK YOU EUGENE WEEKLY READERS FOR VOTING TURTLES
BEST COMFORT FOOD & BEST PLACE TO EAT WITH KIDS!