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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (May 7, 2015)
LOOK GREAT, FEEL GREAT! Register to Win a Flower Basket for Mother’s Day LAWS WOULD COMBAT ANIMAL CRUELTY State legislators in Salem are moving forward with bills to protect animals living in Oregon. Many of the new laws would give law enforcement officers additional means to make sure existing laws against animal cruelty are obeyed. As the weather heats up, the issue of dogs being left in hot cars heats up too. The “dogs in cars bill,” as its sponsor Sen. Tim Knopp (R-Bend) calls it, is moving for- ward in the Legislature. SB 614 would al- low law enforcement officers to break into a vehicle to save an animal. “Law enforcement didn’t feel they had the authority to break in,” Knopp says. Sometimes they have to break a window or do serious damage to the car, and this bill would guarantee they wouldn’t be sued for the damages. Lane County Disrict Attorney Alex Gardner says the county already has an ordinance that allows an animal welfare officer or a peace officer to enter a car and impound an animal that they believe may be in danger of dying. Knopp says SB 614 would be enforced the same way across the state — any officer could break into a hot car if they had prob- able cause to believe that an animal was be- ing subjected to abuse. The bill passed out of the Senate and the House Committee on Judiciary with a “do pass” recommendation. Rep. Brad Witt (D-Clatsakanie) has pro- posed a new law every session dealing with animal cruelty issues. This session, he’s sponsoring HB 2888 — a bill that would al- low individuals or the court to shut down establishments where animal cruelty is tak- ing place. It uses a “nuisance abatement” structure, meaning actions like an enjoinder (an order for the cruel acts to stop or to shut the establishment down) could be taken against people who were causing the “nui- sance.” HB 2888 would not make any additional cruel acts against animals illegal. It solely gives communities an extra tool to eliminate places where animal cruelty is occurring. >>> CONTINUED ON P. 10 HERSHELL NORWOOD Born on the farm near Cairo, Georgia, where his great-granddad was a sharecropper, Hershell Norwood migrated north with his family as a young child and started school in Orange, New Jersey. After one year of high school, he got a scholarship to Hampton School, a boarding school in New Hampshire. He excelled at football and moved on to Tufts University near Boston. “I played quarterback in high school and running back in college,” he says, “and got a degree in theater.” He began work on an MFA in acting at Brandeis in the late 1970s, then spent a decade selling ad time on NBC Boston. “I did some talent work, acted in programs and TV commercials,” he says. “I finished my MFA in 1990. I wanted to pursue a Ph.D.” He taught at a junior college in Newark, New Jersey, and at Virginia State in Petersburg, and pursued the Ph.D. at Tufts, at the University of Maryland, and at Texas Tech, where he wound up with a master’s in playwriting. Since moving to Eugene in 2009, he has acted in local productions and spent his time writing, working on six plays and a book on African American theater. “Ultimately, I’m a playwright,” he says. Norwood’s newest play, Fell the Tallest Tree, Judgment of Paul Robeson, celebrated its world premiere May 2 as part of the Tsunami Books Play Reading Series. The story envisions Robeson’s death-bed recollections, from the Jazz Age to Red Scare-era persecution. The cast featured LCC professor Stanley Coleman as the singer/actor/activist Paul Robeson and included Lane County NAACP President Eric Richardson. Paperback copies of the play are available for purchase at Tsunami Books. Downtown Eugene • 181 E Broadway • 541.342.6107 Facebook.com/footwiseeugene • Mon-Sat 10-6 & Sun 11-5 How did Anne end up at SELCO? She called for a car loan and found a low rate on insurance, too. With one quick call, Anne was preapproved for an auto loan. Her loan came with low payments thanks to a great rate and longer term. SELCO was even able to save her money on auto insurance, and protect her new wheels with an extended warranty. How will you end up at SELCO? Visit us to see what SELCO can do for you. selco.org / 541-686-8000 Several locations in Eugene and Springfi eld NMLS# 402847 Membership requirements apply. See SELCO for details. Banking | Mortgages | Insurance | Retirement | Business Lending eugeneweekly.com • May 7, 2015 9
