Eugene weekly., June 11, 2015, Page 7, Image 7

PHOTO BY AMY SCHNEIDER
JEN HORNADAY
CITY SPRAYS PESTICIDES
IN PARK NEXT DOOR
TO BEEKEEPER’S HIVES
Although last year the city of Eugene banned
neonicotinoids, a category of pesticide harmful to bees,
Eugene is far from pesticide free. Local beekeeper Jen
Hornaday says she’d like to see a change in city policy
after the city of Eugene sprayed an herbicide on May 28
in the park adjacent to nine of her honeybee hives without
alerting her first.
“It just shows a lack of respect for pollinators,” says
Hornaday, a founder of the Healthy Bees = Healthy
Gardens education project and a longtime volunteer at the
park off River Road. The park is known as both Cadojen
Park and Maynard Park. Occupying 4.5 acres, the park and
its flowers help provide food for Hornaday’s bees, which
live on Hornaday’s property right next door to the park. “I
work extremely hard creating pesticide-free spaces for all
people, pets, plants and pollinators,” she says.
According to Ryan Turner, a natural resources specialist
with the city of Eugene, a city employee sprayed Garlon
3A, which contains the chemical triclopyr, in Cadojen
Park to remove meadow knapweed, an invasive, nonnative
plant. A report from Cornell University says that triclopyr
is not known to be toxic to bees, but is toxic to fish, other
wildlife and dogs and takes 30 to 90 days to break down
halfway in the soil.
“The population of knapweed in that park is pretty
small, probably about 20 plants, and we try to deal with a
population of weeds while it’s still small instead of letting it
become rampant,” Turner says, adding that “not all control
is herbicide — it’s one of many different things we do.”
Turner says herbicide was used because other control
methods within the city’s abilities would not be effective
in this case.
The herbicide application followed city policy, Turner
says, which requires posting 24-hour notice before and
after spraying. “It’s terribly unfortunate that Jen didn’t see
the signs until after the application had occurred,” Turner
says. “She feels very strongly about pesticides not being
used in that park, and I completely understand that.”
Hornaday says that she noticed a sign in the park on the
night of May 27, and she was unable to reach anyone from
the city until after the park was sprayed. “When the poison
was sprayed at 9:40 am, the bees and other pollinators
were foraging in the clover and other wildflowers within
the park,” she says.
Hornaday hired a friend to dig up the knapweed plants
in the park and cover the sprayed areas with cardboard and
bark mulch to keep anyone from coming in contact with
the herbicide. Going forward, Hornaday says she’d like
to see more advanced warning and better communication
with park volunteers, since she would have volunteered to
dig up the plants herself if she had known.
Hornaday says she’s meeting with Eugene Mayor Kitty
Piercy to discuss policy change, and she’s considering
the possibility of signing a formal volunteer adoption
agreement with the city, as long as the contract clearly
states that the city won’t spray as part of the agreement.
That could increase the likelihood of Hornaday being
contacted, Turner says, adding that although he followed
city policy, if he had to do it over again, he would have
reached out to Hornaday ahead of time.
“Jen’s concerns are understandable,” Turner says.
“She’s a beekeeper, and bees don’t adhere to property lines
or read signs.”
Hornaday’s Healthy Bees = Healthy Gardens education
project will be in full swing this summer with an Aug.
2 Save the Bees event in Washington City Park, and
Hornaday will host a honey tasting from 3 to 6 pm Friday,
June 12, at The Kiva, 125 W. 11th Ave. Learn more at
healthybeeshealthygardens.com. — Amy Schneider
STATE CONSIDERS
AMENDMENT TO EXPUNGE
MARIJUANA OFFENSES
Oregonians convicted or arrested for marijuana
offenses could have their records expunged this year if a
recent amendment in the Oregon Legislature passes. Dense
and lengthy House Bill 3400 is the Legislature’s catch-
all bill for regulating Oregon’s burgeoning recreational
pot industry and aligning it with the state’s already legal
medical marijuana commerce and production.
An amendment to the bill, proposed in late May by
Democratic Rep. Ann Lininger, offers people who were on
the wrong side of soon-to-be dead pot prohibition a way to
clean their criminal records.
“Essentially the amendment is about crime-sentence
reduction and eligibility for expungement,” says Lininger,
who has been working long days with the rest of the Joint
Committee on Measure 91 Implementation.
The law wouldn’t automatically clean everyone’s slate:
The amendment proposes a process that includes a filing
fee, court statements and a judge ruling, but if successful,
“the applicant … shall be deemed not to have been
previously convicted, or arrested ... and the court shall
issue an order sealing the record of conviction and other
official records in the case.”
“There is a lot of momentum to pass a marijuana bill,”
says Dominic Lopez, a volunteer with progressive political
nonprofit the Bus Project, which has been organizing for
the amendment and previously for HB 3372 as part of its
#FreshStartOregon campaign.
Lopez also worked extensively with the Yes on Measure
91 campaign in November.
“We’re looking at people who are punished for
breaking laws that are no longer laws anymore,” Lopez
says. “That sounds like a really horrible excuse to ruin
people’s lives. They’ve had their lives devastated because
of felony convictions.”
The law wouldn’t apply to Class A felony convictions,
but to B felonies, misdemeanors and arrests. Class B
felonies can bring 10 years in jail, a $250,000 fine and are
on par with money laundering, the Bend Bulletin points
out. The Bulletin came out against the amendment shortly
after it was introduced, arguing in an editorial, “There’s
something unsettling about the idea of simply wiping out a
person’s criminal record with the stroke of a pen.”
Hogwash, contends Peter Zuckerman, the former
communications director for Yes on 91. “It doesn’t make
sense to punish people for possessing a substance that will
be legal in a few weeks,” Zuckerman says. He points out the
convictions are unevenly distributed across society. “People
of color, according to the ACLU, are twice as likely to be
arrested or cited for marijuana. That’s morally reprehensible.”
The Eugene Mini Maker Faire is happening from
10 am to 4 pm Saturday, June 13, at the Science
Factory at 2300 Leo Harris Parkway on the edge
of Alton Baker Park. Featured will be dozens of
booths and exhibits focusing on the art, technique
and technology of making things, from 3D printing
to rocketry to weaving. The event is geared to
kids and adults and costs $3 for Science Factory
members, $6 for the general public. Tickets
can be purchased at the door or in advance at
eugenemakerfaire.com.
Last week we wrote about Tiny Tavern closing
but named the wrong individual as the outgoing
business owner. Josh Connelly tells us he’s the guy
who was posting updates on Facebook (search
for “The Tiny Tavern”) and Jevon Peck was the
previous owner. “Yes, I am looking for either a
new place, or to open a small neighborhood bar
like Tinys,” Connelly tells us. “My services are
also available to help ‘rescue’ or resurrect bars
and taverns that need help.” Connelly says the
building and property have not been sold, just the
tavern part. As we go to press, there are rumors
that someone associated with Agate Alley Bistro
might be the tavern’s next owner.
The historic Eugene Hotel at 222 E. Broadway
is celebrating its 90th year with a series of events
Saturday and Sunday, June 13-14. The hotel lobby
will come alive at noon Saturday with live music,
followed by high tea in the dining room and music
and dancing upstairs. Tours and exhibits are
planned. Sunday events begin at 2 pm. The old
hotel with its Spanish-flavored design catered to
many dignitaries and special events for 60 years
and is now independent living apartments for
those 58 and older.
Wild Birds Unlimited at 25th and Willamette is
doing something different as a promotion and a
public service. Owners Barbara and Tom Gleason
are offering free morning bird walks in June and
July at locations to be announced, led by local
bird experts. The walks, limited to 15 people, will
go from 7 to 9 am and the dates are June 17 and
21, and July 1 and 12. Call 844-1788 or email
eugenewbu@gmail.com.
We wrote about an open house at IEQ
Technology in this column last week, but the
information provided to us by the Springfield
Chamber had the wrong month. The open house
will be at 3 pm Friday, July 10, at 220 N. Fifth St. in
Springfield. See ieqtechnology.com.
Cornbread Café at 7th and Polk is trying to raise
money to build a year-round patio, say owners
Sheree Walters and Kristy Hammond. The café
serving “vegan comfort food” started off as a food
cart in 2010 and found a storefront the next year in
the building that once housed Deb’s Diner. Find a link
to the fundraising campaign at cornbreadcafe.com.
The Eugene Jewish Film Festival has a new
home. At 3 pm Sunday, June 14, the monthly film
festival will be showing The Klezmatics: On Holy
Ground at the David Minor Theater, 180 E. 5th Ave.
Tickets are $5 and a discussion will follow. “This
change allows for more variety of films as well as
a larger theater,” says festival organizer Shmuel
Shalom Cohen of Jewish Events Willamette-valley.
“Hopefully we will not have to turn people away
as we have in the past.” More information at
JewishEventsWillamette-valley.org.
We see the historic Wolf Creek Inn off I-5 north
of Grants Pass will be closed for renovations this
season and the Oregon Parks System is looking
for a new concessionaire to run the place next
year. Margaret and Mark Quist are leaving after five
years. Email wolfcreek.inn@oregon.gov.
eugeneweekly.com • June 11, 2015
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