LET TERS
A POWERFUL GIFT
SILENCE AND APATHY
LAX SCRUTINY
IMPROVE, NOT LOSE
I am a Quaker who has participated
in Eugene Friends Meeting worship and
business with Peg Morton since I moved
here in 2012. Peg’s death has been a
spiritual milestone for me. Her approach
to dying — as a spiritual process, in
community, through both strong will and
submission — has provided me with a new
model in a society where death is resisted
at all costs and where we have few healthy
ways to relate to it or to talk to each other
about it. I grieve the loss of Peg as my
mentor and elder, but in her death she has
given me a powerful gift that will teach
and change me indefi nitely. It is nudging
me, even at my young age, to reassess my
fear of death, to envision how I would like
to die and to reach out to others to ask the
same questions. Peg invited our whole city
to witness her process of dying, and I ask
Eugene citizens to use this opportunity to
talk to those you love about death, to be
refl ective and to be transformed.
Promise Partner
Eugene
My daughter was drugged and sexually
assaulted, left in the mud and rain behind
a Eugene bar downtown until someone
found her, took her home and called the
cops. Everyone can and should take action.
I’ve been warned by other women that this
is common!
Progressive Eugene, listen up. Tavern
owners, question your bartenders — train
them to protect your clientele. Women
and men, protect each other. Put lids on
your drinks. Buddy up and make sure
your friends get home safely. Catching
this and other predators should be easy.
Pay attention. Look for any suspicious
behavior. Demand protection from tavern
owners and bartenders. Everyone is
responsible. And for those who have been
traumatized, check out Sexual Assault
Support Services online [sass-lane.org].
They provide counseling and support.
Silence is deadly. Apathy even worse.
Your downtown is dangerous after 10
pm. This is a call to arms, Eugene. Act!
K. Dunn
Ashland
Thanks, Alex V. Cipolle, for your
Jan. 7 story on Capstone (“Tax Exempt,
Design Optional”). I thought I was alone
in faulting our city manager, planning
department and ultimately City Council
in safeguarding the permit process and
MUPTE application requirements for
Capstone. Does every builder get such lax
scrutiny?
When the MUPTE application stated
5,000 square foot retail space and that
space didn’t appear, who was guarding
the process? Should we see a voiding of
the MUPTE tax exemption? Are other
MUPTE agreements given such lax
treatment? Should we see reprimands of
those abrogating their responsibilities? As
a footnote, why is the loading dock of the
new Whole Foods store, on the City Hall
Phases 5 or 7 or 9 corner, 8th and High,
our new best street and “gateway to the
river project”?
Gwen Bailey
Eugene
While the idea to develop Kesey Square
into a taxable apartment might be initially
appealing for a space that some deem to
be “problem” as a “magnet for vagabond
types,” the rewards in building yet another
largely vacant apartment or retail building
in downtown Eugene pale in comparison
to the benefi ts that will be lost by building
over the Kesey Square free space.
My friends and I have positive
memories attached to Kesey Square. It
is a place we use throughout the summer
to meet up, play music, play hacky sack,
stop on our bikes to share a snack, play
a board game. I have done all of those
activities in Kesey Square. I own a home,
run a business and am not scared of the
“vagabond types.”
Kesey Square could be improved
upon. Perhaps better lighting, perennial
berry bushes, more seating and a fountain
could improve the ambiance, making
the place more inviting. Maybe the city
could staff a friendly peacekeeper to
hang out down there (think bigger than a
rule-enforcing Red Hat). Democracy was
HOT AIR SOCIETY
BY TON Y CORCOR A N
Malheur Echo Chamber
AN UPDATE ON THE INTRACTABLE WAITING GAME
T
he Pacifi c Patriot Network (PPN) issued a press release Jan. 10 regarding
a “Proposal for Resolution of the Peaceful Occupation of the Malheur
National Wildlife Refuge by Citizens for Constitutional Freedom.” This
is the armed convoy that disrupted the press conference I attended Jan. 9
while out in Burns checking out the Malheur occupation.
According to the release, PPN’s purpose in Harney County was to “establish
open communication towards a peaceful resolution while maintaining civility within
Harney County.” To do that, PPN would establish a “perimeter of protection for the
Malheur National Wildlife Refuge” while initiating discussion with federal agencies.
PPN made three demands in its statement: the occupiers be granted a written
grievance process, a criminal investigation of prosecutorial misconduct by the federal
government in the Hammond case be initiated and “the transfer and unconditional
return of the lands in question to Harney County and Burns Pauite [sic] Tribe.”
The statement concluded: “This situation is not conducive to solutions.” I agree
with their assessment. Two of PPN’s three requests will not fl y. Even if the FBI agreed
to a grievance process to include a written resolution of the stand-off, there’s no way
they’ll agree to a criminal investigation of prosecutorial misconduct in the Hammonds'
case — I’m not sure the FBI can even negotiate on behalf of the federal courts. Nor
would the FBI consider the transfer and unconditional return of the lands in question
to Harney County and the Burns Paiute Tribe — even if its name were spelled right.
If it were up to me, I’d give it all back to the Paiutes. I trust them. As long as they’d
promise not to sell any land to white folks.
The ostensible trigger for the Malheur takeover was the re-sentencing of the
Hammonds by Federal Judge Ann Aiken, as was handed down to her by the Ninth
Circuit Court of Appeals. Eastern Nevadans Ammon and Ryan Bundy represent the
face of this militia. They are sons of the infamous Cliven Bundy, the pseudo-patriot,
right-wing-wacko-anarchical, seditious super-moocher, public land cattle-grazer who
owes the feds $1 million in back grazing fees — that guy.
As with many of these self-declared “prophets” of their faith, both Ammon and
Cliven Bundy have publicly acknowledged it was their direct communication with
God in each case that led them to Malheur and their previous armed confl icts with
federal agencies. In the case of the Malheur attack, Ammon told OPB’s Amelia
Templeton “it [the Malheur takeover] was validated by God in the form of a fl ock of
geese he saw fl ying” (which has signifi cance in Mormon teachings). So that’s why all
these folks took over a bird refuge.
If you want to fi nd out more about how “prophets” in this fundamentalist ideology
behave after getting direct “revelations” from personal communication with their
4
JANUARY 21, 2016 • EUGENEWEEKLY.COM
God, read Jon Krakauer’s book Under the Banner of Heaven. Hint: It’s not about
Muslim extremists; nor for that matter is it about the vast majority of rational law-
abiding Mormons. Just like some on the left, these occupiers only talk and listen to
each other. It’s all about power, justifi cation and self-reinforcement.
This press release is not a legitimate proposal; it is simply designed to buy time.
d agency, the FBI, taking time to let this develop a
And I have no qualms about the lead
bit more. I guess turning off the power
er and water is not as simple as it seems. There are
legitimate concerns about unauthorized
ized use of federal equipment and the occupiers’
access to federal records and Paiute e cultural sites and property. But
I don’t mind a waiting game. It’s cold
old over there, and this
not-so-well prepared gang arrived and immediately sent
out a nationwide alert to militia groups.
ups. Turns out they
hadn’t brought much food and supplies
plies — because
guns, ammo and ideology take up so o much space.
During this assignment, I ran across some really
good writing about the Malheur siege in particular,
and the history of the Western cattle
tle confl ict in general.
Jeff Wright of The Register-Guard
rd d wrote an excellent
piece Jan. 12 about what American terrorism feels like in
Harney County: the anxiety of community
mmunity members
being followed around, tires slashed,
ed, cars parked
outside their houses — creepy stuff.
f. And kudos
especially to Steve Duin of The Oregonian
for his Jan. 8 column describing Republican
publican
Congressman Greg Walden’s nasty
y role
in this fi asco. Duin described Walden’s
en’s
empathizing with the “militant
ant
Mormon tour group perpetuating
g
the farce” while cynically killing
g
the Klamath Basin Restoration
n
Agreement in order to avoid a Tea a
Party challenger in the primary.
Stay tuned.
te
Tony Corcoran of Cottage Grove is a former state
eled to
senator and retired state employee. He traveled
tions in our
Burns and wrote of his adventures and observations
Jan. 14 issue.