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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 7, 2015)
Page 10A NORTHWEST East Oregonian Saturday, February 7, 2015 ‘In God We Trust’ leads to county debate By SAMANTHA TIPLER Klamath Falls Herald and News Could a Community Bill Of Rights keep out a gas pipeline? Southern Oregon communities along a proposed natural gas pipeline route are looking for creative ways to stop the project. Douglas and Coos County residents hope a Community Bill of Rights will give them a legal avenue to assert local control. 7KHSLSHOLQHIRUWKHSURSRVHG-RUGDQ&RYHOLTXH¿HG natural gas export terminal in Coos Bay would run through the property of Stacey McLaughlin. She doesn’t want it there. And speaking out before government RI¿FLDOVKDVEHHQOHVVWKDQVDWLVI\LQJ “It feels like a waste of my time,” she said. So McLaughlin is organizing her Douglas County neighbors to enact a community bill of rights. It would give cities and counties the legal grounds to say no to projects that violate local values. The group met last week with Kai Huschke of the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund to discuss their options going forward. Huschke said many communities have little to no recourse against state and federally approved projects. “So folks are actually moving law to assert that right,” Hushke said. “That right of government to say no to things like pipelines, and yes to sustainable energy futures.” McLaughlin said the Douglas County group is early in the process. Community members are working on language for their community bill of rights, which may eventually include fossil fuel and community health provisions. “I think it will create an opportunity for reason and rational thinking to start being the approach we take as citizens in this community,” McLaughlin said, “instead of just settling for somebody (who) just walks in the door and says, ‘Hey, here’s what you have to do.’” Feds not convinced by tribal claim that would halt coal project A federal agency says a Puget Sound tribe has not made a convincing enough case to halt the permitting process for a coal-shipping project. The Army Corps of Engineers is overseeing the review of plans for the train-to-ship coal facility proposed for construction near Bellingham. It said in a letter to the Lummi Nation that it would not halt the permitting process. Instead, it asked for more detailed LQIRUPDWLRQDERXWWULEDO¿VKLQJSUDFWLFHV The Lummi Nation’s tribal lands abut the site of the largest proposed coal export terminal in North America — one of three coal export facilities proposed in the Northwest to move Montana and Wyoming coal to Asian markets. In a letter the tribe argued the proposed *DWHZD\3DFL¿F7HUPLQDODQGWKHKXQGUHGVRIODUJHFRDO VKLSVLWZRXOGGUDZHDFK\HDUZRXOGYLRODWHWKH¿VKLQJ rights it secured in a treaty with the federal government. The letter from the Corps’ District Engineer Colonel John G. Buck was made public Wednesday. In it, Buck said the tribe needs to provide more information: “While the information you provided supports historic DQGFXUUHQW¿VKLQJSUDFWLFHVLQWKHVXEMHFWZDWHUVZH need detailed information for our administrative record RQWKH1DWLRQ¶VVSHFL¿FXVHRISURMHFWZDWHUVDQGKRZ the facility’s construction and operation would affect access to, and use of, these waters.” Washington legislation would mandate bigger crews on oil trains A growing number of oil trains rolling through Washington has emergency responders and rail workers calling for bigger crews on board to better protect human health and the environment. A set of bills, one introduced in the House and one in the Senate, would require all freight trains coming through Washington to have a minimum of two crew members. Trains carrying hazardous materials would be required to have a third crew member at the rear of the train. Oil trains more than 50 cars long would be required to have two crew members at the rear of the train. KLAMATH FALLS — Not everyone agrees with the motto “In God We Trust.” And a contingent of Klamath County residents doesn’t want to see it on the commission- ers’ hearing room wall. “If ‘In God We Trust’ is go- ing to be placed on that wall, shall we then place ‘Allahu Akbar’ on this wall for our Muslim citizens? Or ‘Yahweh is God, you shall have no oth- er god before him’ on that wall for our Jewish citizens? Or ‘We bow down to our Mother Earth at this time of solstice’ on the back wall for our Wic- can citizens? Then we have the Buddhists, the Baha’i, the Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Or- thodox Catholics and so on. “God knows what we’ll do with the atheists,” said Tr- ish Seiler, Klamath Falls City Councilwoman. “Choosing one faith over another by plac- ing the proposed plaque in this room is not only unconstitu- tional, it is morally wrong. It is not the American way.” Seiler joined about 40 other citizens who attended a town hall Tuesday evening hosted by the county commissioners. The commissioners didn’t set Klamath Falls Herald and News photo by Samantha Tipler More than 40 people came to the Klamath County Commissioner town hall meeting Tuesday evening. Most citizens wanted to talk about the issue of put- ting “In God We Trust” on the wall of the hearing room. an agenda or topics for the meeting, but the majority of people spoke about the “In God We Trust” issue. At the end of December, commission chairman Tom Mallams suggested putting the words “In God We Trust” on the wall of the public hear- ing room. It has come up sev- eral times in meetings since, mostly with citizens speak- ing in favor of the motto. At Tuesday’s meeting, the tune changed, and more spoke against it. “I am a Christian. I love my God and I love my gov- ernment for giving me the constitutional right that it gives me. I don’t want my government — federal, state or county — to tell me how to love my God, or tell others to do so or do not,” said Aus- tin Folnagy, a homeowner in Klamath County and member of the Klamath Community College board. He said he wanted to at- tract more homeowners to the area, and he thought the “In God We Trust” sign would hinder that. “I want young families and young people to come and fall in love with this county,” he said. “I want that regardless of their race, their religion or creed.” Seiler also urged the com- missioners to focus on eco- nomic development, job cre- DWLRQ HI¿FLHQW JRYHUQPHQW and other issues that would help unite the community, not divide it. “This issue is dividing our community,” she said. “We need to work on issues that bring us together.” Commissioners said they were surprised the “In God We Trust” issue became the dominant topic Tuesday eve- ning. They had anticipated talking about the county bud- get, or public safety. But “In God We Trust” came up again and again. The issue brought forth arguments about the First Amendment and the separa- tion of church and state. “The Founding Fathers felt very strongly we need to have a moral compass of some sort. They didn’t say ‘In God We Trust’ the God of the Bible or the God of the Muslim faith,” Mallams said, adding he be- lieved the motto didn’t vio- late church and state division. “Even atheism is considered a religion by many now.” Bellet said he didn’t see a problem with putting the words on the wall. West Coast port employers to cut shifts amid labor dispute LOS ANGELES (AP) — Companies that handle billions of dollars of cargo at West Coast seaports said Friday they will hire far few- er workers this weekend, the latest escalation in a contract dispute with dockworkers that threatens to shut down a vital link in U.S.-Asia trade. The association repre- senting port terminal opera- tors announced its members would not hire crane drivers to move containers on and off massive ocean-going ships. Instead, employers could order smaller crews to clear already-unloaded con- tainers from congested dock- side yards. The announcement could foreshadow a full port shut- down as soon as Monday, or it could be a hardball bar- gaining tactic designed to force a contract after nine months of talks. 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