|
News
Briefs: Tale of Two Mayors
| Bonner's Back | Morse
Award Finalists | Gov Forum Monday | Moral
Freedom | Scarred but Sacred | Opening
Arguments
News:
Rat Hole to the River-- City's plan for riverfront highway
threatens vision for historic millrace.
News:
From the Heart -- Nicki Scully brings her transformative work
home.
Happening
People: Mary (Schmitz) Gray.
TALE
OF TWO MAYORS
Eugene's conservative Mayor
Jim Torrey won election with tens of thousands of dollars of campaign
contributions from development interests and has pushed a staunchly
pro-corporate and anti-environmental agenda. Salem's progressive Mayor
Mike Swaim has demonstrated against clearcuts and for workers' rights
and pushed for progressive planning and ending subsidies for developers.
Swaim will speak at the Friends of Eugene (FoE) annual
meeting 7-9 pm Thursday, April 18 at the First United Methodist Church
behind the Eugene Public Library at 1376 Olive St.
"He will inspire people about what is possible here
in Eugene," FoE board member Eben Fodor says. "We could have a mayor
as good as he is." — Alan Pittman
BONNER'S
BACK
Bev Stein, current gubernatorial
hopeful, defeated Mike Bonner in the 1988 election for the House District
14 seat in the Oregon Legislature. Stein went on to win each subsequent
election she ran in, serving in the Legislature and later as Multnomah
County commissioner.
|
Slant
-- Our collection of personal stories this week
of families in Israel and families in Eugene reminds us of how
much we all have in common despite differences in geography,
culture and politics. How do we use our common humanity to overcome
seemingly irreconcilable conflicts? In addition to opening our
hearts, we can take political action to support peaceful and
sustainable solutions. With our calls, letters and e-mails,
we can back U.N. Security Council Resolution 1397 calling for
an immediate cessation of all acts of violence between Israel
and Palestinians. Likewise, we can support a cease-fire and
withdrawal of Israeli troops from Palestinian cities and threaten
Israel with economic sanctions and/or withdrawal of military
aid. DeFazio is already drafting such a resolution for the House
and we can encourage Wyden and Smith to follow suite in the
Senate. We can also call on Arab leaders to intervene to discourage
suicide bombings and stop state-controlled media inciting hatred
and violence against Jews and synagogues. We should support
the Bush administration's plan (tardy as it is) to send Colin
Powell to the region, and let's demand safety for the people
who have placed themselves in danger as international observers,
mediators and human shields in the occupied cities.
--The Oregonian
this week reports that former Congressman Jim Weaver is considering
a run for the governorship under the Pacific Green Party banner,
but he likes Bev Stein and won't run if Stein gets the Democratic
nod in the primaries. Like Ralph Nader, Weaver is unimpressed
with most Republicans and Democrats. But it will be a close
race if Ted Kulongoski and Jack Roberts face off in November,
and Weaver, like Nader, could be the spoiler. Here's one more
example of why we need preference voting in Oregon. The current
system discourages third-party candidates and all that they
can contribute to the political discussion.
--Thanks for the lively
responses to our poll asking whether EW readers prefer
the quirky new Jonesin' Crossword or the more traditional and
more literary New York Times Crossword. Readers are passionate
on both sides, and we wish we had space to run both puzzles.
Jonesin' was ahead in the early polling but last week's votes
put NYT in the lead. We'll let the tally run another week or
two to see if a consensus emerges. Send your votes to editor@eugeneweekly.com
or call us at 484-0519.
SLANT includes short opinion pieces and rumor-chasing
notes compiled by the EW staff. Heard any good rumors lately?
Contact Ted Taylor at 484-0519, editor@eugeneweekly.com
|
Now she's in the thick of her campaign to win the
democratic primary, and Mike Bonner's back. In response to a profile
written on Stein (EW, 3/28), Bonner, a Springfield resident,
writes, "Your puff piece about Beverly Stein's campaign for governor
failed to mention why many left-liberal progressives are repelled
by this candidate. Stein's longstanding history in Re-Evaluation Counseling,
or RC, as it is often called, is a handicap that she does not deserve
to overcome. RC founder Harvey Jenkins ripped off the worst of Scientology
to entice young political activists into his malignant fold, with
cheerleader Stein among them."
Stein freely admits that yes, she did at one time
participate in RC peer counseling, describing it as "harmless." "But
I haven't been involved with RC for years," she says. As for any allegations
related to Harvey Jenkins, Stein says, "I had nothing to do with the
leadership of the group."
Bonner goes on to say, "Check out the web site "Bev
Stein Exposed" (http://cleanoregon.tripod.com) to learn why voters
need to be innoculated against Bev Stein Fever." Visiting the site
will take you to an article about Stein's involvement with RC, "Stein's
Cult Baggage," written by Bonner. In the article's conclusion he writes,
"Years ago, I got over the destruction of my political hopes by Stein
and the RC minions. I have much better things to do than be a persistent
and vocal critic of a cult." In spite of this, Bonner continues to
write out against Stein in her political pursuits.
Regarding Bonner, Stein says, "I feel sorry for someone
who's held a grudge for 15 years."
Stein recently received an endorsement from Basic
Rights Oregon, an organization dedicated to the preservation of basic
civil rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transsexual citizens.
But the Oregon Education Association endorsement this past weekend
went to Democrat Jim Hill. — Bobbie Willis
MORSE
AWARD FINALISTS
The three finalists for the
2002 Wayne Morse Integrity in Government Award cover the full span
of the continent: one each from the East and West coasts, and one
from the Midwest.
The award is to honor a living government official,
past or present, who has demonstrated an extraordinary level of integrity
and independence, a commitment to justice, and a willingness to take
a principled stand even at great political cost.
Survivors from the original seven nominees are Sen.
Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, Sen. Jim Jeffords of Vermont and Rep.
Barbara Lee of California.
Feingold, a proponent of campaign finance reform,
refused PAC money for his race for re-election last fall, winning
by a narrow margin. Jeffords, disturbed by what he called an absence
of room for dissent in the GOP, changed the balance of power in the
Senate by switching from Republican to Democrat in 2001. Lee was a
lonely but principled figure when she cast the only vote in the Congress
against the initial resolution supporting the war against terrorism.
The other four nominees were Gov. John Kitzhaber
of Oregon; Sen. Paul Wellstone of Minnesota; Rep. Dennis Kucinich
of Ohio, and former Oregon governor and senator, Mark Hatfield.
"Skeptics question whether the linkage of government
with integrity is an oxymoron," said George Beres, chairman of the
Eugene-based award committee. "Yet we succeeded in getting nominations
for seven exceptional public servants. I have to admit, looking at
the political scene, one has to acknowledge that not only are they
exceptional; they are the exceptions."
Selection of the winner will be made by a blue ribbon
committee of three past holders of the Wayne Morse Chair in Law in
Politics at the UO. Announcement of the winner is expected at the
end of April, with presentation of the award to follow by early autumn.
GOV
FORUM MONDAY
All six leading Democrat and
Republican gubernatorial candidates have indicated they will appear
in Eugene Monday, April 15, for a Eugene City Club forum. The event
runs from 11:30 am to 2 pm at the Eugene Hilton.
Jim Hill, Ted Kulongoski, Kevin Mannix, Jack Roberts,
Ron Saxton and Beverly Stein are expected. Undeclared Pacific Green
Party candidate Jim Weaver is not on the list. Weaver told The
Oregonian this week that his candidacy depends on who wins the
May primary.
Candidates will be asked to address a question formulated
by education leaders and given to them in advance of the forum. Each
candidate will answer, responding as he or she would when assuming
the role of governor. "The goal is to move candidates beyond sound
bites and to give voters an opportunity to see how each candidate
would perform as a governor, rather than only as a campaigner," says
outgoing City Club President Don Kahle.
The forum is co-sponsored by the League of Women Voters
and the Hatfield School of Government at PSU.
MORAL
FREEDOM
Daniel Maguire, noted ethicist
and theologian, contends that openness to birth control and abortion
is not necessarily in conflict with the teachings of world religions.
Maguire is a professor of ethics in the Theology Department
of Marquette University, and also president of the Religious Consultation
on Population, Reproductive Health and Ethics. He will speak at 7
pm Friday, April 12 at the McDonald Theatre.
In his free talk, Maguire presents the work of major
scholars on the views of Roman Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism,
Confucianism, Judaism, Islam, Protestant Christianity and Native American
that show their openness to birth control and abortion.
Maguire challenges us to agree on the need to reduce
unintended pregnancies and abortions and also to endorse the moral
freedom of women who sometimes make the serious decision to have an
abortion in an imperfect world.
"Historically, women have been the principal cherishers
and caretakers of life," he says. "We must trust them with their decisions.
The world religions urge us to do so."
Maguire says all religions respond to the sacredness
of life, but this reverence for the gift of life carries with it responsibility.
"We are people, the animal rationale, the reasoning animal,
and we have to reproduce in a reasonable way so life on this uniquely
privileged planet can survive and thrive."
Maguire and the scholars conclude that access to abortion
remains important in a world where women do not have full access to
economic well-being, education and contraception. Criminalizing abortion
is not pro-life, it is anti-woman, he says.
SCARRED
BUT SACRED
Corbin Harney, 82, spiritual
leader of the Newe Sogobia (or Western Shoshone) has for many years
fought against nuclear testing at the Nevada Test Site, and more recently
has resisted plans to bury nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain.
Harney's supporters are gathering at 6:30 pm Saturday,
April 13 at the Knights of Pithius Hall (12th and Lawrence) for music,
poetry, potluck food and information in an effort to raise funds for
his continued work. A donation of $10-$15 is asked, along with canned
foods, but organizers say no one will be turned away for lack of funds.
The projected $58 billion Yucca Mountain Project would
receive stockpiles of nuclear waste from 131 nuclear power plants
in 39 states. The waste would be buried 1,000 feet beneath the surface
in the middle of Shosone sacred land 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas.
The estimated 77,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel will remain radioactive
for at least 100 centuries.
The Bush administration insists that the project is
founded on "sound science" but the Nuclear Regulatory Commission recently
identified 293 unresolved technical issues, ranging from faulting
and fracturing of the repository rock to the possibility of volcanic
activity.
"Yucca Mountain is not a safe place to put any kind
of nuclear waste," says Harney. "It's not a mountain to begin with,
like they've been telling us, it's rolling hill … it's got a
snake there, it's going to continually move."
Harney says in the 1940s a large tract of Shoshone
land (which originally covered what is now called Nevada, Utah, Idaho,
California and Montana) was illegally seized by the federal government
and became the Nevada Nuclear Test Site. Since that time, thousands
of nuclear weapons have been detonated above and below ground, poisoning
the water and scarring the land.
"It's in our backyard ... it's in our front yard,"
says Harney. "This nuclear contamination is shortening all life. We
are going to have to unite as a people and say no more!"
"Corbin Harney has spent most of his life teaching
about the Mother Earth and our destructive behavior," says Malla Spotted
Eagle who has known Corbin for most of his life as part of an inter-tribal
community based on teaching traditional values. "He holds two large
gatherings in Nevada each year, tries to stop the dumping of nuclear
waste on reservations and is looking for a location for another healing
center." — Lisa Igoe
OPENING ARGUMENTS
Earth First! activists in
Oakland, Calif., were in high spirits early this week at the beginning
of their long-awaited trial against the FBI and Oakland Police Department.
At issue is the 1990 bombing and subsequent arrest of Judi Bari and
Darryl Cherney while they were on an organizing tour for a summer
of protests against logging of ancient redwoods in northern California.
Cherney and the estate of Bari, who died of cancer
in 1997, allege that the two government agencies violated their rights
to organize politically — protected under the First Amendment
— and their rights to due process under the law by arresting
them for bombing themselves and then not seeking the real bombers
(see "Fighting Back," EW 3/21).
Several hundred people assembled outside the courtroom
in Oakland Monday as jury selection began. Bari and Cherney's attorney
Dennis Cunningham told the crowd, "It's a good day to sue the FBI!"
On Tuesday, about 20 activists sat through Cunningham's
opening arguments. Robert Amon, known among his activist peers as
Uncle Ramon, said the presentation made one of the jurors cry.
The trial will run Monday through Thursday for up
to eight weeks, Amon said.
— OI
Back to Top
Rat
Hole to the River
City's
plan for riverfront highway
threatens vision for historic millrace.
By
Alan Pittman
City plans for a six-lane riverfront highway downtown
threaten to turn a three decade vision for a historic millrace splashing
into the Willamette into a "millrace ditch and rathole to the river,"
UO landscape architect Jerry Diethelm told the City Club April 5.
City planners designing a new "neighborhood" around
the planned federal courthouse at the former Agripac cannery propose
slicing the riverfront area in two with a wide new highway bypass.
Diethelm says the city's plan for a "token" millrace
running beneath the 200-foot wide span of the new highway and railway
tracks puts transportation ahead of good planning. The car/train corridor
along the river will be three times the width of Franklin Boulevard
in Glenwood, according to Diethelm. Cars need to move through the
courthouse neighborhood, he says, but not at highway speeds. With
the city's plan, "all we're going to do is just tear through there."
The city's highway plan "bites into any kind of cannery
neighborhood" that could be created around the courthouse, Diethelm
says. Not building the big road would save several acres of land and
about $15 million in construction costs, he says. As a city consultant
in the 1980s, Diethelm says he recommended a similar road plan to
the one the city is now proposing. Diethelm says he's since reconsidered
the old plan because of its barrier to the river and impact on the
millrace. In this newest plan, "You paid a lot of good money for a
good traffic consultant, but all they really came up with was what
I came up with in 1984."
As an alternative, Diethelm proposes that the city
use 8th Avenue and East Broadway to meet traffic needs. The two streets
can be reconstructed in such a way that they both carry traffic and
are attractive to pedestrians, he says. Existing businesses on 8th
wouldn't be hurt by the bypass of traffic, he says. "Eighth Avenue
can't be a street that's retired and on PERS; it has to pull it's
own weight."
"I don't think it's perfect," Diethelm says of his
proposal. "I think it frees the riverfront and makes all these other
things possible," he says. "There are too many other values than to
make perfect transportation efficiency drive our planning."
The city's plan focuses on reducing traffic at 8th
and Mill to allow an easier pedestrian crossing to the courthouse
neighborhood. But Diethelm says he doesn't want to trade a "perfect
intersection at 8th and mill with blocking off the entire riverfront."
Eliminating the riverfront highway will also allow
the city to open up an attractive millrace park area with a pond,
marsh and falls into the Willamette, Diethelm says. The design could
help filter stormwater and demonstrate the city's commitment to clean
water. The falls could include a small power generation demonstration,
he says.
The biggest hurdle to the millrace idea, which Diethelm
and others have pushed for the past three decades, has always been
cost. The city has estimated that just building a railway overpass
for the millrace would cost $4.5 million.
But Diethelm says the city could use urban renewal
funds to build the project. Springfield is funding planning for a
historic millrace with funds from the Corps of Engineers and the National
Park Service, he says. Many cities are moving to revitalize their
downtown's with such projects, he says. "I hope we're not going to
be left behind."
Diethelm says city officials could find the money
if they really wanted to.
"We're just not committed to this, so we're not looking
for it."
Changing the city's plan for the riverfront highway
will take pressure on the City Council to direct the city Planning
Department to come up with another plan, Diethelm says. Already, city
planners have hired a surveyor to mark off where the big highway will
go, he says.
Diethelm has been pushing for a reopened millrace
for 30 years, but says he's not giving up. "George Washington, he
proposed a canal across the country. I always thought my little 11-block
canal was a pittance."
He says he helped beat back plans for a parkway along
Amazon Creek in the 1970s and power lines along the creek in the 1980s.
Eugene tends to come around to big ideas slowly, according to Diethelm.
"It took 20 years for us to do a library."
Diethelm's vision for an unearthed millrace through
town has gathered support in recent years. Most of the 150 or so attending
the City Club talk responded positively to the idea. With the urban
rejuvenation that would come from the project, local architect Otto
Poticha says, "how could we afford not to put the millrace through
there?"
Back to Top
From
the Heart
Nicki
Scully brings her transformative work home.
By
Aria Seligmann
 |
|
Nicki Scully
. |
|
Nicki Scully's coming home to roost. She's that singing, chanting
altar babe who's been a part of the Grateful Dead family since its
hippie heydays, a well-respected shaman with nearly 20 years healing
experience, author of the widely popular The Golden Cauldron,
recently expanded, released and retitled Power Animal Meditations;
as well as the creator of CDs and meditation tapes set to music by
Roland Barker, Jerry Garcia, Jeff Mahoney and John Sargeant.
Scully's work combines energetic healing techniques
with shamanistic principles to provide integrated, balanced healing
and growth processes. She calls this transformative work "alchemical
healing." Scully's been visiting Egypt since 1978, and using her intimate
connection with the Egyptian pantheon to catalyze deep and profound
experiences for those who study and travel with her. She's also led
spiritual tours to Peru and other sacred power centers, and has been
holding workshops and seminars around the world.
Scully discovered some of the tools she uses during
the healing process she went through when she had breast cancer. Out
of that experience came the audio cassette, The Cauldron Journey
for Healing (with Kuan Yin). Scully had come across Kuan Yin when
she was working on her book, before she was diagnosed with cancer.
The guided journeys on this tape are set to music by Roland Barker
and Jerry Garcia.
The Grateful Dead's Rex foundation gave her the money
to record that prototype cassette. She decided to give it away to
anyone suffering from AIDS, leukemia or cancer. She says "I gave it
away to thousands over the years." But she also sold enough copies
that it supported itself.
Since then, Scully has recorded several other audio
cassettes. The Cauldron of Thoth, The Cauldron Journey with
Eagle and Elephant, Cauldron Journey for Rebirth, and Awakening
the Cobra. She also recorded the popular Tribal Alchemy
CD.
Several years ago, someone approached her about doing
a healing CD for children suffering from life-threatening illnesses.
Scully found the idea "daunting," she says. But she did it. Just a
few months ago, Scully released …And You Will Fly!, An Animal
Circus Adventure.
"Embedded in the story are opportunities for the child
to overcome fear, to become strong, and to have their own insights,"
says Scully. "It's an alchemical process encoded in an animal circus
adventure story during which the listener is participating. It's extremely
nonthreatening," she says. "It's just you and the animals."
And, like her initial tape, Scully is giving it away.
She's sent hundreds of copies to children's hospitals, hospices and
families and is hoping to get the word out so that more kids can benefit
from it.
"For every CD that anybody buys for $16 we can create
and give away five for free," she adds.
Scully is also excited about the transformation of
The Golden Cauldron into Power Animal Totems, which
includes a new section called "Journeys for Liberation."
In the book, animal totems are used for journeys that
unlock hidden aspects of the psyche. The new section includes journeys
with Giraffe for seeing from the heart, Wolf for true security and
others.
Her extensive library of practical tools is easily
available through her website (www.shamanicjourneys.
com) and the tours and workshops she holds in various countries have
brought Scully international recognition.
But in the wake of 9/11, with tourism trouble and
numbers for her Egypt trips dropping significantly, Scully has decided
to concentrate on her home turf. She has remodeled one of the buildings
on her south Eugene property to comfortably house participants who
attend her workshops, such as the upcoming Co-Creating from the Heart
series.
With world violence on the increase, Scully feels
a new paradigm is needed.
"I feel like we've gone as far as we can — people,
society and individuals — in directing things according to our
will, emotions and mind," she says. "We need an adjustment to that
to be in alignment with our heart and to respond from that place."
Scully believes the heart is "more in alignment with
the bigger picture. It's aligned with Divinity itself."
Moving away from fear and anger, from an "us versus
them mentality," away from ego is the paradigm shift that needs to
take place to set the world's direction back on a better path, she
says.
"Somehow, if we can come from a place of dedicating
everything we do, everything we desire into the larger picture of
serving the highest possible outcome, then different kinds of solutions
will begin to emerge," says Scully.
"And my sense is with the complexity of the time in
which we live, it's going to require some real shifting of perspective
in order to find solutions that will work."
A free introduction to Scully's latest series, Co-Creating
from the Heart, will be at 7 pm on April 16. Call 484-1099 for further
information.
Back to Top
 
Mary Schmidt Gray
"My project is a dream I've had for many
years," says mother-of-four Mary Gray. "I've always wanted to do something
for homeless and needy children." Gray began by researching local
social service agencies. She found that St. Vincent de Paul offers
a wide variety of programs for low-income kids, including food and
child care at the First Place Family Center, school supplies and clothing
through its Social Service Office, and support groups for at-risk
boys and girls. More than 200 children live in St. Vinnie's low-income
housing. A former restaurateur (Patrick's Restaurant and Lounge in
Newport), event sponsor and chief cook, Gray has enlisted her kids,
her extended family and her friends to put on the first Community
Dinner for Kids, scheduled for Friday, April 26, at the St. Paul's
Parish Center, 1201 Satre St. Tickets for the Italian-theme dinner
are free, but must be reserved a week in advance — call 687-5820
ext 121. Local luminaries Bill Morrisette and Jim Torrey will emcee
the evening's entertainment. A free-will offering will benefit St.
Vincent's Lane County programs for homeless and needy children.
-- Photo by Paul Neevel
Happenin' People Archives
Nominate A Happenin' Person
Table
of Contents
| News | Views | Arts & Entertainment
Classifieds | Personals
| EW
Archive
|