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NEWS
BRIEFS : Peace Festival III
| Free Appealing | OPAN
Coming Soon | Sprawl Project | War
Economy | Jim Brown Criticized |
News:
The Next King of Eugene City keeps manager candidates secret,
but here are two possibilities.
News:
Toxic Heritage Undercovered #29: Operation Enduring Freedoms
enduring pollution.
Happening
People: George Grier
Peace
Festival III
Coming up this weekend is a two-day Oregon Peace Festival
III with the theme, Peace Begins at Home. Events Feb. 1-2 will be
held at EMU on the UO Campus and at the Central Presbyterian Church.
The opening celebration originally planned for Jan. 31 has been canceled.
For updated information on keynote speakers, workshops and entertainment,
visit or e-mail whitedog@oregonpeacefestival.org or call 686-4455.
This years conference will include music, free workshops, speakers,
a Saturday afternoon march and rally for peace at the Federal Building
and a Sunday afternoon World Caf.
Veteran foreign correspondent Reese Erlich will provide a keynote
address on media bias and Iraq at 2 pm Saturday in Columbia 150 (13th
and University) at UO. He and Norman Solomon co-authored the new book
Target Iraq: What the News Media Didnt Tell You. Erlich will explore
the realities underlying arguments for and against the invasion of
Iraq and illuminate the ways U.S. news media have helped market an
unprecedented war. Following the talk, a march to the 4 pm rally at
the Federal Building will begin.
Keynote speakers at 7 pm Saturday at Central Presbyterian Church
include Paul Loeb, author of Soul of a Citizen: Living with Commitment
in a Cynical Time. Loeb is described as a dynamic speaker whose stories
engage us in thinking about social activism and civic involvement.
Loeb explores how ordinary citizens can make their voices heard and
actions count in a time when were told neither matter.
Joining him will be Mario Africa, founder of the Third World Outreach
Program at the Committee for Conscientious Objectors, along with the
Eugene Peace Choir. Eugene activist Hope Marston will talk about the
latest local peace initiatives. Marston recently led the successful
Eugene campaign that passed a City Council resolution against the
USA PATRIOT Act.
The Sunday keynoter at 1 pm is Bhavia Carol Wagner, author of Soul
Survivors: Stories of Women and Children in Cambodia. Her talk and
slideshow will be in Columbia 150 at the UO.
At 10 am Saturday and Sunday mornings the conference schedule begins
with interfaith services in the Fir Room at the EMU, followed by refreshments
and free workshops. Ted Taylor
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SLANT
Following President Bushs State of the Union address,
KLCC radio went to music with Heartwood Hotel and Cina Kraft
played David Frishbergs painfully appropriate Blizzard of Lies.
Bush was all agenda and promises Tuesday night, contradicting
his actions to date, ignoring the failed funding of past promises,
and dismissing the dismal current state of the union. Bush is
vowing to solve all the problems of our nation and the world
without dealing with root causes. We need real leadership that
addresses economic and social injustice, exploitation of our
resources and the growing gap between rich and poor. Instead
we get Bushs simplistic, black and white view of foreign affairs,
the economy and society. The White House has an obsession with
Iraq that defies logic and precedent, and is puzzling to the
rest of the world. Lets not buy into it.
What does the failure of Measure 28 mean to Oregon?
Well know soon as state agencies, non-profits and schools report
cutbacks. Will the 2003 Legislature deal with our states burgeoning
funding crisis? Not likely. Lawmakers had their chance last
year in the buck-passing special sessions. Republicans pushing
this measure to the ballot knew that voters were fed up with
new taxes. But we only hurt ourselves in the long run when we
skimp on education and social services. Hats off to all the
Lane County folks who worked so hard to try to pass this measure.
We hear Lane County commissioners are considering weighing
in on what Springfield asserts is their decision about the land
use plan amendments required for PeaceHealth to build at Gateway.
Nothing formal was announced by press time, but the hospital
project could on the commissioners agenda Feb. 4 or 5. The county
and other local jurisdictions should demand a major voice in
this siting, even veto power, since this massive development
will effect all of us in both predictable and unanticipated
ways. For example, how many more children will develop asthma
if we increase vehicle miles traveled to get medical care?
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
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Free
Appealing
Jeffrey Free Luers, the activist who was sentenced to more
than two decades in prison for starting a fire that burned three trucks,
has started the long, winding process of appealing his sentence and
convictions on multiple counts of arson and attempted arson.
The majority of it is trying to get my sentence reduced down to a
reasonable amount of time, Free told EW during an interview inside
the Oregon State Penitentiary.
Free said he and his attorney, public defender Shawn Wiley, are confident
the sentence could be reduced by about half, to 11 to 13 years. That,
hes almost 95 percent positive about, the inmate said. As far as going
below that, we dont have any expectations.
Free and his co-defendant, Craig Critter Marshall, were arrested
in June 2000 for starting a fire at Romania Chevrolet on Franklin
Blvd. Critter pleaded guilty to two lesser charges and is serving
a 5-year sentence at the Snake River Correctional Institute in Ontario,
Ore. Frees case went to trial, where he was linked to an attempted
arson at Tyree Oil on West 1st Ave.. He denies being involved in or
knowing about the Tyree incident.
His Jan. 14 filing before the Oregon Court of Appeals raises a number
of issues beyond the length of his sentence. For example, Frees attorney
argues that police searches of a car and a storage room Free used
were illegal, and that he had been illegally detained before the searches.
The brief also deconstructs the legal logic that led to the 266-month
sentence. One point of contention is the judges declaration that the
risk of injury or death posed by a fire justifies a long prison term.
Wiley says that is erroneous the judge should only have considered
what actually happened, not what could have happened. No one was injured
in either incident.
The state has until March 4 to file a response. The entire appellate
process is expected to take a year to 18 months. Alan Choate
OPAN
Coming Soon
Oregon Public Access Network (OPAN), a public affairs television
network modeled on C-SPAN that will cover state politics, government,
and public affairs of interest to Oregonians statewide, begins broadcasting
Feb. 19. Nightly broadcasts will be aired in Eugene from 6 to 8 pm
on Metro TV.
OPAN began organizing in 1999, with an aborted start up in 2001.
It was a bad business model, based on what other states do, but not
good for Oregon, says OPAN Executive Director Rick Hanson. Instead,
organizers regrouped, reached out to other organizations that could
provide needed services, and opted for the role of facilitator says
Hanson.
For example, the state legislature, the Eugene City Club and the
UO are partners that will provide content, and OSU provides the staff
and equipment to broadcast the signal.
Ultimately, Hanson says OPAN would like to reach out to more progressive
partners, such as E-LAW and KLCC, to broadcast even more programming
that is of statewide interest. For now, he says, the organization
is fragile and still in need of funds to steady its course. Aria Seligmann
Sprawl
Project
The local Cascadia Media Collective (CMC) has a new and
ambitious project in the works, a 30-minute video on the issues surrounding
urban sprawl. The video will be national in scope, but based on the
Pacific Northwest experience.
The video will provide a unique look at the connection between forests,
individuals, communities and overall development patterns, says Lisa
Igoe of CMC in a project description. We want to bring to attention
the crisis of urban sprawl but more importantly, we hope to help develop
a network of resistance to the further destruction of our communities
and the natural world that surrounds us.
CMC has been working for the past two and a half years to produce
documentary videos on environmental issues and social activism. In
addition to a stream of news stories, the collective has produced
two long videos, Guerilla Video Primer and A Year in the Streets,
and a shorter video on the Umpquas old-growth forests.
The documentaries, supported by volunteer work and donations, have
been distributed widely. But the CMC says the new project will require
additional investment of time and money. The group is seeking small
grants and donations to fund a $10,000 budget. For more information,
call CMC at 688-2809 or e-mail thecmc@efn.org TJT
War
Economy
While some states hope for an economic boost from President
George W. Bushs billions in defense spending for a war in Iraq, Oregon
wont see much of the cash.
Oregon ranks in the bottom fifth of all states for defense spending.
The Oregon economy gets about $856 million a year in Department of
Defense (DoD) money. Thats about the same as New Hampshire and Iowa,
but far less than the $30 billion that top ranked California rakes
in or $25 billion for Virginia or $21 billion for Texas.
Oregon gets about $301 million a year in DoD contracts and grants.
California rakes in $19 billion and Texas $12 billion.
The DoD spends $11.4 billion on salaries in Virginia, but only $556
million in Oregon. About $96 million of Oregons share is for workers
in the Army Corps of Engineers who operate and maintain the states
many federal dams.
In Lane County, the DoD spends $9.7 million a year on military salaries.
About 90 percent of the money goes to people working for the Corps
of Engineers.
Most of the Oregon DoD salaries are spent in Multnomah County (38
percent) and in Umatilla County, where the Army has a large base and
chemical weapons depot. Alan Pittman
Jim
Brown Criticized
Gov. Ted Kulongoskis appointment of State Forester Jim
Brown as his top environmental advisor is a move that should alarm
all Oregonians, according to the Oregon Natural Resources Council.
An ONRC alert issued Jan. 16 (see says that during Browns 16-year
tenure at the Oregon Department of Forestry, ODF approved every logging
operation on state and private lands. These activities have contributed
to the endangered status of several native species including the Northern
spotted owl, Chinook and Coho salmon and marbled murrelets.
Recently a district court overturned ODFs longstanding policy of
ignoring federal environmental laws. Of further concern to environmentalists
is Browns expressed desire for national forests to be managed by states,
using only state regulations. These regulations are notoriously less
protective than federal safeguards currently in place.
Kulongoskis appointment of Brown appears to signal a marked change
from the conservation ethic exhibited by his predecessor former Gov.
John Kitzhaber, says ONRC. If Gov. Kulongoski follows Browns stated
position on federal land management, the Northwest Forest plan currently
protecting old-growth forests, endangered salmon and spotted owls
would be history. TJT
Back to Top
The
Next King of Eugene
City
keeps manager candidates secret, but here are two possibilities.
BY
ALAN PITTMAN
The city manager of Eugene is the most powerful person in the region.
He lords over a staff of 1,400, a budget of $300 million and city
assets of half a billion dollars. He controls all information coming
out of city government and can even set your garbage fee.
The Eugene City Council is in the midst of selecting a person to
fill Eugenes king-like city manager position. Despite the huge political
importance of the decision, the selection process is shrouded in secrecy.
No part of this is a public meeting, says Human Resources Director
Lauren Chouinard of the series of closed-door interviews and meetings
the City Council will hold over the next week to select a manager.
The secret selection process was designed by a council subcommittee,
Chouinard says.
The council subcommittee met in secret without public notice in apparent
violation of the Oregon Public Meetings Law requirements that decisions
of governing bodies be arrived at openly.
Other cities have more open processes in selecting their city managers.
Cincinnati, Ohio and Federal Way, Wash., for example, released lists
of candidates and invited public comment.
Although Eugenes list of candidates is secret, the pool of experienced
managers from similar sized cities looking for jobs is limited.
One such possible candidate is John Fischbach, city manager of Fort
Collins, Colo. Fischbach applied for a city manager opening in Federal
Way, Wash., in 1999, served as the city manager of Vancouver, Wash.,
from 1990 to 1995 and has a mother living in Albany, according to
newspaper reports. Fischbach did not return a call asking if he was
a candidate. But an assistant said he was out of town on days coinciding
with secret interviews in Eugene for the city manager position.
Fort Collins Mayor Ray Martinez declined comment but said Fischbach
had declined offers from other cities in the past and it was not unusual
for city managers to apply for other jobs.
Fort Collins, a conservative city of 119,000 south of Denver, is
known for its rapid growth and anti-gay politics. The city grew 35
percent over the last decade and in 1998 voted 63 percent against
an anti-discrimination ordinance for gays and lesbians.
Fischbach is struggling to close a $4.4 million budget deficit this
year and there are other indications Fischbach may be ready to leave.
Ed Faillace, a pro-freeway and development columnist, wrote last year
in the local Northern Colorado Courier that Fischbach had told him
his job was losing some of its appeal after turmoil on the City Council
surrounding his performance and pay raise.
Fischbachs pay increase last year was opposed by two environmental
and slower-growth advocates on the City Council. Environmental and
developer advocates on the council frequently divide on split votes.
Developer advocates accused an environmental councilor of leaking
information from a secret meeting, and the councilor responded that
the council holds too many secret meetings.
In the dispute between pro-sprawl and anti-sprawl advocates, the
pro-sprawl side apparently sees Fischbach on their side. Faillace
wrote that he would be sorry to see Fischbach go and advocated a recall
of an anti-sprawl councilor. Other pro-sprawl commentators criticize
councilors for voting against projects to serve new fringe development
that Fischbach recommended be approved.
The League of Women Voters criticized Fischbachs decision last year
to give cable TV airtime to a political candidate forum sponsored
by a pro-sprawl advocacy group.
Republican and pro-sprawl members of the council praise Fischbachs
performance. But upcoming elections could change the balance on the
council in favor of progressives, the Coloradoan reports. Council
progressives have expressed frustration during the past year that
Fischbach and staff have, at times, not responded promptly to concerns
or that some issues havent come to council quickly enough, the paper
says.
Under Fischbach, Fort Collins environmentalists have criticized city
staff for working too closely with developers behind closed doors.
Long before the I-25 [freeway] Plan came up for a public vote, private
discussions were initiated between city staff and developers. The
public and environmentalists were effectively excluded from those
discussions. Open houses were a joke, with little public input critical
of the plan finding its way into policy, wrote Green Party member
Ken Bonetti in a Coloradoan op-ed last year.
Another letter and opinion column in the paper make similar criticisms
that Fischbach frequently usurps the policy role of the council and
controls information. A critic of a road plan wrote, Staff is allowed
to dominate council sessions.
While he was in Vancouver, Fischbach counted improving the vitality
of downtown, riverfront development, strengthening neighborhood associations
and expanding the city with annexations among his accomplishments,
The Oregonian reported.
But Fischbach was also known for his temper. Known for occasional
bursts of temper, Fischbach said he also has learned to control feelings
and to put things into perspective after heart bypass surgery 2-1/2
years ago, the Oregonian reported in 1995. In a later article, the
paper quoted a county administrator who described Fischbachs management
style as abrasive.
Its unknown if Fischbachs heart condition was stress related. Fischbach,
57, spent much of the last two months in and out of a Colorado hospital
for surgery on a bleeding ulcer.
The Oregonian also reported criticism from a two-term Vancouver councilman
who had clashed with Fischbach. Democrat Dan Tonkovich, an annexation
critic, said Fischbach had usurped power from elected councilors.
Another possible candidate for Eugene city manager is Mike Bierman,
interim city manager of Petaluma, Calif. Biermans Petaluma job isnt
permanent, and he recently applied for a position as city manager
of Cincinnati, Ohio. Bierman did not return a call asking if he was
a candidate. But an assistant said he was also out of town on days
coinciding with interviews in Eugene.
Bierman started in Petaluma last August. From 1997 to 2001 he was
city manager of Columbia, S.C., population 116,000. A native Californian
with two children, Bierman previously worked for the Cincinnati Water
Works and as city manager of Fresno, Calif. A news report in the Petaluma
Argus-Courier describes him as good humored.
News reports note Biermans work on a basketball arena in Columbia
and on a $36 million convention center that caused sticker shock from
local elected officials. The State newspaper in Columbia describes
Bierman variously as pressured to resign his city manger job or quitting
in frustration.
Back to Top
Toxic
Heritage
Undercovered
#29: Operation Enduring Freedoms enduring pollution.
BY
KATE ROGERS GESSERT
Even if the U.S. refrained from using tactical nuclear weapons, Gulf
War II may be far more toxic than the 1991 Gulf War, when U.S. tanks
and aircraft fired over 320 tons of uranium munitions on Iraq. Depleted
uranium (DU), also used in the Balkans War, is a radioactive metal
with a 4.5 billion-year half-life. DU ignites during flight, penetrating
and destroying anything it hits. As it burns, it turns into radioactive
dust, spreads by wind and is absorbed in human lungs and wounds and
in soil and water. Iraqi doctors report that since 1991, cancer deaths
among southern Iraqis have increased 17-fold, six to 12 times as many
children get leukemia, and 10 times as many babies are born with birth
defects: no brains, no sex organs, internal organs outside (see all
sources below).
Since 1991, 30 percent of U.S. veterans of the highly toxic environment
of the Gulf War have been classified as disabled due to Gulf War service-connected
injuries and exposures, and 9,600 have died. Among 100 U.S. soldiers
who cleaned up tanks destroyed by friendly-fire DU in Iraq, at least
20 are dead and most others ill. Pentagon officials deny DU causes
health problems, yet Army training manuals contain specific warnings.
A U.N. initiative and a year-old U.S. House bill banning DU weapons
are mired in committees. The U.S. has tested DU weapons in five states,
Puerto Rico, and Okinawa, and currently tests in Pacific fisheries
near Seattle.
In Afghanistan, many targets were destroyed by U.S. precision-guided
weapons smart bombs, cruise missiles, bunker buster bombs rather than
battlefield weapons. Recent radiological tests near Afghan bomb sites
indicate that precision bombs contained non-depleted or pure, milled
uranium. The amount of uranium used in Afghanistan may have far exceeded
that used in previous U.S. conflicts, and large numbers of Afghan
people have likely been exposed to uranium dust and debris. All forms
of uranium affect humans and environment in similar ways.
Dr. (Col.) Asaf Durakovic, who previously worked with Gulf War veterans
at a V.A. hospital, founded the independent Uranium Medical Research
Centre in 1997. The center tested troops and civilians for uranium
poisoning, finding uranium in peoples urine nine years after exposure.
In 2002, the center sent study teams to Jalalabad and Kabul, Afghanistan.
Researchers studied the vicinity of precision bomb sites, testing
for uranium in Afghans urine and in soil samples.
In Jalalabad, people near bomb sites had urine uranium levels 400
to 2,000 percent above normal. In Kabul, people near three major bomb
sites showed symptoms of extreme inhalation exposure characteristic
of internal uranium contamination: joint pain, back/kidney pain, muscle
weakness, respiratory diseases, disorientation, memory problems. Many
of these symptoms also appear in Gulf War and Balkans civilians and
veterans, and in Vieques, Puerto Rico civilians. Preliminary examinations
of Afghan babies born near bomb sites revealed that up to 25 percent
may have congenital and postnatal problems possibly associated with
internal uranium contamination: undeveloped muscles, large heads compared
to body size, infant lethargy. The study team searched the areas for
other uranium sources geological or industrial uranium or al-Qaeda
stockpiles but found nothing.
What lies ahead in a new war with Iraq? According to Dr. Doug Rokke,
a U.S. Army health physicist who recovered DU-contaminated tanks after
the Gulf War, Were going to shoot everything up with DU again, trash
the place, make everyone sicker than they already are, deny medical
care, and then not clean up the mess. It is likely that smart bombs,
cruise missiles, bunker busters, cluster bombs, and anti-tank shells
will be used. Though much information is classified, analysis suggests
that many smart bombs, cruise missiles, and bunker busters contain
50 to 75 percent uranium by weight; the heaviest weigh 4,400 pounds
each. Some cluster bombs may also contain uranium, and tank shells
shot in the Gulf War were solid DU.
Dr. Rokke concludes, War is obsolete. We can no longer clean up the
air, water, and soil contamination left by the weapons we use. Adverse
health effects begin immediately and last for eternity.
Sources: Hazards of Suspected Uranium Weapons in
the Proposed War with Iraq, Dai Williams, 9/24/02, Iraqi cancers,
birth defects blamed on U.S. depleted uranium, Larry Johnson, Seattle
Post-Intelligencer, 11/12/02; Precision Destruction, Indiscriminate
Effects, Uranium Medical Research Centre, The Scourge of Depleted
Uranium, address to UNESCO by Dr. Doug Rokke; article in Pakistan
Daily Times 1/8/03 by Davey Garland. Interviews with Tedd Weyman of
UMRC, Dr. Helen Caldicott, and Dr. Rokke. Photographs of Iraqi children
with leukemia and birth defects at savewarchildren.org and ngwrc.org/Dulink/du_link.htm
Photo above is by Takashi Morizumi.
Back to Top
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George
Grier
George Grier As president of the McKenzie River Trust,
former farmer George Grier now works full-time without pay to preserve
natural resource lands. The MRT works with willing landowners and
government agencies to set up conservation easements that restrict
logging and development. Im negotiating on a huge project right now,
he elaborates. About 1,000 acres in the confluence area of the Willamette
and McKenzie. Raised on a fifth-generation family farm in New Jersey,
Grier moved to Eugene fresh from grad school in chemistry, but soon
was bitten by the congenital farming bug. He built a house on 65 acres
north of Springfield in the early 70s, and raised veggies on 500 acres
of mostly leased land. He fought sprawl as founder of the Rural Thurston
Neighborhood Association in the 70s, and built a nationally recognized
model for consensus-driven water-resource decisions as co-founder
of the McKenzie Watershed Council in the 90s. Grier left farming in
84 to work as a broker, then retired in 2000 when he saw the market
as an accident waiting to happen. -Paul Neevel
Nominate A Happenin' Person
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