.NEWS
BRIEFS : Peace March Blocked
| Hospitable Hospital | Wetland
Victory | UPA Opposition
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News:
Thousands Rally for Peace Eugene police
video peaceful protest.
Happening
People: Springfield High
Art Students
PEACE
MARCH BLOCKED
A protest march for peace wandered
through downtown streets for an hour Feb. 15 before police in riot helmets
arrested three and ordered a crowd of about 200 people to disperse.
The protest march broke off from a larger demonstration
at the federal courthouse estimated at up to 5,000 people.
"Ain't no power like the power of the people!" the
marchers chanted as they walked up Oak Street blocking traffic in
the city center. Drivers exiting a parking garage tooted support and
the crowd cheered.
The marchers were mostly younger people but included
at least two in wheelchairs and several families with young children.
A dozen police on bicycles and motorcycles followed and stopped traffic
at intersections.
"This is what democracy looks like!" protesters chanted.
Circling back by the courthouse, members of the march yelled, "Ferry
Street Bridge!"
A police Suburban with sirens on and a squad car sallied
out from under City Hall and sped down the street to block the bridge
on-ramp. In the garage below City Hall, a half dozen police began
putting on riot gear.
"No blood for oil!" the marchers chanted and circled
away from the bridge onto 5th Avenue. "George Bush has got to go!"
As marchers passed the Lane County Jail, 17 officers
in riot helmets and brandishing clubs charged around the corner at
demonstrators with a battle yell.
"Jesus!" said one startled protester, as many scattered
backward in fright.
The line of charging officers stopped about 20 feet
short of protesters. One officer carried a tear gas launcher that
looked like a bazooka revolver and had bandoleers full of tear gas
bombs across his chest.
"Whose cops? Our cops!" protesters chanted and sat
in the street.
A loudspeaker from a police car called the gathering
an "unlawful assembly" and warned, "leave the streets immediately
or face arrest."
One officer violently shoved a young man who caught
himself with his hands before his face hit the sidewalk. After 15
minutes, most protesters had left or moved to the sidewalks.
Police then threatened arrest for "blocking pedestrian
traffic." Two pedestrians not involved in the protest moved through
demonstrators easily, but police refused to allow them to continue
down the street.
"All we are saying is give peace a chance," a group
of a half dozen demonstrators sang while sitting on the curb outside
the jail. "Let's go, take off!" a police sergeant ordered. A squad
car followed a dozen protesters walking away on the sidewalk, warning
they were subject to arrest for blocking "pedestrian traffic" and
"unlawful assembly."
Police detained and released three protesters (ages
20, 21 and 41) and charged them with disorderly conduct. As the protest
dispersed, a demonstrator in a red cape with a bicycle helmet labeled
"PEACE" approached a line of riot police. "I love the Eugene police
force," he said. "You cannot take love out of my heart." —
Alan Pittman
HOSPITABLE
HOSPITAL
While Sacred Heart has taken an adversarial
approach to the city of Eugene in siting its new hospital, McKenzie-Willamette's
approach so far has been cordial.
City councilors thanked McKenzie-Willamette officials
for volunteering to meet with the council and said they were glad
of the prospect of a new hospital in Eugene to replace departing Sacred
Heart.
"I'm delighted," said councilors Betty Taylor and
Scott Meisner. Councilor David Kelly said he was "very pleased." "It's
great," said Councilor George Poling. And "We're very happy," said
Councilor Bonny Bettman.
McKenzie CEO Roy Orr said the non-profit hospital
was doing 90-120 days of "due diligence" on a deal to partner with
the for-profit Triad hospital chain. Triad will put $80 million into
building a new hospital and control 80 percent of the interest in
the new venture with the non-profit McKenzie holding 20 percent, according
to Orr.
Orr said he was not concerned that a similar hospital
merger in Roseburg had resulted in Triad closing a community hospital.
When Triad acquired the Roseburg hospital it had been in "dire straits"
for years, Orr said. "They pumped a lot of money into that hospital,
much more and much longer than many others would have."
The new McKenzie hospital will likely move from its
Springfield site to compete geographically with the new hospital Sacred
Heart is planning to build in north Springfield, according to Orr.
Orr promised the hospital would work closely with
the council and public in siting the new facility. The siting is a
"potentially contentious and somewhat difficult process," he said.
"Not everyone will agree with" the final choice, he said, but he hopes
the public will understand how the decision was made.
Orr said cost and road access would be important criteria
for choosing a site. A site with roads clogged by seasonal shopping
and football game traffic would be problematic, he said. A redeveloped
industrial or city center site could offer advantages of being "closer
to population centers" and nearby amenities such as coffee and book
shops, Orr said.
Councilor David Kelly said that the city should reduce
a list of 10 possible hospital sites that planning staff identified
last fall. Many councilors expressed concern that some of the sites
along the riverfront and in neighborhoods and at the edge of the city
were unworkable or undesirable.
City Manager Jim Carlson said the city needs more
information from McKenzie/Triad before doing more work to identify
the best sites. For example, Carlson said he's heard the hospital
may be looking for 35 acres, but right now, "none of the sites [on
the city list] have 35 acres."
If the city of Eugene does trade McKenzie/Triad for
departing Sacred Heart, it could mean a tax windfall. As a non-profit,
Sacred Heart doesn't pay property taxes. But for-profit Triad is entirely
taxable. A $100 million taxable hospital would be the city's largest
taxpayer, generating about $700,000 a year in revenue. Of course,
that revenue could be reduced or eliminated if Triad demands tax breaks
and subsidies for its new facility. — AP
WETLAND
VICTORY
The tree frogs are rejoicing in song
this month as five years of community activism culminated in the dedication
of a preserved wetland in an area of west Eugene once targeted for
130 apartment units.
 |
| Ginger
Gietzen (left) and Lorna Baldwin. |
About 20 people gathered with shovels and rubber boots
for the dedication and stayed for lessons on how to plant native grasses
and bulbs at the 6.3 acre site on City View near 14th Avenue. The
event was organized by the Westmoreland Wetland Advocacy Group (WWAG)
which formed five years ago and spearheaded the campaign.
The site contains ponds, ash trees and unique grasses,
along with many birds and tree frogs. "It was the tree frogs that
called us," says Ginger Gietzen of WWAG, "along with the chain saws."
Tree frogs in the native Kalapooya language is guda-kut, so
the wetland will now be called the Guda-Kut Natural Area.
Dozens of individuals and organizations were recognized
at the dedication, including Gietzen, Bern Johnson, Lorna Baldwin,
Doug Quirk, Jennifer Rowan, John Henry, Lynn Mattei, Amanda Smith,
Elaine Phillips, Tom Pringle, Barbara Kelly, Jim Reed, Jeff Kruger,
Trevor Taylor, Gordon Kaswell, Citizens for Public Accountability,
McKenzie River Gathering Foundation, Eugene Stream Team, the city
of Eugene and the Bureau of Land Management.
— Ted Taylor
See earlier story in EW
archives .
UPA
OPPOSITION
The campaign against the USA PATRIOT
Act (UPA) is expanding in Lane County as the federal government is
busy preparing follow-up legislation that would further limit civil
rights of suspected terrorists.
Brian Michaels and Hope Marston of the Lane County
Bill of Rights Defense Committee (LCBORDC) will speak to the Florence
City Club Friday, Feb. 21, and a resolution is expected to go before
the Lane County Board of Commissioners this spring.
So far, says Marston, 40 U.S. counties and cities,
including Eugene and Ashland, have passed resolutions objecting to
provisions in the law, which violates Constitutional guarantees from
our Bill of Rights. "Those resolutions now protect nearly five million
U.S. residents from the excesses of the federal government," says
Marston.
In Florence, Michaels and Marston will present new
information about "UPA II," a plan by the Justice Department to continue
where the UPA left off. Officially titled "Domestic Security Enhancement
Act," it's generally known as UPA II or Son of
UPA.
UPA II would allow the Executive Branch to strip individuals
of citizenship if they're suspected of providing "material support"
to suspected terrorist organizations, says Marston. The government
could hold "suspected terrorists" in jail without bail, and create
a DNA database of "suspected terrorists." A "confidential" document
leaked to the Center for Public Integrity, "shows a blueprint of the
Justice Department's plans to unleash measures, which can be used
to further repress the American population," says Marston.
The Florence City Club meets at noon Friday at the
Ocean Dunes Golf Links Clubhouse, 3345 Munsel Lake Road.
CORRECTIONS/CLARIFICATIONS
A letter to the editor last week
("Carlin Blows") mentioned an EW advertisement for the George
Carlin show at the Hult Center, but EW did not run any ads
for the show. We would have, but oddly enough, the ad agency in New
York handling Carlin's promotions only ran ads in mainstream publications.
| SLANT
Great turnout at the anti-war protest
this past weekend in downtown Eugene. Excellent speakers and
a broad representation of concerned groups and individuals in
the crowd. Gotta love those signs. Coming up, peace vigils are
beginning in Springfield from 4:30 to 5:30 pm Tuesdays by the
Franklin Boulevard bridge. Meanwhile on the UO campus, it looks
like the faculty have turned in enough signatures to call a
meeting of the University Assembly to vote on an anti-war resolution.
A quorum for an Assembly vote requires about 1,000 faculty and
staff. We hear the administration initially suggested a room
that would only hold a few hundred. The meeting is likely the
afternoon of Feb. 28. Stay tuned.
ODOT finally went public this week with
its plans to detour heavy haul trucks around the local
I-5 river bridges (see news story last week), and we're happy
to see the final suggested routes will not include Franklin
Boulevard after all. We hear our mayor intervened and helped
get the routes changed. What's next? Local enviros and transportation
watchdogs are planning a press conference soon to talk about
our crumbling bridges and roads in light of plans to build more
highways and bridges in the area.
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 or e-mail
editor@eugeneweekly.com
|
Back to Top
Thousands
Rally for Peace
Eugene
police video peaceful protest.
BY
ALAN PITTMAN
One of the largest protests in Eugene's history filled
the federal courthouse plaza Saturday, Feb. 15, spilled across the
street and reached up to line a terrace at the county building.
"This is the biggest rally Eugene has ever seen,"
said one speaker, estimating the roaring crowd at 5,000. Police estimated
"more than 2,000" protested, but "are not disputing" higher estimates,
said EPD spokesperson Pam Olshanski.
A broad cross section of Eugene appeared to turn out
for the peaceful rally. Graying seniors stood with UO students. Parents
put kids on their shoulders so they could see.
At the podium on the courthouse steps, local environmental
activist Mary O'Brien lamented the "nation's creep into fascism" and
the "corporate fundamentalism" governing America.
Jim Cook of the Communications Workers of America
rattled off a long list of unions calling for peace including the
AFL-CIO, AFSCME, SEIU, Postal Workers and United Farm Workers. He
quoted Dwight Eisenhower, "Every dollar spent on weapons is a dollar
stolen from the hungry and homeless."
Speaker Carmen Urbina also said money should be spent
on threatened social services rather than war. "While Bush draws a
line in the sand, the rest of us see the line between us and everyone
else growing wider." Urbina read a letter from her 10-year-old daughter
to President Bush, "We don't need to kill more people."
A call for donations was answered by people waiving
money to stuff in coffee cans circulated through the crowd.
"Muslims are not your enemy. Your enemies are lies
that are made from fear," Palestinian peace activist Ibrahim Hamide
told the gathering. "People say this is a moral war. I say, 'I'm sorry,
did you say more oil war?'"
Gretchen Miller, a local human rights activist, warned
of the dangers to civil liberties from the war on terrorism. "All
of our civil liberties will be restricted everywhere all the time,"
she said. Miller said citizens should stand with the hundreds of immigrants
the government has detained without trials. "Our best hope is you
can't possibly detain us all. We're all in this together."
Signs
of the Times
Here's
a list of just some of the hundreds of protest signs that filled
the streets of Eugene last Saturday.
"Mad
Cowboy Disease, It Could Kill Us All"
"Our
Children Should Not Kill Their Children"
"Attack
Iraq? Are You on Crack?"
"Ashamed
of My Country"
"1975
Vietnam 3,000,000 People Died, One of Them was My Dad"
"Ignorance
Breeds Fear"
"An
eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind" — Gandhi
"No
Hitting" on a baby backpack
"This
is not a war, it's just murder"
"When
Poor Soldiers Kill Each Other, Only the Rich Win"
"War
Whore" label on a cartoon Bush riding a missile
"Blessed
are the Peacemakers For They are the Children of God" —
Matthew 5:9
"Terror
Proof House" on a cart-mounted house built of plastic sheeting
and duct tape
"Drop
Bush Not Bombs"
"Bomb
Bush"
"Face
Fear Hug Humanity"
"Fire
Bush" painted on the belly of a woman dressed only in cellophane
"War
Minus UN Support Equals Personal Agenda"
"Hatred
is the real destroyer of peace" –Dalai Lama
"Thou
Shalt Not Kill"
"Duct
Tape and Plastic are a Poor Substitute for Peace"
"Peace
by Any Means Necessary"
"Bush
Needs a Time Out"
"Make
Bush Disarm"
"Bush
Cheney Rumsfeld: The Real Asses of Evil"
|
Miller told of the FBI questioning a 60-year old man
for calling Bush a warmonger. "Hey, FBI, Bush is a warmonger!" she
said to applause.
On the roof of the Eugene City Hall, a squad of Eugene
Police officers set up two video cameras and trained them at the peaceful
protest below. The Eugene police have worked with the FBI on an Oregon
"Joint Terrorism Taskforce" that has drawn complaints from civil liberties
advocates in Portland.
Members of the crowd grew agitated at the site of
the police surveillance. Many waved peace signs, at least one waived
the finger. A speaker joked that she would like to order some 8x10s
and wallet-sized pictures.
City councilor Betty Taylor said many people had complained
to her at the rally about the police video operation. "I have no idea
why they would be doing that," Taylor said.
Olshanski said police were prompted to set up the
cameras by a warning from federal officers at the courthouse that
counter-demonstrators may try to disrupt the peace protest. No such
clash occurred, but Olshanski said police still would review the tapes
of the peace protesters to find any "criminal conduct" and use such
evidence in a criminal prosecution if necessary.
Demonstrators will likely not be prosecuted for blocking
the intersection in front of the courthouse, Olshanski said, because
the big crowd made it impossible for everyone to keep out of the street.
She described the rally as a "very peaceful and cooperative demonstration."
Police "were very pleased."
The crowd chanted "Stop the war! Stop the war!" At
the end of the two-hour rally, demonstrators sang "We Shall Overcome"
and linked hands all the way around the courthouse. "All we are saying,
is give peace a chance," they sang.
Eugene's was just one of hundreds of cities to hold
protests involving millions of people on Saturday. The demonstrations
had an impact, The New York Times reported. "In his
campaign to disarm Iraq, by war if necessary, President Bush appears
to be eyeball to eyeball with a tenacious new adversary: millions
of people who flooded the streets of New York and dozens of other
world cities to say they are against war based on the evidence at
hand."
Speakers called for protesters to rally at the courthouse
again at 5 pm if/when the bombing starts. "A dark time helps our eyes
to see," O'Brien said. "This rally helps us see. I'll see you next
time."
Back to Top
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Springfield
High Art Students
On a recent Tuesday afternoon, a
crew of students from Springfield High School (Staci Taylor, Crystal
Mason, Noah Garoutte, Crystal Woodruff, Quincy Martin, and Gary Chan)
gathered at the Emerald Art Gallery, 500 Main St., to install an exhibit
of art work by Springfield elementary, middle and high schoolers.
"We came up with a theme: 'Pattern and Nature,'" Quincy Martin explains.
"The schools sent in art, and we made choices." SHS art teacher Karen
Perkins first showed student work at the Emerald Art Center on A Street
10 years ago. When the EAC moved into its expansive new quarters last
year, she negotiated for a wall exclusively devoted to student work.
A committee of SHS students contacts other schools, organizes and
hangs the shows, and prepares publicity materials. "We really enjoy
the kids — so bright and interesting," says EAC Director Maureen
Manilla. "They treat it as a business." The current exhibit remains
on view through March 24 and two more shows will follow before the
school year ends. "It's a good way to get your art seen," says Staci
Taylor. "A lot of my friends come in for every show." —
Paul Neevel
Nominate A Happenin' Person
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