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Slant: Short opinion pieces and rumor-chasing notes News: Happening Person: Richard Long WHAT ABOUT NO-BUILD? The Osprey Group of Colorado has been hired by city, state and federal officials to try to facilitate consensus on the West Eugene Parkway (WEP). Consultants John Huyler and Dennis Donald claim to be unbiased and unattached to outcomes, but their website touts successes in the construction of highway projects over the objections of environmentalists and Indian tribes. The website (www.TheOspreyGroup.com) says "The support we help generate means that projects are actually embraced and then built or implemented." The site says Osprey has "extensive experience helping jurisdictions solve transportation problems at the state and local levels. Our public engagement work has helped build community support on projects ranging in complexity from specific intersections, to widening interstate highways, to the design and implementation of TDM programs." (TDM refers to Travel Demand Management.) One example cited on the website is an apparent resolution over the South Lawrence Trafficway (SLT) in Kansas, a project similar in many ways to the WEP, including the filling and paving of high-value wetlands over the objections of environmentalists. Native Americans objected to the SLT's encroachment on spiritual and historic sites, and a local university objected to anticipated traffic noise and pollution. Opponents and proponents were nearly evenly divided on the project in 2001. Osprey interviewed 30 individuals and reports that an agreement was made to proceed with the SLT. Federal permits were issued in 2003, but the highway has still not been built. The local newspaper, the Lawrence Journal-World, reports of ongoing lawsuits and lack of funding that could either kill the SLT or delay it until 2012. — Ted Taylor
DAVID JOHNSON REMEMBERED
Two services are planned to celebrate the life of Eugene native son, poet David Johnson (Aug. 12, 1945 — Feb. 21, 2006). The first will be held from noon to 4 pm Saturday, March 11 at St. John's Community Center at 8427 N. Central Street, in northeast Portland. The second will be held at noon Saturday, March 25 at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 85789 Mcbeth Road, off Lorane Highway, Eugene. Bring poems, stories to share.
COPS BASH CRITICAL MASS During the monthly Critical Mass bike ride, local cyclists clump together and cruise around town, sometimes choking busy roads like West 11th Avenue and Willamette Street with an impenetrable throng of bikes. The last Friday of the month event — which originated in San Francisco and spread to cities worldwide — is intentionally disorganized and celebratory, but it also sends political messages about fossil fuel dependency and the lack of bicycle-friendly streets. In the local version, cops play a starring role. They generally show up about a half-hour into the ride, blockade the cyclists and issue a few citations, charging bikers with failure to obey traffic signals or blocking traffic. Participants often pool their money to pay off the fines. According to several witnesses, Eugene police were especially rough with Critical Mass participants at the Feb. 24 ride. As the bikers rode down East 13th Avenue toward Oak Street, they said, about eight police cars approached from different directions and boxed them in. "A cop jumped out of his car and tackled me off my bike," Josh Schlossberg said. "I fell down real hard — luckily I was wearing a helmet — and two cops wrestled me and pinned my arms and cuffed me." Schlossberg and five others were charged with disorderly conduct, but none were taken into custody. Richey Thomason, who was also arrested at the ride, feels that the cops should have better things to do. "I work in the Blair neighborhood as an auto mechanic and all day I see crackheads dealing methamphetamines to each other," he said. "They are living horrible lives of addiction and the police are the only way to set a lot of them straight, but the cops pretend they don't exist. The priorities of the police disgust me." EPD spokeswoman Pam Olshanski said that the police only responded after receiving calls from motorists about bike riders blocking traffic. "When officers tried to get the bicyclists to stop, some of them were charged with disorderly conduct," she said. — Kera Abraham
FED FUNDS FOR FORESTS Thanks to nudging from Mayor Kitty Piercy, Rep. Paul Holvey and Eugene park planners, President Bush has included $460,000 in the federal 2007 budget proposal for the city's planned purchase of forested wildlife habitat in the southwest Eugene hills. The money is part of the federal Forest Legacy Program, a partnership between the U.S. Forest Service, state and local governments and private landowners. The program identifies and protects ecologically important forest habitats threatened by development. Parks planner Philip Richardson said that the city will match the federal grant to buy a 24-acre parcel from developer James Evans for about $900,000. The plot of pine-oak savanna would connect the Ridgeline Trail with the West Eugene Wetlands near Bertelson Road. The grant's inclusion in the proposed federal budget is a victory for city parks planners after years of frustrating close calls. In 2002, the feds awarded Eugene more than $1 million in Forest Legacy funds, but the state Legislature forfeited the money by refusing to participate in the federal program. The effort to stymie the grant was led by Rep. Susan Morgan, a Myrtle Creek Republican and former timber lobbyist who opposes making forest land public. Oregon's grant money was re-routed to New Mexico. Last year, Holvey and Sen. Frank Shields convinced the Legislature to finally approve Oregon's participation in the program. But House Republicans, led by Morgan, pushed through a restriction that made land outside of the urban growth boundary (UGB) ineligible for the Forest Legacy grants. "I spoke on the floor and told them that it was not very wise to put this restriction on and that I would work to remove it next session," Holvey said. "It's important to protect the state's forest lands, whether for conservation or economic purposes." Despite the restrictions, Eugene's 24-acre parcel fits all the criteria for the grant. "It's not guaranteed that we'll get the money, but the president recommended it," Richardson said. "We'll do everything we can to buy this parcel, even if we don't get the federal funding." Congress will vote on the proposed budget in fall 2006. Meanwhile, local land use activists continue to oppose several planned developments in the south hills — particularly three ecologically valuable parcels owned by developers Joe Green, Norman McDougal and Martin and Leslie Beverly. But a deal can't happen unless the developers agree to sell for the land's appraised value or less. "We're still very interested in working out agreements on all of those properties," Richardson said. — Kera Abraham
BIKE BIZ GETS VOICE What does it take to give our local bicycle industry a boost at a time when the lion's share of city and state tax subsidies are earmarked for polluting industries such as Hynix and national retail corporations and developers such as Whole Foods and Opus? Owners and managers of Eugene-area bicycle manufacturers, dealers, repair shops and bike-related enterprises attended a roundtable discussion Feb. 23 on "Growing the Local Bicycle Industry." The forum was part of the Mayor's Sustainable Business Initiative Task Force outreach, and included representatives from city, state and local economic agencies. The forum was chaired by Bob Doppelt and David Funk. Bike advocates noted the "deterioration" of the area's bike paths and bike infrastructure over the past decade, the decrease in bike commuting, and the small amount of state and local transportation funding dedicated to non-auto transportation. "Eugene is a destination for people dedicated to bicycling," said Hanz Scholz of Bike Friday. "We should make bikes an integral part of the transportation system. Bikes are part of the solution. Let's stop subsidizing automobile use." City support for polluting enterprises and big business was also a sore point for several speakers. "Hynix got $85,000 [in tax breaks] for every new job created," said bike dealer Paul Nicholson. "I'd like to see Burley get the same thing. … If the city is going to help businesses, they should help the local businesses that have been here for many years." Some of the ideas tossed around at the roundtable were: • Forming a new coalition or association of bike-industry people to network, lobby for change, support job training, buy supplies in bulk, buy group health insurance, etc. • Working more closely with the city and county on economic issues and access to tax breaks, low-interest loans for new buildings, etc. • Putting bike shops on city bike maps. • Increasing capacity for bikes on LTD buses. • Making the bicycle industry even more sustainable through energy efficiency, better wages and benefits, etc. • Building a covered, elevated bike skyway through town "for less than the cost of a new parking garage." — TJT
TAKE BACK OUR AMERICA March 18 is the third anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq and so far U.S. deaths are tallied at 2,300, U.S. injuries surpass 16,650, and Iraqi civilian deaths number between 28,800 and 32,500. To observe the anniversary, a coalition of local progressive groups is mobilizing a rally, teach-in and gathering the day of the anniversary.
The anniversary coincides with the appearance in Eugene of liberal talk show icon Ed Shultz March 17. Shultz is expected to join in several local events in addition to hosting his nationwide show on KOPT, the local Air America affiliate. The theme of the March 18 event is "Take Back our America." People will gather at three locations at 10:30 am: Alton Baker Park near the Bike Bridge, Lane County Fairgrounds, and the EMU on the UO campus. Starting at 11 am, the three marches will converge on the Federal Building on 7th at noon for a rally. Starting at 2 pm will be a teach-in with workshops at St. Mary's Episcopal Church, 13th and Pearl. And from 6 to 8 pm will be a social gathering at Cozmic Pizza, 8th and Charnelton. Speakers during the day are expected to include Carmen Urbina, Mayor Kitty Piercy, Rep. Paul Holvey, Hope Marston, Jan Spencer, Dwight Sowers, Iana Mathews-Harris, Gretchen Miller and a "surprise national speaker." For more information, contact Michael Carrigan, Community Alliance of Lane County, 485-1755 or calcdev@efn.org Following the Saturday events, a smaller group is planning to conduct civil disobedience actions at three locations on Monday, March 20. They will be "demanding an end to funding for the war while openly and nonviolently breaking the law," says Peter Chaberek. The group plans to hang several very large anti-war banners from prominent downtown buildings early that morning. A civil disobedience training is planned for the day before, March 19. For information, contact Chabarek at frodo55@epud.net
GLENWOOD BIKE PATH Bike activists continue to push the city of Springfield to approve a deal that would open 14th Avenue in Glenwood, currently owned by Lane Transit District and closed to the public, as a bike path. The 250-foot property would connect Glenwood Boulevard with Henderson Avenue, allowing bikers to travel between Springfield and Eugene without traversing a dangerous section of Franklin Boulevard that has no sidewalks or bike lanes. The city of Springfield will not close the deal before resolving a conflict between the Glenwood Water District and the Springfield Fire Department. A small group of local bike activists held a demonstration outside of the LTD offices in Glenwood on March 3, holding signs in support of the proposed bike path. Some demonstrators blamed the district for the stalled deal, but LTD spokesman Andy Vobora said that LTD has already agreed to provide an easement for the bike path. "The development is a City of Springfield decision," he said. Regardless, some bicyclists are losing patience. "I've ridden Franklin Boulevard 1,000 times in the last 12 years, and it's becoming more and more dangerous for us and for motorists who have to deal with bicyclists on that street," said bicyclist Shannon Wilson. "It seems like a simple remedy would be to put in 250 feet of bike path on 14th. But instead, they're playing politics with our lives. This bike path could've been opened last week." — Kera Abraham
RICHARD LONG
Following graduation from Sheldon High School in 1969, Richard Long left Eugene to study music at the Oberlin Conservatory in Ohio. He returned for degrees in music education at the UO, then was hired right out of college to a teaching job at Cal Young Middle School. "I got transferred to South Eugene," he notes. "I've been there 30 years this fall." Long currently teaches orchestral music half-time at South Eugene and Churchill High Schools, plays bassoon in the Eugene Symphony, and works another half-time as program director for Arts Umbrella, an outgrowth of the Eugene Junior Symphony that he played in as a youth. Arts Umbrella collaborates with area schools to offer instruction and performance opportunities in orchestral music and other performing arts for students from fifth grade through age 21. "Kids bond with their schools through music and arts classes," Long says. "Sadly, funding for the arts has been cut. We're trying to make up the difference." Learn about Arts Umbrella programs and events online at www.artsumbrellausa.org -BY PAUL NEEVEL
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