• Vaxxed: From Cover Up To Catastrophe will be playing at the David Minor Theater starting June 10. According to the movie’s description, “Vaxxed is an investigation into how the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), the government agency charged with protecting the health of American citizens, concealed and destroyed data in their 2004 study that showed a link between the MMR vaccine and autism. This alarming deception has contributed to the skyrocketing increase of autism, potentially the most catastrophic epidemic of our lifetime.” Michael O’Sullivan of The Washington Post writes of the movie: “Vaxxed never mentions that the movie’s director and main on-camera ‘expert,’ Andrew Wakefield, is a former gastroenterologist and researcher whose license to practice medicine in Britain was taken away in 2010. Neither does it say that the original 1998 study (of a mere 12 patients) suggesting a link between the combined measles, mumps and rubella vaccine and autism was later retracted by the journal that published it, which went on to accuse Wakefield of scientific fraud. Or that all of the study’s authors, save Wakefield, have subsequently disavowed its findings.” Go to davidminortheater.com for prices and showtimes.
• Don’t freak out! It’s a drill! You might see people in uniforms running around June 7-10. “Emergency Operations and Coordination Centers at all levels of government and the private sector in Washington, Oregon and Idaho will activate as part of ‘Cascadia Rising,’ a national level exercise that will simulate a 9.0 Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake and tsunami along the Washington and Oregon coast. Thousands of people, including military personnel, will participate to test a joint response to one of the most complex disaster scenarios facing the Pacific Northwest.”
• The downtown Eugene Public Library is looking for teenage volunteers to work on its Teen Team on Tuesdays, June 28 through Aug. 16. Participants will “help staff prepare items for check out, set up crafts projects for younger kids, create displays, clean and organize books and more.” For more information, call 541-682-8316.
• There will be a 350 Eugene Summer Meet-up from 7 to 9 pm on Wednesday, June 15, at the First United Methodist Church, 1376 Olive Street. It will include a recap of the Break Free Anacortes civil disobedience action against fossil fuels, oil refineries and transportation by rail and ship and planning for a July 6 event to educate the public about the dangers of oil trains now rolling through Eugene, 350 member Betzi Hitz tells EW.
• Young activists can get their start at the Next Generation Climate Justice Action Camp, a week-long overnight summer camp for up-and-coming community organizers interested in environmental and social justice issues. The camp is July 12-19, and youth ages 14 through 18 are invited to attend. The camp will be at Camp Apserkaha, a Jackson County campground about 25 miles east of Ashland. Youth registration for the camp is open and can be found on the Civil Liberties Defense Center website. The cost of camp is $150 for the entire week, including meals. Full and partial scholarships available, and free vanpool transportation from Portland, Eugene, Jackson County and Humboldt County. Interested teens and parents are encouraged can email camp@cldc.org or call 541-687-9180.