Restore Trust with the Eugene Police
I am a concerned citizen of Eugene. The purpose of this email is to draw attention to the current state of abuse the community experiences at the hands of the Eugene Police Department. We do not feel that our police represent us. They do not look out for what is best for the community. Instead, we feel threatened by those who have taken an oath to protect and serve us, the community. Collectively, we demand that Chief Chris Skinner be fired. We also demand that our tax money is redirected from EPD and used on services that actually serve our community. And finally, we demand that EPD ends all collaborative efforts with ICE. This is our city and we have an opportunity to improve it to reflect our values, the values of community and compassion.
Amber Hoar
Eugene
The Joy of Prison for the Embezzler?
The glee with which EW has been reporting on Elisha Young’s prosecution and sentencing to three years in prison has been discouraging. Young’s theft from EW was inexcusable. But the manner in which EW has celebrated her punishment reeks of revenge-seeking and suggests that EW has a shallow understanding of the criminal justice system.
The United States currently has almost 2 million people in jails and prisons. One in seven human beings in state prisons are locked away for property crimes. We lock up more people than China, which has four times the population. The human and economic costs of this are enormous. We spend over $80 billion each year on prison, parole and probation operations. But it is big business for prison construction and management, including private, for-profit prisons and supports bloated police budgets. The last thing Eugene needs from a liberal, alternative weekly is more advocacy for the carceral state.
EW naively reports that it is seeking restitution from Young for its losses. Courts routinely impose restitution, and offenders are routinely unable to pay it. How much money does EW think Young will be able to pay back while she is locked up? How employable does EW think Young will be when she is eventually released? If EW realistically wanted Young to pay back what she stole, it would support ways for offenders like her to rebuild their lives and find employment, instead of cheering the ruination of their already miserable lives.
Do better.
Mark Weintraub
Eugene
Editor’s Note: Eugene Weekly has sought to report with transparency, not glee. As we said in our victim impact statement in court: You can take the path followed by your victims: Eugene Weekly, its employers and the entire community, who chose to emerge from the wreckage you created and go forward toward renewal.
I can only hope that you use the time to turn yourself around, recover from your addiction, pay your debt to this community and its newspaper, and make amends to those you hurt.
KLCC Kills Dead Air
After 35 years on KLCC, Deb Trist’s iconic Dead Air program has been cancelled. Citing the “obligation to provide breaking news,” KLCC has moved further toward syndicated NPR shows instead of locally produced music. The show will continue on 4J’s KRVM. While I love and support both stations, the move down the dial is much more consequential than a twist of the wrist. KLCC broadcasts on 10 separate transmitters, reaching most all of SW Oregon from Newport to Roseburg to Bend. KRVM’s audience is limited to Eugene-Springfield, Florence, Reedsport and Oakridge.
The loss of KLCC’s regional network is a blow to rural fans, but more to some than others. Many listen online, but who can’t? Those who don’t have unlimited data plans or live without internet service, for instance. No more live Dead at the campsite!
As for “breaking news,” the only example I can recall lately might be the night of one of the more recent failed attempts on our dear leader’s life at the White House Correspondents Dinner. Dead Air was interrupted for the breathless commentary, until finally Trist was allowed to continue. The truly inspired choice of “Estimated Prophet” to resume the music may have ruffled a feather somewhere (“My time’s coming, any day”). But really, are we seeing that kind of reaction here in Eugene? I hope not.
I look forward to supporting Trist at her new home, KRVM, and my old Motorola won’t be spinning back upstream anytime soon.
We will get by.
AJ Smith
Creswell
Eugene’s Federal Zoo!
The federal tax paying citizens in Lane County should be “mad as hell” for our hard-earned money that went to pay for the fence around the Federal Building at the tune of $269,225. The labor was awarded with a noncompetitive bidding to Premier Global Production Company Inc. from Tennessee. The reason why it was awarded without local bidding was because of the “urgency” of installing the fence.
I have protested against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Gestapo tactics at the Federal Building many times. I can see why the Department of Homeland Security and ICE are so afraid, it’s because the average protester is in their 70s and 80s! I can see DHS and ICE agents trembling in their brown boots as I watched an 80-year-old woman slowly walk up to the fence with her walker. The agents are armed with a Block 19, AR-15, shotgun, tear gas, pepper spray, a helmet, bulletproof chest protector and last but not least a mask to cover their faces.
Maybe the next thing is to install “razor wire” to keep the violent senior citizens with deadly walkers from climbing over the fence? If that doesn’t work, electrify the fence.
Finally, the masked DHS or ICE agent that was trying to punch in his code to drive into the Federal Building, who proudly gave two legal observers and myself the “middle finger,” I’ll bet you that you work with agents that have distant relatives that hung your distant relatives who were enslaved. When I’m protesting now and I see DHS and ICE inside of the fence, I feel like I’m at the zoo looking at wild animals — that are capable of killing.
Frank Harper
Springfield
ONLINE EXTRA LETTERS
Climate Change Affects All Life
We continue reading about the effects of human-caused climate change, yet our actions to address it are falling short, and some of us continue ignoring climate scientists.
As we humans dominated nature for centuries, we destroyed the basis for life for countless other species — plant and animal. We have gone so far in our effort to treat Earth as nothing but a resource that we threaten our own existence. I
In 1624, John Donne wrote, “No man is an island, entire of itself: every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main…” What Donne may not have known is that “the main” includes all life, not just humans. We do not exist apart from nature. We could not have risen to our current level of consciousness without all the other life we grew up with and depended upon. We must respect the needs of our fellow species, plant and animal or our own species will not survive what we have done and are doing to Mother Nature.
John Hamilton
South Bend, Indiana
South Eugene High School Civic Action Project: Theft
I am a student at South Eugene High School, and I am working with several of my peers on a Civic Action Project to attempt to address an issue we feel is impactful to the community. The issue we have chosen to address is theft, which we feel quite passionately about. We have all read the headlines of the recent burglar ring targeting Asian American households, and surely all know someone who has had their bike stolen in recent years.
We have thoroughly examined policies pertaining to theft, and feel that not nearly enough is being done to prevent it and ensure justice is adequately administered when it unfortunately does occur. While there are certainly some solid bases for legislation in place, such as furthering theft-resistant infrastructure and improving neighborhood watch procedures, we believe that a more direct approach is needed. We have come to the conclusion that the best policy to move forward on is one that focuses on one key objective: identifying the most problematic among prosecuted individuals. A system that achieves this will not only identify likely repeat offenders but streamline the local legal process and bring about a more efficient local legal system. The other benefits of this policy include more appropriate sentencing times for first-time offenders compared to repeat offenders, and creating a more positive community environment overall. Pressure to enforce this statute, OR 371.717, needs to be applied directly to City Council, as they have the most influence over Eugene Police Department policies.
Christopher Hente
Eugene
Ten reasons why King Donald is America’s First
Monarchy has always been symbolized by luxury in the national government administrative office. Donald has turned the White House into a palace.
Billionaires have become invested with public authority like hereditary peers.
Our new royalist works hard to establish the pseudo-scientific law of nature that the king can do no wrong.
Donald has announced America’s Golden Age of Monarchy, whereby the once upwardly mobile working class has become a subservient commoner class.
Absolutist Donald is naming historical and cultural markers after himself, and creating graven images on coins, as if, like God, he created all things.
Donald the Despot works to take the place of the Savior of mankind by portraying himself as one who is perfecting all things on earth.
The King eschews democratically-formed national alliances in favor of personal alliances with hegemonic autocrats the world over.
Our new Regent overturns Constitutional law with every new legislative decree he makes.
Our Lord and Master has replaced integrity in personal and public relationships with irresponsible and changing policies and behaviors.
Our Commander in Chief is committed to perpetual wars designed to keep himself on the throne.
Kimball Shinkoskey
Woods Cross, Utah
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