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It is critical whatever happens on november third we organize to bring about some more genuine change to the USA. its rather apparent whoever wins the election, the majority of issues this community cares about will continue to be ignored in favor of business as usual. none of it changes until people start to live differently. environmental catastrophe, economic terrorism, political alienation, these are all consequences of one root cause: almost everyone on earth needs to perpetuate these things to stay fed and sheltered. until the simple fact that most of us are beholden to corporations for our existence is dealt with, there will be no changes except by those people privileged enough to buy nicer lifestyles with said priviledge.
The occupation of the Blue River Face Timber Sale in the Willamette National Forest has been ongoing for the last two months, defending ancient forest in the Blue River area of the Mckenzie Watershed. Activists are living high in a Douglas Fir tree in unit 5d of the sale, a spectacular setting in an area known to contain the highest amount of biomass on earth, even greater than the tropical rainforests of South America. Since the Mckenzie Ranger District has felt it neccessary to proceed with this illegal timber sale they have now got a tree-sit on their hands. The tree-sit is a short distance uphill from the Blue River, a body of water that is fast flowing, clean and clear and should be protected at any cost. The US Forest Service has no business planning a timber sale with tributary streams running through it and down to the Blue River. previous stories: [ Active Logging at Blue River Face (Apr. 18, 2004) | Rosboro Lumber steals trees, logs some of last Willamette Old Growth in Blue River Face (Apr. 30, 2004) | Cascadians occupy Unit 5d of Blue River Face timber sale (Aug. 31, 2004) ]
The Republican Party got a great deal this week at the expense of Oregon taxpayers. This had to cost the taxpayers at least $10,000. Their bill was only $1080.
-When Mae Williams' son Lavel Lindsey was murdered by Jason Ferguson in a night club stabbing Vancouver's "Columbian" newspaper interviewed her. Mae whose family has faced numerous accounts of police harassment, soon found to her dismay, that her home address had been printed on the front page of their paper. When questioned by a citizen regarding the murder, the killer Jason Ferguson stated clearly "Yeah, I killed that nigger!"
Clark county Sheriff Sgt. Dave Trimble denies that the murder had any racially or gang related motive. He claims that the murder revolved around a disagreement between them and some friends that dated back to their middle school years. Yet Sgt. Trimble doesn't doesn't know what schools the men attended or what the disagreement was about. Ferguson's bail was initially set at $150,000. However due to public outcry and a protests from both inside and outside the bail hearing, his bail was raised to $300,000. Even this number pales in comparison to the bail recently set for Joseph Vallejo for the charge of robbing two white drug dealers. His bail was set at $1,000,000. This discrepancy clearly demonstrates a racial bias against people of color in the Vancouver court system. LOCATION FOR RALLY: Public Service Center 1300 Franklin Street DATE: September 25th, 2004 DAY & TIME: Saturday, 2:00 p.m. thru 5:00 p.m.
Two days ago another farm was found with horses up to their knees in their own waste, trapped in stalls. The 80 year old woman who owned the farm was could no longer care for them. She claimed she thought she would be jailed if founbd out. So her choice, I guess, was to hope they'd just slowly die there?
Once my rage at these people subsided a little I began to think that these people also need help and who knows how many more situations such as this exist in Oregon? Horses are expensive to keep and daily clean-out of stalls is required along with fresh water and feed. I think it is time to petition the state to form a group of volunteers to begin regular inspections of farms that house large animals. I don't think the animal control is staffed sufficiently.
A chilling aspect of the 6:00 news report on Cheney's Eugene bund rally yesterday was the completely tolerated violent group assault on a protester. A man in a white t-shirt with "Pro-Jesus, Bring the Troops Home" written on it began shouting during Cheney's speech. A 66 year old man, Art Briga of Springfield, in a red-orange jacket, lunged at the protester and put him in a wrestling headlock -- with a hand clamped over the protester's mouth. Another man shoved the protester backwards as others began pulling the protester from behind. The protester's female companion (similar t-shirt) seemed to be appealling to them to stop the assualt. The TV report then showed the man (Art Briga) who committed the initial assault outside after the rally, saying that protesters are "snakes in the grass" and need to be stamped down.
Vancouver citizens are outraged over racist hostilities, and the lack of accountablility in thier local governemt. Now is the time for fundamental, change. Join us in solidarity, and protest.
Eugene--The calm late Summer night brought out perhaps 200 people to stand in silent solidarity to mourn the senseless deaths of U.S. soldiers in Iraq, a vigil to mark that the death toll has reached 1000 this week. Let us not forget the tragic murder of nearly 13,000 innocent Iraqis, who are caught in a, as a few signs read, *quagmire*. Many observed strict silence while pockets of others chatted about things totally unrelated to what brought us together. It made me wonder if they really understood the seriousness of the state of affairs. Many passerbys honked in approval; only one SUV load of people yelled out: "Go Bush". Surprisingly there was not more of that given an article in this weeks Eugene Weekly that says that local Eugenians have donated twice as much to the Bush campaign as Kerrys. And we thought we were so liberal here in Eugene... Portland--Several hundred people appeared at 8pm at Pioneer Courthouse Square to share a somber hour of subdued intermittent conversation and to share in a community of concern for the thousands of deaths in Iraq. Bush lied and thousands died. A year and a half from now, will we again gather to observe the 2000th American death? There were also about 90-100 people gathered at 33rd & SE Belmont... We occupied all 4 corners of the intersection. After 30 minutes or so, some of us began to sing, which brought some unity to the gathering. Then after about an hour, most of us walked up to the sunflower intersection (CIty Repair, thanks!) at 33rd and Yamhill and made a big circle in the intersection; many put their candles in the middle. It was very moving.
A new tree-sit is being occupied within unit 5d of the Blue River Face Timber Sale in the Mckenzie Ranger District of the Willamette National Forest. Continued implementation of old-growth timber sales by the McKenzie District has demonstrated the district is not interested in halting controversial sales involving the cutting of ancient trees. Why are Cascadians occupying trees within the Blue Rver Face Timber Sale? [ Here's why ]
No right to legal representation? No right to free association? No right to remain silent? You've been subpoenaed to a grand jury.
A new spate of federal grand juries have been called to investigate "radical" environmentalists throughout the Pacific Northwest. In Eugene, authorities are using the highly controversial Romania fire that burned 35 SUVs in 2001 as a catalyst for gathering general information about local dissidents. Grand juries are a coercive, archaic practice that target vulnerable people and should not be welcomed in our community. We encourage you to learn more about the current grand jury and the grand jury process by attending "Stop the Grand Jury" on August 18th and by contacting our organizational spokespeople. STOP THE GRAND JURY: A public event and benefit Wednesday, August 18th, 7pm at Sam Bond's Garage $5
J18 is coming up. Do you believe it has been five years? Our first big 'day of action against the global economy'! Well, Rob is still in prison. He has two years left too. On September 3rd 1999, anarchist Robert Thaxton was sentenced to a 7 year sentence on charges of assault and riot. This was for his part in the June 18th "International Day of Action Against the Global Economy" Reclaim the Streets action held in Eugene, Oregon. Attempting to make an example of Rob, Judge Bearden sentenced Rob to a mandatory minimum sentence of 5 years for the assault charge and stacked the 2 year riot charge on top making Rob's sentence to 7 years-all for throwing a rock at a cop in self-defense! Don't forget the Eugene riot and the person we lost that day. Robert Thaxton's address: #12112716, OSP, 2605 State Street, Salem, OR 97310.
The Event in Eugene held in solidarity with Jeff "Free" Luers was enjoyable and the speakers inspiring. Blackfire opened with a ancient healing hoop ceremony that had everone dazzled by the intricacy of the dance. Jeff's father came and said how proud he was of his son, making some of us wonder about where some of our blood relatives are at in their support of our beliefs...
An edited version of the film "Green With A Vengence" refreshed everone's memory about the spin that law enforcment and media put on Jeff's case, and fleshed out the ensuing copycat fire at the Romania car dealership, resulting in the burning of over 30 SUV's the week before Jeff's trial... supposedly done "in his name". I believe this is the fire that people are currently being subpoena'd to Grand Jury about in Eugene. Kevin Price spoke with authority about the lies surrounding Mumia Abu Jamal's case, the fact that Mumia is not off death row at all, as the government has led the public to believe.
OSU is moving to stop grads from communicating and organizing around their pay and working conditions as well as threatening to fire grads who, when excercising free speech, they deem to be "interfering with university operations". OSU grads need your help to fight back.
Mother's Day greetings were delivered early this year to three local moms... with love from the federal government. In lieu of cards, FBI agents hand-delivered subpoenas—demanding that the women comply with the most coercive of judicial investigations: the grand jury. Jennifer Woodruff, Heather Whitney and Twiga May-Whittier define themselves as hard-working, single moms who have planted their roots and raise their children in the Whiteaker neighborhood. Amid all the daily trials of being moms, they've also found ways to be active in their community — supporting coop housing, gardening projects and cooperative childcare.
"I feel like an iron fist is coming down on me," says Jennifer, who works at a local bakery and cares for her 9-year old son. "There is only fear, depression, anxiety and righteous anger to interfere with already taxing daily responsibilities." "It's really frightening because I don't feel like I have any control over my own destiny, it feels like I'm being penalized for being a part of a progressive, radical community," Heather adds.
No fourth amendment for students: Instead of being treated like any other community group, it seems EPD's policy regarding students thus far has been "guilty until proven innocent," along with the infamous "sorry, the Fourth Amendment doesn't apply to you."
Consider: Roger Eugene Magana -- a former EPD officer who has been indicted on 51 charges ranging from rape to kidnapping to official misconduct in separate incidents -- joined officer Melvin Thompson to investigate a noise complaint at a students' residence. The two officers arrived at the apartment of Phillip Piper and Julie Dickenson on Nov. 6, 2002, knocked on the door and obscured the peephole when Piper came to answer it, according to an official complaint. When the officers finally identified themselves, Piper became suspicious of their actions and refused to open the door without a warrant or visual identification. The officers then contacted a maintenance person, and demanded a key to Piper and Dickenson's apartment. Back at the scene of the "crime," the officers entered the apartment, ordered the people inside to sit on the couch and ransacked the rooms for more than an hour. Fast forward to February, this time under Lehner's watch. Undercover EPD officers, disguised as party-goers, infiltrated a gathering in the West University neighborhood in hopes of witnessing the unlawful sale of alcohol. The basis of their suspicions? A keg, obtained legally, was registered to the address. Their reasoning? To prevent a riot. Comment:
Dennis Kucinich came to Eugene and spoke to an 800+ crowd. Even though the Democratic race is over and Kerry has it cinched, Dennis is the only other candidate who is still in the race. Why? Because, as he puts it, the race has ended but the fight for the Democratic Party continues on. Thus, he is pushing ahead and calling for votes in his favor so that the Democratic Party will address the issues he is addressing.
Dennis made it clear he had no illusions about the shortcomings of the Democratic Party. He spoke of the many Democratic elected officials that are actually 'Republicrats', or Republicans in sheep's clothing, and how they've taken over most of the Party. He spoke of the need for true Democrats to reclaim the Party and also of his dedication to remaining in the Party. At another appearance, I heard from his road manager. She said that right now Dennis has nothing to lose or to gain, and by Kerry already winning, he has the opportunity to really take off the gloves and speak the truth about a number of things. With the current stranglehold on mainstream media this is an opportunity for the truth to be told about a number of issues.
 Despite the rain and cold weather, a march for farmworkers' rights, held in Corvallis on Friday, March 26th, drew close to 700 participants. The march, organized jointly by PCUN, Oregon's farmworker union, and MEChA, the Mexican-American student organization, was held in conjunction with the MEChA National Conference, taking place at Oregon State University.
Magana Accuser Speaks, By Cathryn Stephens
Another perverted cop Eugene - March 17, 2004 The accusers of a former Eugene Police officer will have to wait a little longer for their day in court, but in the meantime, one of those women is speaking out publically about her experience. She first met officer Roger Magana when he stopped and searched her at the corner of 6th and Blair. Now, she's one of 14 women included in the criminal case against Magana and is suing the city of Eugene for more than $2 million. "Put one hand up my shirt to shake my bra out and felt the underwire underneath my shirt," said Miriam Olson says after that first stop, former Eugene Police officer Roger Magana stopped her and searched her numerous times in the west Eugene area. Olson says she was a heroin addict and paid for her habit by prostituting herself or stealing money from potential johns. She says Magana once had her sit in the front of his patrol car, drove a couple blocks, then told her she could avoid going to jail by performing a sex act. "He grabbed me by my head, got a big handful of hair and pulled my head into his lap with his pants unzipped," said Olson. Olson says she's now getting help for her addiction and no longer works the street. "I think a lot of good will come out of it. I think it will open a lot of people's eyes and maybe make a lot of victims lives a lot easier," said Olson. Magana's trial is now set for June 2nd. A judge will hear motions in the case this Friday.
On Tuesday, March 16th, in a 2-1 vote, Benton County (Corvallis area) commissioners agreed to start issuing same-sex marriage licenses. The commissioners made the decision after the three-member board heard two and a half hours of emotional testimony.
Most of those who spoke were for the issuance of the marriage certificates. Benton County commissions heard from a slew of religious leaders, several of whom advocated gay marriage. But others such as Steve Lee of the Suburban Christian Church said marriage between a man and a woman is rooted in the Bible.
 Over 400 people took to the streets for Jobs with Justice's Health Care Action Day. We had workers come in on a fire truck as part of our declaration of a Health Care Emergency, some great theater, and a march in the streets to two buildings that should be using union janitors and providing health care for workers' children. More background is available at the JwJ website. A commenter reports: We had about 30 people at the rally and march in Eugene. We gathered at South Eugene high School for speeches, then marched to the nearby Safeway where we were immediately met by security people who asked us to leave their parking lot and get on the sidewalk, which we did. We marched back and forth on the sidewalk for a while, handing out leaflets, then back to the school. People in cars honked agreement at us and I guess we got some TV coverage.
Workers at Mother Kali's Books in Eugene, Oregon (one of the oldest longstanding feminist bookstores in the United States) were locked out of the shop on January 29th, following an unfair labor practices filing with the National Labor Relations Board. Mother Kali's workers are members of IWW Industrial Union 660, and have been pursuing contract negotioation with the Mother Kali's Board of Directors for several months with no response. [ Read more... ]
previous stories: [ Wobblies stick up for workers rights in Eugene (Feb. 10) | Eugene IWW job action continues (Feb. 11) ]
Members of IWW Industrial Union 660 continued their job action today in front of Mother Kali's Books on 13th avenue in Eugene. The crowd today was smaller than at Monday's rally when 30 supporters marched and picketed the former worker's cooperative. Organizers seemed equally pleased with the coninuing effort and with the sunny weather.
The four workers who were terminated without notice and had their medical benefits illegally discontinued were present and spoke with several customers coming out of the store. One customer said that the store's sole visible employee had told him that the picketers out front were not really part of a labor union. This prompted several of the fired workers to go and hold their IWW red cards up against the glass of the front window. The UPS deliveryman was obviously of a different mind than the clerk concerning the nature of the job action. After a call to his union steward he told the picket line that he would not cross the line if they didn't want him to, and did not take his packages into the store. previous stories: [ Wobblies stick up for workers rights in Eugene | Mother Kali's Locks Out Wobblies ]
A group of thirty members and supporters of the Industrial Workers of the World marched up 13th avenue in Eugene chanting "Union bust, lose our truxst!" and kept themselves warm by vigorous sign waving and singing on a gray and cold Monday, February 9. Mother Kali's bookstore has illegally locked out the four employees, all members of IWW Industrial Union 660 in a blatant attempt to bust the union.
PCUN, la union de campesinos de Oregon, tendra una celebracion el 15 de febrero para reconocer la entrada en vigor de esta nueva regla administrativa, y para reconocer a los que ayudaron a lograr esta victoria. La regla administrativa que emitio el comisionado de labor Dan Gardner, entro en vigor el 15 de febrero y les da a los campesinos el derecho legal a los descansos pagados y una media hora de tiempo para almorzar. Oregon es el quinto estado de los cincuenta que garantiza los descansos pagados para los campesinos, y es uno de dieciseis estados que garantiza los tiempos de almuerzo. Para los trabajadores que tienen una rutina de trabajar muchas horas y realizar labores dificiles y extenuantes, la garantia de descansos pagados y tiempos de almuerzo es una victoria importante. Quien: El comisionado del trabajo Dan Gardner, legisladores de Oregon, lideres sindicales, y lideres campesinos Que: Una celebracion para reconocer el logro de la nueva regla que garantiza los descansos pagados y tiempos de almuerzo a los campesinos. Donde: Centro Educativo Cipriano Ferrel 1274 Fifth Street, Woodburn Cuando: domingo, 15 de febrero. 4:00- 6:00 PM PCUN, BOLI Celebrate ruling on paid breaks and lunch periods for farmworkers PCUN, Oregon's farmworker union, will host the Feb. 15th celebration to recognize the issuance of this administrative rule and to honor those who made this achievement possible. The administrative rule, issued by Commissioner of Labor Dan Gardner, went into effect on February 1st and gives farmworkers the legal right to paid breaks and unpaid lunch periods. Oregon is the fifth state to guarantee paid breaks to farmworkers and the sixteenth to guarantee lunch periods. For workers who routinely log long hours doing hard, physical labor, the guarantee of paid breaks and lunch periods is an important victory. Who: Labor Commissioner Dan Gardner, Oregon legislators, labor leaders, and farmworker leaders. Invited guests include Senate President Peter Courtney, Senator Avel Gordly, and Oregon AFL-CIO President Tim Nesbitt.
Well it will be official by Tuesday folks... I am running for Mayor of Eugene under the name Eric G. Sephiroth, and this will be an awesome race! Right now it looks like Kitty Pierce (sp?) is going to be a progressive candidate as well, running against Nancy Nathanson who is a right wing nutcase like the current mayor Jim Torrey. But this year Torrey is resigning so I decided, why not? That's what you get for listening to too much Jello Biafra.
I decided to also include some of the ideas from the 1934 Upton Sinclair, and 2003 Linda Averill campaigns for CA Governor and Seattle City council, respectively. The platform is still sketchy but here are some positions: Bike paths on both sides of every single Eugene street. A 50-cent gas tax. Bus services available 24-7. No "research lab" along the Willamette. No gentrification of low income housing.
As another calendar year draws near its end and I am a year older, I find myself reflecting on this year of my life. I've had to face some tough challenges and learn to accept things about my life that I just don't want to. Often, I've written and said that I have come to terms with being here for the next 2 decades but I haven't. Each day gets harder, not easier. I find myself questioning decisions I've made. I'm looking back on 25 years of life and asking myself, what have I accomplished? I have some good memories, made some amazing friends (some of the finest people in the world you all are too). I helped save a forest and I gave all I could to a movement I believed in. Believed is the key word because I'm losing faith. In the face of all the horror stories I read and hear about everyday, I'm running out of words of inspiration. I live with some of the most fucked up people in this state, and product of their environment or not, how do you or I inspire them to change? How do we stop domestic violence? How do we convince the average person to stop participating in a capitalist lie? We need viable solutions and real alternatives and we have to do more than come up with them, we have to provide them. That has to become a priority. That alone is not enough though and even though we are unprepared for the fall of empire, we have to fight for it. Never, ever, ever again should the police, or anyone, be allowed to rape or beat someone to death. There must be consequences. There is a small group of wealthy elite running our world into the ground. They have barricaded themselves behind the most extraordinary security the world has ever seen because they live in fear that one day the rest of the world will be against them. That day is fast approaching. They know it, they are preparing and they are ready. Are you? I'm dedicating this next year of my life to finding real solutions. I want to be inspired by accomplishment. I want to believe again.
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