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Slant: Short opinion pieces and rumor-chasing notes. Happening Person:
HEMPFEST IN TURMOIL AS WEEKEND NEARS The fate of this coming weekend's second annual Emerald Empire Hempfest is in limbo at this writing as letters go back and forth between lawyers for the county and for the event. At issue is whether the event organizers need to pay the county a $2,800 "special use permit" fee for the gathering since an earlier event was held at the rural private campground near Blue River the weekend of July 11. According to county rules, only one such event can be held every 90 days. "We are concerned that all of the turmoil over the site acquisition has limited our main source of income, vendor fees," says organizer Dan Koozer. "We've had one pre-paid vendor cancel so far. It really hurts to have to give money back. To incur an added expense like this hurts us very badly." "It seems like we have a tiger by the tail here," Koozer says. "We don't want to let go, but if we do(n't) we're looking at possible peril. The county is threatening not only a $10,000 fine but limiting the use of her (the owner's) property if she goes through with the Hempfest." Attorneys for the Hempfest, David Moule and Brian Michaels, sent a letter to the county lawyers taking issue with the requirement for a Hempfest permit "in order to exercise its constitutional right to assemble and freely speak." Moule and Michaels say the earlier gathering was not a commercial event, but just a gathering of "40 or so motorcyclist friends and family." The Hempfest is seeking community financial support to pay for the permit, but Koozer says only a loan offer and a $5 gift have come in so far. Adding to the chaos, the Hempfest website at www.emeraldempirehempfest.com is out of order, but may be up and running by the weekend. E-mail is working at emeraldempirehempfest@hotmail.com and the office phone is 434-2377. — TJT
LOCAL PUNDIT CRITICAL OF FAHRENHEIT 9/11 Conservatives across the land are calling on theaters to not show Michael Moore's documentary Fahrenheit 9/11, and are labeling Moore as a "liar" and a "traitor" who should be prosecuted. But one outspoken Eugene political observer and website author says Moore's film is "deeply flawed" because it doesn't go far enough to expose President Bush's criminal behavior in office. Mark Robinowitz, in his detailed analysis of the film on his website (www.oilempire.us/michaelmoore.html#bittersweet),says the film was in part "brilliant," but Moore avoided talking about one of the key issues of the terrorist attacks, the wealth of evidence of government complicity. "The most basic dichotomy for understanding 9/11 is whether it was a surprise attack or allowed to happen," he writes. "Fahrenheit 9/11 carefully steers clear of documenting the overwhelming evidence that at the very least, 9/11 was deliberately allowed to happen to enable long-planned efforts to seize the Middle East oil fields and impose the Homeland Security police state." The site also has links to like-minded articles and sources, and touts the work of noted theologian David Ray Griffin, author of The New Pearl Harbor: Disturbing Questions About the Bush Administration and 9/11, who will be speaking at 7 pm Wednesday, July 28 at the McDonald Theatre downtown. Tickets are $5 and are available at TicketsWest and at the door, if not sold out.
ORGANIZERS HOPE FOR FIRST NIGHT REVIVAL Last year, Eugene's First Night celebration on New Year's Eve was canceled due to lack of financial support. The alcohol-free family event has drawn large crowds downtown in previous years. There is talk this year of reviving the event. A five-member planning committee is recruiting members, ideas and inspiration and is planning an organizational meeting at 7 pm Monday, July 19 at Cozmic Pizza downtown. "We are hoping to fund-raise $20,000 and are looking for sponsors, co-sponsors and individual donations," says Christine L. Hutchinson of the committee in an e-mail to possible supporters. "We will have a much more scaled down version of First Night, but I guarantee it will (still) be a fun and safe event for children of all ages to attend to help bring in the New Year." Hutchinson can be contacted at hutchhaven@aol.com
OREGON WILD LANDS GET SOME ATTENTION Throughout the week of July 17-25 the Oregon Wild Forest Coalition is sponsoring the fourth Annual Wilderness Week to celebrate Oregon's spectacular, unprotected forest wilderness. Included in the celebration will be free guided hikes to endangered Eugene area wild areas. Two local six-mile hikes are among the many wilderness adventures being offered. A Brice Creek hike is planned for Saturday, July 24, carpooling at 9 am from LCC Lot N; a South Pyramid hike leaves at 10 am Sunday, July 25, from Growers Market. Both are led by local members of the Oregon Natural Resources Council. For more information visit www.oregonwild.org/wweek2004.html
NEIGHBORHOOD GROUPS PLAN SUMMER PICNICS Over the next 10 years neighborhood associations "will be on the front line in determining whether Eugene will retain its unique character and quality of life or become simply another bland urban center," says James Cunningham, former co-chair of the Friendly Area Neighbors association. And to assist in that vision, Cunningham is helping coordinate a series of picnics around Eugene the week of July 18-25. At least four out of Eugene's 21 recognized neighborhood associations are planning community picnics, says Cunningham, beginning with the Friendly Area gathering from 1 to 5 pm Sunday, July 18 at Adams Elementary School on West 22nd Avenue. Churchill Area Neighbors will follow with a picnic Tuesday, July 20. Trainsong Neighbors will meet Wednesday, July 21 and South University Neighborhood Association will have its picnic Sunday, July 25. To contact neighborhood leaders for more times, locations and other information, visit www.ci.eugene.or.usand click on the "Neighborhoods" link.
JOB GROWTH IMPROVES, BUT STILL 'NOT ENOUGH' Analysis of the monthly employment figures for Oregon released July 8 confirms that jobs are finally returning to Oregon's economy, but the number of jobs created lags far behind the growth in Oregon's expanding working age population since the economic downturn began, and falls short of the growth predicted by the Bush administration when it pushed tax cuts, according to the Oregon Center for Public Policy (OCPP). The latest Oregon Employment Department new jobs figure
noted that Oregon added 6,100 jobs beyond seasonal The non-profit OCPP reviewed the new jobs numbers and noted that not only are the jobs falling short of the pre-recession peak, but Oregon's working-age population has continued to expand, making the "job gap" even greater. "There are substantially more Oregonians of working age today than before the downturn began," says Michael Leachman, policy analyst at OCPP. "Today's jobs numbers make clear that there are not enough jobs being created to meet the increased demand." Leachman says it has now been 43 months since the economic downturn began, "and still jobs have not recovered to their pre-recession levels. That makes the recent jobs downturn more than twice as long as the early 1990s downturn."
CORRECTIONS/CLARIFICATIONS In last week's Calendar listings, the name of the SZWELK Dance Cartel was misspelled, and one member of the group was omitted. Leala Sears performs with SZWELK in The Ladder & La Lune July 15-17 at the Lord Leebrick Theatre.
WILLIAM 'CEDAR' CAREDIO
Teacher and artist William "Cedar" Caredio grew up in Morgan Hill, Calif., where his father taught school for 33 years. After schooling at Chico State, Caredio has himself taught for 30 years, 26 of them at Pleasant Hill Elementary. "I'm teaching and taking classes all the time, especially art classes," he says. "I try to break down barriers that kids have with art. We incorporate art into projects." In the mid-1980s, Caredio apprenticed with noted woodcarver Dudley Carter, then 99 years old, in Redmond, Wash. "I stayed with my brother and biked to his studio," he recounts. "I worked there, learned techniques, and took pictures." Back in Eugene, Caredio began his first piece of public art, the "Salmon Wall." Over years, he has carved a school of migrating salmon into a long wooden retaining wall in front of his Laurel Hill neighborhood home. "It catches people's attention," he says. "I believe in public art — available to everyone." Working with native woods and hand tools, he also crafts more portable pieces, such as the antlered mask pictured here. Several totemic carvings appeared in the garden art area at the recent Art and the Vineyard festival. — Paul Neevel
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