 |
  |
|
 |
||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
||||||||||
|
Slant: Short opinion pieces and rumor-chasing notes News: Happening Person: Greg Sale COP VIOLENCE DOCUMENTED Eugene police used force 194 times over the last two years, sending 23 officers to the hospital, according to the EPD's first ever report on use of force. Police broke three people's bones and shot one person dead in Creswell during 2003 and 2004. Eight percent of force victims complained, but police dismissed all but one complaint against themselves. Police punched or slapped 42 people and elbowed, kneed or kicked 35 people. Police clubbed 43 people and shot 12 people with rubber bullets or bean bag rounds. Officers pepper-sprayed 96 people, threw 106 to the ground, and inflicted pain on 79 people through pressure points or joint twisting. One officer choked a person's neck arteries. In most force incidents, police used more than one type of force. Officers significantly injured people 55 percent of the time when they used force. During the force incidents, seven officers were injured enough that they went to the hospital. In 22 cases the subject had a knife, in one a gun. Five officers reported sprains and 33 cuts or scrapes. A quarter of the time officers used pepper spray, they unintentionally sprayed themselves. — Alan Pittman
HYNIX NIXES PAYING TAXES Over the last decade, the city of Eugene has given Hynix almost twice as much in tax breaks than the corporation has actually paid in taxes. From 1996 to 2005, Eugene gave Hynix $51.2 million in property tax breaks and Hynix paid only $26.5 million in taxes. Most of Hynix's enterprise zone tax exemptions have now expired. But because of the rapid depreciation of the corporation's chip plant equipment, the factory has lost about 90 percent of its assessed value, and Eugene has lost out on most of the taxes it could have realized from the original $1.3 billion factory. — Alan Pittman
MUCK IN THE RIVER Due to high flows in the sewer system caused by recent downpours on May 9 and 10 the regional Water Pollution Control Facility discharged treated wastewater into the Willamette River in excess of the total suspended solids limits specified in its wastewater discharge permit. All discharged wastewater was treated and disinfected. The incident was the WPCF's first such violation in 14 years. The WPCF notified the DEQ and announced that the public was not at risk. Suspended solids are particles in the water from sanitary waste, industrial waste and agricultural runoff. The cities of Eugene and Springfield plan to expand their Metropolitan Wastewater Management Commission Facilities Plan to protect the Willamette River from future violations of this kind.
VIGILS FOR HEALING A local group has formed to carry out month-long daily vigils, combined with a hunger fast, for world healing. The vigils began with a ceremony held Sunday, May 15, at the Federal Building, 7th and Pearl in Eugene. An estimated 100 people gathered in light rain for the event, which included singing and talk. Longtime peace activist Charles Gray, now in his 80s, welcomed the crowd and urged all "who dare to hope, who dare to love, who have courage to rise above despair and take action." Organizer Peg Morton said the group carried panels from the 1985 Ribbon Around the Pentagon, provided by Justine Merritt, the Eugene resident who originated the 10-mile long ribbon of hand-decorated fabric. Merritt talked about her vision of creating a new "Ribbon of Tangible Hope" as the 60th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima approaches. The daily vigils are scheduled to continue until Saturday, June 11, and will take place from noon to 1 pm at the Federal Building and from 4 to 5:30 pm at the Eugene Public Library. The final Saturday will involve a ceremony and perhaps a parade through the Saturday Market. "These will be vigils not of confrontation but rather an invitation into a vision of hope," says Morton. "We are reminded that the whole world is hungry — for food, and for a new vision." The vigils were first planned to end Sunday, June 12, but will end a day earlier in order for people to join a statewide gathering and peace march in Salem June 12. The vigils are endorsed by Progressive Responses of Community Alliance for Lane County (CALC) and Faith In Action. For more information, call 342-2914.
GENDER CODE DELAYED The proposal to add gender identity to the list of protected classes in the City of Eugene Human Rights Code is still in the works, but will not be on the City Council agenda until fall, according to an apologetic message sent out to activisits by Karen Hyatt of the Eugene Human Rights Program. Hyatt said the earlier timeline included a number of meetings with the council in April, May and June, but "the timeline has been delayed" and there will be no public hearing at the May 23 City Council meeting. "We apologize for the confusion about this meeting," she wrote. Meanwhile, the newly formed Equality Network (EQ) is planning to hold its monthly meeting at 7 pm Thursday, May 19 at the UO Baker Center at 10th and High downtown. The organization is focused on social justice and civil rights advocacy and action organization regarding LGBTQ issues. On the EQ agenda is the city's human rights code revisions, state legislation on civil unions and bringing allied organizations together to work on issues of mutual concern. For information, call 683-5936 or e-mail sally@wymprov.com
Power
Shift In a victory for local environmental activists, a South Dakota-based energy company, Black Hills Generation Inc., withdrew its application to construct a natural-gas-fired power plant north of Coburg.
"An uncertain market for new power plants in the Northwest necessitates a review of technology choices, as well as the timing of their implementation," wrote Black Hills Senior Vice President Mo Klefeker in a May 5 letter to the Oregon Department of Energy (DOE). "Black Hills does not recognize a need for a large baseload generation inside the Willamette Valley for the foreseeable future." The proposal has had a volatile history. In 2001, local developer Gary Marcus announced plans to build a 600-megawatt gas-fired plant on farmland outside Coburg. In 2003, Black Hills signed on as Marcus' partner, and the plant's proposed output jumped to 900 megawatts. Earlier this year, Marcus sold all rights to Black Hills, and the company scaled the proposal down to a 300-megawatt peaking facility before withdrawing the application entirely on May 11. Black Hills does not consider the story over. "We intend to maintain our options with regard to the Coburg site and expect to file a completely new application at some point in the future," Klefeker writes. But the company will have to begin the permitting process anew, an effort that generally takes several years and millions of dollars. Carolyn Kinnan, president of Save Our Valley, the Coburg citizen group formed to oppose the plant, considers the application withdrawal a victory — if a temporary one. "I'm ecstatic," she says. "I know deep in my heart that they [Black Hills] are not gone, just backing up and getting a better run at it. But at least this gives us a breather for a few years." Oregon Toxics Alliance Director Lisa Arkin is confident that the activists made a difference. "If the residents of Lane County had not spoken up and if our county commissioners had not given the public a chance to speak directly to the land use laws, I believe there still could be a 900-megawatt power plant on the books for Coburg," she says. Black Hills spokesman Dale Jahr rejects that idea. "Public opposition had no bearing whatsoever on the withdrawal of our application," he says. The application withdrawal comes in the wake of turmoil around other gas-fired plant proposals in the state. On April 8, the Oregon DOE terminated all proceedings for the proposed 650-megawatt gas-fired Calpine generator in Turner after denying the company's request for an extension on their site certificate application. The DOE approved a site certificate for the proposed 1100-megawatt gas-fired Cob facility in Klamath Falls, but opponents of that plant presented a challenge that was heard before Oregon Supreme Court on May 11. A decision is expected in October. Due to legal constraints, Marcus cannot comment on the withdrawal of Black Hills' application. But he says that the problem of energy infrastructure in the southern Willamette Valley remains. Lane County currently imports about 70 percent of its electricity, and much of it flows through transmission lines from Eastern Oregon. That long journey causes voltage instability, Marcus says. BPA Transmission Account Executive Tony Rodrigues confirms that the transmission lines carrying electricity from power plants and wind farms east of the Cascades into Lane County have limited capacity. That leaves wind generators in Sherman County without buyers, waiting on a queue to get their electricity onto the lines. "They need to find a path to get the power to the grid," Rodrigues says. "We have some bottlenecks in the system." Lane County currently has enough electricity to meet its needs, but analysts project higher local energy demand by 2012. To bring more energy from the east into Lane County, BPA will have to complete transmission line work that will cost about $160 million, Rodrigues says. BPA is waiting for wind and gas generators to foot the bill. They'll do that, Rodrigues speculates, when they have assurance that Lane County consumers will buy the power. And EWEB is looking to purchase more wind power. EWEB Communications Coordinator John Mitchell says that customers consistently rank wind and solar power at the top of their preferred energy sources, and the Northwest Power and Conservation Council directs the utility to prioritize conservation and renewable energy sources. Currently, EWEB users who purchase wind power support generation from turbines in eastern Wyoming. The actual electricity goes to customers in Wyoming, but "the wind displaces what coal would have generated in its place," Mitchell says. EWEB is also purchasing wind power from the Stateline Project on the Oregon-Washington border. Wind power costs residential EWEB users 7.9 cents per kilowatt-hour, compared with a regular rate of about 7.4 cents per kilowatt-hour. The average Eugene household pays $116 per month at the regular rate and $125 per month for 100 percent wind energy. But rates on hydro and gas power are increasing while wind rates remain steady, making wind power increasingly competitive with EWEB's "regular" sources. "As more [wind power] becomes available, we will be purchasing more," Mitchell says. Rodrigues says that if Congress renews a federal tax credit for wind production, the price of wind energy will be comparable to the current price of natural gas energy. "Most of the hydro dams are tapped, and gas prices are going up and down," he says. "What I'm hearing from a lot of people is, 'We need to harness the wind as much as we can.'" The UO is helping to support EWEB's wind projects. In early April, students overwhelmingly voted to fund campus sustainability projects by paying a fee increase of up to $2 per student, and on Earth Day, university administrators used some of that money to purchase "green tags" backing EWEB's wind power projects. State legislation may also help to promote renewable energy sources. The OTA is spearheading the Oregon Fair Energy Bill (SB 527), now before the Legislature with bipartisan support. The bill would put more decision-making power into the hands of cities and counties when power plant proposals fail to meet local land use laws. "The bill shines a spotlight on the issue of the importance of public process as it relates to energy facility siting," Arkin says. The bill would also require energy facility decision-makers to consider energy forecasts and prioritize renewable projects. It falls short, however, of legislation in 17 other states that requires utilities to purchase specific percentages of their power from renewable sources. The state seems poised to take other steps toward more renewable energy production. Oregon State Treasurer Randall Edwards, who is the chief investment officer for $62 billion in state trust funds and other assets, wrote a May 12 op-ed for the R-G in which he stressed the economic damage wreaked by companies that contribute to climate change. "It is my duty to make prudent long-term investments for Oregonians. Global warming has increasingly become a long-term threat to our health and to the investments we make," Edwards wrote. "Oregon must continue a leading role in cleaner, greener technologies and fighting unaccountable polluters." Might the state treasury help finance capital investment projects in alternative energies such as wind farms? "If it were presented right, possibly," Edwards tells EW. "Nobody's been knocking on my door saying, 'Here's how we could do it.' But yes, that would be of interest."
GREG SALE
Following graduation from Roseburg High School, Greg Sale was drafted out of Umpqua Community College and into military service during the Vietnam War. "I was stationed in Panama — it was like a year-and-a-half vacation," he marvels. Afterwards, Sale worked for Bi-Mart stores in Roseburg, Oregon City, and Eugene, then managed the Paper Plus store in West Eugene for 15 years before it was sold to GP in 2001. "When I moved to Eugene in '82, my roommate was a musician who introduced me to the music scene," he reports. As a longtime fan of the Rooster Man's Blues Jam at Taylor's and later at the Good Times, Sale felt bereft when Good Times changed hands and dropped the weekly event. "I was just a knowledgeable fan," says Sale, who nonetheless jumped in to fill the void by coordinating a blues jam at Quackers. "It turned into a regular scene for five years." Last September, Sale signed on as music manager for Mac's at the Vet's Club, where he books weekend shows and lines up local artists for the Thursday night Mac's and Mo's Jamm, featuring "the Mofessor," Maurice McConnell, on keyboard, guitar, harmonica and vocals. – BY PAUL NEEVEL
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
