Eugene Weekly : News : 07.06.06
News Briefs: City Lawyers Back Tobacco | Judge Denies New Trial | Roadless Saga Keeps Rolling | Website up for Swift | Peace Action | 'Epidemic' Debunked | Celebrate Indy Biz | Lane County Herbicide Spray Schedule | Corrections/Clarifications |
Slant: Short opinion pieces and rumor-chasing notes
Happening Person: Jennifer Wassermiller
CITY LAWYERS BACK TOBACCO
The private law firm that has held a tight grip on almost all of the city of Eugene's legal work for the past three decades is also working on a pair of controversial, high-profile cases.
Harrang Long Gary Rudnick is working for Phillip Morris to get the tobacco giant out of an $80 million verdict that sought to punish the corporation for killing people with cigarettes. The firm is also working with the Portland Development Commission (PDC) to reduce wages for work on public projects.
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed this spring to hear Harrang Long's appeal of the tobacco case (known as Williams Branch) after the Oregon Supreme court upheld the $80 million verdict against Phillip Morris.
In another case, Harrang Long helped the PDC evade a state law that requires prevailing wages and benefits for construction workers on public projects. In May a Portland judge agreed with Harrang Long's argument that the PDC did not have to pay prevailing wages for a publicly subsidized development project.
The PDC case could be relevant for Eugene. The city has agreed to spend $12 million to build a city parking garage attached to the Whole Foods development downtown. City staff told the council that the project would pay prevailing wages, but that was before the Harrang Long and PDC verdict in Portland.
Eugene isn't involved in tobacco litigation, but acting as city attorney, Harrang Long wrote and would defend the city ordinance banning indoor smoking in bars and restaurants.
Harrang Long has worked for many other local clients that could present the appearance of conflicts of interest including The Register-Guard, Hynix and PeaceHealth. The firm has said it avoids conflicts of interest.
Almost all other cities of Eugene's size have in-house attorneys working as public servants to reduce costs, improve service and avoid conflicts. A 2002 ballot measure requiring the city manager to hire an in-house attorney failed. Last year (FY05) the city paid $2.1 million for civil legal services, up 34 percent from the previous year. — Alan Pittman
JUDGE DENIES NEW TRIAL
On June 30, Judge Gregory Foote denied a motion for a new trial for Darrell Sky Walker, 24, who in April was sentenced to more than six years in prison for recklessly killing 22-year-old Phillip Gillins in a drunken confrontation outside Taylor's Bar in June 2005.
Walker maintains that another man, J.D. Beall, threw the punch that knocked Gillins unconscious. Gillins' head hit the pavement when he fell, and he died from brain injuries two days later. Two eyewitnesses, who were drunk at the time, said they saw Walker hit Gillins, but at least six other witnesses say that Beall bragged about dealing the knockout blow. (See EW articles 6/22 and 6/29.)
Walker's lawyer, Daniel Goff, filed the motion for a new trial on the grounds that additional witnesses could provide more evidence that Beall threw the fatal punch. Judge Foote rejected that argument, ruling that the new testimonies wouldn't provide any significant new evidence.
Goff also attempted to compel the state to grant immunity to an eyewitness, Ryan Joyce, to force him to testify. Joyce was with Walker and Beall on the night of the incident, but he, like Beall, has invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and remained silent. Judge Foote suggested that a new trial might be justified if Joyce testified.
But the prosecutor, Deputy District Attorney Debra Vogt, declined to offer Joyce immunity, saying that the state reserves the right to prosecute him for his role in causing Gillins' death. Charges against him would likely be minor, as all witness accounts suggest that Joyce merely watched the fight and did not participate in it.
Why, then, won't the state grant Joyce immunity in exchange for an eyewitness testimony that could shed critical new light on a contested manslaughter conviction? District Attorney Doug Harcleroad declined to answer that question on the record.
Defense attorney Goff said that he plans to appeal the conviction, a process that could take about a year. — Kera Abraham
ROADLESS SAGA KEEPS ROLLING
Despite pledges to let states protect their own roadless forests, the Forest Service has awarded a contract to log a designated roadless area burned in the 2002 Biscuit fire. The move undermines Gov. Kulongoski's plan to petition for Oregon to permanently protect its two million roadless acres from logging and development.
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| Josh Schlossberg on an old growth stump in the Berry timber sale. Photo By Samantha Chirillo. |
On June 27, the Forest Service awarded the 640-acre Mike's Gulch timber sale to Silver Creek Logging Co., a company that has violated Forest Service rules in the past by accidentally logging in the protected Kalmiopsis Wilderness and Babyfoot Botanical Area.
The Mike's Gulch timber sale marks the first time that the Forest Service has allowed logging in a designated roadless area since the adoption of the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, enacted during President Clinton's last days in office. In 2005, the Bush administration repealed the Clinton-era rule and replaced it with a more industry-friendly rule that allows salvage logging in roadless areas after fires.
Kulongoski and 20 environmental groups have asked a federal judge in San Francisco to halt the cutting until courts hear two lawsuits challenging the Bush administration's repeal of the Clinton-era roadless rule. The judge has yet to rule on that motion, and it's unclear whether she will do so before Silver Creek begins logging.
In late June, the Bush administration accepted governors' petitions to protect roadless areas in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. In a press release, the Forest Service reiterated its pledge "to maintain interim measures to conserve inventoried roadless areas" while states prepare their petitions. However, that is clearly not happening in Oregon, where the Forest Service is pushing ahead with plans to log the roadless Mike's Gulch despite Kulongoski's pending petition. The Forest Service maintains that the roadless area logging is legal, noting that the logs cut from Mike's Gulch are to be yarded by helicopter, and no new roads will be built.
The fight is over the protection of designated, or "inventoried," roadless public forests. But uninventoried roadless areas near the Kalmiopsis Wilderness are also at risk, note activists with a new Eugene-based nonprofit called Save Our Wild Siskiyou. "Having seen what has already occurred in the Kalmiopsis, one realizes that the roadless areas have already been logged," said SOWS activist Samantha Chirillo. "We have all the more motivation to put an end to roadless logging before it spreads further." — Kera Abraham
WEBSITE UP FOR SWIFT
Supporters of Iraq veteran Spc. Suzanne Swift now have a website up (www.suzanneswift.org)providing background information, updates and related links. The Eugene woman was arrested as a deserter June 11 at her mother's home after going AWOL from the Army. She was returned to her unit, the 42md MP Company, in Fort Lewis, which is scheduled to return to Iraq in October.
Swift complained of relentless sexual harassment and fear of rape during her tour of duty in Iraq, and said nothing was done about it. She "chose to go absent without leave rather than subjugate herself to the horrors she experienced during her first tour of duty," according to the website.
Swift's mother, Sara Rich (see EW archives, 3/30), said she visited with her daughter for a day and night last week at Fort Lewis. In an "Update from Mom" on the website, she said Swift "is on edge, frustrated and very tired. No one is being mean to her, but she does not trust anyone which is mentally exhausting. She took time to read all the letters and cards we have received and was so touched by all the love and support."
A tax-deductible legal defense fund has been set up through Community Alliance of Lane County (CALC), 485 Blair Blvd., Eugene 97402. Checks can be made out to CALC with "Suzanne Swift Legal Defense Fund" written in the comments space.
PEACE ACTION
Trish Abbott believes in action. That's why the 27-year-old English woman has been living in the small Colombian community of San José de Apartadó for the past year and a half.
In Colombia, according to the nonprofit Human Rights Watch, more than 3 million people — 5 percent of the total population — have been displaced because of armed conflict in the region. That's more than any other country in the world except for the Sudan. Paramilitaries, considered terrorist groups by the U.S., now work for the government, and the largest rebel army — the FARC — also commits many atrocities. In the face of the massive violence, 50 villages and towns have taken a stand as "Peace Communities," among them San José. The Peace Communities refuse to help or condone either side, and they often suffer for their choice. Having Abbott around may be saving lives as she records what occurs in San José for the international human rights community.
Abbott, who works with the Fellowship of Reconciliation Task Force on Latin America and the Caribbean, is travelling the country to speak about her work putting her body on the line. She shows a film and speaks about her experiences at 7 pm Thursday, July 6, in 240A McKenzie Hall, the corner of 12th and Kincaid, on the UO campus. Her visit to Eugene is sponsored by Committee in Solidarity with the Central American People (CISCAP), Eugene Friends Meeting, the Eugene Area Fellowship of Reconciliation, and Faith in Action. — Suzi Steffen
'EPIDEMIC' DEBUNKED
Methamphetamine abuse in the U.S. has been exaggerated by public officials and the media, according to a 41-page report issued in mid-June by the Sentencing Project, a Washington, D.C. think tank. The report references and confirms a Willamette Week story by Angela Valdez that took issue with the award-winning Oregonian series on meth over 18 months that included 261 stories.
In WW's "Meth Madness" published March 22, Valdez argued that Portland's daily paper had "sacrificed accuracy" in order to campaign against meth. The Sentencing Project report says, "The Oregonian series repeatedly referred to a 'meth epidemic' in Oregon without providing any statistical support, mischaracterized the significance of the growth in methamphetamine treatment admissions, and suggested a link between Oregon property crime rates and methamphetamine use that has been generally refuted by empirical research."
Here in Lane County, the "meth epidemic" is often cited as a reason for increasing funding for law enforcement, and Gov. Kulongoski used the word "epidemic" in a press release this week about meth and new restrictions on pseudoephedrine, a key ingredient in the manufacture of methamphetamine.
The compete Sentencing Project report by analyst Ryan S. King can be found at www.SentencingProject.org and the Valdez story can be found in WW's archives at www.wweek.com
CELEBRATE INDY BIZ
Independence Day may have come and gone, but Independents Day is just around the corner. On Thursday, July 13, many independent, locally owned businesses around town will be hosting contests, giveaways, drawings and discounts to celebrate their independent status.
Helios Resource Network, a local nonprofit, is expanding its "Buy Local" campaign to include this celebration of locally owned, independent retail stores to show just how the local economy can be supported. According to the Andersonville Study of Retail Economics, for every $100 spent in a locally owned store, $73 stays in the local economy. And for every $100 spent in nationally owned stores, only $43 stays in the local economy. And for every $100 spent in big box stores, only $14 stays in the local economy.
The Corvallis Independent Business Alliance (CIBA) has tracked its community's dollars. There, a full 80 percent of dollars spent locally stays local and adds to what its report calls a "multiplier effect." One dollar spent at a locally owned business "will return five times that amount within the community through city taxes, employees' wages, and purchase of materials and supplies at other independent businesses."
In Eugene, City Councilor David Kelly says he has "tried for at least five years" to add buy-local initiatives to the City Council agenda. "I realize that a healthy economy will always include a mix of local, regional and national firms, but I encourage people to buy from local retailers and suppliers whenever they can."
At the event July 13 at Cozmic Pizza, speakers and musicians will gather to kick off the Independents Day celebrations. Sundance Market's Gavin McComas, Eugene Springfield Solidarity Network's Claire Syrett, and the Willamette Farm and Food Coop's Harry Battson will discuss the impact on the local economy of purchasing local products from locally owned stores. Patronizing these stores is encouraged for Friday, July 14.
For more information, call 284-7020.
Lane County Herbicide Spray Schedule
• Roseburg Resources (935-2507) is spraying 2,4-D, triclopyr, and glyphosate on 45,807 feet of roadsides on timberlands throughout Western Lane County. (For info, contact the Oregon Department of Forestry at 935-2283 and reference Not. No. 50642.)
• Oregon Forest Management Services (896-3757) plans ground spraying of imazapyr and glyphosate on more than 300 acres for Roseburg Resources near Noti, Oat, Pheasant, Wildcat, Eames, Beaver, Leopold, Panther, Dogwood, Bolmer and Fish creeks. (Not. No. 50477)
• Swanson Group (935-3010) plans to spray triclopyr, aminopyralid and glyphosate plus surfactants on 339,250 feet of forest roadsides throughout western Lane County. (Not. No. 50693)
Compiled by Jan Wroncy, Forestland Dwellers 342-8332
CORRECTIONS/CLARIFICATIONS
• In our "Silence Saturday" news story last week, the first paragraph should have described the Wayne Morse Youth Program as being "founded in the spirit of the beloved senator to encourage young people to get involved in community issues and politics." Morse himself was not the founder.
•In the June 29 article on Macaco Velh o, the wrong band member was listed. The writer spoke with Jake Pegg and John Hicks.
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SLANT The Wildish sand and gravel bunch have made a greedy land grab on 1,400 acres near Mount Pisgah. Using the legal blackmail allowed under Measure 37, Wildish threatened county taxpayers with a $20 million stick-up unless the company is allowed to build whatever it wants on a key expanse of scenic land between the park and the river. Lane County should not roll over for such banditry. The county should fight back with a variety of strategies including: using federal environmental rules and local traffic safety laws to block development; refusing to extend roads, sewers and other infrastructure to the site; threatening to cut the corporate bandit off from public contracts (they make millions at the public trough); challenging the Measure 37 claim on grounds of lack of enforcement of regulations since no specific development has been proposed; blocking transfer of any regulatory waivers to people who buy property in the development since Measure 37 isn't transferable; and immediately and retroactively imposing higher taxes since Wildish now says the unregulated land is worth so much. If the county can't block the development, it should condemn all the land for an expanded public park. Tapping federal and private grants for natural area acquisitions, condemnation would be a lot cheaper and less ugly than the publicly subsidized urban sprawl Wildish is trying to extort from taxpayers. It's curious that Eugene's Art and the Vineyard this year did not include F-15 flyover flights by the Oregon Air National Guard on July 4. There's nothing quite so patriotic as screaming fighter jets scaring the crap out of everybody, making babies cry and terrorizing wildlife as they pollute the air and waste huge amounts of fossil fuel. Not that we are bitter or anything. Creswell's July 4th parade was scheduled for a flyover, along with some other towns that likely requested them from the Portland base. Maybe we should do it next year. It's good to be reminded of the shock and awe we inflict on people around the world. Last week we gave EPUD some strokes for its support of a new photovoltaic panel system on a commercial building in Junction City. Now we are hearing EWEB engineers are in cahoots with Western Beverage for its new offices and refrigerated warehouse in west Eugene. The project will include a thermal mass building shell; premium efficiency lighting, heating and cooling; and using ammonia as refrigerant instead of freon. The new building will save about 50 percent on energy costs and pay for itself in about five years. We'll tip a cold one to that. Mayor Piercy, along with mayors of Lowell, Creswell and Coburg, spoke to City Club recently about Eugene's "foreign policy," how all of us in Lane County are connected, or not. Lane County has 11 incorporated cities, so many were missing from the discussion. But it's worth noting that Piercy's sustainable business initiative is getting attention in at least some of our neighboring communities. Sustainability was not a priority expressed by Mayor Weathers of Lowell, however, who said his constituents love their big lots and semi-rural setting (a "legitimate lifestyle") and want to expand the town's developable land. Some regional issues were discussed, such as sewage, water, transportation and the economy, but the best questions went mostly unanswered. For example, how do the land-use policies in all our communities affect our shared environment and quality of life? Big town or small town, all our planning tends to be short-sighted and based on optimistic assumptions about transportation and energy costs, population growth, social stability, etc.
SLANT includes short opinion pieces, observations and rumor-chasing notes compiled by the EW staff. Heard any good rumors lately? Contact Ted Taylor at 484-0519, editor@eugeneweekly.com |
JENNIFER WASSERMILLER
As soon as she got her degree in human development from Cornell, Brooklyn native Jennifer Wassermiller headed west. She worked in restaurants part-time and also in organizations serving adults with mental illness, at first in Albuquerque, where she met a guy from Oregon, then moved to Portland. She got pregnant, got married, had two sets of twins, fled her abusive husband, and wound up in Eugene. "With four kids I couldn't do social work, so I waited tables," she says. "People know me from Cafe Navarro and Ring of Fire." As the mother of a child with autism, Wassermiller became an advocate for people with disabilities and started a support group for parents of kids with autism at Bridgeway House. "I also facilitate a group at home," she adds. After marriage to Paul Solomon in 2004, Wassermiller carpooled to Portland State once a week. She completed an MSW in June with a 4.0 GPA and gave one of the commencement addresses. "I call myself an Ivy League welfare mom," she says. "Having used services like Womenspace and the Relief Nursery makes me a better service provider."
