Activist Alert 5-1-2014

• Springfield City Club will hold a county commissioner candidates forum at 11:45 am Thursday, May 1, at Willamalane Center, 250 S. 32nd St. Candidates from the East Lane and Springfield districts have been invited. The club meets every first and third Thursday. See springfieldcityclub.org.

• Spencer Creek Grange is hosting a county commissioner candidates forum for District 5 from 7 to 9 pm Thursday, May 1, at the Grange, 86013 Lorane Hwy. Candidates invited are Joann Ernst, Kevin Matthews, Jose Ortal, Jack Schoolcraft and incumbent Faye Stewart. The public can submit questions for consideration directly via spencercreekgrange.org

• The documentary Gasland Part II will be shown at 6 pm Thursday, May 1, at the Bijou on 13th Avenue and will include guest speakers Francis Eatherington of Cascadia Wildlands and national activist Tom Gleichman of the Sierra Club. 

• Kai Huschke of the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund will present a series of free community rights workshops in Lane County. The first, “Who Decides: Our Community or Corporations?” will be from 7 to 9 pm Thursday, May 1, in the Bromley Room, Siuslaw Public Library. The next, “Breaking Free of Corporate Control,” will be from 6 to 9 pm Friday, May 2, at McKenzie Hall 214 at 11th and Kincaid on the UO campus. The third, “Local Self-Government: Reality or Myth in Oregon?” will be from 6 to 9 pm Saturday, May 3, at LCC Downtown Center, Room 105. Donations will be accepted.

• A conference on “Healthy Masculinities” will be May 1-2 at OSU in the Memorial Union. The two-day event includes panel discussion with university leaders, presentations by students, faculty and staff. Discussion will focus on how to translate conference findings into action. See blogs.oregonstate.edu/mensdev.

• Changing attitudes about climate change will be the topic with Tom Bowerman of PolicyInteractive at City Club of Eugene at noon Friday, May 2. Bowerman will talk about his research and its implications for public policy. $5 for nonmembers. See cityclubofeugene.org.

• County Commission candidate Kevin Matthews will be available for discussion from 8 to 10 am Saturday, May 3, at Sunrise Café in Pleasant Hill. Call 514-4776 or visit friendsofkevinmatthews.org.

• The 15th annual Million Marijuana March will begin at 11 am Saturday, May 3, at the Wayne Morse Free Speech Plaza and end at high noon at the old Federal Building at 7th and Pearl for a rally with speakers, information booths and live music. The event will also be in Corvallis and Salem.

Benjamin Ross, author of Dead End: Suburban Sprawl and the Rebirth of American Urbanism, will speak at an event from 4 to 6 pm Sunday, May 4, at Cozmic, 199 W. 8th Ave. Hosted by 1000 Friends of Oregon and part of the McCall Speaker Series. Call (503) 497-1000 ext. 137 or email Amanda@friends.org.

Health Care for All Oregon’s next local meeting will be at 7 pm May 6, at First Methodist Church, 1376 Olive St., in anticipation of economist Gerald Freidman’s talk May 14 at Very Little Theatre. Call 484-6145 to get on the email list.