Did you miss the Nina March against banks last week? Never fear, Ustream is here.
The kazoos start around minute 34, there's also a game of Red Rover and some chanting of ommmm.
Eugene Daily News tried to cover the march, but apparently got distracted by pizza and missed most of it.
The Vagilutionaries have been marching against Citizen's United.
And FYI it is legal in Eugene to be topless.
video by Todd Cooper
We the People-Eugene announced today (Thursday) that weather has caused the relocation of Friday's Occupy the Courts rally from the U.S. Courthouse to the First Christian Church, 1166 Oak St.
The event marks the second anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's Citizens United decision which has generated a flood of corporate political spending. Speakers include Paul Cienguegos (at about 3 pm), and many other speakers working on local grassroots citizen initiatives, musicians, performers and wrapping up with an open mic.
A mock trial of “Mr. Big & the Supremes” will begin with the arraignment of the defendants at noon. Gordon Lafer will speak on “Unions & Citizens United at 2:10 pm, followed by Karly Loveling’s music at 12:30, Roy Keene on “Who Owns Lane County” at 12:40 and a speaker from Occupy Eugene at 12:40.
Day Own of the Pitchfork Rebellion will speak at 1:10, Pam Driscoll of Friends of Parvin Butte will speak at 1:20. John Davidson will speak on “Corporations and the Constitution” at 1:30 and Occupy Eugene will do street theater at 1:45.
Defendants will be indicted at 2 pm and Julian Harrison will speak on Occupy Wall Street at 2:05, followed by Sabrina Siegel, Paul Cienfuegos, Stan Taylor, David Rogers (music), Frost (Park Street Theater), the sentencing of the defendants, and an open mic.
The schedule is subject to change. Call 937-3034 for updates.
Lane County Commissioner Rob Handy’s re-election campaign kick-off is from 5 to 7 pm tonight, Jan. 17 at the historic Willakenzie Grange Hall, 3055 Willakenzie Road, two blocks east off Coburg Road. He will be running against Pat Farr and Mike Clark, so far, in the May 8 primary. Under county rules in nonpartisan races, if one candidate gets more than 50 percent of the votes in the primary, he or she will go on the November ballot unopposed. If no candidate gets 50-plus percent of the votes, the top two will run against each other in November.
Handy’s campaign website is www.robhandy.com and he can be reached at rob@robhandy.com
Sports reporters have long been blasted for pursuing homerism that roots for the home team rather than journalism. So it's interesting to look at the alternative realities of a Register-Guard v. Milwaukee, Wisconsin Journal Sentinel Rose Bowl match up.
Here's the game-ending spike that the "reporters" largely covered by watching on TV like everyone else:
Here's the R-G coverage by Rob Moseley:
"the Badgers were unable to spike the ball in time to stop the clock, after using their timeouts much earlier in the half than they would have liked....The Badgers tried in vain to stop the clock but couldn't, as the replay review confirmed."
Here's coverage in the Pulitzer Prize winning Journal Sentinel by Jeff Potrykus:
"UW hurried to the line of scrimmage and Wilson spiked the ball with a second left but the referee ruled time expired. A video review upheld the call and the game was over....
'I knew there was two seconds left on the clock,' Wilson said. 'As soon as the referee blew the whistle, I snapped it and spiked it. I didn't think there was any way that two full seconds ran off the clock there.'
"Bielema vexed by a few of officials' calls," Potrykus reports in a second story quoting the Wisconsin coach.
The Wisconsin paper reports that in the first half:
"UW lost 13 seconds on its final possession of the first half and thus lost an opportunity to try for a go-ahead score."
In the second half, the paper quotes the Wisconsin coach:
"Basically what happened was, I know his foot touched the line," Bielema said. "It gets down to an issue of where the ball is. I was trying to get a read from my sideline official if we could review forward momentum. He didn't understand the question where I was at, and that's why they charged me a timeout."
But the Wisconsin paper's columnist Michael Hunt blames the coach for the loss:
"But for Wisconsin to blow a second consecutive Rose Bowl in basically the same freakish way it dropped two games in a 2011 season that now seems completely wasted in the aftermath of the 45-38 loss to Oregon, that is hard to forgive or forget.
Bad things don't happen to talented teams like UW on sheer randomness. They happen because of a lack of preparation and poor coaching decisions."
Meanwhile, RG columnist George Schroeder ignores all this and revels in victory with the man who paid for it all:
"It's very, very special," said the biggest fan and benefactor, Nike founder Phil Knight.
As EW went to press yesterday, mining continued at Parvin Butte. One issue that has arisen was Lost Creek Rock Products (LCRP)'s application to ODOT for state funding from ConnectOregon IV for a railroad reload project.
State Sen.Sen. Floyd Prozanski and Lane County Commissioner Faye Stewart each wrote letters in support of the reload project, but both politicians as it turns out were not aware the project was directly related to the mining at Parvin Butte.
In an email sent to Parvin Butte neighbors and others, Prozanski writes that as promised followed through on his promise to look into the matter further:
“I expect LCRP and its owners to fully comply with both state laws and regulations and county ordinances and regulations at the Parvin Butte Quarry. If they do not, I expect both the state and county to hold them accountable, including issuing stop work orders and if necessary, revoking any existing permits. I will be asking DOGAMI and Lane County to take appropriate actions concerning any illegal acts by the owners and operators of the Parvin Butte Quarry.”
Yesterday, I attempted to contact Gary Lynch, Assistant Director of DOGAMI. His voice mail stated he was out of the office until Friday. (I wanted to know what steps DOGAMI planned to take to address the issues raised by the county as stated in the RG article.) I left him a message asking him to call me upon his return.
I did speak yesterday with Alex Cuyler, Manager of Lane County Governmental Relations office, and we discussed the various alternatives to address the on going issues around the Parvin Butte Quarry. He told me that the county was in the process of submitting a formal notice to DOGAMI that the Parvin Butte Quarry was operating in violation of applicable land use requirements. (I received a copy of that letter this morning and have attached a copy to this e-mail.)
Now that Lane County has officially notified DOGAMI of those violations, I will ask DOMAGI to take the appropriate steps to suspend or revoke the operating permit until the owners and operators of the quarry are in full compliance with county ordinances and regulations.
Further, based on this new information I received from the county and area residents, I can no longer support the LCRP ConnectOregon IV application for the rock loading facility in West Eugene. Accordingly, I am notifying the Oregon Transportation Commission to withdraw my letter of support.
The LCRP application can be dowloaded from ODOT here:
ftp://ftp.odot.state.or.us/tdb/planning/ConnectOregon%20IV/Rail/
Click on the one called 2R0194-Grn Hill Rd MulMo Fac-Lost Dr Rock Prod _FTP1.pdf
Lane County has also sent a letter to DOGAMI notifying the agency that the mining is going on without the proper county permitting.
UPDATE
EW has gotten word Lane County issued a stop work order in Dec. 28. Will try to confirm this ASAP.
UPDATE 2
Apparently the county does not issue stop work orders on the planning side, only on the building side. County Counsel Marc Kardell says: "For failures to comply with Code sections dealing with land use planning, following notice (which is required in most, but not all, cases), we go directly to fines."
Oregon Wild sends the news that OR-7, the traveling wolf the group has been having a naming contest for has entered California.
Rob Klavins, Oregon Wild wildlands and wildlife advocate, says “It is all at once astounding and bittersweet to see this adventurous young wolf leave the state of Oregon. We hope that the Pacific Northwest population of wolves can overcome obstacles and continue to recover. For now, OR-7 can know that he’s always got a place to call home in Oregon.”
California Department of Fish and Game News Release
December 29, 2011
Media Contacts: Mark Stopher, DFG Executive Office, (530) 225-2275
Jordan Traverso, DFG Communications, (916) 654-9937Wolf OR7 Enters California
The gray wolf that was wandering in southern Oregon has crossed the California border. According to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) this animal is a 2 ½ year old male formerly from a pack in northeast Oregon. Since the animal has been collared with a Global Positioning System (GPS) device that periodically transmits its location, biologists have been able to document its travels since it was collared in February 2011. Based on the GPS data, he is now more than 300 miles from where his journey began.
His journey, in total, has been more than twice that far with many changes in direction. Several times he has reversed direction and returned to previous locations. Today, the California Department of Fish and Game (DFG) learned that this wolf, designated OR7, crossed the state line into northern Siskiyou County yesterday. Tracking data puts his most recent location as a few miles south of the Oregon border. It is not possible to predict his next movements which could include a return to Oregon.
DFG continues to collaborate with ODFW and expects to receive daily location data. This information is transmitted daily when atmospheric conditions permit. DFG will be sharing only general location information as this wolf, while in California, is protected as endangered under the Federal Endangered Species Act.
"Whether one is for it or against it, the entry of this lone wolf into California is an historic event and result of much work by the wildlife agencies in the West," said DFG Director Charlton H. Bonham. “If the gray wolf does establish a population in California, there will be much more work to do here."
Any wild gray wolf that returns to California is protected as endangered under the Federal Endangered Species Act, administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS).
DFG has been following the recovery and migration of gray wolves in western states with the expectation that at some point they will likely reach California. The last confirmed wild gray wolf in California was killed in Lassen County in 1924. The available historic information on wolves in California suggests that while they were widely distributed, they were not abundant. DFG has been compiling historic records, life history information, reviewing studies on wolf populations in other western states, enhancing communication with other agencies and training biologists on field techniques specific to wolves. This effort is to ensure that DFG has all necessary information available when needed, it is not a wolf management plan and DFG does not intend to reintroduce wolves into California.
There are more than 1,600 wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains following a federal reintroduction effort which occurred in the mid-1990s. In 1999 a single wolf crossed into Oregon from Idaho, after nearly a 60-year absence in that state. There are now at least 24 wolves in Oregon in four reproducing packs. It has taken an additional 12 years for the first wolf to now reach the California border. This particular animal is exhibiting normal dispersal behavior for a young male and there is no way to predict whether he will stay in California, return to Oregon, or travel east into Nevada. Eventually, DFG expects that other wolves will reach California. Whether this will lead to the establishment of packs or simply transient individual animals is unknown.
Gray wolf recovery in other western states has been controversial, particularly regarding impacts on prey populations, livestock depredation and human safety. There have been instances where gray wolf predation has contributed to declines in deer and elk populations, however, in most cases, predation has had little effect. Some gray wolves have killed livestock - mostly cattle and sheep - while others rely entirely on wild prey. In other western states the impact of depredation on livestock has been small, less than predation by coyotes and mountain lions, although the effect on an individual livestock producer can be important, particularly when sheep are killed.
Concerns about human safety are largely based on folklore and are unsubstantiated in North America. In recent years there was one human mortality in Canada caused either by wolves or bears and one confirmed human mortality in Alaska by wolves. Based on experience from states where substantial wolf populations now exist, wolves pose little risk to humans. However, DFG recommends that people never approach a wolf, or otherwise tamper with or feed a wolf. More about how to avoid human-wildlife interactions can be found on DFG’s website at www.dfg.ca.gov/keepmewild/.
In the near future DFG expects to add information to its website (www.dfg.ca.gov) to provide extensive information on wolves to the public.
We couldn't even begin to fit all the awesome nonprofits in this town to give your hard earned cash (or time) to in our annual Give Guide, and we know we missed some good ones. Comment away on who else folks should give to this year.