Social Justice

UPDATE: Saturday, Nov. 29, 2014 11:20 A.M.:

The Egan Warming Centers confirmed they are activated for tonight, Saturday. But they will NOT be open on Sunday and Monday nights because the overnight temperatures will not be cold enough.

Those needing to get to a Warming Center tonight can ride LTD for free - just tell the driver you need to get to a warming center.  St Vincent de Paul will provide shuttle service from the First Christian parking lot behind the church to other sites from about 5:30 pm- 8:30 pm.

A Eugene convenience store violated the civil rights of a disabled customer when it refused to allow a woman entrance with her service animal. That is today's (Monday) ruling from BOLI--The Bureau of Labor and Industries.  

BOLI has found that Duck Stop Market, a small shop on Franklin Boulevard in Eugene, was in violation of the law for repeatedly denying entry to a customer with a service animal.

Despite economic growth, the number of Oregonians living in poverty is higher than it was during the 2008 recession. The Oregon Center for Public Policy has released poverty figures for 2013. KLCC’s Corinne Boyer has more.

Eva Kor, age 80, of Indiana, is a Holocaust survivor. She shares the story of her harrowing experience with KLCC's Claude Offenbacher. Kor speaks Saturday evening at 6:30 at the University of Oregon in room 150 of Columbia Hall. Her address is titled "Forgiveness: The Triumph of the Human Spirit".

In 2013, nearly 2 thousand people in Lane County didn't have a place to sleep at night.

Hundreds of health care workers with McKenzie Willamette Medical Center are still on the picket line in Springfield. The 3-day strike ends at 6:30 Friday morning. The hospital has employed temporary replacements in positions including surgical nursing assistants and paramedics.

With a steady stream of picketers on the sidewalk since Tuesday morning, the hospital has had no comment beyond press releases. Wednesday, McKenzie Willamette administration wrote a 'clarification,' saying information about contract bargaining has been inaccurate.

Hundreds of hospital workers took to the picket line Tuesday protesting unfair labor practices by one of the largest for-profit health care companies in the country. KLCC's Tiffany Eckert reports from the sidewalk in front of McKenzie Willamette Medical Center in Springfield.

Radiologists, respiratory therapists and housekeepers are among the hospital workers here holding up signs and chanting. They are members of the Service Employees International Union Local 49 and they are striking after contract labor negotiations with the hospital broke down.

With Oregon temperatures getting colder, efforts to find havens  for  Eugene's homeless are heating up.  KLCC's Claude Offenbacher spoke with Community Alliance of Lane County's Michael Carrigan Tuesday.  He asked Carrigan about the role CALC, Nightingale Sanctuary and others are playing to help secure safe places to sleep this winter for a few dozen of the estimated 1700 County people on the streets:

The Eugene City Council this week heard from Carrigan and the Raging Grannies, a social activism group.  They urged the city to lift the ban on homeless camping in City parks. 

Minority children in Oregon have fewer opportunities to emerge from poverty than their white peers. That's according to a report released earlier this week from the advocacy group, Children First for Oregon.

During October many people may notice pink themes on clothing to raise awareness for breast cancer. For years, Eugene's Womenspace uses this month to focus on domestic violence awareness.

Domestic violence has been in the national spotlight recently in professional sports and college campuses. Womenspace Executive Director Peggy Whalen says it's great to see the issue being discussed openly, but many times the wrong question is being asked.

September is one of the big harvest months for Oregon agriculture--apples, pears, hops.  It's also a time when the fields are full of farmworkers.....a large percentage of whom may be subject to sexual harassment.  It's a subject that's long been taboo, but a growing number of women are speaking out.

Every day at her job at a vineyard outside Salem, things were the same for Clarisa:

"Pues como chiquita, mi hijita, esos cosas de decía..."

Students at the University of Oregon and volunteers with Opportunity Village are unveiling a new mobile workspace Saturday (today). This weekend, it will be parked at the transitional housing community to allow residents to maintain dwellings and fix bicycles.

At the behest of a burgeoning labor movement, Oregon became the first state to adopt Labor Day. That was in 1887. Today, workers of all ilk celebrate the first Monday of September by taking the day off. At a park in Springfield, hundreds of union supporters gathered for the annual Labor Day Picnic.

(Hear: sizzling on a grill and singer playing "America")

This month marks the 50th anniversary of the launch of “Freedom Summer,” a campaign to encourage African-Americans in the South to assert their right to vote. Many volunteers who took part were beaten and arrested, and four civil rights workers killed. Together with thousands of black Mississippians, more than one thousand volunteers participated in the 1964 crusade.  They included Ruth Koenig of  Eugene.

The folks who created Opportunity Village Eugene, a pilot project that gives short-term shelter to people without homes, are now looking to branch out.  "Emerald Village" would provide long term housing at an affordable price.

Opportunity Village opened last August and is home to 31 people in micro-houses or Conestoga Huts. Reverend Dan Bryant is president of the Opportunity Village board. He says the spin-off would be for people who are ready to transition out of temporary shelter.

55-year-old John Baker has been homeless on and off for the past 5 years. While at a homeless shelter in Aspen, Colorado, he wrote a sitcom screenplay called "The Homeless Bums of Aspen." He spoke with KLCC's Angela Kellner about submitting the screenplay to NBC during their open call for sitcoms.

John Baker's song, "The Homeless Bums of Aspen" is on You Tube.

The Global Strike for Fast Food Workers is happening across the country and around the world today (Thursday). The protest is a call for higher pay and worker rights for the estimated four million employees in the fast food industry. One of the events is in Eugene.

It’s lunchtime business as usual at the McDonald’s on Broadway in Eugene….

But outside on the sidewalk, a handful of activists are protesting  the corporate fast food giant. They want to see a “living wage” for its employees.

Lauren Regan is director of the Civil Liberties Defense Center.

In 2013, about 10,000 people in Lane County experienced homelessness.  Although high, Lane County Human Services says this is an improvement from the previous year.  

Nine thousand eight hundred fifty-six homeless people sought social services through Lane County last year.  Human Services Supervisor Pearl Wolfe says the community at large is discouraged by the overwhelming nature of the issue.  But, she says, this number is nearly 1000 lower than in 2012.

Lane County is one of thirteen jurisdictions across the nation chosen to implement a new juvenile justice program model. It’s designed to reduce the number of youth who “crossover” between child welfare and the juvenile justice system.

“At any time we have between 400 and 500 youth somewhere in our system.”

That’s John Aarons. He’s been working with Lane County Youth Services for nearly 30 years. In his view, the newly launched Crossover Youth Practice Model will help formalize an important partnership.

Late Tuesday afternoon, gay rights supporters in seven cities around Oregon gathered for a vigil ahead of a landmark court case.  A federal judge in Eugene will hear oral arguments Wednesday afternoon challenging the state's ban on same-sex marriage.

Eugene resident Clark Compton has been volunteering with the pro-same-sex marriage group Oregon United for Marriage for the past year.  

An anonymous donor from Eugene has stepped forward with $400,000 to purchase property for a homeless camp in the city.

The $400,000 will be used to buy a piece of private property to create a place for homeless people to sleep. The donor has also asked that a health clinic be on site for residents and others in need.

Attorney Mary Broadhurst is a homeless advocate who's worked with SLEEPS and residents of the recently shuttered illegal Whoville camp. She says she's grateful.

Earlier this month police broke up a high profile homeless camp in Eugene called Whoville. The people who lived there said they felt safe and part of a community. The city has established a pilot program for legal camping. They're called"rest stops". So far there are two. They're creating community for people who need a sense of connection.

de Buhr: "…how are things going?"

This month, the City of Eugene’s Human Rights Office, in conjunction with the Eugene Police Department, released a report documenting bias-based incidents and criminal activity in our Community.  It found there were 55 incidents reported in 2013 – ranging from acts of physical violence to vandalism targeting people based on race, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, and religion.

KLCC’s Jes Burns speaks with Michael Kinnison, manager of the Eugene Equity and Human Rights Office.

Eugene Police surrounded an illegal homeless camp known as Whoville Friday morning and told the 30 or so residents to pack up and go. The City Council gave an April 15th deadline for the site to close.