City of Eugene threatening sweeps of homeless camps Monday

Plus tenant solidarity and an update on vaccines to educators

Sweeps continue

In a email put out last Friday a group of activists advocating for the unhoused brought to attention the threat of two sweeps of homeless camps for this Monday. The camps where unhoused people are facing eviction are at 5th and Almaden/Fillmore, and Trainsong community camp near Roosevelt and Bethel.

These look like they will be the first sweeps since the City of Eugen put out new “criteria” for urban camping in January. At Trainsong, people are facing criminal trespass charges. The City of Eugene has posted a 48 hour “Camp Cleanup Warning” at 5th and Almaden/Fillmore. The City has not provided campers an alternative location to go at either site.

Tenant solidarity

Eugene Housing and Neighborhood Defense (HAND) held a protest Sunday afternoon in front of Bell Real Estate in solidarity with Lakesha, who is facing eviction in town. Lakesha is a black lesbian mother who says she is being evicted for rent that she paid. Lakesha and others say it is pattern for Bell to discriminate against its tenants.

Eugene HAND is a new organization that fights for and is made up of working class tenants. The orgs main tactic of meeting new renters is through canvassing. They do not believe in taking legislative routes and instead are more interested in direct action approaches like rent strikes.

They will have their first public meeting this Thursday at 6PM.

Springfield slowly vaccinating teachers as they are set to return

Springfield Public Schools began vaccinating its staff last weekend. The district was allocated 324 doses, less than a quarter of the number of the total employees that need to be vaccinated, 1,600. Lane County Public Health said in a press conference last week that many educators in the area would still not be vaccinated by the end of this week.

Springfield Public Schools is set to open its buildings to kindergartners for in person learning this Thursday. Elementary kids in Junction City School District will join in participating in-person learning this week.

Local links

  • $9 million suit alleges negligence by Eugene police after man found with seat belt wrapped around neck in back of police car

  • The City of Eugene has proposed an amendment to the city code that could threaten unhoused individual’s right to own a pet. The city has held a public hearing for the proposed amendment, but has not scheduled a vote on the matter.

  • The Oregon Supreme Court ruled recently that the state can compel an individual to unlock their phone. States across the country are divided on this issue. In its ruling the Oregon Supreme Court outlined three parameters that must be met:

    • “First, the state must have a valid warrant authorizing it to seize and search the phone. Second, the state must establish, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the defendant knows the phone’s passcode. Third, the order must prohibit the state from using the defendant’s act against the defendant, except to obtain access to the contents of the phone.”

  • UO General Counsel Kevin Reed falls for PR flack scam. Who paid?

  • Oregon Representatives and Senators have introduced a bill that allows incarcerated folks to vote while in prison.

  • Tim Davis is a white supremacist that hails from Springfield. Locally he has been well known for violently disrupting black lives matter protests. He was part of the crew of fascists that entered the Oregon Capitol late last year. He also made it DC on Jan. 6 as part of the attempted insurrection Eddy Binford-Ross has more on his journey there.

  • In related news, Richard Braatz, who is from Eugene, was arrested recently for his role in the attack of the Oregon Capitol.

    Chelsea Pitarresi writes for Ethos about students’ experiences living in resident halls at University of Oregon during COVID.

The week ahead

View more events at Solidarity.page