Ballots for Tuesday’s primary election must be handed in by 8:00 p.m. tonight. Ballots can be dropped off at the Eddyville Community Church, or the City Halls in Toledo, Siletz, Newport, Depoe Bay and Lincoln City, and the Lincoln County Courthouse.
Initial results in local races will be posted on the County Clerk’s website shortly after 8:00 p.m. Final results will be posted as soon as they are tabulated. Statewide turnout, as of Monday, was just 22%.
One of Matt Zekan's 29 satirical posters features Oscar the Grouch of Muppet's fame. (courtesy Veralrud & Associates PC)
Story (C) 2012 by our Oregonian News Network partner, Oregonlive.com
by Bryan Denson
When Lincoln County officials put veteran environmental manager William Zekan on administrative leave two years ago, his son fought back. He produced 29 posters urging officials not to fire his father and taped them to their office windows.
One of Matt Zekan’s posters depicted a woman dancing under a limbo bar with the headline, “How low can you go?” Another, depicting Muppet character Oscar the Grouch inside his garbage bin, read, “Don’t can Zekan.”
The younger Zekan’s protest — which began in May 2010 — launched a broadside of testy letters from the county, trespassing orders, arrests and jail. Zekan, now 26, claims in a federal civil rights lawsuit that county officials slandered his name, had him falsely arrested, then maliciously prosecuted him.
The suit, filed last week in Eugene, accuses the county, Assistant County Counsel Kristin Yuille, Planning and Development Director Valerie Soilihi, Community Justice Director Suzanne Gonzales and county commissioners Bill Hall, Don Lindly and Terry Thompson of depriving him, among other things, of his constitutional right to free speech.
“Lincoln County disagrees with the characterization of the events as claimed by Mr. Zekan and will be responding as appropriate through the courts,” wrote County Counsel Wayne Belmont in a request for comment.
On May 13, 2010, as William Zekan remained on administrative leave after an argument with a superior over a personnel matter, his son delivered a letter to some of the county officials. He wrote that his 8 1/2-by-11-inch posters weren’t intended to threaten or harass them, and that he was honoring their request to stop taping them to their building. His new plan was to deliver one poster every day they kept his dad on leave.
“The letter emphasized that the purpose of submitting the posters was as an expression of support for his father as a longtime public employee and as a good-natured satire of (the) county’s treatment of his father,” the lawsuit alleges.
Later that May, Matt Zekan got a letter from Yuille, the county lawyer, demanding that he cease delivery of the posters and that he refrain from entering the county planning or personnel departments. Meanwhile, according to the lawsuit, the county made an attempt to fire his father, William Zekan, who had labored there 31 years. (He was later forced to retire, his son alleges.)
The following day, the younger Zekan delivered the last round of posters to Soilihi in a sealed envelope, which he dropped into a mail slot outside the personnel office. His lawsuit alleges that a county employee then called Newport police to tell them he had trespassed.
Officer Tom Lekas had a talk with Zekan, according to the lawsuit, saying the county had banned him indefinitely from the Department of Planning and Development building and an adjoining parking lot. So Zekan launched another round of correspondence, accusing Yuille of making false accusations to the police.
Yuille fired off a letter that July warning Zekan that she and another employee would obtain stalking orders against him if he kept communicating with them.
Zekan turned to county commissioners, asking them to lift the trespass order. But they denied his request and, he alleges, ignored letters seeking an explanation.
Frustrated, Zekan wrote to the police officer on Jan. 7, 2011, to explain that he had gotten no answers from the county. The only to bring the issue to a head, he wrote, was to violate the order.
So on the first Wednesday last May, he drove his car onto the lot of the planning building intent on getting arrested. There he opened a book — Kenji Yoshino’s “A Thousand Times More Fair: What Shakespeare’s Plays Teach Us About Justice” — and waited until a Newport officer pulled up and arrested him.
Zekan spent a night in the county jail and was charged with misdemeanor trespassing (a charge later dropped). The county then issued Zekan a new trespass order and circulated a flier with his mugshot as part of an email titled, “Courthouse Security Alert.”
He was stopped again by police as he drove across a parking lot at the county courthouse, a piece of property he says was not subject to the order. But he spent another eight hours in jail. Eventually the American Civil Liberties Union stepped in on his behalf, and the county lifted the order.
Zekan’s lawyer, Greg Veralrud, thinks the county acted too late to make things right.
“Being deprived of the right to appear in a county place to petition the government in and of itself is a pretty significant harm,” he said. “It goes without saying that being arrested, handcuffed … charged with a criminal offense, being required to hire counsel to defend yourself — not once, but twice — is also a pretty significant harm.”
Deputy Jeremy Gautney
Mother’s Day weekend will see three events kicking off Toledo’s 2012 summer season: Quilt Quest MMXII, the return of Ye Merrie Greenwood at Glastonbury Faire, and the annual celebration of National Train Day at the Yaquina Pacific Railroad Historical Society Museum. All three are new events, with Quilt Quest starting in 2010 and the other two events making their debuts last year. Quilt Quest is a city-wide celebration of all things quilt, with many public and private spaces and businesses displaying quilts Saturday, May 12.
Quilt Quest
Now in its third year, Quilt Quest has routinely drawn visitors from several surrounding states. And, with sunny weather forecast, a large crowd is anticipated. Organizer Monica Lyons said 275 quilts will be on display Saturday. Local quilter Linda Anderson was earlier announced as the featured artist for the event. Anderson and a sizable exhibition of her quilts will be found on stage in the Toledo Clayworks at the corner of Main Street and 2nd Street during the event. A 10-year resident of Toledo, Anderson coordinates a program through St. John’s Episcopal Church in Toledo to provide quilts for children who find themselves in the county’s Human Services foster care program. The group is looking for additional quilters, beginners and experienced, to join them in this effort. For more information, call 541-336-2877.
Fifty of the quilts will be on sale at The Bee Hive (207 E Bus. 20), a new retail outlet just open. Prices start at $35. Much of the proceeds will go to charity. There will also be Quilt Documentation by members of the Coastal Quilters Guild at the Toledo History Center (208 S. Main).
Quilt Quest also has a featured writer, who is also a quilter. Arlene Sachitano is creator the popular Loose Threads mystery series ,featuring quilter and amateur sleuth Harriet Truman. Sachitano divides her time between Portland and Tillamook. She is currently promoting her latest book Quilt by Association. She will appear May 12 from 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. at Quilter’s Cottage (333 N. Main). For more information on Quilt Quest events, contact Monica Lyons at 541-336-2877.
National Train Da
National Train Day 2012 is celebrated Saturday, May 12 nationwide, and in Toledo at the Yaquina Pacifica Railroad Historical Museum (101 NW “A” Street). Events include special exhibits of its restored combined Railway Post Office and baggage car, restored wooden caboose, 2-8-0 locomotive “One Spot” and motorcar demonstrations.
Ye Merrie Greenwood at Glastonbury Faire
Ye Merrie Greenwood Players of Washington’s Tri-Cities area return to the Toledo waterfront May 12 and 13 to replicate the world of Elizabethan England. Entertainment ranges from Renaissance dance and song to English madrigals and Gypsy dancers, Morris dancers and various jugglers, artists, comedians and troupes. Admission is $6 for adults, $4 for senior and children 12 and younger and free for 5 and younger. The Players have been actively staging Renaissance Faires since 1985.
Wildland fire threatens a Central Oregon property (Photo: State Fire Marshal)
May 6-12 is Wildfire Awareness Week in Oregon and Chief Deputy State Fire Marshal Jim Walker is asking Oregonians to make sure their homes are protected from wildfire. In a unified proclamation, governors from Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, and California encouraged homeowners to think about the approaching fire season. “The roof is the most critical part of the house when it comes to wildfire protection,” says Chief Deputy State Fire Marshal Jim Walker. “Embers can collect and ignite on the roof, in gutters, and enter unscreened openings around the house.” Walker said even with non-combustible roofing material homeowners should always keep roofs, gutters and eaves clear of flammable debris.” Fire prevention experts also promote what they call “defensible space”around homes before fire strikes this summer. To reduce the risk, fire officials suggest removing dead vegetation for at least 30 feet around your house. In most cases, trees and healthy plants do not need to be removed. However, trees should be pruned and grass kept short and green to keep fire on the ground and more manageable by fire crews. OSU Extension can make suggestions about fire resistant plants.
Homeowners should also keep access in mind for large fire trucks. Long driveways should be at least 12 feet wide, have 10 feet of vegetation clearance from the centerline out, and about 14 feet overhead. Large vehicle turnaround areas are critical for your safety as well as firefighter safety. For more information, visit the websites for Keep Oregon Green, Oregon Department of Forestry, or call your nearest ODF or forest protective association office.
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