The power of a tiny grain of sand: Granito comes to Newport
The Immigration Information Response Team of Lincoln County brings to Newport another socially relevant documentary meant to increase our understanding of human rights and contribute to informed decisions on issues of social change and the public good. Granito: How to Nail a Dictator tells a story that captures a historical moment, the violence that enveloped Guatemala 25 years ago, as a lens through which the filmmaker examines her values and her relationship to her art.
      Like “tiny grains of sand,” the filmmaker pieces together the memories and forensic evidence that makes Granito a tipping point in the quest for justice in Guatemala, where in 1982 a genocidal “scorched earth” campaign by the military exterminated nearly 200,000 Maya people. Granito's release added its 'grain of sand' to the quest for justice reached in Guatemala this year, where more perpetrators of the genocide against the Maya people have been arrested, tried and convicted  than in the previous 30 years.
      Granito has been screened around the world in more than 50 film festivals, including Sundance, where it received a standing ovation. It was the Opening Night Film at the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival in New York. It will be screened in Newport on Tuesday, Feb. 28, at 6:30 p.m. in the upstairs meeting room of St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, SW 9th and Hurbert in Newport. There is no admission charge, and light refreshments will be provided.
      For more information, please call 541 265 6216.

Lecture on Tibet offered  at the Yachats Commons
The Yachats Academy of Arts and Sciences presents Debra Fant peaking on “Tibet, Her People. Land, Ways and Challenges” on Sunday, March 4, 3 p.m., at the Yachats Commons, Room 8, Enjoy a slide show of Tibet's land and people, hear about the way of life of this culture,and find out about current events of Tibetans living in Tibet and in exile all over the globe.
        Debra studied Tibetan medicine through the University of Minnesota. She also received instruction from the Men-Tsee-Khang instructors who educate Tibetan medicine physicians while she was in Dharamsala, India with Tibetan people living in exile.
       The Yachats Commons is at 4th and HWY 101 in Yachats. Suggested donation $5.
--Don Niskanen, dwn@peak.org, for the Friends of the Yachats Commons Foundation

Sharing the Coast
CoastWatch is once again collaborating with Northwest Aquatic and Marine Educators (NAME) to present the fourth annual “Sharing the Coast Conference.”  This year’s edition will take place Saturday, March 3, at Tillamook Bay Community College in Tillamook. There will also be field trips on Sunday, March 4.
         The conference’s theme this year is climate change and its potential impacts—and how to teach about them. While designed especially for CoastWatchers monitoring the coast, and the teachers and interpreters who make up NAME’s membership, the conference is open to all and will be a feast of information for anyone interested in coastal natural history and science.
        Key speakers include dendrochronologist Bryan Black on the Northwest’s climate history; geologist Curt Peterson on the future of Oregon’s beaches; and Pat Corcoran of Sea Grant on increasing coastal hazards and how to plan for them.Workshops and breakout sessions deal with everything from paleobotany to invasive species to surveying for snowy plovers. Our own volunteer coordinator, Paris Edwards, will speak on adaptive planning for climate change.
         Curt Peterson will lead a field trip on coastal geology Sunday morning, among other offerings that day.
For current Oregon Shores or NAME members, the cost will be $15 to cover lunch and snacks. Those whose membership is not current will be asked to renew; for non-members, the charge will be $45.
           For more information about the event, go our website, http://oregonshores.org/coastwatch.php5. To register, go to the NAME site, http://www.pacname.org/
      
Ocean Frontiers: The Dawn of a New Era in Ocean Stewardship: tonight in Newport
Oregon Shores has been fully participating in the state’s “marine spatial planning” efforts for years, preparing for ocean renewable energy development, establishing a system of marine reserves and protected areas -- in general, shaping the future uses and protections for Oregon’s Territorial Sea and beyond. Around the country, other coastal states are, similarly, engaged in their own ocean planning efforts. It nearly goes without saying, but...we’ve got a lot to learn from each other.
     That is why Oregon Shores is co-hosting two screenings of Ocean Frontiers: The Dawn of a New Era in Ocean Stewardship, a film that highlights stories from around the nation about innovative, cooperative projects to address today’s ocean problems so that marine environments will be in better shape for the years ahead. The film was produced by Oregon-based Green Fire Productions, which has created dozens of award-winning documentaries.
         Ocean Frontiers will take us on an inspiring voyage to seaports and watersheds across the country--from the busy shipping lanes of Boston Harbor to Oregon’s very own fishing community of Port Orford; from America’s coral reef playground in the Florida Keys to the nation’s premier seafood nursery in the Mississippi Delta. Here we meet an intermingling of unlikely allies, of industrial shippers and whale biologists, pig farmers and wetland ecologists, sport fishers and reef snorkelers and many more, all of them embarking on a new course of cooperation, in defense of the seas that sustain us.
         The first event is scheduled in Newport for this coming Wednesday, February 22, at the Performing Arts Center, 777 W. Olive St., from 7-9 p.m. and is free and open to the public. The second is in Portland on March 7 at the Hollywood Theater, 4122 NE Sandy Blvd., also from 7-9 pm. It is open to the public and tickets are $5, which organizers recommend purchasing in advance at http://bit.ly/OceanFrontiers.  . 
         Oregon's First Lady, Cylvia Hayes, is expected to speak at the Portland event.  Doors open at 6:30 p.m for both events, and a panel of experts will be available to answer questions after the film.
        An additional screening of Ocean Frontiers is scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 23, at 7:30 p.m. in Smith Studio at the Sitka Center for Art and Ecology,
56605 Sitka Drive, in Otis. 541-994-5485. To watch the preview, visit http://ocean-frontiers.org/.

Marine Reserve bill reaches the governor's desk
Oregon Shores is pleased to announce that the Oregon marine reserve bill, SB 1510, just cleared its final legislative hurdle, gaining approval of the Oregon House by a vote of 57 to 2!  The next stop is the desk of Governor John Kitzhaber. Once signed into law, the bill would add three new sites,  at Cape Falcon, Cascade Head and Cape Perpetua, to Oregon’s fledgling system of marine reserves and protected areas. The bill was based on the hard work of balanced community teams whose recommendations received unanimous approval by Oregon’s Ocean Policy Advisory Council.
        Passage of the bill marks a milestone after years of advocacy by Oregon Shores’ members, volunteers, board  and staff, as well as by our coalition partners in Our Ocean. A big thank you to Oregon’s coastal legislators who authored and sponsored the bill, to the Governor and his staff, and to everyone who wrote letters, attended hearings and provided public comment at meetings.
--Phillip Johnson <orshores@teleport.com>
 
Reminders
In Search of Peace, justice, and Unity
"Peace, Justice and Unity" is the title of a presentation at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church on Sunday, February 26, at 2 p.m.. The presenter, Peggy Evans, has been a Baha'i since 1961. She is a retired teacher, social worker and librarian now living on Lopez Island, Washington.  Evans lived and taught in Micronesia for 10 years, where she began her Baha'i spiritual journey. She will explore the interconnectedness of peace, justice and unity and the importance of these ideals in our world today. Questions and discussion will follow the presentation. St. Stephen's Episcopal Church is located on the corner of SW 9th and Hurbert in Newport.
    This event is sponsored by the Interfaith Community for Peace and Justice (ICPJ), whose goal is to promote peace and justice through educational programs and events that foster understanding among all faiths and cultures. For information about this program or other ICPJ events and programs, contact: Darleen Searcy (541) 265-8602.

A theme song for our times, by Bruce Springsteen: “We Take Care of Our Own”
http://www.commondreams.org/further/2012/02/17-6

Successful social movements are emergent, evolving, radically self-organizing, and involve the dedicated efforts of many people, each finding the role that best uses his or her gifts and passions.
-- Davis C. Korten, Agenda For A New Economy, Page 262