Corvallis city council member en route to Cuba

CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP) - Corvallis City Council member Mike Beilstein is en route to Cuba for a one-month stay as a part of a Pastors for Peace humanitarian mission.The United States has an embargo and travel ban on Cuba and Beilstein admits he is openly breaking the law.The council gave the retired OSU chemist permission to be absent without losing his council seat.He says he rejects the anti-communist attitude from the 1950s. He is a former Socialist Party member but became a Green after the two groups merged.He also made the trip last year.He says a Corvallis dentist is providing two exam chairs and an X-ray machine, and a medical supply company in Albany is donating oxygen equipment. He declined to name the businesses.He said the First Presbyterian Church in Corvallis is covering the cost of transporting the items.