Activist Alert 4-14-2016

• The NAACP of Lane County’s “Community Conversations: Building Unity in our Community” series of public meetings on race, privilege and equity continues from 5:30 to 8 pm Thursday, April 14, at the EWEB Community Room, North Building, 500 E. 4th Ave. The meeting begins with a light dinner at 5:30. Additional meetings in the series will be at the same time and place on the second Thursday of each month through May. Reservations are requested through naacplanecounty.org or the Facebook page. Call 682-5619.

• 10 am to 1 pm Friday, April 15, at the Eugene downtown Post Office, 520 Willamette, community members will be calling on the Federal government to redirect taxes spent on war to instead fight climate change and to fund education, job creation, health care and other vital services. Taxpayers will have the opportunity to decide where their tax dollars go by participating in a penny poll. The event features a noon rally with speakers and the music of the Raging Grannies and Labor singer Mark Ross. All are welcome. From 11 am to 10 pm the same day, Whirled Pies Pizzeria, 1123 Monroe, will donate a percent of sales to CALC. For more information about the day’s events, contact CALC at (541) 485-1755.

• MAPS (Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies) is holding a fundraiser in order to purchase one kilogram of pharmaceutical grade MDMA to continue Phase 3 trials of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD. A Eugene Psychedelic Dinner will be held April 17 as part of dinners happening all around the country this April to raise awareness and funds to progress the therapeutic potential of psychedelic drugs and continue to remove the stigma associated with these substances. For more info go to razoo.com/us/story/Global-Psychedelic-Dinner-Eugene. To go to the Eugene potluck dinner, contact Mike Francis at mikefrancisnow@gmail.com.

• Princeton historian Hendrik Hartog speaks on justice and the complexities of gradual emancipation in early 19th-century America 7:30 pm April 21 in 175 Knight Law Center at the UO. Hartog’s O’Fallon lecture comes out of his current research on the long legal history of slavery in New Jersey. He is the author of Public Property and Private Power: the Corporation of the City of New York in American Law, 1730-1870 (1983); Man and Wife in America: a History (2000); and Someday All This Will Be Yours: A History of Inheritance and Old Age (2012). The lecture is free and open to the public and will be live streamed. For more information, or for disability accommodations (which must be made by April 14), visit ohc.uoregon.edu or call (541) 346-3934.

• Springfield City Club will feature Ted Taylor who recently retired after almost 18 years leading the area’s alternative newspaper, Eugene Weekly. An avid fly fisherman, he will reflect on his years of leadership at the end of a long journalistic career and on how the community and media have changed. Noon Thursday, April 21, Willamalane Sports Center, Springfield. Free to members, $10 nonmembers; with lunch $11 members, $22 nonmembers.

A Note From the Publisher

Dear Readers,

The last two years have been some of the hardest in Eugene Weekly’s 43 years. There were moments when keeping the paper alive felt uncertain. And yet, here we are — still publishing, still investigating, still showing up every week.

That’s because of you!

Not just because of financial support (though that matters enormously), but because of the emails, notes, conversations, encouragement and ideas you shared along the way. You reminded us why this paper exists and who it’s for.

Listening to readers has always been at the heart of Eugene Weekly. This year, that meant launching our popular weekly Activist Alert column, after many of you told us there was no single, reliable place to find information about rallies, meetings and ways to get involved. You asked. We responded.

We’ve also continued to deepen the coverage that sets Eugene Weekly apart, including our in-depth reporting on local real estate development through Bricks & Mortar — digging into what’s being built, who’s behind it and how those decisions shape our community.

And, of course, we’ve continued to bring you the stories and features many of you depend on: investigations and local government reporting, arts and culture coverage, sudoku and crossword puzzles, Savage Love, and our extensive community events calendar. We feature award-winning stories by University of Oregon student reporters getting real world journalism experience. All free. In print and online.

None of this happens by accident. It happens because readers step up and say: this matters.

As we head into a new year, please consider supporting Eugene Weekly if you’re able. Every dollar helps keep us digging, questioning, celebrating — and yes, occasionally annoying exactly the right people. We consider that a public service.

Thank you for standing with us!