• “Defend Equality to Defend Democracy” is a town meeting 1:30 pm Saturday, Dec. 9, at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Eugene, 1685 W. 13th Avenue. Organizers say, “Join with others to defend democracy by working towards equality in our political and electoral systems.” Presenters include national director of Move to Amend, Kaitlin Sopoci Belknap, Wolf-PAC (Oregon), Community Rights Lane County, NAACP Eugene/Springfield President Eric Richardson, The Bus Project Policy and Advocacy Director Gnora Gumanow, National Popular Vote (Oregon) Co-Director Eileen Reavey, The Equal Vote Coalition and Our Revolution Lane County. After the presentations, Oregon Sen. James Manning will facilitate a discussion among the panelists.
• Atlas Solutions is having a fundraiser at Thinking Tree Distillery 7 to 11 pm Saturday, Dec. 9, at 88 Jackson Street. The event is free and will have live funk music as well as spoken word by Plaedo Wellman, who says it will be a “good night of dancing, networking, mingling and furthering the local food resiliency cause.” Nonprofit Atlas Solutions uses GIS mapping technology and is developing and implementing a program to coordinate emergency food sites with grassroots gardeners who want to participate in improving access to local food for at risk and low income families. According to Wellman this program is overseen by a volunteer task force using GIS to monitor hunger and maintain a network of farms, gardens, food pantries and food distribution sites. “Atlas Solutions’ gardening priorities include community food resiliency, organic and local food production, soil health, biodiversity, water and habitat conservation.”
• Join Our Children’s Trust in viewing a live stream of oral arguments in OCT’s climate case at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco on Dec. 11. At issue is whether the Trump Administration can evade trial currently set for Feb. 5, 2018. The subject of oral arguments will be the Trump administration’s extraordinary mandamus petition filed in June, seeking the Ninth Circuit’s review of U.S. District Court Judge Ann Aiken’s 2016 denial of motions to dismiss in Juliana v. United States. The Trump administration claims irreparable harm for having to participate in the ordinary pre-trial discovery process and go to trial. The live stream starts 9:45 am Monday, Dec. 11, in UO Straub Hall, Room 145.
• The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Oregon Water Resources Department are hosting an open house to inform the public about potential water storage reallocation in the Willamette Valley, 3 to 7 pm Monday, Dec. 11, at the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s office at 4034 Fairview Industrial Drive in Salem. The Army Corps says they are “studying this issue because demands on the valley’s water supplies have changed due to increasing populations, development, irrigation and the listing of threatened or endangered fish species. Because of this, Portland District and OWRD are sponsoring a feasibility study to determine if and how to best reallocate reservoir space during the spring and summer months. To review the draft assessment, visit nwp.usace.army.mil/notice/article/1364275.