• News on the Eugene city auditor front. Bonny McCornack of ElectedAuditor4CityAccountability and a chief petitioner for Measure 20-283 tells us that on Monday, March 12, Circuit Court Judge Rasmussen struck the word “independent” from the title of the city’s competing appointed auditor ballot measure. McCornack says, “For true independence the auditor cannot be appointed and supervised by the City Council and must be elected by and accountable to the voters of Eugene.” She argues that the city’s ballot measure “was designed to conflict with the citizens’ initiative, Measure 20-283,” and says the city measure “was so extremely fast-tracked that as of March 15 there are only five days for the city to submit arguments for the Voters’ Pamphlet and that measure didn’t have a number as of press time. Voters will weigh in on the auditor issue in the May 15 election.
• We read the terrific New Yorker article on the “Big One,” as well as our own Cascadia subduction zone coverage, and we have gone to neighborhood meetings about what to do when the huge quake hits, but Steve Robinson scared us the most in his March 9 speech to the City Club of Eugene. An economist, he’s the president of the nonprofit Cascadia Prepared. Clearly it is his mission to push us all into action. The Cascadia fault covers about 100,000 square miles and 10 million people. Robinson said there is about an even chance that a number eight or nine earthquake will happen in the next 15 years. No disagreement, he said, that the “Big One” could happen any minute, and we are not ready for it. Visit his website at cprep.org for more direction, and see our upcoming story on disaster preparedness. Robinson’s wife, State Rep. Nancy Nathanson, demonstrated a “go-pack,” a small back-pack that all of us should have ready to go. We are convinced. It is time to prepare, from schools and bridges to go-packs and water bottles.
• We were proud to see Oregon Gov. Kate Brown on PBS News Hour March 12, together with the Republican governor of Maryland, powerfully advocating that the opioid crisis enveloping this country be treated as a public health crisis rather than a criminal problem. Of course, that’s not Donald Trump’s direction, but the bi-partisan governors are right.
• How about Joe Biden for president, Oprah Winfrey for vice president in 2020? Does that interest EW readers?
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!
Publisher
Eugene Weekly
P.S. If you’d like to talk about supporting EW, I’d love to hear from you!
jody@eugeneweekly.com
(541) 484-0519