Slant

• Following the pathetic Helsinki summit, at which President Trump played tame lapdog to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, our own Sen. Ron Wyden made a wildly optimistic statement about the GOP. “Republicans can no longer ignore the facts: Russia used @NRA to infiltrate & influence US politics,” he tweeted on July 16. Does Wyden, who is on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, know something we don’t about the GOP? Why does he think Republicans are going to stop ignoring facts about Trump’s creepy association with Russia?

• Speaking of Russia, we again suggest that you read Russian Roulette by Michael Isikoff and David Corn, a fine investigative job by two journalists who are now on all the nightly talk shows. This is “the inside story of Putin’s war on America and the election of Donald Trump.” It helps explain what is happening to our fragile democracy.

• Makes us proud that Miguel McKelvey, who grew up in Eugene and is the co-founder of WeWork, a global real estate company, just announced to his 6,000 employees that WeWork will not serve meat at company events or even reimburse for meals that include red meat, poultry or pork. That’s quite a nod to the environment. McKelvey, who recently spoke at UO graduation, is the son of Lucia McKelvey, one of the founders of Eugene Weekly.

• “PERS Snatchers” was the right title for the City Club of Eugene meeting July 13. Bill Gary, lead counsel for Oregon local governments in connection with reform of PERS, and Melissa Unger, executive director of the Oregon chapter of the Service Employees International Union, demonstrated in their talks the profound problems in solving the gap between expected revenue and anticipated pension payments in Oregon. Gary urged that all sides work together for solutions, suggesting that this has not happened before. If that ‘s true, it sounds like a good starting point.

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!