• You asked for it; you got it. Our online calendar listings are back as a list for your browsing pleasure. Find them at eugeneweekly.com (along with that other calendar you all apparently don’t like so much). 

•  Sister Helen Prejean, a frequent visitor to Eugene and the University of Oregon, must be thrilled with Pope Francis’ decree that the death penalty is “inadmissible” in all cases. A leading American advocate for getting rid of the death penalty, Prejean became famous after her 1993 book about being a spiritual advisor to men on death row was made into the movie Dead Man Walking. Now it will be fascinating to see what politicians do with the pope’s decision. Thirty-one states allow the death penalty, including Oregon, though we have not used it since 1997. Pope Francis and Sister Helen Prejean are right. The death penalty should be abolished.

• Our new favorite bumper-sticker is “Hurry Up, Mueller” — and we still like the old one from the Cottage Grove Blackberry Pie Society, “Bring Back Facts.”

• On Aug. 5, the entire New York Times Magazine carried Nathaniel Rich’s article, “Losing Earth,” about the decade from 1979 to 1989 when, as the editor’s note put it, “humankind first came to a broad understanding of the causes and dangers of climate change.” It is exciting that the NYT is giving this dire subject this attention, but many of the insiders struggling to combat climate change are not so thrilled. Naomi Klein already has written that Rich does not lay enough blame on raw capitalism. Others have said that Big Oil is ecstatic because Rich is so easy on them. The article and backlash bring us back to Our Children’s Trust case on climate change to be argued in Eugene in late October. It’s a long fight we cannot lose.

• Sponsors, Eugene’s inspiring transitional program for ex-prisoners, is diving into another ambitious project. Called the Tiny Homes Project, it will create ten tiny homes “designed to be compact, simple and minimal” designed by Nir Pearlson Architect. Steve Christiansen is the new chair of the Sponsors executive board, succeeding Margaret Hallock. Somehow, these houses will happen on his watch in the best tradition of Sponsors.

• We love those little corners of Lane County filled with unexpected pleasures. You don’t expect a shopping plaza in Pleasant Hill, whose main draw as you drive down Highway 58 seems to be a Dari Mart, to be a mecca of good eats. But between Hilltop Bar and Grill and Cioppino House for dinner, Sunrise Café for breakfast and the coffee box newly owned by Creswell Coffee for caffeine, you are in for culinary happiness. What other corners of the county should we know about?

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