• Intense rainfall, heavy snowfall and pestilence (measles)? Sounds like we could be experiencing The Plagues of Egypt. Or it could be our rapidly changing climate. But, if frogs start pelting us, we’ll know who’s responsible for this wild start to 2019.
• What we’re reading: After reading Hillary Rosner’s terrific review of Horizon by Barry Lopez in The New York Times on April 7, we must read this latest book by our famous local writer. “An eminent environmentalist’s plea for — and celebration of — the planet,” the Times headline says. Lopez will read from his new book in a benefit for McKenzie River Trust at 7:30 pm Tuesday, April 16, at The Shedd. Tickets are $15 at TheShedd.org.
• Listening to Dr. Douglas Bovee talk to the City Club of Eugene on April 5, we were overwhelmed by the magnitude of the opioid epidemic, how it continues to grow in Lane County and nationally, and what to do about it. Dr. Bovee, who has devoted his entire medical career to the practice of addiction treatment and recovery, is the medical director of the Lane County Methadone Treatment Program. He defined the characteristics of addiction as: craving and compulsion, loss of control and continued use despite adverse consequences. He could have been more critical of the drug companies, their manipulation of doctors, and their relentless pursuit of profit.
• Oregon Women’s Basketball’s 2019 post-season ambitions came to an end with its fingernail-biting loss of 72-67 to Baylor. The win for us, though, is that the band will be getting back together with Sabrina Ionescu announcing her decision to delay the WNBA draft and to return to the UO to settle some unfinished business. In a letter published online at The Players’ Tribune the day after the loss in Tampa, Ionescu announced her plan to answer the challenge she heard in basketball legend Kobe Bryant’s analysis of her game on ESPN. She’s ready to take it to the next level. We’re ready, too.
• Newsrooms across Oregon, including Eugene Weekly, have joined together in a project called Breaking the Silence to highlight death by suicide — a public health crisis that killed more than 800 Oregonians last year. The goal is to not only call attention to the issue but also to examine research into prevention and offer resources to those who may be in crisis. Read our story about suicide prevention and local LGBTQ youth in this week’s paper. Find out more at breakingthesilenceor.com. The National Suicide Prevention Hotline is 1-800-273-8255 and the Oregon Youth Hotline is 877-968-8491, or text teen2teen to 839863.
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