• Denny Braud rolled out an impressive list of achievements in downtown Eugene over the last 15 years when he showed slides and spoke to the City Club of Eugene Oct. 4. The director of Eugene’s Planning and Development department, Braud didn’t talk much about downtown’s greatest current problem, the homeless. In response to questions, he said the city and county are working on a day center downtown for the homeless. Other questions from his audience included: What about a school downtown? How about abolishing Valley River Center? An art museum in the EWEB building? Retiring City Manager Jon Ruiz asked, “How do you see downtown after 2021?”
• Speaking of 2021, both The Guardian and The New York Times have given us stories and pictures focusing on the empty stands at the biennial world track championships in Doha, Qatar. We didn’t see her, but Gov. Kate Brown and her entourage were there, ostensibly to preview this meet, which will come to Eugene in 2021. She has promised to come up with $40 million from the state, and Phil Knight is building the new “historic Hayward field” (having swiftly torn down the original) for that event and many more. Unlike Doha, we predict Eugene will fill the stands, but the site selection process is still a murky mystery. Welcome to the world of international sport.
• To get people out of their cars and cut down carbon emissions, the city of Eugene could bring e-scooters to the area by spring 2020, but first Eugene wants to hear from residents through a survey on Engage Eugene. Check out EW’s online story “Scoot, Scoot” about what Eugene needs to do and what the process looks like before it invites e-scooter companies.
• What we’re reading: Blowout: Corrupted Democracy, Rogue State Russia and the Richest, Most Destructive Industry on Earth by Rachel Maddow. Just published by Crown, it reads like Rachel Maddow sounds. She was on the cover of The New York Times Magazine Oct. 1, but the NYT interview seems to be at odds with the book. It portrays her as less forceful than she comes across in her own words.
• The Daily Emerald has its own beer. This means you can support college journalism while sipping a “Headliner” brewskie at Falling Sky Pizzeria. You can also support the Emerald by donating to its faceoff with the University of Washington Huskies. The Emerald and the UW Daily are not only covering the longtime West Coast football rivalry, culminating with the Oct. 19 game between the Ducks and the Huskies, they are also in the midst of a fundraising competition, with the Oregon paper currently in the lead. If you want to help the Duck journalists reach their $15,000 fundraising goal and beat the Huskies, go to dailyemerald.com/fundraising.
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
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