OK all you billionaire art collectors, now’s your chance to buy some exquisite collectible digital art — and support Eugene Weekly in the process. Following on a worldwide trend, EW has created a non-fungible token, or NFT, version of this week’s delightful cover image by Chelsea Lovejoy and is offering the digital file at an online auction. This is a unique edition of one; you can find the listing and begin bidding at EugeneWeekly.com/NFT. All proceeds go to support our news coverage. The auction runs until 5 pm Friday, April 23.

• A woman’s place is in the House — Oregon’s House of Representatives, that is. Rep. Andrea Valderrama of Portland was sworn into office April 1. Valderrama replaces Diego Hernandez, who resigned shortly before facing a House vote on whether to expel him over cases of sexual harassment at the Capitol. With Valderrama’s appointment, women (Republican and Democrat) hold a majority in the House for the first time in Oregon’s history. 

• The May 18 election is coming up quickly in Lane County — that’s when voters in school districts across the area decide on hotly contested school board races. The big race in Eugene is for School District 4J with three seats to fill on the board. The City Club of Eugene is putting on a candidate forum Friday, April 9, starting at noon on its Facebook and YouTube pages. Candidates for position three are Tom DiLiberto, incumbent Judy Newman and Brian Costa; Maya Rabasa is running for position six; and Laural O’Rourke and Harry Sanger are competing for position two (see our story this week). Incumbent Anne Marie Levis dropped out of the position two race to help clear the path for O’Rourke, a woman with an impressive resume whose had three children with Individualized Education Program and who knows how school feels for a person of color. 

• Congratulations to this year’s two Oregon Book Awards finalists from Eugene: Ruby McConnell, for Ground Truth: A Geological Survey of a Life (Overcup Press), a finalist for the Sarah Winnemucca Award for Creative Nonfiction; and Kathryn Ormsbee, for The Sullivan Sisters (Simon & Schuster), a finalist for the Leslie Bradshaw Award for Young Adult Literature. Kudos, also, to Elizabeth Lyon, who receives the Stewart H. Holbrook Literary Legacy Award. Lyon is a noted editor and writer of books on editing and marketing. 

• A big bravo to Nancy Webber and the Eugene Civic Alliance staff for putting on what we hope is the first annual Easter Egg hunt and celebration at the site of the old Civic Stadium. About 200 kids from all over the area joined in to chase eggs and play. The Civic project still needs to raise more money, but what could be more important for that 10 acres nearly in the center of the city than a place for kids to play?

 • As of April 19, every Oregonian over the age of 16 will be eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. If you are a healthy adult able to get the vaccine, then get the damn thing. And help those who are less able to access the vaccine get their shot, too. The science is there, and a poke with a needle is better than a ventilator.

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