Slant

Wow! Thank you to the folks who have dropped by Eugene Weekly’s office at 1251 Lincoln Street with warm clothing, tents and sleeping bags for our homeless community members. We are collecting the items for White Bird Clinic’s Cold Weather Donation Drive. Feel free to drop by with more!

• Obviously Thursday is the best day of the week — you’re anticipating the weekend, and it’s the day Eugene Weekly comes out. If you want a little extra EW, don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter that fills you in on what we’re running online. This week you can read about cartoonist Shannon Wheeler (remember “Too Much Coffee Man”?) and his Portland art show, all the candidates who might run for the seat of retiring Congressman Peter DeFazio and a local hospital worker strike. Go to EugeneWeekly.com/Newsletter to sign up for our EW Extra.

• For the fourth time in nearly nine years, the University of Oregon is searching for a new coaching messiah to guide its football program to glory and national championships. Mario Cristobal, after four years as head coach of the Ducks, made it official Dec. 6 that he favors the heat and passion of his native Miami rather than the cold rain of Eugene, and he is now the king football coach at the University of Miami. He does not come cheap. Between his new salary — rumored to be $8 million per season — as well as buyout money to the former Miami coach and to the UO, Miami boosters ponied up close to $30 million to make this work. What’s a few bucks for a coaching guru? How Oregon responds to the salary madness that is college coaching will be interesting to see. We wonder if the Ducks tap someone with Pacific Northwest roots, like Lane County native Justin Wilcox, currently the head coach at the University of California, Berkeley.

• State Sen. Floyd Prozanski and Lane County District Attorney Patty Perlow will discuss “Measure 11 Mandatory Sentences: Repeal, Revise or Retain” for the City Club of Eugene Friday, Dec. 10, at noon. The first questioner is David Brewer, retired Oregon Supreme Court justice. This program airs on the City Club Facebook and YouTube pages starting at noon. The City Club hopes to return to in-person meetings early in 2022.

• Some of that “Old Time Religion” came to The Register-Guard over the Thanksgiving weekend in the form of two full-page pink and white advertisements that contained more than a dozen Bible verses and a declaration that we all should repent at the altar or go to hell. It also came with a link to Message.HeIsListening.site with the same information and a call to “apologize.” The RG, of course, is a corporate-run newspaper under the Gannett publishing flag, and Gannett is free to run the advertisements it sees fit. In this case, the ads came from the multi-national content provider called ReachLocal, which is a division of Gannett. Still, The Tennessean in Nashville (another Gannett paper) got into trouble in 2020 when it ran a full-page Christian-themed ad that denounced Islam. The paper fired its advertising manager, and Gannett donated $14,000 (the value of the ad) to a Nashville-based Muslim nonprofit. Will Gannett do the same for us Eugene heathens?

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!