How about a state bank of Oregon? Jeff Golden, the fine state senator from southern Oregon, wants to create a task force to study and make recommendations on creating a State Bank of Oregon. He learned about the Bank of North Dakota while producing an episode of the television series Immense Possibilities about it. No other state has done this since North Dakota in 1919 — evidence of the power of the lobbies. Learn more at PNS.org/video/immense-possibilities-state-bank. Golden has introduced a bill, SB 501, again this legislative session that makes absolute sense. Let’s get on with it and create a task force to study and make recommendations on a Bank of the State of Oregon.
• One of our favorite things we do at Eugene Weekly (beyond just publishing this newspaper each week) is train future journalists. We love it when we get an update on one of our former interns. You can catch Donald Morrison on TV One’s true crime series Payback talking about the 2004 unsolved killing of influential rapper Mac Dre. Want to support our intern program? Or heck, just help us buy our interns cool Local and Vocal T-shirts? Go to Support.EugeneWeekly.com or drop by 1251 Lincoln Street.
• Speaking of dropping by Eugene Weekly, please feel free to stop in and pick up some free copies of our papers for your garden and other uses. We like to recycle our recycled newsprint. Ever since that one time a white supremacist stole 500 copies from our red boxes and lit them on fire, we have had a “first five copies are free, all copies after that $1” policy in place (since the Eugene Police Department didn’t consider stealing a free paper and videoing the fire to try to intimidate us a crime). We are glad to give out free copies after you readers are done with them — and then feel free to use them to start a campfire.
• “Antisemitism and How To Fight It” is the City Club of Eugene topic for Friday, March 10. You can join the meeting at noon at the Maple Room at the Inn of the 5th or you can live stream the program online on YouTube, or listen 7 pm Monday night on KLCC. Wait! There’s more! You can also read a story at EugeneWeekly.com about the program and recent antisemitic incidents here in Lane County. If you want to be up-to-date on all our online extra content, go to EugeneWeekly.com/newsletter and subscribe to our weekly email updates.
• Here’s a book we don’t want to read: The Courage to be Free: Florida’s Blueprint for America’s Revival by Gov. Ron DeSantis. DeSantis clearly is running for the Republican nomination for president against Donald Trump in hopes of facing off against President Joe Biden in 2024. DeSantis is a far-right conservative, probably smarter and more dangerous than Trump. He’s very popular in Florida despite, or maybe because of, his attacks on public education, people of color, LGBTQIA people and even Disney World. Buckle up. We have to do everything we can to stop him.
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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