• Did you vote yet? Time is running out — or may have run out by the time you read this! The runoff round for Best of Eugene wraps up Sept. 29 at noon. Vote at BestofEugene.com or hold your peace till next year.
• Judging from the letters to the editor that have poured into our mailbox in the past week, Rep. Paul Holvey looks to be a shoe-in to retain his seat in the Oregon Legislature, despite the vicious recall campaign mounted by a single labor union’s disgruntled leaders, who have inexplicably spent around $200,000 to oust him. Holvey, who represents much of Eugene as well as rural areas south of town, has been a champion of the working class since taking office more than 20 years ago. The recall is dishonest — we have heard numerous accounts from people who say they were lied to by petition gatherers — and holding a special election is a waste of public money. Ballots are due Oct. 3. Vote “no.”
• Made us proud to see McKenzie Funk’s byline on a story in the Sunday New York Times Magazine Sept. 24. Now a nationally renowned journalist, Funk grew up in Eugene and was educated in our public schools. His article tells how a former drug smuggler turned Americans’ personal information into a multi-billion industry. Great read.
• The Oregon Duck volleyballers are red hot and rolling. Last week they swept the Oregon State Beavers in Eugene before a record crowd of more than 7,000 fans. Then they traveled to Los Angeles to follow up with a convincing sweep of the UCLA Bruins. These Duck women are ranked in the top 10 in the nation. They are thinking big, and the sky is the limit. Catch them next time they take wing, when the University of Washington Huskies come to town at 6 pm Friday, Sept. 29.
• The Oregon Duck footballers did excellent work preparing for the commotion that follows Colorado football and subsequently thumping the Buffaloes. The task may become more difficult this week when the Ducks travel to Palo Alto to take on Stanford, which has a history of disrupting strong Oregon teams. Oregon’s Ducks won’t have the national spotlight to motivate them and won’t have 60,000 loud fans to support them, so they will have to bring their own focus and energy.
• After meeting in the cavernous Arcimoto factory last week, the City Club of Eugene will be back in its usual Maple Room at the Inn at the 5th, courtesy of Brian Obie, on Sept. 29. Meeting at noon, the club’s topic will be “Civil Liberties in a Blue State: Are We Safe?” Speakers will include Bethany Grace Howe from TransHealth Data Collective, Angela Ocana from Eugene Public Library and Garrett Epps, a University of Oregon law professor of practice.
• We’d like to thank the several loyal newsletter subscribers who wrote to us in response to the disgruntled newsletter reader who no longer wants to receive our “communist propaganda.” It’s always good to hear folks enjoy our “commie rag” in print and via email. If you want to receive our weekly, and apparently red-tinged, email reports, just go to EugeneWeekly.com/newsletter. You can also subscribe to get the print edition via U.S. Mail at Support.eugeneweekly.com.
