• Good election news for progressives here — and around the country. Eugene City Councilor Lyndsie Leech trounced her opponent for the Ward 7 seat in the Tuesday, Nov. 7, special election, drawing 58 percent of the vote to conservative Barbie Walker’s 42 percent as of press time. It was an election that shouldn’t have happened, spurred by a vicious recall against former Councilor Claire Syrett for her support of public transit. Happily, Ward 7 voters saw through the scam this time and elected another councilor who supports progressive causes. Nationally, abortion rights scored unexpectedly big wins from voters in Ohio, Virginia and Kentucky. Don’t let those Biden-Trump polls get you down.
• We are happy to see former Weekly intern, Lane Community College grad and former Oregon Daily Emerald editor Hannarose McGuinness’s byline in The Register-Guard. We take a lot of pride in Eugene Weekly interns going on to journalism careers, and McGuinness will be contributing a local voice and news coverage to the daily paper. It’s November, which is the start of the giving season — feel free to check out Support.EugeneWeekly.com for how to contribute the our internship program’s stipend. And keep picking up the paper and telling advertisers you saw them in the Weekly because that supports your independent local news source, too!
• Corrections/clarifications: in our Nov. 2 article celebrating 50 years of the Hoedads Reforestation Cooperative, we mistakenly quoted a former Hoedad as saying she was one of the few Hoedads who was not a lesbian. She was actually referring to one of the two all-women Hoedad crews, Half and Half, which was primarily a lesbian crew. Sources tell us there was a big brouhaha about it on the Hoedads’ Facebook page.
• The summer harvest is in, and the Willamette Farm and Food Coalition is back with the 13th annual Fill Your Pantry event, noon to 4 pm Sunday, Nov. 12, in the Agricultural Pavilion at the Lane County Fairgrounds, 796 W. 13th Avenue. There will be upward of 36 vendors this year, and you can get your supply of veggies, bread and other foods for the winter. It’s a great way to support small farmers and food businesses in Lane County.
• Eugene Weekly is once again collecting clothing and winter supplies for White Bird Clinic to distribute to those in need. Every year we are awed and touched by all things readers bring in to help community members to stave off the cold from warm used coats to handknit hats and scarves. Think wool blankets, tents or anything else someone might need to survive Oregon’s cold wet nights. Drop them off at 1251 Lincoln Street weekdays between 9 am and 5 pm.
• Two important community names showed up in The Register-Guard’s obituaries this past weekend. For some, obits are tragic, but for others they are glances into lives well lived. And obituaries often tell us a detail of history it behooves us to remember. For instance, the obituary of Debbie Mohr, published Nov. 5 in memory of her death this past August, told us that when she married DeNorval Unthank Jr. of Portland, interracial marriage was illegal in the state of Oregon. The couple, who were targeted with a cross burning while at the University of Oregon, were legally married in Vancouver, Washington. That was 1951, and the anti-miscegenation law was repealed later that year.
Another important obituary in the RG tells us, sadly, about the death of Ron Eachus at age 76 from a heart attack while hiking in Bhutan. Eachus was Oregon Daily Emerald editor, UO student body president and a fierce opponent of the Vietnam War. He spent his life working for the people at the bottom, trying to make the world a better place. His memorial service will be from 2 to 5 pm Saturday, Jan. 6, at the Salem Convention Center, 200 Commercial Street SE. As the obituary said, “All are welcome to attend and celebrate Ron’s life”.