• Thanksgiving break is upon us so don’t forget to bring along a copy of Eugene Weekly to annoy your conservative relatives or just to do the crossword. We don’t ask our delivery folks to work on Turkey Day, so the Weekly will hit the streets on Wednesday, Nov. 22. And also don’t forget to ask your print loving family members to support their local alternative weekly in this giving season!
• Planned Parenthood continues to do the good work in Oregon and around the country, defending a woman’s right to choose. But Planned Parenthood also pisses off the MAGA folks by doing more than helping those of us with a uterus control our destiny. The organization recently announced it is offering HIV prevention medication in Eugene, Grants Pass and Medford. PrEP, the pill to prevent HIV, is up to 99 percent effective when taken correctly, and according to a note we got from Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette & Southwestern Oregon, “This was a huge medical breakthrough that benefits everyone, but especially for LGBTQIA+ folks who were disproportionately affected and ostracized during the HIV/AIDS crisis in the 1980s-1990s — and has dramatically reduced the number of new HIV infections.”
• Here’s the Wayne Morse integrity pledge that we should demand of every political candidate: “I will exercise an independence of judgment based on the evidence of each issue. I will weigh the views of my constituents and party, but cast my vote free of political pressure and unmoved by threats of loss of political support.”
• It is a great time to be a sports Duck! South Eugene High School graduate Maddie Elmore is leading the women’s cross country team into the national championships on Nov. 18 in Virginia. The Duck footballers are rolling towards a rematch with the University of Washington Huskies, with a potential spot in the college football playoffs on the line. The men and women basketballers have both started off undefeated. Catch the Duck men hoopsters at home against Tennessee State at 6 pm this Friday, Nov. 17. Go Ducks!
• The 136-year-old Eugene Family YMCA will open its “state-of-the-art facility that will improve the lives of thousands more each year in Lane County” with a 10 am ribbon cutting Dec. 16. The location is officially named the Eugene Family YMCA, the Don Stathos campus. The new Y, located at 600 E. 24th Avenue, is just off the Amazon bike path and is named for Stathos. He was the “father” of the Oregon Bicycle Bill, which designated 1 percent of highway funds to bicycle and pedestrian uses and requires bike lanes on new and rebuilt roads around the state.
• Nov. 17, the City Club of Eugene says it will “bring together students from across the political spectrum to share their views on the current state of Oregon’s education system and the policies they would like to see implemented to address it.” The event will be noon Friday at the Redwood Auditorium at the Erb Memorial Union at the University of Oregon, so in-person folks should plan their transportation accordingly. Speakers include the vice president of the UO College Democrats, the president of the UO College Republicans, a member of the UO Young Democratic Socialists of America and UO Student Workers Union, and two representatives from the Oregon Aspiring Educators.