• Did you have a guardian angel in the recent ice storm? Did a local business step up and help you out? Maybe just helped you find something you needed or shoveled snow and ice? Give them a shout out in a letter to the editor and let them know they are appreciated! Send a 200 word note to Letters@EugeneWeekly.com and give the folks who brightened your day a moment in the sun. We are seeing lots of well-deserved love for Big City Gamin’ who hosted a warming center on their deck and collected food and supplies. Thanks also go to the big-hearted volunteers of the Egan Warming Centers who helped the unhoused when sometimes their own homes were cold and without power.  

• Speaking of thank yous — thank you! Thank you, community, for all your support that has made this paper feel your love for local independent journalism and our sassy spirit! Harlequin Beads and Jewelry will donate 20 percent of all sales for two days, Jan. 19 and 20. Old Nick’s Pub, who raised over $2,000 for our efforts, is hosting an online auction for the painting Field of Free (30×40 oil on canvas) by Abbas Darabi. The auction runs through midnight Jan. 21. The minimum bid is $250. Please bid in increments of $5 and you can bid in the comments on Old Nick’s Facebook page here. If you need to relax after the ice storm, Pearl Day Spa (541-683-3377) is doing a fundraiser through Jan. 19 and donating 5 percent of sales. And the creative folks at Caffé Pacori (recently awarded Eugene Weekly’s “Best Bathroom”) have designed fundraising T-shirts! You can pre-order Brit Howard’s super design here. $24 and all the proceeds go to the Weekly’s efforts to rehire staff and get back in the red boxes!

• A splendid show of works by Maude Kerns herself is up at the Maude Kerns Art Center at 1910 E. 15th Ave until Feb. 9. The impending slippery weather did not keep a good crowd away for the opening reception on Jan 12. If you go, be sure to pick up brochures to learn about this fine artist, born in Portland, eventually a professor at the University of Oregon..

•  City Club of Eugene for Jan. 19 will host University of Oregon President Karl Scholz who “will give a university update, recapping his first six months as president and sharing early insights from meeting with campus and community members.” City Club says Scholz “will discuss the university’s future, from his goals to support student success, career preparation, and sense of belonging, to UO’s move to the Big Ten and the role of a top-tier research university in the state and local economy.” City Club meets at noon at Maple Room at Inn at the Fifth. We’re hoping folks ask some tough questions on everything from that Big Ten move to UO’s role in this community.