By EW editorial staff
• When Eugene Weekly first started to discover the extent of the embezzlement, one of the first of the many awesome businesses that offered to do a fundraiser was Old Nick’s Pub. Now we see Old Nick’s is doing a fundraiser of its own. Emily Chappell posts on the pub’s social media that the owner of the building is selling it and she’s hoping to buy the Whit area building — whatever the outcome, she says Old Nick’s is not going away. Go to GoFund.me/0206b153 to pitch in. Speaking of fundraisers — thank you, WOW Hall and 255 Madison, for your recent fundraisers; it’s funds from your efforts and our readers that let us hire reporter Emerson Brady back this week!
• Municipal bonds — hardly a scintillating topic. But what the city of Eugene decides to issue bonds for can dictate the future of Eugene for decades — think recreational facilities for the community’s youth, parks and roads. Why then is Eugene offering to use its bonding power to build a professional team a stadium when so many other needs are unmet? With a little leadership and vision, the City Council might imagine an indoor facility and turf field that our kids could play in and on year ’round. But maybe that is asking too much. After all, corporations are good at wangling subsidies. And kids, not so much.
• Speaking of kids, be sure to follow our ongoing coverage of 4J Superintendent Andy Dey online. The school district finally coughed up a copy of his contract and salary after weeks of the Weekly asking and filing public records requests. The 4J school board meets again Wednesday, Feb. 28, after we go to press — and must decide about Dey quickly. The contract sets a March 15 deadline for the board to say whether it will extend Dey’s contract for another year. If they miss the deadline, he gets an automatic extension through the 2025-26 school year. By the way, 4J, even the University of Oregon makes contracts available easily — if you ever want to see the millions Duck football coach Dan Lanning makes, or that he gets a Eugene Country Club membership and two free cars, just head on over to PublicRecords.uoregon.edu and check out the document library.
• The juvenile mental health crisis was the topic for the City Club of Eugene Feb. 23, and it included the terrifying numbers on juvenile suicides. We wonder if this country — even this county — is doing what it should. For instance, we have a shortage of mental health practitioners. What about scholarships and other assistance to push up the numbers? Maybe we don’t need to be spending so much on the border wall and the military and should spend it instead on our kids’ health and future? This Friday at noon at the Inn at the Fifth, check out the City Club Forum on “Campaign Financing in Oregon: The Dangers of Dark Money.”
• Any fellow news geeks watching the suit over the proposed Kroger purchases of Albertsons? Oregon joined the Federal Trade Commission and several other states this week in a lawsuit seeking to block the sale. Lots of concerns there over the merger, from food prices to too many pharmacies owned by the same company. Albertsons operates Safeway. Kroger is the parent company of Fred Meyer, in case that name doesn’t ring a bell. Sen. Ron Wyden spoke out in support of the FTC blocking the merger — and we know for a fact the senator is a Fred Meyer chicken fan. You know who supports the merger? The fruit loops of UFCW 555, the union with the wrong-headed and wildly unsuccessful campaign to recall pro-union state Rep. Paul Holvey.