• The nomination round has closed for Best of Eugene and the runoff round has begun! Vote at Vote.EugeneWeekly.com and, if you don’t see your fav pick there, remember this is a voter poll and you have to nominate them! Our suggestion for this year is to go to “Best category we didn’t include and who would win” and give us a creative idea. Last year Caffè Pacori got the Weekly’s cover with its “Best Bathroom” campaign!  Best cat belonging to a childless cat lady? 

 • The Swifties are back! No, not those Swifties. Each evening at dusk this time of year, dozens of bird-loving fans of Eugene’s population of Vaux’s swifts show up at Agate Hall on the University of Oregon campus to watch the birds plunge into the abandoned chimney there, looking very much like smoke being pulled back into a stove pipe. The small birds — they measure about four and a half inches in length — are on their fall migration south. They make a wonderful reminder of the magic that Mother Nature brings to the table in these troubled times, if only we take the opportunity to look.

• Do you like beer? Do you have blood to spare? Head over to Hop Valley Tasting Room from 1 pm to 7 pm Thursday, Sept. 26, to exchange one for the other! Hop Valley has partnered with Bloodworks Northwest to host a Pint for a Pint Blood Drive. Simply show up to the Hop Valley parking lot and take a ride on the Bloodworks NW Blood Bus to be rewarded with a voucher for a free pint (of beer) to be redeemed at a later date. No, the voucher isn’t good for Sept. 26, as it’s generally not advised to drink alcohol after donating that red liquid life. 

• After you’ve given blood and earned yourself a stiff drink, head over to Willamette Christian Center from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm for a Citywide Health Care Forum. Put together by the Churchill Area Neighbors, the forum will discuss the shortage of health care in Eugene and feature a townhall Q&A with health care providers, legislators and community advocates. Rep. Julie Fahey, Rep. Nancy Nathanson and DeLeesa Meashintubby, executive director of Volunteers in Medicine, are just a few of the panelists. You can either ask your question at the event or email CANHealthCareForum@gmail.com to ask ahead.

• This week in politics — nationally — another assassination attempt? And locally, we see there is an anti-Lane County gerrymander website worth a gander at NoGerrymander.com.