Hoedad Proud
Landing an interview with a Nobel Prize laureate within days after the prize is announced is an amazing feat for any reporter (“Hoedad Nobel Prize Winner,” EW, 10/10). Congratulations to EW intern Savannah Brown for her story about Gary Ruvkun and his “extremely magical” experience as a Hoedad member in Eugene back in 1973. That he remains so connected to Eugene after more than 50 years is a testament to what a great city this is!
Margaret Conover
Eugene
Eugene Weekly Strong
I am thrilled to learn that Jody Rolnick is the new business manager at the Weekly. She brings long years of diverse experience in the local print media into the mix.
As someone deeply involved in the grass-roots saving of Civic Stadium, which is now Civic Park, a true community gem, it is my opinion that none of this would have come about without the calm, timely hands-on help of Rolnick and her son Gabe, who as a senior at South Eugene High School initiated a “signing statement” in favor of keeping the Civic acres in recreation in perpetuity. From their lead we garnered 6,600 signatures in 72 hours, and kept the Kroger corporation from putting up another mall.
Recently, Camilla Mortensen, Rolnick and I got together for two long evenings of newspaper talk. My parents wrote and managed newspapers most of their working lives. I am very interested in keeping this small paper alive and independent, including from full-page corporate cigarette ads. I am confident these two newspaper people are in agreement. They are a dynamic duo, complementing each other in a way that bodes very well for the long-term viability of this vital member of the local print community.
At present Tsunami Books is working with the Weekly to create a prominent new page of local advertising, specifically for businesses, and individuals, who want it known that we support the paper. Stay tuned for details.
Thanks, Camilla Mortensen, and thanks, Jody Rolnick, for your work.
Scott Landfield
Eugene
Publisher’s Note: Want to take out an ad? Call 541-484-0519 or email Sales@EugeneWeekly.com, you can also go to Support.EugeneWeekly.com to help keep EW printing.
This is Higher Education?
Thank you, Eugene Weekly, for revealing what’s going on at the University of Oregon (“Kept in the Dark,” EW, 10/3). What exactly are the students learning? That women are something for men to use and abuse. That men have the privilege of taking whatever they want? Do the boys think that the girls are not human beings and treat them thusly?
This mindset which has been validated by our former president will make any kind of relationship that involves men and women unsuccessful. The females will look at males as someone that may assault her. The men will justify their actions by believing that this behavior is OK. And ruin their lives.
Shame on the University of Oregon which is also teaching these students by their neglect the same message. Our precious daughters and sons are learning sad lessons. We should tear the doors down!
Jean Denis
Eugene
More About Hart Mountain
EW’s feature on the Hart Mountain Wildlife Refuge was a nice human interest story about the reporter’s visit in June — before a fire made her story mostly irrelevant (“Where the Bighorns and the Antelope Play,” EW, 10/10). Half the refuge burned this August.
Neither in the article itself, nor in the online follow-up, did we learn what burned. Did the hot springs area and its popular free campground burn? (Yes, alas.) Did the refuge headquarters burn? (No, but the fire came within a few feet.) Is anything open? (Yes: Poker Jim Ridge, Flook Lake, Petroglyph Lake and the road through the refuge to Steens Mountain.) Hidden in the next to last sentence of the online article is the explosive news: All of the most popular parts of the refuge will be closed to the public until June 15, 2025. That was the story that should have come first.
William L. Sullivan
Eugene
Editor’s Note: William L. Sullivan is the author of 24 books, including his 100 Hikes series, and his Oregon Trails hiking column appears the first week of the month in Eugene Weekly.
Measuring the Details
If you look just at the headings, Measure 118 looks fantastic, but the devil is in the details and the details are terrible.
If you like fewer jobs, and lower incomes for Oregonians, less money to spend on education, health care, and public safety, when we need more teachers and police, not fewer, you will love Measure 118. I don’t like any of these things. I will vote no, you should too.
Measure 118 acts like a strange sales tax. It taxes big grocery chains and their suppliers, and will raise food costs for all Oregonians. Because most farmers and suppliers will raise their prices to pay the tax and retailers will too, your price may go up more than you think. Most other things you buy will cost more too. I will be voting no, you should Vote no too.
I’ve studied many tax proposals during 18 years in the Legislature and nearly 12 years as the
Chair of the House Revenue Committee. I support taxation to help Oregonians live better by supporting basic services. Measure 118 is a mess, beguiling us with false hope for a free lunch.
Don’t be fooled by Measure 118. Vote no on Measure 118!
Phil Barnhart
Oregon State Representative (2001-2019)
Eugene
ONLINE EXTRA LETTERS
Dial up Vote411
These days it can be a challenge to find information about the local candidates and measures that appear on your ballot. Luckily, there’s Vote411.org — a one-stop resource for everything on your ballot.
Vote411 is a trusted public service project of the League of Women Voters. It is used by millions of voters each year who are looking for objective, nonpartisan information so they can decide how they want to vote. In addition to candidates’ answers to questions there are neutral analyses of ballot measures and info about registering, voting deadlines and more. Voters simply enter their street address to get a personalized list of every race, candidate and measure that will appear on their ballot, enriched with the kind of information that helps voters make their own choices.
Every candidate in the state is invited to post on Vote411, which is free to both candidates and users. Candidates can speak in their own words about what matters to them and the voters in their district. If a candidate in your area hasn’t posted there, contact them to ask why.
The League of Women Voters of Oregon never endorses or opposes any candidate or party. It is dedicated to promoting civic engagement and a well-informed citizenry.
I urge candidates and voters alike to make use of Vote411.org before the Nov. 5 election.
Lisa Bentson, president,
League of Women Voters of Oregon
Salem
Hurricanes Expose Truths
Hurricanes Milton and Helene demonstrate how Republicans are often the victims of their own deceit. They deny climate science and oppose any mitigation or adaptation. They even opposed funding of FEMA and, in Florida, banned the term Climate Change. The 2025 project would make that nationwide.
This hurts the red states the most, but millions suffer the consequences regardless of politics. Donald Trump made everything worse by spreading lies and insane conspiracy theories, which reduced trust in the government and the agencies trying to help everyone.
The same was true with the pandemic. We were the most prepared, but Trump eliminated Barack Obama’s pandemic preparations and then discouraged mask use, encouraged super spreader events and discouraged vaccinations. This incompetence resulted in the world’s worst response and a million deaths, the majority Republican.
Rejection of science, precedent and accepted facts has led to the restriction or total bans on abortion in 28 states, with the resultant decline in maternal health. Now, many Republicans oppose IVF and fertility treatments, and are going after contraceptives. But this is not just a war on women; they oppose all health care. They attacked Obamacare 33 times, and many want to eliminate Medicare. The result is that rural hospitals are closing, and Republicans’ mortality and health suffers.
Democrats care about all people, while Republicans only care about profits. If Democrats take the House, Senate, and Presidency we can expand Medicare, Medicaid and eventually have Health Care for All at half the cost like the rest of the developed nations.
Jerry Brule
Eugene
Be Radical
What can Eugene do? How can it even try to stop genocide? How can it be one of 10 cities in America that changes the nation? And if this most powerful of nations changes, so does the world.
Being one of those 10 cities is what we can ask of Eugene. That it doesn’t settle, that it doesn’t get comfortable or complacent. We ask that it continues to be radical and takes shape far beyond the comfort zone of even the most intellectual of old hippies, that it is new and now.
But the students have been overwhelmed by the corporate control of their university. They no longer control their student union building; they are in a holding pattern as their workers pray to see a negotiating table. Teachers have ever decreased control of their departments and even our treasured urban farm now sits in shadow. Nike instigated development sprawls and feeds crisis after crisis, making the houseless pay the harshest price.
And we ask how do we stop the genocide here in Eugene? We lead, as Eugene has always done. From forest defense to bike lanes, to taking the streets in rage, to cooperative farmers markets. With some of the country’s leading Marxists and most daring Anarchists, we think different, we write, we film, we fight.
We become one of 10 cities in America that together stops the genocide in Palestine. We do it together.
Eric Howanietz
Eugene
Climate Change is Here
As the election draws closer, we cannot ignore the growing impact of climate change on our communities. Hurricane Helene and now Hurricane Milton, along with dozens of wildfires this past summer — they’re all clear warning signs of a very real climate crisis.
This issue deserves more attention than it’s received so far this election cycle. During the presidential debate, only one brief question was asked about climate at the very end.
The fact is, the climate crisis impacts us all, no matter where we live or how much money we make. Americans are being told to flee their homes and risk losing everything. Meanwhile, Big Oil continues to put profits over people by prioritizing fossil fuels that continue to destroy our environment.
We cannot afford to lose any more time in the fight against the climate crisis. We need leaders — at the federal, state and local level — who believe in the science of climate change and are willing or can be convinced to take bold action before it’s too late. So I urge everyone: When you cast your ballot this November, think of our planet and the people that call it home.
Suzanne Fernstrom
Eugene
Vote Blue
We’re fortunate in Oregon Congressional District 4 to have a specific opportunity to make a difference in saving democracy. Regaining control of the House of Representatives would go a long way towards restoring and-or preserving democracy, whatever the outcome of the presidential race. Regaining starts with not losing any Democratic seats. Congresswoman Val Hoyle is facing a well-financed opponent in a race that is deemed “leaning blue” but whose outcome is far from certain.
In the presidential race, Vice President Kamala Harris is projected “solid blue” to carry Oregon and deliver its electoral votes. Oregon has no Senate race this year, and the Senate appears at the moment likely to flip to Republican control, underscoring the urgency of Hoyle’s race. In addition, it appears that the Democrats have a decent chance of eking out a majority in the House of Representatives this year. Control of the House will be critical, no matter who wins the Presidency. For details, please see the interactive map of House and other races on the “270toWin” website.
Preventing any loss of Democratic seats in the House of Representatives is more important than ever. Please vote for Hoyle, and encourage your friends, family, colleagues and neighbors to vote Hoyle.
John Haakanson
Eugene
This is Patriotism?
I crossed paths with a pickup truck flying an American flag from one corner of the pickup bed and a Donald Trump flag from the other, and the recurring thought returned: How can someone claim to be any kind of patriot and also vote for a man who has declared his intention to destroy our way of governing — of the people, by the people, for the people?
Our country’s founding fathers created our constitutional democracy as the alternative, the antidote, to the standard form of government in their time: the autocratic monarch (hereditary dictator). They passed their creation on to us for our own benefit, certainly, but also entrusting it to us, to preserve it and carry it forward for the benefit of each generation.
Trump has proudly vowed to destroy what the founding fathers bequeathed to us to become our dictator (non-hereditary monarch), starting day one. To get a picture of the America that Trump has promised, look at Russia, North Korea and Iraq under Saddam Hussein.
It would seem that those who vote for Trump and claim to be patriots have no idea what patriotism actually is.
Peter Straton
Eugene
Housing and Climate
Kudos to the city for trying to address the deepening intersecting crises of the housing shortage and climate breakdown. The proposed Accelerated MUPTE (Multi-Unit Property Tax Exemption) five-year pilot program will be considered in a city council work session on Wednesday, Oct. 23 as a means to streamline the application process to get more people into homes and reduce emissions from buildings.
More small units with shared walls that are built close to transit may reduce climate pollution, but the Accelerated MUPTE program must not throw out the Climate Action Plan goals with the bath water. The Accelerated MUPTE rules must not allow unhealthy and unsafe fossil gas in new projects that receive a tax subsidy from the city.
The city has made little progress in reducing its emissions, per the 2019 Climate Action Plan, instead buying offsets to meet the Climate Recovery Ordinance mandates from 2014. Where it can, it should at a minimum limit fossil fuel infrastructure in any new buildings subsidized by tax dollars from our community.
Our community is overwhelmingly committed to strong climate action. Streamline yes, but not at the cost of gutting existing rules related to community benefits, like LEED standards. Tell your councilor “No tax dollars for subsidies that build with dangerous fossil gas.” The longer we wait to make the transition to clean, renewable energy, the worse climate impacts we’ll all experience.
Patty Hine
Eugene
Be Smart, Compassionate
Starting way back with the Conquistadors, continuing through the banana plantations and the Reagan wars justified by the feared communist takeover of Latin America, outsiders have systematically stolen the wealth of that region.
The “illegal”immigrants are just coming for that stolen wealth. Would you want to leave your home and make that arduous journey to get to the U.S. only to toil in our farm fields in the jobs that U.S. citizens refuse to take? I didn’t think so.
Would you want to live in a country run by violent corrupt officials installed by the CIA while your neighbors are being “disappeared”? Would you want to live in a neighborhood run by violent drug cartels serving the needs of the U.S. drug market? Of course not.
The easy answer is to demonize those immigrants so those “rapists” and “criminals” don’t poison our blood and eat our pets. The smart, compassionate answer is to welcome them and benefit from the dirty, back-breaking work they are willing to do.
Dave Stone
Springfield
A Little Help, Please?
Hi there EW and everyone else!
I’m dumb, and the ballots are due to be turned in soon, so I was hoping your staff or some of your readers could help me understand a few things. Here are my questions:
If the Democratic Party is so determined to defeat Donald Trump, why aren’t they trying harder to appeal to more voters? Policies such as Medicare For All, student debt cancellation, raising the living wage, increasing the tax burden of corporations, improving our infrastructure and cutting back on our aid to foreign countries have proven to be popular with most Americans, but these things don’t seem to be on the table this time.
Why did the Democrats nominate such an unpopular candidate? I mean, really — do they think that simply not being Trump means they’re entitled to every other vote? Surely, they could’ve at least looked at poll numbers to see who would have given them the best chance. If defeating Trump is as important as they claim it is, then this choice, and many others, doesn’t make much sense to me.
Finally, why do both candidates seem to be OK with Israel committing genocide? Kamala Harris’s current administration continues to send military support. Trump waves the Israeli flag around as much as he does the stars and stripes.
Matthew Louie
Florence
Please Think
Just think about it before you respond. Hawkeye from M*A*S*H and I quote: “In each and every war we find new and better ways to destroy the human body.”
I paraphrase — in each and every generation why can’t we find new and better ways for our government to better serve the people?
The laws, the rules that we live by and the way the government operates are human made, so why can’t us humans change the laws and the rules by which we live to fit this generation? Why can’t each generation keep the government current with the times? What is there to stop this from happening? Nothing.
“The Government is of the people, for the people and by the people,” Abraham Lincoln once said.
Just think about it before you respond.
Steven Hunnicutt
Eugene
Voter Dust Up
The recent dust up over noncitizens being registered to vote is a direct outcome of our one-party rule in this state.
In 2014 Oregon voters overwhelmingly rejected the Legislature’s Senate Bill 833 via the Measure 88 veto referendum. SB 833 granted driver licenses to illegal immigrants. The citizens’ veto succeeded despite unprecedented dirty political maneuvering by House Democrats to quash the referendum.
In 2019, via House Bill 2015, complete with a bogus “emergency” clause to prevent another referendum, Democrats and Governor Kate Brown revoked the Measure 88 veto and restored driving privileges to non-citizens. Every Lane County Democrat in the Legislature supported the bill.
In Oregon when you apply for a driver’s license you are automatically registered to vote.
HB 2015 was just one of a succession of bills in the Democrats’ decade-long list of actions which have incentivized illegal immigration to Oregon. How is this helping (legal) Oregon citizens in housing, schools, medical care and traffic congestion?
The Secretary of State claims non-citizen voter registration was a “mistake.” I wonder. Also in 2019, the same parties revoked the 2016 Measure 97 voter mandate against a gross receipts tax via HB 3427.
Democrats have repeatedly shown little regard for voter decisions they don’t like but they claim Republicans are “a threat to democracy.” The remedy for this disrespect will be on your November ballot.
Jerry Ritter
Springfield
Are You Satisfied?
In response to this question posed on The View: “Would you have done something differently than President Joe Biden during the past four years?” Kamala Harris replied: “There’s not a thing that comes to mind … I’ve been a part of most of the decisions that have had an impact.”
If you are satisfied with the impacts of those decisions: a disastrous economy, increasing homelessness, $36 trillion of debt and rising, U.S. support for an open genocide against the Palestinians, endless wars elsewhere, then do vote for Harris as she’s the candidate for you.
If, like me, you are angry and frustrated over the direction Biden/Harris have taken this country, you can express your dissatisfaction by voting for Green Party Presidential candidate Dr. Jill Stein.
Trisha Driscoll
Eugene
Some Clarifications about Gaza
Karen McCowan’s viewpoint (“Witnessing the Start of a War,” EW online, 10/8) is mostly about her, but it begs for some clarification regarding the Israel/Hamas war.
She makes the statement “since Israel began occupying the West Bank in l967.” Some history. In 1967 the Six Day War was fought between Israel and a coalition of Egypt, Syria and Jordan. Despite Israel’s repeated entreaties that any closure of the Straits of Tiran to Israel’s vessels would be considered justification for war, Egypt closed the Straits to Israeli vessels. Israel launched a pre-emptive strike and subsequently gained control of the Sinai (under Egypt’s control at the time), Gaza (under Egypt), West Bank (under Jordan) and Golan Heights (under Syria). President Lyndon Johnson’s views were, “If a single act of folly was more responsible for this explosion than any other, it was the arbitrary and dangerous announced decision that the Straits of Tiran would be closed. The right of innocent, maritime passage must be preserved for all nations.”
Sadly, McCowan glosses over the barbarity of Hamas on Oct. 7 towards the women, men and children but manages to mock the giggles of a young IDF woman.
Gaza could have become a Singapore — a financial hub, a destination resort along the Mediterranean, a high tech center. But instead Hamas used the billions of dollars it received to build miles of tunnels and stockpile rockets to shoot daily at Israel. Hamas chose to remain perpetually in a “refugee” state with its stated goal to eliminate Israel.