A Poor Afterthought
White Bird Front Rooms has saved countless lives, and executive director Jeremy Gates is clearly omitting important context in his interview with EW (“White Bird’s Crossroads,” EW, 11/28). The important part about the program is that it is the lowest barrier service provider located in a central location to other services. Casually telling folks to seek services up Highway 99 or elsewhere at all is a poor afterthought, not a humane solution.
On average, according to Front Rooms staff, they serve over 100 of our most vulnerable neighbors per day. Where do you think our homeless neighbors will actually go? Where will they get access to mail services? Mail is necessary for getting sustained health care, employment, voting and so much more.
As a union organizer myself, when Gates blames the deficit on BOLI complaints and lawsuits, he omits how his behavior as the employer may have led to those legal complaints (such as, I speculate, fighting his own staff union with a high-priced lawyer), and his responsibility to our community to do everything in his power to actually fill the deficit with the newly available state funds earmarked for programs like this.
It sounds to me like White Bird has a bad boss, no powerful voice in Salem, and that this ED and board are about to intentionally harm our most vulnerable neighbors. Where can the community pitch in to save our precious neighbors and the incredible staff who serve them?
Malori A. Musselman
Springfield
Become a Citizen Cleaner
The city of Eugene is struggling to pick up leaves in the streets. Those who walk or bike around our city know how much of a hazard leaves in the bike lane are. Decomposing leaves turn to butter, striking fear in my bicyclist heart around every corner.
While I could spend volunteer hours advocating for the city to allocate more budget to leaf cleanup, I would rather organize cleanup crews.
The city likely knows the importance of leaf cleanup in storm management and transportation safety, I do not believe change will happen next year. We must organize volunteers to show the city how much this service is required and how it can be done well.
I created Citizen Cleaners (CitizenCleaners.org) to organize individuals who clean up trash on the streets and bikeways of Eugene. In 2024, we realized there is not just a need for trash cleanup; Eugene also needs leaf cleanup in full force in fall 2025. If you’re a person in the neighborhood with a trash arm, a storm drain hero or anyone in between, please join us and become a citizen cleaner.
Eliot Bald
Eugene
It’s Veteran’s Day, Dutch Bros.
As a veteran, I was happy to see all the businesses that participated in a Veteran’s Day celebration by giving free offerings to all those who have served their country. Unfortunately, I was surprised to find that Dutch Bros. offered no such celebratory consideration.
At my favored coffee establishment, on Veteran’s Day I asked the barista if there was a Veteran’s Day honoring and was told very matter of factly, “No.” I initially thought that there must be a mistake, so I drove to another location and received the same answer, “No.”
Curious, I checked with other local coffee establishments and found they all had a celebratory offering. I contacted Dutch Bros. and was told by the person answering inquiries that she was unable to respond and someone in a different capacity would need to answer my question and that “hopefully” I would hear back from them. After a week of zero response from Dutch Bros., I emailed again asking for some clarity so I might understand their reason the holiday was being ignored. That inquiry also went unanswered.
Needless to say, I’ve stopped giving my business to Dutch Bros. It’s really shameful, considering Dutch Bros. gives out free coffee on customer’s birthdays without any ID, and I would request that more patrons request Dutch Bros. change their policy, or at least give an explanation as to why they’ve gone out of their way to not honor veterans on their day of national celebration.
Jeffrey Fields
Eugene
A New, Independent Nation
On Nov. 5, one of the major regions where the Donald Trump MAGA agenda did not win was our Pacific Coast, which showed solid blue from British Columbia to Baja, California. So what will it be for the Left Coast? Submit to the neo-fascist right, or go it our own way seeking United Nations recognition as a fully independent Nation of Pacifica-Cascadia-California?
This is the choice before us now — bow down to a dystopian regime ruling from faraway Washington, D.C., or an honest attempt toward self-determination via independence with a new constitution that embraces and enforces all of the provisions of the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Also, enshrining the Rights of Nature as has been done in Ecuador.
Jan. 20, 2025 is fast approaching. Do we kneel before or resist what is coming after that date? I say we on the blue Pacific Coast can opt for the latter!
Chris Ellis
Cottage Grove
A Different Take on Black Friday
How radical would it be if somehow a movement took the country by storm that completely knocked our corporate overlords on their asses. Oh, do I have a seed for you! The best part is, it puts money in your pocket, sticks it to the man, and all you have to do is absolutely nothing.
Black folks, what if you all got together and boycotted Black Friday shopping? Just stay home! Rebrand the day for yourselves!
Aww, snap! Now, Black Friday isn’t all about the big buck. It’s a celebration of the power of Black people when they decide to unite. Boycott Black Friday to invest in Black futures. When Black dollars boycott, the world takes notice! Black Friday is just a sale, but Black lives are priceless.
So on the next Black Friday, I say put down your pocketbook and raise up your fist. It’s Black Power! It’s Black Friday! Black dollars matter!
David Dodson
Eugene
A Prophecy
It began with a few isolated lonely people in the mid 2020s. Notably, it was both men and women who would ask Google questions like, “Will I meet my cat in heaven?” or “Is the Antichrist already somewhere in the world today?” or “give me a winning lottery number.”
But this was just the beginning. By 2050, government estimates are that there will be thousands of cults in the United States alone that gather for meetings where they sit around a laptop holding hands and the secretary of angels types in questions on the input line for Google. There are weekend seminars sometimes costing thousands of dollars which teach groups of followers how to discern truth from false Google responses to spiritual questions.
In fact, a whole new industry of psychiatrists and sociologists are dedicating themselves to this phenomenon, and pending lawsuits are working through the U.S. Supreme Court as to the right of employers and school districts to deny jobs to people who they discover are followers of Google answers to questions about the heavens and hells and the future of mankind.
The Google Table Turners have come!
Leo Rivers
Cottage Grove
Protester or Narcissist?
A recent news article featured a pro-Palestinian protester, Salem Younes, who led the movement to block traffic on I-5. Younes wanted to negotiate with the D.A. to drop charges against him — a plea deal.
I wasn’t on I-5 that day. But I was a few weeks earlier trying to rush my adult daughter to an ER. And then I thought of the many instances when my children were growing up where I desperately needed to get someplace — to the ER (for various reasons), to the airport, to a doctor’s appointment, to pick them up after a practice, to a job interview, to a year end recital.
But Younes is oblivious to this. He was, after all, an 18-year-old at the time he was arrested. And he apparently is in ecstasy about his cause and actions and feels that this town has thrown its full support behind him, and it is “just f—ing incredible. Seeing people so supportive behind my name and me is incredible,” he states.
The article states that over 40 people rallied in front of the Lane County Circuit Court. Ahem, this out of a population of about 178,000 in Eugene. His statements seem to be more of a narcissist than a protester.
But his actions wreak havoc. I can’t help thinking that anyone who suffered from this traffic block — you might just have a good lawsuit.
Zenia Liebman
Junction City
Editor’s Note: The Register-Guard published the story in question Nov. 22.
Not Divided as We Think
Some harp about the divide in America. There is no place where different ideas fall neatly into a divide between parties. When the rhetoric is “divide,” it imparts a feeling of desperation for one side, like a football game where one side is pitted against the other, or like Star Wars, where the Emperor won against the Jedi.
Although these are handy analogies and quick grabs for busy Americans to get their head around, they conjure a false reality. We each lead complex lives with some common needs that join us. There are human rights, and people disagree about which of those should be given federal monies.
Hate never accomplishes anything but fear and stress. Most people are capable of love and want to be loved.
If we let the division rhetoric into our hearts, then we vilify our neighbors. We are allowing ourselves to be at war with part of America. I want to stay with love regardless of what my neighbor believes.
I rode my bike across half of the country. A Kansas farmer couple, who were most likely far across the aisle from my political beliefs, invited me in to rest my legs, and enjoy a home-cooked meal from their farm. I never ate such a delicious meal, and I always remember their warm hospitality, not their politics.
So take a breath. You are not that unlike your neighbor. On some issues, yes, but not in your heart.