• Some good news at the end of 2024 here, Sam Bond’s Garage announced Tuesday, Dec. 10 on its Facebook page that it would remain open after all. “It’s been a valuable experience to hear how much Sam Bond’s means to you and it resonated with us. We’ll be making some adjustments to keep going, but we want to see more great shows, eat more great food, and make more great memories with you,” the bar writes. Thank God the garage will not be going to bar heaven. Read our story at EugeneWeekly.com.
• City Club of Eugene will be hosting its annual Gifts to the CIty at noon on Friday the 13th at WOW Hall. Despite the doom-laden date, this sweet event asks: “If you had a magic wand and the mandate to use it to create a gift that would make Eugene an even better place to live, work, and/or play, what would your gift be?” Eugene Weekly is prepping for our randomly annual “I dream of Eugene” issue asking readers a similar question: What is your dream — fun, serious or fantasy — for Eugene or Lane County? A waterslide on every boat ramp? A home for every human? Send it to Letters@EugeneWeekly.com. We can’t put you on the radio but we can put you in print!
• Thank you! It’s the end of the year and we’re pulling together our annual Giving Guide for Dec. 19, and to our delight some folks have walked in the doors of our red building (same color as the boxes, of course) to contribute to keeping this paper printing. Coming up on a year ago we were going under. It’s been hard to pull a paper back not from the brink but from the grave (congrats, Sam Bond’s on your brinkmanship), but with your help we’re still here! So to celebrate we cracked ourselves up with some merch. You too can drink a hot cup of The Bleeding Heart Blend coffee, courtesy of Caffé Pacori, or wear a T-shirt with our current fav motto: We have issues. Thanks to you, we do indeed have issues!
• Dear Ducks sportsball fans. You must be very happy. We hear you’re coming up roses.
• The Dec. 4 assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson as he arrived at an investors’ meeting in New York City catalyzed national furor about our supposed health care system. One of the biggest health insurers in the nation, UHC has a dismal record of denying its customers’ claims. While we’re sympathetic to the shooter’s motives, we don’t believe health care robber barons like Thompson should be murdered. Instead, they should all be arrested and sent to prison for fraud. For a local example, look at PeaceHealth — the supposedly charitable not-for-profit organization based in Vancouver, Washington — which recently shut down Eugene’s only emergency room to cut costs. As a result, Eugeneans suffer 10-hour waits in the ER in Springfield while Peacehealth President and CEO Elizabeth Dunne draws a salary reported at $3.5 million in fiscal 2023. UHC’s Thompson made more than $10 million last year. The health insurance business responded in less than 10 hours to Thompson’s murder — not by re-evaluating its customer service but by beefing up corporate security. It’s time for attorneys general in Oregon and elsewhere to look at the giant fraud that’s being perpetrated on the public and force insurance companies to stop stealing their customers’ money. We need a new health care system — one that actually cares.