Just a Touch Late Last Week
Went past three different red boxes, but there were not any issues in the box but last week’s issue. Is something going on?
Please let me know. I love my Weekly!
Juanita Rinas
Eugene
Editor’s Note: Ironically, almost exactly a year after we returned to print Feb. 8, 2024, our Feb. 6 issue was held up due to issues our printer was having with the weather in the mountains. We were back in the boxes by Friday, and thank you for checking (and supporting EW).
We do Love a Party
Mayor Kaarin Knudson has requested ideas for bringing people back downtown. Bringing back the Eugene Celebration would be an idea whose time has come!
Steve Beaudreau
Eugene
Call Out Bullying
It was with a heavy heart that I read the viewpoint by Rene Gonzalez (EW, 1/30). It’s just another example of how awful our world is becoming under the current dictatorship.
At a loss for words, I can only quote Edmund Burke: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is when good men” — and women, this is my addition — “do nothing.”
It is our responsibility to call out these people when things like this happen. It’s unacceptable, and unless called on it, bullies will continue to bully.
Marion Sproul
Eugene
No to Nukes!
There are currently four bills under consideration in Salem designed to facilitate the use of nuclear power plants in Oregon. SB 215, SB 216 and HB 2426 all call for the repeal of the 1980 Ballot Measure Law which made siting of nukes in Oregon contingent on the availability of reliable nuclear waste depositories. HB 2410 would permit citizens of Umatilla County to vote on construction of nukes there. The nukes in question are so-called SMNRs (Small Modular Nuclear Reactors).
The issue of waste disposal is more than enough reason to let our legislators know that we oppose these bills. But nukes are now being touted as “climate-safe” alternatives to fossil fuels. They are not. It is the exponential growth of the industrial economy that endangers life, not fossil fuels alone. So far, the increasing use of “sustainable fuels” (which uranium is not) has only added to global energy use, not supplanted fossil fuels. Ultimately, the only remedy for global heating (and ecological overshoot, of which it is a small part) is degrowth, planned industrial downsizing.
Jere Rosemeyer
Eugene
Connect the Paths
I cannot agree more with Peter Pagter’s letter (1/23) regarding connecting the multi-use path from the Knickerbocker Bridge to Frohnmayer Bridge along the Willamette River. I bike this section frequently and cannot express how frustrating it is to disconnect from that portion of the path and venture out on to Franklin Boulevard. Not to mention how dangerous this can be for cyclists. How on Earth have we not connected this section of path yet? This should be a high priority for the city.
Curt Thrapp
Eugene
Of Course We’re Classical Curious
Are you classical curious? A low-risk venture into this incredible world is available right here in town with the University of Oregon Symphony Orchestra!
I have had the privilege to attend several of their concerts within past years and always come away awed. The most difficult part of attending a UO Symphony concert is finding any information about it. For such a treasure, I find it disheartening that this ensemble is not promoted more within the community.
The performance on the evening of Feb. 4 at Beall Hall was stunning. Beall Hall is a relatively small venue, and the sound was incredible. The stage was packed with musicians and it seemed that for every two attendees there was a performer on stage. The sound took my breath away. Unlike the Eugene Symphony at the Hult Center, where sound dies after leaving the stage, Beall Hall amplifies sound with its acoustics and brings the music to life for the audience.
The musicians are brimming with passion and you could see it in their faces and hear it in the performance. Their raw talent brings unheard energy to the music and I could feel that this performance was special.
The highlight of the evening was the performance of Tchaikovsky’s 5th Symphony, a grand adventure of barely-constrained Romanticism. The surging motifs and melodies brought forth outpourings of emotion throughout the 45-minute opus.
After a finale that brought tears to my eyes, the ensemble received a well-deserved standing ovation. All this for 10 bucks!
Eric Burdette
Eugene
A Community Gem
On Jan. 25 my husband and I had the pleasure of going to South Eugene Theatre’s production of Wait Until Dark. We see as many of their plays as we can as we are always blown away by the quality of the students acting. That, and no matter how serious the play is, they always manage to include some light-hearted moments and comedy.
Can’t beat purely enjoyable and entertaining plays for the low price of $10! ($7 for seniors and students, a little more for musicals). We are looking forward to the musical Legally Blonde in a couple weeks. I just wanted to share this community gem with you. It’s great to support the young talent we have here.
Viriam Khalsa
Eugene
ONLINE EXTRA LETTERS
No Laughing Matter
The city of Springfield is looking for someone to work in the following three positions: police records and communication specialist, detention officer and police officer. In each of the job descriptions they state: No felony!
President Donald J. Trump, with 34 felonies, would immediately be disqualified to even apply to any one of these three jobs. Trump is qualified to be the president of the United States of America, but he would not qualify to work for the city of Springfield. The world is laughing at us!
Frank Harper
Springfield
Is Anybody Listening?
Citizen engagement is encouraged by the city of Eugene, but when I have tried to do so I have met with no response from city officials to discuss issues relating to my neighborhood in particular and Eugene generally. I had no response to meet with our new mayor. Twice I requested a meeting with my ward councilor (email letter and hard copy letter sent to city hall).
I thought that I might have luck bringing up issues before my Neighborhood Association meeting which took place on Jan. 20th. Since one of the three slated speakers was unable to attend for medical reasons, I thought I would have an opportunity to speak to my fellow neighbors. But the two remaining speakers used up all the time, so I went home, frustrated that there is apparently no way to engage with city government at any level.
Given that letters to the editor are limited to 250 words, I have already used well over half of that allotment. So, my only hope is that I can have a full 250 words the following week to air my concerns about some of these subjects: very low bus ridership, urban sprawl, demolition of affordable apartments for “luxury” living and more.
Richard Sundt
Eugene
Hate is Not the Answer
I am not an undocumented immigrant. I am an American citizen.
I have never had to make the choice to sacrifice the lives of my family in the attempt to save them. I have never experienced radical violence due to my religion, ancestry or political views. I have never experienced the terror of being sent back to a country I have never known. I have never witnessed a lost generation of children due to years and years of war.
I cannot pretend that I can even partially know or truly understand the depths of despair that accompanies the lives of so many who are simply trying to survive.
Although I freely admit that I do not have the answers, I do know that erupting in hate is not one of them. If we are to remain a great nation, we must find it within ourselves to muster up the humanity that I know exists. I understand that we cannot shelter the world, but we can cease to hate those that need shelter.
Melissa Hasforth Quinn
Dexter
With Love from Border Angels
I came across this resource today from a group I support — Border Angels. I heard about the group from a man in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, a few years back. They have been helping migrants by voluntarily leaving water and food in the desert, as well as many other kinds of humanitarian actions (BorderAngels.org).
They offered something today in their newsletter that could be valuable to anyone fearing deportation or harassment by officials (Ilrc.org/red-cards-tarjetas-rojas).
These cards can be easily printed. I am going to print some myself and share them with friends. I have also shared this resource on social media.
Alice Christianson
Eugene
Just Who is the President?
So, a show of hands.
How many voted for Elon Musk for our 47th president of the United States? How many invited him to set up an office in the Lincoln bedroom, with unlimited access to seduce Donald Trump with all his insidious, vengeful and unconstitutional objectives?
Did American voters elect Musk to become our fourth branch of government? Does America feel safer knowing Musk will no doubt gain access to the nuclear codes? Does America approve of his installation of DOGE, his Department of Government Efficiency, granting it the power to dismantle the USAID program?
How many voted to give Musk complete access to the U.S. Treasury Department’s data and payment systems? The maddening list goes on. These actions are leaving the unmistakable footprints of a psychopath.
They lead to a White House, which now resembles a house of horrors and a Pennsylvania Avenue that should be renamed Desolation Row.
I vote to push back — push back hard! To echo the words of John L. Lewis, it is indeed the time to “cause good trouble!”
W.C. Crutchfield
Eugene
It is Evil
Imagine the situation of the people of Gaza, a million and more, driven out of their homes, their homes destroyed, then driven from tent city to tent city five times. Is it right they should be then shoveled into Lebanon and Egypt as suggested by President Donald Trump?
This action is completely blind to their overwhelming suffering and uprooted situation, and this is compounded as an evil intention by dismissing the difficulty of beginning again for them by suggesting that they should build new cities for themselves when they have no work and could not even come up with the first two months rent, which is so hard to do for even Americans.
I balk at the callousness of dismissing any thought of their suffering. And then to make nothing of forcing these uprooted people into two other sovereign nations, Egypt and Lebanon. And Israel has the right to not want the United States to just take over a portion that it wanted itself?
What is it about the extremity of this mean-spirited arrogance that the people of the United States of America don’t recognize for the evil it is?
Leo Rivers
Cottage Grove
A Different Take on USAID
Tip of the hat to comrade Donald Trump for dismantling the Janus face of the imperial death machine of the United Snakes of AmeriKKKa, USAID. Since its conception, USAID has had the sole purpose of cracking open markets for the AmeriKKKan bourgeoisie by financially enslaving sovereign peoples the world over. It’s telling that this is the hill the Democrats will die on, rather than trans health care or the ethnic cleansing of Gaza.
Real shame about the hundreds of thousands who will starve in the immediate term.
Penelope Pascal
Eugene
Frightening Times with a Frightening Man
When does the current administration focus on helping the homeless on the streets of the United States? The New York Times wrote that Eugene, along with two other U.S. cities, has the most homeless adults and teens in the United States. Why is that not being discussed by the administration and how to help these people and get them back in the mainstream?
Why does making Gaza into a grand Riviera come before our own people? Why are people losing their jobs in the CIA, FBI and Justice Department? What is the grand plan by Elon Musk, an unelected official who is becoming the director of our country? Does he have so much power over Trump that he can do whatever he thinks is good for the country?
It is very frightening to see the U.S. being run by the richest man in the world!