By EW editorial staff
• City Club of Eugene will feature your favorite commie rag on Friday. More precisely, City Club will discuss “The State of Electronic Media in Eugene” at noon Feb. 28 at the WOW Hall, 291 West 8th Avenue. Eugene Weekly Editor Camilla Mortensen will talk about this alternative weekly newspaper, its news coverage and aspirations. KLCC News Director Chris Lehman will discuss KLCC’s public radio and digital news coverage. And California-based news entrepreneur Ken Doctor will chat about his paywall-based digital news site Lookout Eugene Springfield.
• We’re still team-print-newspaper here at Eugene Weekly and so is Lane Community College’s The Torch newspaper, which made its print return last week! Pick up a copy on campus or here at EW — full disclosure, the Weekly’s editor advises the student paper, but the stories — and print return — are all driven by LCC’s students and their hard work! Check them out (and give them a shoutout) at LCCTorch.com.
• Speaking of our local community college, the race is on for the May 20 LCC Board of Education election — four seats are on the ballot. Former Lane County Commissioner Jerry Rust and Jeffery Cooper have filed for the Zone 1 seat, currently held by Denise Diamond, representing western Lane County. Julie Weismann has filed for re-election to her Zone 3 seat representing Springfield. Austin Fölnagy who represents Zone 4, eastern Lane County, has filed for re-election in May and is challenged by Richard Vasquez. And two of the candidates who were not appointed to the Zone 7 at-large seat vacated by Lisa Fragala when she was elected to the Oregon Legislature have filed to fill that seat, Jesse Maldonado and Bob Brew.
• Celebrate Housing! Cultivate, Inc. is celebrating its Grant Street Grow Homes. Cultivate is an architecture firm offering middle housing development. This is Cultivate’s second collaborative housing development in Eugene-Springfield, and while these homes have already sold, interested folks should connect with DevNW or SquareOne Villages to learn about future opportunities for affordable homeownership. Cultivate says, “The four new net zero energy homes will be permanently affordable and are designed to ‘grow.’ The full-height unfinished attic is designed to give the owners the opportunity to add two bedrooms and a bathroom to grow the home with their family.” The project was made possible through Eugene’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund, and “local social impact investors.” There will be an open house 4 pm-6 pm Thursday, Feb. 27 at 1932 Grant Street.
• Activist Alert: Protest takes many forms. Sometimes it looks like calls for a nationwide economic blackout, sometimes it’s a series of “Not My President’s Day” marches and sometimes, when the stars align, it’s the U.S. Army Chorus singing a refrain from Les Misérables’ “Epilogue” at the National Governors’ Association Dinner, with President Trump in the audience. The musical, which details a social revolution and the fight against the ruling class, has become a rallying cry for Americans against MAGA. Witnessing “Will you join in our crusade? / Who will be strong and stand with me? / Somewhere beyond the barricade / Is there a world you long to see?” being sung in the White House warmed our cold little hearts. If it gets you amped and ready to peacefully protest, head over to Eugene City Hall at noon March 4 for the March 4th for Democracy rally. Got a rally or protest you want the word out about? Email it to Editor@EugeneWeekly.com.
• The Public Interest Environmental Law Conference is this weekend at the University of Oregon School of Law. See our story in this issue, and if you are at the PIELC gathering on Sunday, say congratulations to longtime Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide Executive Director Bern Johnson, who will receive the 2025 David Brower Lifetime Achievement Award. The award is “presented to activists and attorneys who exemplify the spirit and accomplishments of Brower” who was an executive director of the Sierra Club and the founder of Friends of the Earth. Johnson is the son of longtime EW owners Anita and Art Johnson.