Help the Kittens
There’s a little thrift store tucked away on River Road that’s been saving cats and dogs since the late 1990s. It’s called S.A.R.A. (Shelter Animal Resource Alliance), and it does lifesaving work.
Currently they work with special needs cats who are at risk of being euthanized. They spay and neuter every cat that comes their way and provide veterinary care, food and all the love these cats and kittens could ever want. They fund all of this amazing work through their nonprofit thrift store, S.A.R.A.’s Treasures, where they sell new and gently used clothes and all sorts of knicknacks, like books and jewelry.
I love shopping at S.A.R.A., their prices are absurdly cheap, and I’m always finding something special there. S.A.R.A. goes through all their donations individually to give you the best, most unique finds in town for low prices. Shopping at S.A.R.A. saves lives; You get more than just a new pretty shirt, with every purchase you are also fundraising for more kitties to be adopted and go on to live in happy homes. To get involved: volunteer, donate, shop, adopt.
Learn how at SarasTreasures.org or follow S.A.R.A. on social media — Facebook.com/sarastreasures and @shelteranimalresourcealliance on Instagram
Lakshmi Ahluwalia
Eugene
It’s the Trash
In my neighborhood of Whiteaker, as I volunteer to pick up trash on the streets and sidewalks, over the last few years I’ve been experiencing a waning empathy for the unhoused, as their constant discard of trash appears to be their signature.
The camping itself doesn’t bother me, but rather the trash. As city employees actively evict the unhoused and their campsites, I’ve noticed that there’s less to pick up. The longer campsites remain in one place, the more the trash accumulates. This can include used syringes and dog feces.
Even when there’s a refuse container nearby that can be used, more often I’ve witnessed an unwillingness to use it, but rather the habit of leaving it on the street, parking strip, sidewalk, in bushes, alleys, pathways, parks, river bank and in Amazon creek. Although residents are weary of it, most seem reluctant to talk openly about this issue, as we’re afraid to appear uncaring, so these campsites are reported to the city quietly.
While it’s true that broken capitalism is the cause for what’s happening, for the short term I’m wondering if it’s possible to effectively communicate this problem of refuse within the unhoused community and solutions found, so we can live together with more welcome, respect and stability.
Bob Boender
Eugene
I Have a Question
Los Angeles is under siege by the federal government. Here in Eugene, immigrants have been arrested by ICE while attending their check-ins at the ICE field office downtown. On June 11, over 1,000 Eugenans took to the streets peacefully to protest this and to stand in solidarity with the people of L.A. Eugene as a community will not stand Trump’s racist assault on our neighbors.
Eugene as a city government, though? I’m not so sure.
I asked the City Council June 9 about the Flock cameras going up and their reported vulnerability to ICE and other federal agencies, and about how they would uphold state sanctuary laws and stand up to the federal government if they tried to do here what they did in California. I asked for an answer that night, but I only heard silence.
What I did hear, however, was City Manager Sarah Medary talking at a city work session about being concerned about protests this weekend, but not about the threat of ICE raids in Eugene! I don’t feel like I hear a sanctuary city talking. I hear a city that’s more worried about stifling dissent than protecting its people.
So I’ll ask again right here in the Weekly. To the city of Eugene: Can you assure the community that no city resources will be used whatsoever to assist federal immigration efforts? Will you use your positions of power to speak out against the federal government’s crackdown on immigrant communities?
Kamryn Stringfield
Eugene
Help the Small Communities
Many rural towns across Oregon, including places like Marcola, face slow economic growth caused by excessive regulations, limited investment, poor infrastructure and a shrinking workforce.
To help revitalize these communities, I propose a set of market-driven reforms to reduce government barriers and empower local entrepreneurs. These include simplified “rural starter permits” to ease the startup process and reduce fees, streamlined zoning for home-based businesses and tax incentives to attract private investment.
Launching microloan programs and encouraging co-op markets can strengthen local capital without relying on unsustainable government handouts. At the same time, improving entrepreneurship education in high schools and developing business apprenticeships with local employers will help close rural skills gaps.
Expanding broadband through public-private partnerships and offering digital literacy workshops will connect small towns to modern economic opportunities and support remote work hubs.
These reforms reward private risk-taking, encourage voluntary cooperation and promote economic self-reliance. Rather than rely on limited government grants, we can give rural Oregonians the tools and freedom to grow businesses, create jobs and build long-term prosperity.
Thank you for considering this vision for Oregon’s rural future.
Kaden Brown
Marcola
ONLINE EXTRA LETTERS
A Financial Jam for Trump
If you haven’t heard, Donald J. Trump is suffering from “Mental Anguish” after watching last year’s interview with Kamala Harris on CBS’ “60 Minutes,” according to his lawyers. The Wanna-Be King’s sensitive feelings were evidently hurt so badly that he is suing CBS for the sum of $20 billion.
As a patriotic Vietnam Veteran, I’m at the VA Clinic on Chad Drive every Friday at noon to join veterans and non-veterans who stand outside of the gates protesting the unnecessary VA cuts and Trump’s moronic executive orders. If Harris had won the race, I guarantee you I would not be taking my valuable time at the VA and local rallies against Trump.
There are millions of people all across this country and the world who have suffered “mental anguish” because of Trump and his MAGA Cabinet steamrolling this country off a cliff. We the people who uphold the Constitution need to stand up and file a class action suit against Trump and his MEGA Cabinet.
Let’s throw it back in his face and take our mental anguish and hit him where it hurts — his fat wallet. I think a tidy sum of 40 billion greenbacks would be in order. Come one, come all. Even Trump praying with his Trump Bible will not get him out of this financial jam.
Frank Harper
Springfield
No Kings
When I was growing up on military bases we were taught that our fathers served our country to protect our constitution, our rights to freedom of speech, religion and so forth. We were taught that communism was bad because the government controlled the news and what people read, and punished people who dissented.
Now we are living under a regime doing everything that we were taught was un-American. Our nation was not founded to serve a king or any other totalitarian leader. Separation of church and state is the only thing that guarantees freedom of religion for everyone.
My parents didn’t serve in WWII to fight fascism so that fascism could sneak in on the coattails of billionaires. Dissent is legal, necessary and even obligatory when our nation is censoring people, firing scientists, banning books, hauling off innocent people and sending our soldiers to face off with our citizens. Leaders who encourage violence against the opposition are un-American and need to be ousted. People who are standing up for American values are not left-wing radicals. And right-wing radicals are not conservatives and certainly not patriotic Americans.