• Bern Johnson, who is retiring as executive director of Environmental Alliance Worldwide, tells reporter Corin Antonio in this week’s cover story that when his mom asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up, he knew he wanted to save rivers. His mom, Anita Johnson, was one of the longtime owners of Eugene Weekly; we still miss her and her deep involvement with the paper. She died in December 2024 at the age of 95, and her legacy continues. This commie rag is locally owned, not run by an out-of-state corporation, and still seeks to make this community and the world a better place. Not easy in these troubled times, but worth the time and these print pages! Support the local legacy at Support.EugeneWeekly.com or buy a damn fun T-shirt!
• Speaking of celebrating local! It’s Best of Eugene time (and by Eugene, we mean all of Lane County), so go to Vote.EugeneWeekly.com and cast your ballot for all things favorite. Vote for a nominee or stage a write-in campaign to try to catch up to the first round winners. Most of all, have fun and congratulate the folks you Weekly readers love! Vote local and try to vote in at least 10 categories so we know you are a human!
• Another success for chef Isaiah Martinez and bartender Nico Centanni of Yardy Rum Bar and the crew! The New York Times recognized Yardy as one of the top 50 restaurants in the country. From the food cart at ColdFire and bar cart near Mazzi’s to James Beard recognition, the West Indian inspired eats and perfectly matched rum drinks Yardy on Lincoln Street is what the Lane County food scene is, could be and inspires.
• Got a success? A local show? A protest? A cool protest photo? Send news to Editor@EugeneWeekly.com, events to Cal@EugeneWeekly.com and your own pithy observations and snark to Letters@EugeneWeekly.com.
• Music news! Longtime local musician Walker T Ryan has been playing a personal series of shows about his journey in music. The fifth is Sept. 20 at Houndstooth PublicHouse, “The Blues Continued.” The sixth and last show of the musical residency will feature the Walker T Ryan Trio with Jeremy Wegner and Tanya Bunson. Find more, in print and online, in Eugene Weekly’s What’s Happening Calendar and celebrate local music scene legends. Not local, but playing locally, check out Savannah Brown’s interview with Art Alexakis, lead singer of ’90s band Everclear. Everclear plays the Cuthbert Amphitheater Sept. 12. Alexakis tells Brown he didn’t move from California to Oregon to capitalize off the PNW’s grunge scene, way back when.
• Also this week in online extras at EugeneWeekly.com, check out Samantha Sobel’s spotlight on the Muse Collective’s bi-monthly cabaret show “Gettin’ Slizzard,” performing Saturday, Sept. 13. Also, find Savannah Brown’s interview with comedian Liz Glazer, who performs Sept. 13 at the Wildish Theater in Springfield on her Queerly Beloved tour. Read about how it took her 14 years of becoming a tenured property law professor to realize that she actually wants to be a comedian instead (after one improv class).
• How can we bring back CAHOOTS? That’s the topic at noon Friday, Sept. 12, at City Club of Eugene. The contract between the nationally known crisis intervention service and the city of Eugene ended earlier this year. Supporters have urged the City Council to bring back the compassionate, non-police service. Speakers Alese “Dandy” Colehour and Laurel Lisovskis from Willamette Valley Crisis Care, and Jacob Trewe from Friends of CAHOOTS, will talk about their efforts to bring back mobile crisis services to Eugene. The City Club meets at WOW Hall, 291 West 8th Avenue. Admission is free; lunch is available for $15.