Steaming About Republican Policies
I am having a difficult time wondering how we got to this point with the present federal Republican senators and representatives. These are not the Republicans I used to vote for!
Presently, they have given up the power of looking after my tax dollars, and also preventing what is going on with my money — in Venezuela, Palestine, all this nonsense with ICE, wanting to destroy our forests and wildlife — well, the list just goes on and on.
On top of that, much of my/our tax dollars are being used for illegal activities. I am amazed that no information is out there on how President Barack Obama managed with the illegal folks he sent away, legally — and I am certain with a tiny budget — compared with the enormous sums (of my/our money) that are going out for all the ICE situation.
We just have to keep on writing letters, allying, boycotting and resisting!
Thanks for letting me give off steam!
Sue Craig
Eugene
Policy Hurts People
I was encouraged to read Dan Bryant’s thoughtful opinion piece on the Trump administration’s war on homelessness. As a voting member of the Lane County Poverty and Homelessness Board, I was present when this alarming news broke. Beyond my role on the board, I served as a case manager and housing navigator at a local shelter — until last month, when I and every other shelter-based case manager in Lane County were laid off without warning.
This decision didn’t just eliminate jobs; it dismantled a lifeline for the most vulnerable members of our community. I personally managed a caseload of 25 individuals — people society has largely forgotten. Our shelter, a low-barrier facility (the very type of program the Trump administration seeks to eliminate), accepts residents who have failed out of other programs. For many, we are their last chance.
Before these cuts, our team provided daily recovery classes, connected clients to treatment, helped them secure permanent housing and employment, and guided them through the maze of safety-net programs. We offered hope and a path forward. Now, those programs are gone. When we broke the news to residents, the room was filled with tears — mine included.
This is not just a policy shift; it is a human crisis. Stripping away case management and behavioral health support will push people further into despair, making homelessness harder and costlier to address in the long run. Our community cannot afford to abandon those who need us most.
Shari Walton
Eugene
Don’t Take the Trees
Two lush, beautiful maple tree icons in my Whiteaker neighborhood — across from Territorial Vineyards — are most likely slated to be cut down, and I feel heartsick at the thought. These trees are not just part of the scenery. They are elders of this block. They draw in squirrels, birds and so much wildlife. Their trunks are draped in deep, glowing moss, and their broad, arching limbs create a natural cathedral over the sidewalk. These trees are the charm and pride of that corner!
Losing them now, especially when real solutions exist, feels unnecessary and heartbreaking.
Across the country, communities have found thoughtful ways to preserve mature trees while still keeping sidewalks safe and accessible. Scalloped sidewalks can gently curve around root zones. Raised or ramped walkways can protect both pedestrians and roots. Permeable pavers and flexible materials can shift without cracking or damaging the tree. These approaches work, and they allow us to honor safety without sacrificing the living beings that make our neighborhoods worth walking through.
Cutting down trees of this size and stature should never be the first or easiest option. Once a tree like this is gone, it’s gone for generations. No new planting can instantly replace the shade, character, or sense of place it gave us.
We often talk about wanting a greener, more thoughtful community. This is our chance to prove we mean it. I urge Lyndsie Leech of Ward 7 and the Eugene City Council, the Urban Forestry Department and the Maintenance Department of Public Works to pause, look up into those branches and consider preservation before destruction.
Marc Koeplin
Eugene
Called to Duty
My father, a WWII Army veteran, was interviewed over 15 years ago for a special series titled “Called to Duty,” a salute to WWII veterans to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack. I was riveted as he recounted his memories of voluntarily enlisting and being sent to fight in the Pacific Theater during the entirety of that war.
When asked about the process of enlistment, his reply stood out as fully relevant to current media about loyalty and obedience in military service. His exact words were, “They gave us the oath… I swear allegiance to the United States … and we had to swear that we would obey all legal orders of superior officers.” It was the sworn commitment to “obey legal orders” that remained paramount in his mind as he recalled that moment.
Seventy years after his enlistment, my father was absolutely clear that those who are called to duty are required to act ethically and legally during their service. The same commitment was recently verbalized by senator and former U.S. Navy captain Mark Kelly, only to be accused by our country’s current president of being a “traitor” and deserving to be hanged.
If my father were alive today, I believe he’d have written this letter in defense of Kelly’s right to speak the truth, and in abhorrence of such lowly behavior as threatening those with a record of public service and patriotism with court martials and FBI investigations.
Lisa Arkin
Eugene
Triple Bottom Line?
The Envision Eugene Plan projected future growth would be predicated on the goals of the City’s Climate Recovery Ordinance, in part reducing city-wide fossil fuel emissions 50 percent by 2030, and by following the principles of the Triple Bottom Line (TBL); a balancing of economic prosperity, social equity and environmental health.
The city of Eugene seems to have dropped the TBL requirement from its sustainable framework for growth and development.
The non-disclosure of a corporation, which arranged a secret and questionable public notice in the Clear Lake Overlay Zone on wetlands, violated the intent of the TBL. This proposed project would not only destroy wetlands but would contribute carbon emissions and air pollution, increase traffic congestion, and support a corporation that we all know as Amazon, has minimal regard for employees and is listed by Action Center for Race and the Economy as a fascist four corporation.
The city has also allowed the construction of several new gas stations in the last few years, one within a block of two existing stations and none with EV charging ports. What happened to “fairness and equity in achieving a healthy environment, vibrant community, and improved quality of life for surrounding neighborhoods”?
The bottom must have fallen out of the triple bottom line requirements when corporations pull out check books and get tax exemptions.
Jim Neu
Eugene
ONLINE EXTRA LETTERS
Was he Religious?
I keep reading how Great Charlie Kirk was, his book Stop in the Name of God, a religious man? Or was he?
He was not comfortable flying with a Black pilot, he said Black women are not as smart as white women. Blacks don’t have the brain processing power to otherwise be taken seriously, who have to steal a white person to be taken somewhat seriously.
He said if a woman took birth control pills, she became angry and bitter and became a Democrat.
Females over 30 are not attractive in the dating pool.
Democratic women want to dine alone without children.
Separation of church and state is not in the Constitution; it is made up by secular humanists.
The Democrat party believes everything God hates.
Kirk believes God supports, he does not.
Stop, in the name of God, believing Kirk.
John 3:16
1 John 4:8
John 2:2
Romans 5:8
I don’t understand how people follow Kirk or now his wife, when this is not what God believes. Anyone who has read the Bible would know, but in this day and age, people don’t take the time to question people like Charlie Kirk. “Charlies” have been around since the beginning of time, it is about making money.
Steven E. Hunnicutt
Eugene
The King of America has spoken
Here is what monarchy in America looks like, folks. King Donald cracks down on the little guys smuggling drugs across the Caribbean by blowing up their boats.
But then our new King pardons a high-level Honduran politician who took millions in bribes to overlook drug smugglers. Law enforcement says those smugglers “paved a cocaine superhighway to the United States.”
Here’s the deal. Kings believe bribes are just gifts from one wealthy party to another. If royals or aristocrats are enabling drug smuggling, it’s all good. If others do it, it’s okay to blow their bodies to bits.
In America, our new king rules based on his personal say-so rather than law. His Majesty says, “Former President Juan Orlando Hernandez, according to many people that I greatly respect . . . has been treated very harshly and unfairly.”