• Dear Santa Claus: Thank you for your $100 contribution to Eugene Weekly all the way from the North Pole! The support from you and so many other readers means the world to this community paper that does kick-ass journalism about all things naughty and nice!
• Springfield is eyeing a payroll tax, not unlike Eugene’s, collected from employers and workers. Eugene’s tax started in 2021 and covers community safety services and what Springfield’s would cover will be the subject of upcoming City Council discussion. In Eugene, as the furor over Flock cameras subsides (almost all of which were removed by the city in December as Flock itself wasn’t going to take them down until late January) the hot topic is the proposed Amazon mega-warehouse in wetlands near the airport. The secretive project came to light after the Weekly’s Bricks $ Mortar columnist, Christian Wihtol, did some digging in land-use records.
• What we are reading: Don’t let the run-on title or size (an inch thick!) stop you from picking up Corvallis-based Donovan M. Reves’ first novel, The Extraordinary Voyage of a Tall Ship in a Tiny Pool Far from the Sea: Being a Ship’s Log Kept by Richard Jacob, Third Viscount Keld. Taking place in 1795, it’s narrated by the aforementioned Jacob, captain of the Mean Fish — a “fully functioning and seaworthy vessel … built in a tiny pool upon the grounds of the Viscount’s estate far from the sea” in the form of a ship’s log. This is no simple recounting of what happened each day; rather, it is a well-paced weaving together of offbeat characters and events with a smidgeon of suspense thrown in. Reves is an award-winning published poet and short story writer who works in an independent, locally owned bookstore. He has a way with words and this book is simply delightful! (GladEye Press, $23.95. Review by Jody Rolnick).
• This week in good news: Eugene Weekly was awarded a 2026 Lane County Cultural Coalition grant to partner with arts, heritage and cultural organizations across Lane County to help them promote and market their events, exhibitions and cultural programming. Details to come, but if your arts or cultural organization wants to find out more, contact Dave the Ad Guy, Dave@EugeneWeekly.com. The grants are made possible by the Oregon Cultural Trust, which provides support for a long list of projects statewide. To learn more or to donate, go to CulturalTrust.org.
• Trump news: The U.S. Justice Department dropped another batch of documents tied to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein under the Epstein Files Transparency Act — find them at Justice.gov/epstein. In his ongoing efforts to find the Golden Fleece, Donald Trump also announced a fleet of battleships named after himself, the “golden fleet.” He’s also trying to add the Trump name to the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Don’t get us started on Trump’s youth “Patriot Games” (aka Hunger Games). Gov. Gavin Newsom, former Vice President Kamala Harris, Sen. Mark Kelly, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — can we get started on 2028?
• Correction/clarification: Verizon’s cell-phone tower in Eugene’s College Hill neighborhood was on an old, unused green Eugene Water & Electric Board water tower that EWEB intends to remove and will not replace. The Dec. 11 Bricks $ Mortar column gave an incorrect location for the cell-phone tower.
• This week in sportsball: The Ducks hosted their first-ever Big 10 College Football Playoff, and won, but not well (despite the fireworks and drone show). In an interview posted on YouTube by GoDucks, Coach Dan Lanning said he was “disappointed” in how his team played in the second half and that it was not up to the Ducks “standards.” They head next to the Orange Bowl in Miami, Jan. 1, against fourth-seeded Texas Tech. On that note, beware of fake news sites covering the Ducks on social media. Nope, Oregon Gridiron Glory’s story of Oregon quarterback Dante Moore being accused of doping is not real, nor is its tale of Moore hugging the losing QB substantiated.