• Jan. 8’s “Top 10 Dick Moves” and the readers’ poll version (“Dick Moves: Your Move”) proved popular with readers! So we’re getting a jump on next year with “Dick Moves, Pre-dick-ted.” What dick moves do you see coming from local governments and businesses? Drop us a note at Editor@EugeneWeekly.com for an upcoming issue and see at the end of 2026 what dicks came to fruition!
• Greenland and Denmark are in the news as part of Donald Trump’s latest bat shittery. Check out the 1992 novel Smilla’s Sense of Snow (also a 1997 film and now a mini-series that perhaps the latest contretemps will push to Netflix) for some fictional background on Greenland or the Danish TV series Borgen (which is on Netflix) for your quirky European-Greenlandic political fix while Trump continues to play games with lives on the world stage.
• A group of former and current Springfield students and community members is working on a recall against Springfield School Board Chair Heather Quaas-Annsa and members Ken Kohl and Nicole De Graff who voted for mid-year cuts that will cost teachers their jobs. The prospective recall petition was turned in to Lane County Elections. The county says the petitioners must file their signature sheets for each petition and once approved for circulation, the group will have until April 20 to collect 4,826 signatures to get the recall on the ballot. At stake in Springfield are not just the cuts but also K-5 teachers who say they didn’t have the necessary time, standards-aligned curricula and other support materials needed to teach science and social studies.
• Want to try to bring transparency to policing in Eugene? The Civilian Review Board monitors the work of the city’s independent police auditor, reviews closed complaint cases and gives input on the Eugene Police Department’s investigative process. The CRB is looking for two members living in Eugene, 18 or older, can pass a background check and can meet the second Tuesday evening of the month. Applications due Jan. 31. Go to Eugene-or.gov/86/Boards-and-Commissions to apply to be on the CRB, Human Rights Commission or other important service positions.
• Eugene City Council voted to offer the city manager position to Jenny Haruyama, currently the Beaverton city manager. The advertised salary range was $238,071 to $319,218, and a start date is yet to be determined. Interim City Manager Matt Rodrigues was one of the top three candidates.
• At a Jan. 20 protest outside the downtown Eugene Federal Building, over 100 students from South Eugene High School and Monroe Middle School joined forces with several 100 adults to protest ICE activity. The walkout was part of the Women’s March’s Free America Walkout. It started at the Wayne Morse U.S. Courthouse and moved to the Eugene Federal Building, joining anti-ICE protesters. Later that evening, a mix of student and adult protesters stood in front of the building’s vehicle exit gate to prevent Department of Homeland Security officers from leaving. After a brief confrontation, the officers — some wearing riot gear — retreated and requested support from the Eugene Police Department, according to an EPD press release. EPD officers monitored the situation until around 6:40 pm when the students left. The federal officers again attempted to leave, but protesters prevented it. EPD’s Mobile Response Team was able to convince protesters to step aside without use of force. According to a protester, one of the vehicles is known to be used by ICE to transport detainees. To everyone’s delight, the feds didn’t tear gas or shoot at the youth and adults exercising their First Amendment rights.