Pete DeFazio’s Take
I wish I had a nickel for every time an old white guy told me the only reason no woman has been president yet is because we “haven’t nominated the right one.”
Rebecca McCroskey
Eugene
Sacrifice
As a Christian, Dan Bryant believes in the concept of sacrifice. i.e. God the Father sacrificed Jesus so Christians could spend eternity in heaven. I think the murder of Jesus was a tragedy and nothing good came of it, unless you think of the spread of the Holy Roman Empire and the theft of the American continents by Christians to be good things.
He claims that the murder of Renee Good was an unintentional sacrifice, as if something good is bound to come from it. I’m afraid that this logic might encourage some suicidal teenager to sacrifice himself by provoking ICE to shoot him. Nothing good will come from that, either, and it might result in the unintentional sacrifice of others.
He says, “This must be our Kent State moment,” referring to the murder of protesters in 1970. I say, “What good came from the Kent State murders?” The protests went on and the war went on. It eventually ended in 1975 when the government realized we couldn’t win it. He quoted one banner, “They can’t kill us all.” Was he implying that people should be ready to sacrifice themselves?
I’m not saying not to do what you can to counteract the killing. I am saying, “Don’t try to be a hero or a martyr.” Sacrifice is not a magic ritual that will make something good happen.
Steve Hiatt
Eugene
Ban the Bible in Public Meetings
A standing ovation for Karen Myers (Jan. 15 “Sermon on the County, Loveall Style”) and Thomas Hiura (Jan. 15 “State of the County, Not Church of the County”) for calling out “Bible waving” David Loveall. Loveall must not have read the First Amendment: Article VI (no religion test clause) prevents the government from requiring religion or affiliation as a condition for serving the government.
Simply put, there must be a separation of church and state in a public meeting. Loveall must think that the Supreme Court has given him the power to do whatever he wants, like the want-a-be dictator, Donald Trump. We need to get out and vote in November, and my vote is going for Sean VanGordon, the mayor of Springfield, to be the next Lane County Commission board chair, and from there we need to work our way up to the top and impeach 34-felon Donald Trump.
Frank Harper
Springfield
Forbidden Plateau of Sexuality
I was a lone traveler, not unlike Dan Savage (Jan. 22), making my way across the forbidden plateau of sexuality. I knew I was gay by age 13, but in my shame as a good Christian boy, I grew exhausted with despair and remained deeply closeted. Unlike Savage, I was never bullied in my public-school years, but lost and lonely to the core — I missed high school proms and the joy of puppy love shared by straight kids. It wasn’t until college that I began to explore my despair with counseling. Instead of dropping out of college as a sophomore, the counselor gave me the best advice of my life, he told me, “Find someone of like mind and get on with your journey in life.”
As I reached my third decade, and with five perfections: patience, giving, morality, meditation and wisdom, I came out to my parents. There were no difficulties encountered when I introduced them to my partner David — he became the love of my life and my parents learned to love David, too.
Being gay naturally occurs in nature and is, above all, a particular expression of an individual’s “Truth.” When one acknowledges that they are gay, their understanding at the beginning of the journey may be difficult, but gone is the austerity of being alone.
Mike E. Walsh
Eugene
Barring of the Down Payment
The Oregon Legislature returns next week to kick off its five-week short session and lawmakers have a real chance to help first-time homebuyers if they start in the right place.
One clear fix is the mortgage interest deduction. Oregon currently allows this tax break for a primary residence and also for vacation houses. That means millions of public dollars are helping subsidize second houses while thousands of working families cannot clear the biggest barrier to ownership: the down payment. Ending the deduction for vacation houses is not extreme. It keeps the benefits for people living in their homes and stops subsidizing additional property accumulation.
On its own, this change would free up $10 million each year. Those dollars should be directed toward down payment assistance, one of the few tools proven to help first-time and first-generation buyers actually buy a home. Without help up front, families are locked out before they can even make an offer.
That support becomes even more powerful when paired with Leader Bowman’s proposed “Buyers Before Billionaires” bill, which would require large institutional investors to wait 90 days before bidding on single-family homes. Giving people a head start with down payments while slowing down Wall Street investors helps Oregonians compete.
These ideas will not solve the housing crisis overnight. But together, they move Oregon toward a system that favors people over speculation, homes over portfolios, and long-term community stability over short-term profit. They are the perfect recipe for a five-week session.
Kevin Cronin
Eugene
Support for the Traffic‑Safety Ordinance
The debate over handing money to people in traffic in Eugene is often framed as a test of compassion. But the sidewalk corners at busy intersections, narrow medians and freeway ramps where people ask for help are some of the most dangerous places in the city. These are high‑speed areas where drivers are accelerating, merging, or distracted and where a moment of inattention can have devastating consequences.
Our unhoused neighbors stand in these locations because they have few alternatives, but that doesn’t make these environments safe. When a driver hands money out a window, it pulls someone closer to moving traffic at exactly the moment drivers are least focused on pedestrians.
The ordinance currently before City Council does not ban panhandling and it does not target the person asking for help. It simply asks drivers not to create situations where someone has to lean toward traffic to receive a few dollars. That is a basic harm‑reduction step, not a judgment on anyone’s humanity.
If we want compassion to mean something, it should include keeping people alive. I urge City Council to adopt this ordinance as a small but necessary step toward reducing preventable harm.
Curtis Taylor
Eugene
ONLINE EXTRA LETTERS
We Must Not Look Away
On Dec. 28, 2025, millions of Iranians poured into the streets to protest economic hardship and decades of repression under the Islamic Republic. They were not calling for reform, but for the end of the regime — chanting the name of Prince Reza Pahlavi, a leading opposition figure who has called for democracy, secular governance and free elections in Iran.
The government’s response was swift and brutal. Authorities shut down the internet, landlines and — in some areas — electricity, cutting the country off from the world. Security forces launched a campaign of mass arrests and lethal violence against unarmed civilians. According to eyewitness accounts and human rights organizations, an estimated 50,000 Iranian men, women and children have been killed, thousands injured or permanently blinded, and hundreds executed in secret. Reports of chemical agents and poisoned ammunition used against protesters continue to emerge. Yet Western governments have largely responded with silence.
As an Iranian American — and as a citizen of the world — I cannot accept that silence.
The Iranian people are asking the world to recognize that their struggle is rooted in the same values we claim to defend: freedom, democracy and secular governance. Claims that this uprising is orchestrated by the United States or Israel are regime propaganda meant to delegitimize a genuine, homegrown revolution.
Daily life in Iran explains why people are risking everything. Women can be imprisoned or killed for showing a strand of hair, as in the case of Mahsa Amini. They are barred from stadiums, judgeships and equal legal standing. Dancing, singing, holding hands or being openly LGBTQ can lead to prison — or death.
The Iranian people are fighting for basic human rights. They deserve more than our sympathy. They deserve our voices.
History will remember who stood with them — and who remained silent.
Rebecca DesPrez
Springfield
‘We refuse to go numb’
Church Women United of Lane County denounces Jan. 7 murder of Renee Good
Amid social chaos, I’m grateful for Church Women United of Lane County’s motto: “Agreed to Differ; Resolved to Love, United to Serve.”
Hunting down, terrorizing, maltreating and even murdering fellow human beings because they offend the dominant culture is never acceptable, as affirmed by the world’s sacred traditions.
Following ICE’s fatal shooting of Renee Good in Minnesota, many in our community and throughout the nation feel confused, angry, sad and even numb. The federal government has made clear that no investigation of her murder will be held. Period. End of justice.
As women of Christian faith and part of the larger body politic, we hold fast to our moral compass and reaffirm our common humanity — with victims of such violence, their families and neighbors and yes, even with the perpetrators who have forsaken their human core.
Just laws must be obeyed. (Unjust laws are mere license.) And the first law, which guides all others, is this: Love others as yourself.
Church Women United of Lane County joins with faith and civic organizations, including Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon, and electeds in Oregon and nationwide, in calling for ICE’s dehumanizing activities to stop.
We refuse to go numb. We stand united to ensure that every individual in our state and nation can feel safe, cared for and live in peace.
Mary Sharon Moore
Springfield
Captured By Fascist
Clearly, our federal government has been captured by a fascist authoritarian regime, and the power of all three branches willfully consolidated to the Executive with no checks and balances. Now we must turn to the state for protections against federal overreach and lawlessness, through non-cooperation called Soft Secession. Many states, both red and blue, have utilized elements of this to their advantage against the federal government. The mechanisms and precedents already exist. Blue states can strengthen protections by the following:
1. Attorney general would enforce state laws and prosecute federal agents and employees who break them.
2. Create public revenue streams such as a state bank, broadband and healthcare system.
3. Set up a tax escrow account and pass trigger laws that would automatically halt the flow of taxes from state to federal when congressional allocations are withheld or agreements aren’t kept.
4. Elections — Undermine Citizens United at the state level. Corporations can only be granted rights by the state they operate in. Ban corporate campaign donations.
Blocks of blue states working in tandem on these fortifications and protections could be very effective in grinding the gears, potentially crippling the runaway train dismantling our democracy and targeting blue states for retribution and punishment. Blue states subsidize red states. Tax revenues withheld by seven key blue states amounting to 180 billion is a significant blow.
Tim Owen
Eugene
Midyear Layoffs Are Not ‘Numbers’
On Jan. 12, the Springfield Public Schools board voted 3-2 to approve a $2.34 million midyear “reduction in force,” laying off 27 licensed staff and eliminating additional positions at semester break. Students and educators warned these cuts will disrupt schedules and relationships halfway through the year.
Budgets are real. But governance is a choice. Midyear layoffs are not just “numbers”; they are a failure of planning and a breach of trust with students, workers and families. When leaders wait until January to pull the lever, the cost is paid in classroom instability and lost instructional continuity.
That is why I am calling on Board Chair Heather Quaas-Annsa and directors Nicole De Graff and Ken Kohl, who cast the deciding votes, to resign. Resignation is not punishment; it is stewardship. Springfield needs board leaders who will publish clear multi-year budget scenarios, build community buy-in before emergencies, and treat school-year stability as a nonnegotiable public value.
We can face fiscal reality without tearing up the school year. Let’s start with leadership that plans ahead and listens.
Devon Lawson
Springfield
SPS Boardmembers, You Should Resign
My name is Abraham Constantino and I am a Springfield High School graduate, a certified nursing assistant, a second-generation Mexican immigrant, gay and working class.
On Jan. 12, the Springfield School Board voted 3-2 for a $2.34 million midyear reduction in force, cutting 27 licensed full-time equivalent jobs after semester break. The deciding “yes” votes were Board Chair Heather Quaas-Annsa, Ken Kohl and Nicole De Graff.
Budgets are hard, but elected leaders are supposed to improve the community. We do not need public leaders choosing layoffs as the first and loudest solution, especially when the costs land on students and working people. Public service is a duty. You work for the people. The people do not work for you.
For immigrant families, LGBTQ students and working-class kids, school stability and trusted teachers are not extras. They are what keep students connected and learning. Some of the teachers who taught me in Springfield will be gone midyear because the board majority chose this route.
There were other options like earlier planning, different priorities, and real problem-solving that didn’t start with job losses and classroom disruption. When leadership chooses the most damaging option, accountability should follow.
Quaas-Annsa, Kohl and De Graff should resign.