• Boris Wiedenfeld-Needham, otherwise known as the Bo of Bo’s Wine Depot and a force behind the local 50501 group, announced Feb. 16 that he is dropping out of the congressional race against Rep. Val Hoyle. He’s given his endorsement in the May Democratic primary to Melissa Bird, saying it’s time for a change in the status quo and from “corporate Democrats.” Wiedenfeld-Needham says in a press release that the decision was prompted by his ongoing recovery from cancer and related surgeries, and that he would not be able to do the “hard work of fighting for my constituents, while also maintaining my health and be present for my family.”
• As long as we are gearing up for elections: Local rescue dog Mama Grace has made it into the quarter finals of America’s Favorite Pet after six weeks of voting rounds. Mama Grace was rescued out of LA’s Skid Row by Northwest Dog Project and wants to use the contest winnings to give back to the rescue. The winner will be featured on the cover of Modern Dog Magazine and takes home $10,000, the contest says. Find Mama Grace at AmericasFavPet.com/2026/mama-6a2a.
• The Eugene Police Department and the Federal Protective Service are working together to install fencing around the downtown Eugene Federal Building, EPD Chief Chris Skinner announced in a Feb. 12 Police Commission meeting. Skinner described the building’s courtyard as a “moving target” and said the fencing will make the boundaries of where protesters can stand clearer. Eugene’s sanctuary laws prevent the local police from assisting ICE operations, but do not prevent EPD from assisting FPS.
• Sad news from Europe: Helmuth Rilling, the German choral director who co-founded the Oregon Bach Festival here in 1970, died Feb. 11 of pneumonia. He was 92. Rilling and University of Oregon music professor Royce Saltzman took the small music festival they started and turned it into a must-see phenomenon that drew musicians each summer from around the world. Under his leadership, OBF commissioned new works by leading composers, and the festival’s recording of Krzysztof Penderecki’s “Credo” — an OBF commission — took the Grammy in 2000 for best choral performance. A cerebral and often demanding musician who liked to light up cigars during performance breaks, Rilling, who retired from the festival in 2013, inspired scores of aspiring conductors in his OBF master classes with his close reading of Bach cantatas and the B-Minor Mass, which became the festival’s icon. We trust he’s now rearranging angel choirs and trying to find himself a good Habano.
• A bright spot when it comes to the feds came earlier in February when Oregon District Court Judge Mustafa T. Kasubhai issued a smackdown of the U.S. Department of Justice’s national push to seize state voter rolls. Kasubhai cited Attorney General Pam Bondi’s letter to Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota with a demand about immigration enforcement, saying it “casts serious doubt as to the true purpose” the DOJ has for the data. He writes that the DOJ’s words and actions indicate that “it intends to create a nationwide database of confidential voter information and use it in unprecedented ways, including immigration enforcement efforts, is chilling.”
• We’re watching the bills being introduced in the Oregon Legislature’s current short session. House Bill 4145 modifies Oregon’s narrowly passed Measure 114, which creates a permit to purchase for firearms and bans “large-capacity” magazines. The Oregon Supreme Court is currently debating the measure’s constitutionality. The bill includes an interesting exception in which “qualified retired law enforcement officers” can retain their large-capacity magazines. The Legislature is also considering Senate Bill 1599, which hopes to move the referendum date for Oregon’s controversial transportation tax to May instead of November. HB 4088, which expands protections for reproductive and gender-affirming health care, passed the House 34-22 and moves to the Senate. Other bills include HB 4079, which would require schools to develop an ICE alert system and SB 1507, which disconnects Oregon from three of the new federal tax codes imposed by the GOP’s “Big Beautiful Bill.”
• 255 Madison, the music venue, is closing its doors. The venue announced the closure on social media Feb. 17, writing, “This comes as a complete shock to the staff, but we were informed tonight that it will be our last night. The decision was made by the building owners.” The venue says it is working on a potential farewell party.