• In cute rodent news, March is Adopt a Rescued Guinea Pig Month. This weekend, Springfield tabletop game store Castle of Games is celebrating this treasured holiday — along with its own one-year anniversary — by partnering with Greenhill Humane Society for a fundraiser and guinea pig adoption event. From noon to 2 pm Saturday, Feb. 28, and Sunday, March 1, stop by Castle of Games to hang out with or adopt guinea pigs onsite. You can also buy raffle tickets for a dog or cat themed basket through March 31, with proceeds benefiting Greenhill.
• Eugene musician Rob Tobias and the Tobiasphere has leaped on the ICE protest frog meme lilypad with his song “Frogs and Democracy” singing, “Frog that trickster fool/ not playing by fascist rules.” Find his homage to the cheerful ICE fighting inflatable amphibians on YouTube at YouTube.com/watch?v=Oj-yg-Thyj8 or at RobTobias.com.
• Check out a couple upcoming fascinating City Club of Eugene talks. Friday, Feb. 27, at noon at WOW Hall, 291 West 8th Avenue, three folks active in governance — John Brown, Eugene Water & Electric Board commissioner; Randy Groves, Eugene city councilor and Emielle Nischik, executive director of the Oregon School Boards Association will discuss “Effective Public Governance Boards,” and look at roles, responsibilities, ethics and common pitfalls of governance. We’d love it if someone would ask why the Oregon House of Representative’s Rules Committee just passed House Bill 4177, which would allow public officials to talk behind closed doors about “procedural matters” and reduce government transparency. On March 6, also at noon at WOW, go hear Johnny Lake, Ph.D. talk on “Black History is American History,” which hits home even harder as we wrap up Black History Month and the Trump administration tries to erase the parts of history it doesn’t like.
• The short legislative session comes to a close on March 8. House Bill 4138, which prohibits law enforcement in Oregon from wearing masks in most cases and requires uniformed police to wear items that clearly identify them as law enforcement, passed the House 36-19. The bill also limits local law enforcement in some situations from assisting federal law enforcement if an investigation, apprehension or arrest is occurring on the basis of an individual’s constitutionally protected right to free speech, an individual’s membership of a protected class or if the investigation violates Oregon and federal constitutional laws regarding unlawful search or seizure. This means local law enforcement cannot assist federal agents if they are impeding the constitutional rights of Oregonians at events like peaceful protests.
• The Bureau of Prisons may begin forcibly de-transitioning transgender inmates in federal prison. BOP released a policy Feb. 19, saying that inmates diagnosed with gender dysphoria will not receive gender-affirming care via hormone therapy, even if the inmate has a long history of being prescribed the medication. Instead, inmates will be provided psychotherapy, group counseling, psychiatric services and even “psychotropic medications.” This goes against every major medical authority in the U.S., which have proven that gender-affirming health care is a lifesaving treatment. This program could be deadly for any transgender person who is sentenced to serve time in a federal prison.
• After years of advocacy by student organizations and the Associated Students of the University of Oregon, UO Health Services approved a program to provide medication abortion on Feb. 19, expanding on-campus reproductive health services starting this fall. The move makes UO one of the first universities in the country to provide abortion pills directly through campus health services.