• The last night of February was another night of protest in Eugene — we were surprised to see Eugene police issued a citation to one of the several protesters who were hit by cars Feb. 28. Read the story in this issue on black bloc tactics and enter the debate in a letter to the editor at Letters@EugeneWeekly.com. Go to EugeneWeekly.com to check out Kat Tabor’s story on the daytime union protest and Eve Weston’s story and video about the “No Business as Usual” protests at night. And hit up LCCTorch.com and DailyEmerald.com to see photos and video of the protesters being struck by cars posted by those tireless student journalists.
• Hello FBI and Homeland Security agents! Welcome to Eugene Weekly, your friendly neighborhood commie rag! Thanks for driving up our web hits by surfing our protest coverage. Question for you: We see you hanging out on the story about the retirees of the Resist! Persist! Repeat! weekly protest. Do you have a beef with the older crowd as well as with immigrants? The Nazi-Germany vibe is not a good look for this country.
• First, there was the unhinged State of the Union, then President Donald Trump started a war in Iran on Feb. 28 when he (not Congress) authorized joint U.S. and Israeli strikes on targets in Tehran and other Iranian cities. Iranian civilians — including more than 100 girls at a primary school — have been killed as well as Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Hosseini Khamenei. At least six U.S. service members have also been killed and the overall death toll is only creeping higher as tensions increase in the Persian Gulf countries. On March 3, the U.S. launched offensive operations against “designated terrorist organizations” in Ecuador. Protest. Vote. Speak up. Repeat.
• We see in Portland news that the graffiti artist known as Rango was arrested. He’s been known to tag down here in Eugene, too, and that reminds us — we were delighted to see that St. Vinnie’s teamed up with Eugene’s own Suspish for a pre-owned clothing line with that fun Suspish fish. Hey, city of Eugene and Eugene police, let’s give Suspish amnesty and ask them to do some official murals (also, you can head to EugeneWeekly.com and search the word Suspish to find our 2022 interview with the artist!)
• Lane County Commissioner David Loveall was censured in a 3-1 vote by the Lane County Commission after refusing to apologize after an outside investigation found he had harassed and retaliated against multiple county staffers. Since he’s an elected official, he can’t be fired, and censuring him — and hopefully the accompanying public dismay at his actions — is about the strongest thing the board can do. Loveall abstained from the vote and Ryan Ceniga voted against it. And now the folks of Springfield get to vote on Loveall in the May primary election versus Springfield Mayor Sean VanGordon.
• We mourn the passing of Eugene artist Steven Oshatz, who died from complications of lung cancer Jan. 24 at the age of 85. Educated at The New School in New York and at Chouinard Art Institute and Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles, where he was friends with actor Dennis Hopper, Oshatz moved to McKenzie Bridge in 1968 and began exhibiting work on canvas, paper and silk at galleries and museums around the Northwest. He also designed sets for Eugene Ballet and other performing groups in town. Plans for a memorial are pending.