• As the May primary election nears, our letters to the editor inbox heats up! We love folks who participate in democracy through lively discussions! Writers, we accept letters of up to 250 words that have not been submitted elsewhere. We like to save space — particularly in print — for unheard voices. We run extra letters online, but there, too, we want to lift up the words of folks who are not getting heard. Write a letter! Letters@EugeneWeekly.com.
• We are closely following the trial in the tragic death of musician and literature professor Sharon Schuman. Schuman died after Scott Stolarczyk lost control of his car and hit her as she jogged on the Amazon Trail at 9:45 am, April 23, 2025. He has said he had a coughing fit and blacked out. He also had a blood alcohol content well over the legal limit. Also in the news, the University of Oregon has been hit with more than $20,000 in fines by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality related to the renovations of University (formerly Deady) and Villard halls. DEQ alleges the UO, as well as a company working on the project, Technical Waterproofing Inc., which was also fined, improperly managed and transported lead-containing hazardous waste.
• Back to elections! City Club of Eugene kicks off its candidate forums — noon Friday, April 3, at WOW Hall. Running for City Council Ward 5, north Eugene, are incumbent Mike Clark and challengers Athena Aguiar and Jasmine Hatmaker. Up for Ward 6, northeast Eugene, are incumbent Greg Evans and challenger Tai Pruce-Zimmerman. The forum will be moderated by KLCC reporter Zac Ziegler (we can only assume EW is too spicy to moderate?). Thanks to those who sent us questions for our endorsement interviews, we’ve been using them. If you miss the WOW Hall event, you can listen 7 pm Monday nights on KLCC.
• Speaking of KLCC, if you missed the announcement last week that the Weekly’s former business manager-turned-embezzler, Elisha Young, pleaded guilty on all five felony counts March 24, you can catch up by reading last week’s issue or listening to Michael Dunne’s Oregon on the Record at KLCC.com. Sentencing is May 27 and she is facing 36 months in the Department of Corrections, two years’ post prison supervision, and we are asking for restitution.
• Thousands of people stood up for democracy across Oregon and the U.S. on March 28 during the most recent No Kings rally. Check out photos at EugeneWeekly.com. Keep standing up and speaking out for our immigrant neighbors, our trans and LGBTQ+ community, our rights and our democracy!
• News that the March 2026 edition of Ruralite, Lane Electric Cooperative’s monthly members magazine, was its last edition after 68 years has hit us print-lovers hard. In a story announcing “The End of an Era,” Lane Electric leadership says the decision was based on several factors, including rising costs, changing communication styles and the recent purchase from Eugene Water and Electric Board of 3,300 meters serving the McKenzie River valley area. May 1 is when about 2,500 new customers will join Lane Electric, and co-op management said in the article that they didn’t want folks to get used to one method of communication only to have to “deal with another change soon after.” The co-op will use a quarterly mailed and emailed newsletter that will be posted on its website and Facebook. Ruralite magazines serve members of publicly owned electric utilities such as Lane Electric and are produced by Pioneer Utility Resources, a communications cooperative based in North Plains, Oregon. Pioneer produces 46 localized editions of Ruralite, each tailored to a specific utility and its members, reaching more than 362,000 homes each month across Alaska, California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Washington.