Thanks, Christian Wihtol
I have long admired Christian Wihtol’s well-written Bricks & Mortar articles in EW. He has often demonstrated an uncanny ability to take a mundane subject (bricks? mortar?) and turn it into an exposé of the Kathleen Jones-McCann vs. Lane County controversy (EW June 11). The depth of research and subsequent narrative writing about this local scandal is amazing. EW is fortunate, as are the residents of Lane County, to have an investigative reporter like Christian Wihtol on staff. Keep this guy around; he’s worth his weight in newsprint.
Tom Arnold
Eugene
Hiking Column
I wanted to compliment Chandra LeGue on her hiking columns, in the tradition of Bill Sullivan but with her own activist spin. We decided to go to the Gordon Lakes area based upon this week’s article (EW June 11), even though I worried the area would be overrun with hikers after such an enticing write-up. Actually, when we arrived at the lakes end of the hike there were no vehicles there, and we didn’t run into anyone the entire way, on a Saturday and the day before Father’s Day yet! LeGue did a good job giving specifics about directions.
What I really liked about the article, and the others she has written for the Weekly, is her activism. The Roadless Area Conservation Rule is on the chopping block. If this happens it will open up vast areas of old growth for logging. There will be a comment period and info is on the Oregon Wild website.
Cathy Boucher and Joe Spivack
Eugene
Solastalgia for the Sounds of Summer
May I offer my empathy for the writer of the letter “our mother is dying” (EW letters June 11.)
We live up on the main Umpqua River and remember the genuine sights and sounds he poetically describes. Summer in Oregon was bliss, and it saddens me to think that future generations will never know the sights and sounds of a truly blissful Oregon summer.
Over 30 years, we have seen the virtual explosion of industrial scale enterprises which are now commonplace with no end in sight. Corporate interests have focused on profit thereby collectively destroying the beauty and soul stirring privileges that only nature can provide.
Solastalgia is a word that describes this feeling.
Mary Anne Brown
Umpqua
Reporting the News
In order to know what is happening in this community, I take the online Register-Guard, Lookout Eugene-Springfield and the Eugene Weekly, paper and online.
Once again the Eugene Weekly “Money Like Water” story (June 11), I ask why was this not reported in the Guard and Lookout, not able to catch all the local TV news, I’m willing to say this was not reported.
This story deals with contributing to political leaders and not following the law.
This should have been front page news in the Guard, Lookout, on the local news channels. The person involved could be the reason the other news media would not report it.
Over the years, I have learned that in this community the news media is controlled by individuals, groups who decide what will be reported and what will not be reported.
Steven E Hunnicutt
Eugene
Earth!
It’s well deserved, all the attention to soccer championships happening in the Northwest. I fervently believe in sports as a character builder. The generated worldwide enthusiasm for soccer is incredible.
I’m loath to believe that such passion cannot be ignited to save planet Earth. The blue marble that stands out in a breathtaking universe. As much as I idolize fictional stories of reaching other planets in the nick of time to save Earth’s people, the truth is, it’s a fictional dream. Pure fiction.
Folks, we are stuck here on earth!
Why can’t our sports fanatics and rich kings copy the same euphoria that is now happening around soccer to promote saving our home planet?
It seems reasonable to me that if these gifted promoters can’t arouse awareness to promote the most important issue confronting earth’s existence in a life or death manner then these laughing hyenas will lose in the end because there will be no money for the kings to steal from us and no playing fields for our idolized athletes to play on.
Joe R. Blakely
Eugene
Vaccination rates
Preventable diseases and illnesses such as whooping cough, measles, rotavirus and influenza are making a comeback due to adults and their children skipping or refusing to get vaccinated on a standard schedule. This translates into more time and economic pressures on our healthcare system and hospitals to treat these preventable infections that often cause complications (like persistent diarrhea, pneumonia, meningitis, internal bleeding, paralysis or death). With so many amazing vaccines that have been developed over the last century, humans have had the chance to eliminate miserable or crippling diseases such as polio, smallpox, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Hepatitis B, measles, etc., because near-universal vaccination rates prevented the illnesses. Healthcare for All Oregon (HCAO) emphasizes transparent healthcare information, public health standards and vaccinations for everyone in a timely manner by advocating for a single-payer, affordable, accessible healthcare system. Consider being proactive about healthcare in Oregon by addressing your concerns to the Universal Healthcare Governance Board as they design a system for all Oregonians.
Janet Brougher
Eugene
Unpermitted Jones-McCann
This is a situation that exemplifies the pervasive American attitude of “See it. Want it. Take it.” We continue to exploit what we can without regard to the law, tradition, environmental effects or simple neighborliness.
I don’t just fault Kathleen Jones-McCann (EW June 11) for her refusal to get permits. I also find complicit all the contractors who excavated, installed well and septic, built, wired, plumbed and roofed the house, etc. As a longtime homeowner in the countryside, I’m aware of the onerous side of permits. But even if we’d wanted to skip that step, the contractors wouldn’t have risked losing their licenses by proceeding with the work. Obviously, there’s a question as to how an unpermitted house was built without contractor complicity (assuming the homeowner didn’t do all this work herself). Out of fairness to those of us who obey the laws, I hope Lane County Department of Land Planning is looking into this, too.
Andrea Taylor
Eugene
Oregon’s Healthcare
The state of healthcare in Oregon should be alarming everybody. In our own Emerald City, we’ve seen major blows to the healthcare system, starting at the end of 2025 when PacificSource stopped serving low-income and working class people who were part of the Oregon Health Plan. At the beginning of 2026, PeaceHealth tried to cut ties with the working collective of doctors known as Eugene Emergency Physicians. Most recently, Providence Health Plan announced it was shutting down in 2027 and are currently trying to sell their hospice services to Compassus, a for-profit company based out of Tennessee.
While Judge Mustafa Kasubhai lawfully reprimanded PeaceHealth’s labor practices, and the Oregon Health Authority is currently scrutinizing Providence’s proposed sale, we can’t rely on governmental institutions to guard our healthcare access against profit-seeking industrial might — especially when the federal government’s giant thumb is tipping the scale towards private interests.
This September, though, the Oregon state Legislature is voting on a bill to implement a universal healthcare system that guarantees coverage for all Oregonians. There will be tremendous pushback from insurance companies and healthcare super PACS, but Lane County has established a non-profit chapter that is organizing and mobilizing the democratic will of the people to fight back against these wealthy interests that profit off sick people.
If you believe healthcare is a right and everyone should have access to affordable care, please check out Healthcare for All Oregon (HCAO.org) to see how you can help, contact your legislators, and get involved.
Chris Daniel
Springfield
No SLUG Queen?
When I saw Michael Hinojosa’s letter (“Our Mother is Dying” EW June 11 edition) about changes in rural western Oregon, it dawned on me that the lack of slugs in my garden the last few years is not just a lucky fluke. It is almost surely related to the stressed fir trees I see in my neighborhood. Fortunately, we still have our tree frog chorus, but is that because we participated in a creek restoration project? Is anyone tracking the slugs, frogs and bats of western Oregon that Michael Hinojosa describes in his letter?
Does Eugene need to plan for a replacement for the SLUG queen?
Nancy Nichols
Deadwood
ONLINE EXTRA LETTERS
I call her Shelly
Conservatives are an interesting lot. They like to blame “woke” liberals for the crushing burden of the hordes of transsexual people infiltrating our schools’ bathrooms and our girls’ sports teams. They stringently promote the idea of “one family, one vote”, since the wife is going to vote the same way as the head of household anyway. One’s takeaway from all this might be that conservative Republicans believe that men, being superior in every instance, should take the lead in any and all circumstances.
So when I see two superior beings like Joe Rogan and Josh Hokit stand on a stage in front of the seat of American power and announce to the world: “Michelle Obama is a Man! Am I right?” I take heart. These bulky bros are not denigrating the former First Lady, but are instead elevating her, a Black Woman, to the highest status their roid-ravaged minds can envision, that of “a man.”
With celebrities of that caliber supporting her, one is emboldened to imagine that Michelle Obama, should she choose to exercise her prerogative, might still have a shot at becoming the first Woman President of the United States.
And wouldn’t that be a bitch . . . ?
Leo Muzzy
Eugene
Springfield Schools May Meeting
I was perplexed by the views expressed by four former Springfield school board members who spoke at the board meeting on May 11. They attacked the director, Jonathan Light, without substantiation, while skirting the district’s real issues. Teachers are being laid off or are resigning due to the pressures and restrictions they face. Parents are disgruntled by the complaints of children bored by test driven curriculum. There is inadequate time allocated to history, civics, art, P.E, music and science. Many children are being bullied on campus. These problems all contribute to the serious decline in enrollment in Springfield schools. Yet possible solutions reside in the growing number of families seeking alternative, well-rounded education, such as in the thriving A3 high school.
Instead of offering ideas to address these challenges, the former board members criticized the current board — especially Light’s proposal to allow board members to visit classrooms without a chaperone from the central office. This freedom would allow board members to connect more often with teachers, principals and students, and thereby strengthen the Springfield Public Schools community. The current policy restricting board visits baffles me. In the public district I served for nearly 30 years, board members commonly came in as welcome visitors. They were open to learning what challenges teachers and students faced, and to seeing positive things taking place in our classrooms. Understanding fully what is going on in our schools so they can better support them is what we elect board members to do.
Loretta Halter
Springfield
America’s Harlots of the Potomac
The Bible perfectly understands America’s situation today. Bible prophets called certain government leaders and followers “whores” or “harlots” for deliberately undermining democratic law in exchange for personal material gain.
For example, the Bible’s 7th Commandment against adultery referred not only to marital adultery, but to domestic constitutional adultery and flirtation with unreliable foreign kings. Jeremiah wrote, “My people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit.” (Jer. 2:11) Ezekiel wrote, “Thou has played the whore also with the Assyrians, because thou wast unsatiable.” (Ez. 16:28, KJV)
MAGA cabinet officials and Congresspersons have exchanged their once sturdy political values for honors made possible by our 47th President’s theft of power from Congress and his love of foreign autocrats.
Many were openly and loudly critical of America’s would-be king in the beginning. Later, however, they spread their legs wide to welcome his illegal machinations.
Kimball Shinkoskey
Woods Cross, Utah
Meeting a Cultural Moment at LCC Graduation
I attended the graduation ceremony at Lane Community College. In a time when audiences nationwide are suffering from serious “AI fatigue.” Austin Fölnagy, chair of the Lane Community College Board of Education, during his speech pulled off a masterclass in public speaking at this year’s LCC graduation ceremony.
When he first introduced the topic of AI, the crowd, assuming he would talk about artificial intelligence, responded with audible boos. This reaction mirrors graduation ceremonies across the country where students are tired of hearing tech clichés (see YouTube “Multiple Commencement Speakers Booed for AI Comments.”)
Fölnagy quickly flipped the script in his trademark speaking style. In a clever twist on the tech trend, AI was redefined not as Artificial Intelligence, but as a commitment to Actual Intelligence, Advocacy and Initiatives, Appreciation and Inspiration, and Alumni Interaction. “AI.”
The initial tension in the room instantly transformed into enthusiastic cheers, which you can see watching the whole speech on YouTube LCC graduation at 28:00 mark. It was a brilliant subversion of expectations that directly met our current cultural moment. Rather than lecturing graduates with a stale, tech-focused speech like other graduation speeches this year, where “AI will take people’s jobs,” Chair Fölnagy validated the audience’s skepticism and what truly matters — human potential and community connection. He successfully turned a topic people are frankly “sick of” into the highlight of the graduation, proving that real intelligence will always beat the artificial kind.