• This week in online news, downtown Eugene Federal Building is making headlines — Eve Weston reports on the two banners commemorating the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence draping the walls, while a federal judge ordered the controversial security fence surrounding the building to be removed. As of June 24, U.S. District Court Judge Mustafa Kasubhai granted an extension for the fence’s removal to July 1. The removal must be completed by July 2 at 7 am, in time for July 4 protests. Charles Snowden Program for Excellence in Journalism intern Aishiki Nag wrote about the Eugene Pride Festival canceling its annual march and rally due to concerns from local activists who do not wish to collaborate with the police. There’s an alternative Pride march at 9 am, June 27, in Kesey Square and the Pride festival itself is still happening at the Lane Events Center, June 27. Read the stories online on EugeneWeekly.com.
• Meet Aishiki Nag! She’s our Snowden intern for the summer and will be full-time in the newsroom for the next two months or so. She’s a recent graduate from the University of Oregon in political science and global studies. She loves to read books, paddleboard and hike in her free time.
• In news notes, if you have been following our Bricks & Mortar column, then you’ve been following the Amazon warehouse debacle — earlier in June, the city of Eugene has issued the permits to construct the massive warehouse and distribution center on Highway 99. In food news, longtime Eugene area staple Cornucopia has announced it’s not closing but is pondering selling one or more of its restaurant locations. A huge fire on the night of Juneteenth that severely damaged Davis NW Smokehouse, the soul food restaurant in the Whit, was determined to be an arson — a GoFundMe is at GoFund.me/6dcc8f734.
• Thanks to everyone who answered last week’s EW Asks question on our website about where you get your local breaking news! The leader was KLCC, followed by newcomer Lookout Eugene-Springfield (or as we like to call them based on the name of their California-based Delaware corp’s name, LOL) and neck and neck for third were The Register-Guard, KEZI and … drumroll please, Eugene Weekly. This week’s EW Asks, which you can find at EugeneWeekly.com, is about Best of Eugene! What categories do you like? What should we add? Should we cut any?
• City Club of Eugene is set to discuss the devastating emerald ash borer at its noon Friday, June 26, WOW Hall gathering. And, as if to emphasize the urgency of quarantining the ash-tree killing insect, on June 23, the Oregon Department of Forestry announced that the bug has been found in three more locations in the Willamette Valley — in a shopping center parking lot in Tualatin, in a parking lot outside Newberg, and at a private residence in Silverton. Clackamas, Marion, Multnomah, Washington and Yamhill counties are quarantining firewood from any hardwood tree, and tree material from ash, olive and white fringetree.
• Are you heading to Seattle for the June 26 Iran vs. Egypt FIFA World Cup match? Those of us coming from Oregon are probably used to the weed available in the PNW, but the Washington Department of Health is warning out-of-towners that the devil’s lettuce in Washington might be stronger than tourists might expect. DOH.wa.gov also offers links to where the free condoms are. On a related note, Seattle, home to large Pride celebrations, has designated the game the “Pride match” in hopes it can change minds — homosexuality is criminalised in both Iran and Egypt.