Crosswalk Safety Idea
We walk/bike daily in the Jefferson Westside community and downtown. We just submitted a report to the Eugene Police Department about a driver who reluctantly stopped at the crosswalk at 11th and Van Buren but leaned on the horn as we crossed and then yelled at us that they had the right of way. We also submitted a photo.
I’m not big into reaching out to the police, but I thought if everyone who stands at a crosswalk while drivers ignore them started submitting videos through the website, maybe we could get some kind of program like where they send the car owners an informational letter about the laws protecting people crossing at marked crosswalks?
Or, if they started seeing proof of areas that have frequent issues, then maybe they could have cars out in strategic areas or add more of the yellow blinking lights or speed bumps like the one at 13th and Lincoln.
Here is the web link: EPD.mypdconnect.com. The bottom option is traffic complaints. I think this is a lot more of an issue than e-moto bikes that they have been making a big deal about.
Laura Jewell
Eugene
Potty Mouth
Many of us learned HOMES as an acronym for the Great Lakes (Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie and Superior). But Trump has renamed Lake Ontario, which changes the acronym to SHAME. If Trump decided to rename the Great Lakes after his five children, the acronym would be BIDET (Baron, Ivanka, Donald Jr., Eric, Tiffany).
Richard Hand
Eugene
Where the Best Water Is
Can you imagine a municipal water system where the water is so clean that it doesn’t require filtering? Where proud residents call it the “champagne of tap water”? Where city government has spent nearly $3 billion to protect its watersheds? Where rural residents in the city’s watershed areas receive financial support to replace their septic systems when it’s time? Where farmers upstream receive education on using no more than the appropriate amount of fertilizer on their land to protect the city’s water quality?
Are you thinking this is a fantasy? Nope, it’s real — the place is New York City. Here in Lane County, we had a chance recently to begin long-overdue regulation of industries that pollute our water. That was the Lane County Watersheds Bill of Rights, which was defeated in the May 2026 primary election. Corporate opponents outspent supporters of the measure 12:1, flexing their financial muscle to spread lies that swayed the election their way.
But it’s not time to give up on water protection. In this season of extreme drought and wildfires, it’s more important than ever for us to safeguard our precious water supplies. NYC’s system points the way to a healthier relationship with the land and water. Moreover, NYC estimates its program has saved the city $10 billion in upfront construction costs to install a mechanical filtration system, plus between $30 and $100 million a year to operate it. We are not separate from nature; when we protect nature, we protect ourselves.
Lily Pearl Johnson
Eugene
Congrats, But Also Remember
Congratulations on this exciting next chapter for Eugene Weekly. Having been close to this publication from the very beginning, I am deeply invested in its future and fiercely proud of its past. Honoring its next chapter requires getting its first chapter right.
I was dismayed to see the founders’ contributions reduced to “local residents” who “created What’s Happening, a publication that celebrated fun…” The truth is far richer. In 1982, my mother, Sonja Ungemach (formerly Snyder), alongside her partner at the time and three other visionary women — Lucia McKelvey, Liz Lyman and the late Lois Wadsworth — co-founded What’s Happening. They were not passive observers who merely “highlighted” activism. Over a decade, these trailblazing women actively drove grassroots activism, championed the arts, and built a deeply respected alternative news source.
Recognizing when it was time to scale, they strategically partnered with Art and Anita Johnson and Fred Taylor to bring in values-aligned capital, leading to the rebranding as Eugene Weekly.
My mother served as publisher for another decade. With their collective grit and vision, these women laid the foundation for much more than a fun paper — they created an enduring legacy.
As a founder myself, I have drawn lifelong inspiration from my mother and her co-founders.
They modeled the wisdom to pass the torch to skilled stewards who preserve a publication’s heart and soul — just as they did with the Johnsons and Taylors, and it is that same spirit of stewardship that carries the paper today.
As Eugene Weekly moves forward, let us fully honor the women who laid its very first stones.
Sadie Lincoln
Co-founder, CEO barre3
Editor’s Note: We love and appreciate our history! Every week, we name the founders on our masthead. The full sentence is: “who created What’s Happening, a publication that celebrated fun while highlighting important events, activism and the arts.” We proudly continue in the tradition they started with our news, arts and activism coverage, and our fun!
ONLINE EXTRA LETTERS
The Melting Point
With our covetous, respect-starved 47th president slapping his oversized “brand” all over our national landmarks: Washington, D.C., New York City, the Gulf of Mexico, the Straits of Hormuz and anywhere else his wanton tentacles can reach, I wonder what else he will claim as his personal domain? What private Xanadu will satisfy his fragile ego?
Not content to dismantle and deface democracy itself, he presses on with his ballroom and bunker while frothing at the mouth to break ground on an oversized Arch de Trump. What’s next? Will a giant goldleaf likeness be mounted atop the Washington Monument? Will his larger-than-life statue reign over the glory of Mount Rushmore? Perhaps he will relocate his garish Mar-a-Lago compound to sit, cabana-like, alongside the Lincoln Reflecting Pool, now a tepid swamp of his own making.
His desperate lust for power and recognition knows no bounds. He wants all the toys in the toybox, or the tantrums will fly. No wonder demolishing the East Wing is such an obsession. No wonder an outsized ballroom, complete with a supposed bomb-proof bunker, is central to his deranged vision.
One can only imagine the supposed leader of the free world, hunkering down in his hideaway, surrounded by cheeseburgers, toadies, and sycophants, tweeting away the rest of his waking hours, fiddling while the world burns. Does he not know that all that glitters is not gold, and that gold melts when the temperature rises? Apparently not.