• The fourth annual Eugene BRiGHT Parade was a resounding success! Eugene Weekly would make that declaration even if we hadn’t won the prize for Best Dressed! There were more than 50 entries under the full moon in the brightly lit Sept. 26 parade, and the streets of downtown Eugene were lined with watchers. Our little band of EW folks wore red boxes made of cardboard and got all mushy when folks hollered “We love Eugene Weekly” and “We’ve got issues!” We liked to think our ’fits had a certain 1990s The Rickies DIY vibe (if you know, you know). Our fellow winners blew us away! Best View: Shift Community Cycles and Eugene Makerspace’s giant moth; Best in Step: Next Step Dance Studio; Best Laughs: Lane Arts Council’s Bob Rosses; Best Listening: the beats of Samba Ja, Best BRiGHT: SLUG queens; Judges Know Best: Wildling Collaborative Arts’s whales; and Best in Show: Comunidad y Herencia Cultural’s dancing people and dancing horses!
• The Nov. 3 election draws closer — ballots go out Oct. 14. Eugene Weekly has begun our election endorsement interviews. Got a question you want us to ask a candidate? Head to EugeneWeekly.com and suggest one via our weekly EW Asks! feature. We can’t vote Donald Trump out of office, but we sure can vote to reduce his power and let him know what he’s doing — from wanting snipers on a triumphal arch in DC to seeking to destroy the Kennedy Center to his ongoing attacks on our immigrant community members — is unacceptable.
• Eugene Weekly had a blast with our Thrifting Issue last week, and we are looking forward to checking out the goods at Northwest Dog Project’s new Stray Goods Thrift at 2101 Bailey Hill Road. Stray Goods joins longtime animal rescue thrift shop SARA’s Treasures on River Road as a venue where you can donate and shop to support the warm fuzzies among us! Got a cool new business or other news you want to see in your hometown, locally owned Eugene Weekly? Drop us a note at Editor@EugeneWeekly.com!
• School started at Lane Community College and the University of Oregon on Sept. 28, and employees at the UO and the state’s six other public universities got an early morning email letting them know that a strike by the workers of SEIU Local 503 had been averted with a tentative agreement that included 3 percent pay increases for classified workers the next two years. Fun fact: UO’s SEIU chapter president, Jennifer Smith, is the incoming Ward 3 Eugene city councilor, representing the area near the UO campus.
• We are sad to hear that after 20 years, Oakshire Brewing is closing its doors. The popular Eugene brewery, with a Springfield and a Portland location, announced Sept. 25 on Instagram that “we’ve faced years of rising costs, increasing competition, the financial damage of COVID, and changes in how people gather to eat and drink. We worked hard to adapt, but we can’t continue operating Oakshire as a whole.” Oakshire, founded in 2006 as Willamette Brewery, has long been a top-finisher in Best of Eugene, and given back to the community through its Oakshire Inspires fundraisers. What was planned as its 20-year anniversary will now be a going away party. Celebrate Oakshire at its farewell block party at Oakshire Public House, noon to 10 pm, Saturday, Oct. 3 at 207 Madison Street.
• While you are out and about, check out the Parking Meter Art Show at Oblivion Gallery, 3923 Cross Street, as part of the Warehouse District Art Hop. The meter art was a temporary community art project, filling spaces in downtown Eugene parking meters. The city is now installing new coin vaults and you can buy a cool little piece of art for $30.