Court of Appeal
I’ve been playing tennis at the YMCA Tennis and Pickleball center (TPC) for nine years. My wife is an avid pickleball player and one of the leaders of that community. Her 93-year-old father plays pickleball and through that has found someone new to share his life with. The recent comments of two people regarding tennis and pickleball at the TPC were not speaking for us.
I have been following along as the YMCA develops plans for the future of the TPC, the Patterson property and a new campus in North Eugene. There were a lot of doomsayers who thought that the Y was going to eliminate tennis and pickleball. That’s not what happened. Instead the Y has committed to expanding the office, lobby and providing new bathrooms.
I am particularly shocked to read the comments of one person seemingly discouraging people from donating to the Y. I may be a grumpy old man who isn’t particularly fond of children or other people, but I still see a lot of good happening around me at the TPC. The Don Stathos main campus has a constant bustle of people of all ages coming in and going out. The exercise classes are full. There’s a busy pool, basketball gym, weight and fitness room.
There are a lot of problems in the world. The Eugene YMCA is a place where good things can happen for all of us. Even curmudgeons like me.
John Rapf
Eugene
E-Bike Warning
You must understand, you wild-eyed, crazy, thoughtless e-bikers, that communal bike paths are not highways; they’re there for all of us to enjoy. Be especially aware of pets, children and older citizens. Young children are unpredictable. Older citizens’ reflexes are slower; they’re unsteady, and they are frail. I know because I’m one of them. One accident for them may be their last. All of us need exercise as much as you do. So slow down!
With that in mind, I think that any accident that occurs on our communal bike paths between a speeding biker and a pedestrian, is the biker’s fault.
Joe R. Blakely
Eugene
Go Clean Energy
When I moved to Eugene, the city stood out not only for its striking natural greenery but also for its pioneering leadership in addressing the climate crisis. Under Mayor Kitty Piercy and the City Council, Eugene enacted the Climate Recovery Ordinance (CRO), establishing greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets into law. This commitment put the City at the forefront of climate action nationwide.
However, over time, that ambitious momentum has slowed. With 2030 approaching, the CRO targets require Eugene to cut community-wide fossil fuel consumption by 50 percent relative to 2010 levels. To reach that goal, we need major course correction. In an October 2025 meeting, the City Council was presented with an update on the CRO goals and revealed that emissions had only dropped by 11 percent. There is a tremendous amount of work to be done to get our city back on track with no clear plan in place.
That is why Measure 20-388, the Eugene Clean Energy Fund, is such a promising step forward on this November’s ballot. The fund establishes a 2 percent fee on only the biggest billion-dollar corporations in Eugene and is projected to generate millions of dollars a year for projects by having the dollars spent in our community be reinvested right here in Eugene. These projects would set us up for the future by increasing our resiliency while prioritizing job creation and community benefits. Measure 20-388 gives us an opportunity to re-establish Eugene as a climate leader at the cutting edge of the green economy.
JoJo Breslin
Eugene
No on Clean Energy Fund
We all support responsible environmental public policy. This measure is not the answer.
Eugene taxpayers deserve results and accountability for their money.
Measure 20-388 is set up to fail.
First, Measure 20-388 is a blank check for Eugene politicians. It will allow politicians in Eugene to change the funding structure with a simple majority vote and redirect the money anywhere they want with no vote of the people.
Second, the millions raised every year by Measure 20-388 would be overseen by an unelected and unaccountable board that will determine how that money is spent. Again, voters would have no say.
Next, the $15 million to $40 million that is raised every year by this hidden tax will be mandated to be spent as grants to non-profits that are not accountable to the public for their results.
Measure 20-388 fails even the most basic tests of accountability.
Before we ask Eugene residents to pay up to $40 million more every year in added costs to fund this new program, we should be able to answer some basic questions: What results are we buying? How will those results be measured? Who is accountable to the public for delivering results? What happens when a program doesn’t work? What recourse does the taxpaying public have?
Eugene already has enough challenges without creating another expensive program that doesn’t come with strong accountability for results.
Too many groups and organizations will have their hands on this huge new pot of money who have no accountability to Eugene voters for their results.
In almost every instance, Eugene voters are left out.
Vote NO on Measure 20-388.
Rosie and Chris Pryor
Eugene
ONLINE EXTRA LETTERS
Israel, Gaza, Hamas
I remember when, in 2006, the international community was cautiously supportive of democratic elections in the Palestinian Territories-until Hamas won, that is! Since then, Israel and the western world have had their knees on the necks of the Palestinian people, preventing them from forming a functional government or society.
We have all seen pictures of the rubble pile that used to be Gaza, and yes, that is exactly what genocide looks like! Now they’re more quietly doing the same in the West Bank.
As far as using civilian infrastructure and human shields-where would you hide if a military 1000 times more powerful than yours, with sophisticated bombs, intelligence, etc. was absolutely determined to find and kill YOU? Anywhere you thought you might have a slim chance of surviving! That is not hard to understand…
The atrocities committed by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023 were a profound violation of our common humanity, senseless violence perpetrated against innocent people, which broke the hearts and threatened the safety of countless families across Israel and beyond.
The retaliation has cost the lives of tens of thousands of innocent Palestinians, who have suffered, but not rebelled against, decades of oppression. It has also inflamed the Middle East, and goaded the warmongers into attacking Iran. It has definitely NOT made Israel, or Jewish people anywhere, safer!
In my opinion, the greatest threat to Israel, and to the safety of Jewish people all over the world is Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. Get rid of the war criminals!
Rick Moser
Eugene
Capitalism as Boogeyman
In these troubled times of scary weather, a growing gap between the rich and poor, and the spread of fake news and artificial intelligence, runaway capitalism — profits over planet — is starting to look like the chief boogeyman. But capitalism is a tough system to break. In general, people don’t like to be restricted by rules that interfere with their freedoms, especially the freedom to make money (by whatever devious or destructive means they can). On top of that, many Americans don’t accept the concept of the socialist-sounding common good, even though we have millions of examples of it, such as fire departments, traffic laws and sewer systems. So, how do we corral this monster, especially in an election year? Seems to me, we first have to get money out of politics so being rich is less of an advantage for gaining political power over others. Next, we must make democracy become one person/one vote — no more electoral college, no discriminatory voting laws, no gerrymandering. Finally, we must elect representatives that insist on the sacred value of the common good, including the good of the planet, and pass and enforce laws for better economic, environmental and social oversight and regulation. We simply have to demand the rich pay their fair share of taxes, polluting and rapacious industries are heavily fined, and even the hint of corruption, such as revolving doors, insider trading and favorable contracts, is fully and relentlessly prosecuted in the courts.
Jack Cooper
Eugene
A Commentary on Words?
As we face our sixth consecutive “existential” election, I find it obvious new terms, indeed, outlook are, evidently, required.
Frequent reference to “Orwellian” or “Distopia” have proven to have little impact on targeted audiences, thus losing meaning.
A 21st century replete with, well, what we have all been experiencing could be summed by acknowledging the (Isaac) Asimovian reality:
Positronic brains, the Three Laws, and of course, the Mule are the new reality.
In a binary world, zeros and ones, flip on, flip off, there is still a modicum of choice, an ability to act or not.
Don Heady
Eugene
Balancing out Cannabis Issue
Books, I’m sure you’ve never read and I can never get ANY library to buy.
Marijuana is pretty simple.
A mild euphoric, long-term depressant that accrues in the fatty tissue is the brain. If you take a machete and cut a heavy smoker-brain in half you’ll see it’s yellow like a smoker’s lungs.
It is the gateway drug. It was used by the Soviets as a biological weapon and in the Cold War.
In Thailand, now, marijuana licenses are being handed out to control that country and the Straits of Malacca.
Some Oregon state officials had to quit for taking money from the “cannabis” industry.
Marijuana a wonderful hypnotic!
You can’t heal if you can’t feel!
I think homelessness would be impossible without it.
It was on America (by the Soviets) to destroy the basic economic unit.
The family.
It destroys human empathy.
Fentanyl is found in street, weed in all 50 states!
It destroys the potential of youth by the range of the neural magnetic field before the brain is fully formed.
It has a behavioral remission of five years!
(the depressive reactive syndrome if you smoke two joints, you go back to the original behavior matrix)
All around the sacred temples of India, grows holy basil, make a basil tea, and see, get stoned as it leaches it from the fatty tissues.
Quit weed to fully engage the world!
Have you missed it?
Epstein was just a node just one “file” of a lot of true evil the hypnotized, can’t see.
Children are being eaten!
Enjoy jerky there isn’t any good hash in USA despite the 20 year long war with Afghanistan.
Just commercial vapes…
Dupes.
Why do you think they called it dope?