Author: Camilla Mortensen

Who Gets the Pet?

Plan ahead to keep pets out of custody disputes

Culture

Pets are kind of like practice kids for some of us or, for people like me, they are straight up in lieu of bearing children — just please don’t call them fur-babies; that’s gross.  But just like real children, pets sometimes get caught in the fray of a break-up. When my ex-fiancé and I split, I kept Smudge, the dachshund mix I owned before we got together, and he kept Lily, the pit-Dalmatian puppy we got as a couple. I was possibly more heartbroken over losing the dog than I was over canceling the wedding. Continue reading →

Protests and Prez Picks at the DNC in Philly

‘Bernie or Jill, never Hill’

News
Bernie Sanders Backers March through the Philadelphia streets.

As the Democratic National Convention meets in Pennsylvania July 25-28, the Philadelphia Inquirer predicted 35,000 to 50,000 protesters would descend upon its city. Eugene-based CodePink activist Jennefer Harper traveled to the DNC as an EW freelancer to report upon events. CodePink is a women-led grassroots organization that includes in its focus working to end U.S. wars and militarism and supporting peace and human rights initiatives. Delegate Julie Fahey went to the DNC to cast her vote for Hillary Clinton. Continue reading →

Black Lives Matter

And so does Oregon’s history of racism

News

Philando Castile, Alton Sterling. And before them Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown. Tamir Rice and Sandra Bland. Those are among the names we know, whose cases in the last three years came to media attention because a video of their deaths went viral or the protests were loud enough to finally draw the lens of the media.  Black Lives Matter.  For many, the knee-jerk response to that is, “All Lives Matter.”  Continue reading →

County Commission Targets Citizen Initiatives

News

On June 28, the Lane County Board of Commissioners discussed giving themselves the power to block certain citizen-powered ballot measures the board deems not of  “county concern” before those measures are voted on. Commissioner Pete Sorenson was the lone dissenting voice on the agenda item labeled “Potential Changes to Lane County Initiative and Referendum Process.”  Continue reading →

Friends of Kesey Square Seek to Save Downtown’s Open Space

One of the first items on FOKS’ agenda is to officially rename the square

News
Founding members of Friends of Kesey Square gather in the downton plaza they hope to revitalize

While the furor over the proposed sale of Kesey Square has died down, those who love public spaces have not forgotten that the corner of Broadway and Willamette Street is not officially safe from future development.  A group, Friends of Kesey Square (FOKS), has formed in order to keep Kesey Square firmly in the public domain and to revitalize its use as a downtown space. Continue reading →