Camilla Mortensen

Author: Camilla Mortensen

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 →

Rugby! Australians! In Springfield!

Visit the Down Under at Agnes Stewart Middle School

Sports 9 years ago

Not enough smashing and grunting at the U.S. Olympic Trials? The Queensland Outback Barbarians are coming from Australia to Springfield top play the Eugene Stags Saturday, July 16. Eugene, Cascades and Coast Sports Commission says: Continue reading →

Vigil for Families and Communities of Recent Police Shootings Today

News 9 years ago

The shootings of Philano Castile and Alton Sterling have us reeling. The killing of black men by police offices continues, despite the outage about Freddy Gray, Michael Brown and Tamir Rice. The shootings of police officers last night in Dallas were another shock. Continue reading →

County Commission Targets Citizen Initiatives

News 9 years ago

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 9 years ago

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 →

Journalist from Bangladesh Visits EW

News 9 years ago

Mahmud Hafiz travelogue writer and a senior journalist from Bangladesh dropped by EW’s offices recently to talk journalism and the Bangla, aka Bengali, language. Hafiz, a contributing editor to the news portal Bangla News 24 came to Eugene for his son’s graduation from the University of Oregon. He will be writing a travelogue about his experiences. Continue reading →

Air Bag Rapture? Headline of the Day!

News 9 years ago

According to a Register-Guard headline today, your car and its airbags have a hitherto-unknown superpower. Rapture. A “50 Percent Chance of Dangerous Air Bag Rapture” … Continue reading →

Take a Break Outdoors

Take a summer walk on a break from town

Outdoors 9 years ago

Tired of sitting around and watching other people run (or standing and screaming for them, as the case may be)? Want to meditate on the joys of J.S. Bach among Oregon’s greenery? Lane County is not lacking in places close in or a little way out of town to take a summer walk on a break from town. Continue reading →

Lane County Commission Discusses Giving Itself the Right to Block Local Citizen-Initiated Ballot Measures

News 9 years ago

The Lane County Board of Commissioners’ June 28 discussion of giving themselves the authority to block some local ballot measures has EW floored. Did it get forgotten by four of the five commissioners that Oregon citizens have a right to the initiative process that is protected in the state Constitution? Continue reading →

Celebrate Social Justice!

Come and connect to others in the social justice movement

News 9 years ago

MRG Foundation, once known as the McKenzie River Gathering, began on the banks on the river for which the foundation was named, says the group’s communications manager Alison Wandschneider. Founders Leslie Brocklebank and her husband Charles Gray came into an inheritance of about $500,000, Wandschneider says, and brought a group of activists and philanthropists together to figure out how the money could have the deepest impact on the root causes of social inequity and environmental degradation. Continue reading →

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