We've got issues.
Camilla Mortensen is the longtime local editor of Eugene Weekly, the area’s alternative newspaper. The paper, which has been in print since 1982 (originally as What’s Happening) continues to print more than 27,000 copies a week in addition to its popular email newsletters and website. Camilla has a masters degree in folklore and mythology from UCLA and a doctorate in comparative literature from the University of Oregon. She has been a reporter and editor at EW since 2007 and teaches journalism at the UO in the mornings before heading to the Weekly’s office. She also teaches newswriting at Lane Community College and advises The Torch student newspaper.
The Eugene Police Department would like your help catching a cat burglar whose exploits were caught on a cat cam. More precisely, EPD is seeking an armed robber who broke into a house near the University of Oregon. The robber was filmed by a camera set up by a cat sitter to record the cats he was caring for while the owners were away. Continue reading
It's spring break; the weather is great and half of Oregon is on vacation (since apparently every school in the state has the same break). The University of Oregon seems to be celebrating by getting rid of staff that either release records OR object to the release of records. Continue reading
Walk into the kennel area at Greenhill Humane Society and you are struck by two things: First, the hopefulness and worry on the furry faces of dogs, from Chihuahuas to huskies, looking for forever homes, and second, the loudness of the barking and yelping echoing off the cement walls. Continue reading
You’re at a party; you see a guy who is all over a drunk young woman — giving her even more drinks, perhaps in hopes of having sex with her later. What do you do? Too often, bystanders do nothing. According to Abigail Leeder, director of Sexual Violence Prevention and Education at the UO, there is no right or single way for a bystander to intervene in a potential sexual assault — though she says, “We encourage people not to put themselves in harm’s way. Continue reading
The problems with the DOT-111 tank railcars that exploded and killed 47 and destroyed the downtown core of the Canadian town of Lac-Mégantic have been known since 1991, according to Congressman Peter DeFazio, yet the federal government still hasn’t pushed to fix them. Continue reading
On Thanksgiving Day 2014, a truck from California came to Bartels Packing west of Eugene carrying 35 organic cattle. Kandi Bartels, executive vice president of Bartels, which produces grass-fed natural and organic beef, says the paperwork from the driver stated there were two bulls and 33 cows in the shipment. According to a Nov. 28 USDA “notice of enforcement action,” a Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) consumer safety inspector “observed an overcrowded pen, with 35 head of cattle being held in a pen that usually holds 23 head.” Continue reading
When a society uses mass incarceration as a means of control, we know it has social impacts, but a panel on “The Ecology of a Police State” at the Public Interest Environmental Law Conference (PIELC) March 6 explored how prisons also impact the environment. Continue reading
“I’ve gotten better and better in the role of watchdog,” says Commissioner Pete Sorenson of his decision to run again for his long-time South Eugene seat on Lane County’s Board of Commissioners in the May 2016 primary. The election might be more than a year away, but Sorenson has already begun lining up endorsements, from local politicians — Mayor Kitty Piercy — to legislators in Salem — Rep. Phil Barnhart. Continue reading
It will cost New York almost $20 billion to prepare the city for the impacts of climate change coming our way, according to Peter Frumhoff, director of science and policy at the Union of Concerned Scientists. “Right now, the default is the taxpayer,” he says. “Why should only taxpayers pick up the cost for increasing climate change damages? What is the responsibility of companies making dangerous products?” Continue reading
So the UO cheerleaders went to Nike and gave Phil Knight a birthday cheer. Mr.Knight we're here to cheer you, on your very special day. We appreciate your kindness, there's no way we can repay. One request from all of us students, can you put us in your will? So a great big Happy Birthday, to our favorite Uncle Phil! Maybe I'm creeped out because it's a bit like the UO gave "Uncle Phil" a bunch of young women for his birthday? Continue reading