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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.
Though speculating on water is illegal, WaterWatch of Oregon says Willamette Water Company was looking to do just that back in 2008 when it applied for a permit to withdraw 22 million gallons per day from the McKenzie River. On March 7, the Oregon Water Resources Department (WRD) issued a final order denying the Willamette Water Co.’s controversial application to control a large amount of the McKenzie’s water. Continue reading
Under Oregon law a nuclear power plant can’t be constructed in this state until there is a safe, permanent way to deal with nuclear waste, and even then, citizens reserve the right to vote on whether a plant can be built, according to Chuck Johnson of Oregon and Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility. While Oregon does not have a commercial nuclear reactor, Johnson is concerned with the Columbia Generating Station (CGS), a Washington nuclear power plant just across the Columbia River from Oregon. Continue reading
I survive mainly on kombucha, coffee and hard liquor. Mixing coffee with whiskey is kind of a no-brainer. I’m perky and buzzed — what could go wrong? Kombucha, in large doses, has a similar effect on me. Given my predilection for caffeine and adult beverages, kombucha cocktails strike me as pure genius. Continue reading
Only in Portlandia would a large fluffy cat attack a family and hold them at bay in a bedroom, leading them to call the police for help. Listen to the 911 call. My favorite part starts about 2:30 minutes in."He's kind of a violent cat already … He's charging us; he's at our bedroom door." Meanwhile the shrieks of the 22-pound Himalayan cat are audible in the background. Continue reading
Lane County horse owners have been worrying ever since the news began to filter out on social media over the weekend that a horse in Pleasant Hill had died of equine herpes virus. The state veterinarian has issued a press release saying there is no indication the virus has spread beyond the stable where the EHV-1 cases were first confirmed. EHV-1 does not yet have a fully effective vaccine and can be fatal to horses; it is not transmissable to humans. Continue reading
Grupo Latino de Acción Directa (GLAD)’s Feb. 28 forum at St. Alice’s church in Springfield focused on public safety. More than 140 members of the Latino community attended, including Timothy Doney, the new Springfield police chief and Lane County Sheriff Tom Turner, according to one of GLAD’s founders, Phil Carrasco. GLAD is hosting evening and luncheon forums as well as “Café con” (Coffee with) events that politically engage a broad spectrum of the Latino community, Carrasco says. These forums let people show up and speak their piece, without others speaking for them, he says. Continue reading
Just as LGBTQ activists are celebrating Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum’s decision to not defend Oregon’s gay marriage ban and celebrating Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer’s veto of that state’s anti-gay discrimination bill, along comes the reminder that the Oregon Family Council wants to throw a little cold water on the gey celebration. More precisely, OFC is the primary sponsor of an initiative that wants to dampen any future gay weddings in Oregon by allowing businesses to refuse “supporting same-sex ceremonies in violation of deeply held religious beliefs.” Continue reading
In a press release that kicks off with sentences like " Religious freedom upholds stability in a diverse society," the Protect Religious Freedom Initiative has kicked off its petition campaign to get a measure on the Oregon ballot that would "exempt a person from supporting same-sex ceremonies in violation of deeply held religious beliefs." The release says: Continue reading
While other states, such as California, have introduced bee protection bills, Lisa Arkin of Beyond Toxics says she thinks Oregon is the first state to take some kind of decisive action at the state level. The city of Eugene is also looking to take further action on bee-killing pesticides. House Bill 4139 passed in the Oregon House earlier in February, and on Feb. 24 it passed in the Senate, “showing amazing bipartisan support for protecting the bees,” according to Arkin. Continue reading
Pictured: Harriet Bibangambah, Luisa Araúz, Gonca Yilmaz, Baigalimaa Nyamdavaa Continue reading