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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.
In a November EW Viewpoint, Congressman Peter DeFazio brought up a talking point he’s mentioned almost every time he discussed his controversial O&C trust plan: cases in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit that he says could affect what happens to the publicly owned O&C forests. Continue reading
The megaload of oil extraction equipment heading through Eastern Oregon to the tar sands of Canada hit another snag when climate justice activists blockaded the road in two places east and west of John Day as part of a series of protests against the nearly one-million-pound shipment. Twelve of the 16 people arrested on Dec. 16 were members of Eugene-based Cascadia Forest Defenders. Continue reading
The Obamacare rap spoof of Snoop Dog (Snoop Lion?)'s "Drop it like it's hot" is weirdly fascinating. “So don’t stand and diddle. My healthcare’s the ‘shizzle.’ It’s chock full of top notch healthcare ‘provizzles.’" Continue reading
The Whos down in Whoville got a Christmast tree from EPD! It's nice to see some Christmas cheer coming from the Eugene police! If you can't see the video below, check it out on Facebook. Continue reading
These days the fact that climate change is happening is a given (and yeah, we say "climate" change becaue when you say "global warming" people tend to point to a cold snap and say, how is THAT global warming? Because, climate change.) But can you explain how the global warming/climate change phenomenon works? No worries, this cartoon will do it for you in under a minute. ' Continue reading
"Hey, man. Don't steal her purse (that's how you talk in Eugene, where everyone's a hippie)," says former Eugene bartender Jeffrey Morgenthaler on the Small Screen site as he tells the story wearing a Red Agave T-shirt. Morgenthaler has a show on the site called The Morgenthaler Method, born out of his longtime blog. Continue reading
Mark Frohnmayer is tired of feeling like he has to vote for the “lesser of two evils” in the Oregon elections process, and he’s out to change our primary process to a more open process called “approval voting.” Continue reading
The upper level Lane County Public Service Building is going through a $750,000 remodel; this includes the area around where the county commissioners work, though not, according to County Spokesperson Anne Marie Levis, their actual offices. Work began last week and is expected to wrap up on Jan. 25, according to a Sept. 30 email from Capital Projects Manager Brian Craner to Commissioner Pete Sorenson. Continue reading
Months after county administrator Liane Richardson was fired over changes she made to her pay, Lane County citizens still don’t know the whole story about what happened. Various news organizations, including Eugene Weekly, made public records requests for copies of the outside investigation by USO Consulting that examined the circumstances surrounding the compensation changes, but the county hasn’t released it in an unredacted form. The investigation found that Richardson violated county policy, but the county never gave any more details. Continue reading
Sen. Ron Wyden released his long-awaited company bill to Rep. Peter DeFazio’s O&C Trust, Conservation and Jobs Act on Nov. 26, shortly before the Thanksgiving holiday. Environmental organizations such as Oregon Wild and Cascadia Wildlands immediately greeted the bill, which calls for “ecological forestry” on the controversial public lands, with disappointment and criticism. Continue reading