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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.
The SLEEPS (Safe Legally Entitled Emergency Place to to Sleep) protest is spreading both in physical space and on social media. The protest is centered at the Wayne Morse Free Speech Plaza — or as Lane County is now calling it, the Wayne Morse Terrace. The county has called an emergency session on Sept. 4 to discuss an emergency closure of the plaza and developing an ordinance for an "actual free speech area." Continue reading
From time to time we get complaints about spelling errors in our personal ads. We know that some of you out there can't wait for EW to come out in print on Thursdays just so you can break out your red pens and correct typos (FYI, our style guide is a mixture of AP, Chicago and our own in-house style guide, so you AP Stylebook purists are out of luck). Continue reading
Update: The county has posted its materials related to Wednesday's special session. On first glance, it appears Lane County plans to distinguish between the "Wayne Morse Terrace" and a smaller "actual free speech area." *** Continue reading
More than two million acres of public forests, a checkered history, and federal and state laws confusingly mixed with county funding means that the current O&C lands logging proposal can be hard to wrap your mind around. About 150 people came to the downtown Eugene Public Library Aug. 26 to try to understand the “DeFazio bill,” or as it is more properly known, the O&C Trust, Conservation and Jobs Act. Continue reading
Photos by R.Fursa & Camilla Mortensen Continue reading
Rick Dancer is pretty darn sure that having a safe place to sleep is not a human right. He doesn't want to be "insensitive" he says in the video, but as he writes in the comments of his Facebook page where he posted his "driving while videoing" musings, "I agree it would be nice if we all had a safe place to sleep but that's not a right, that is what we call a privilege." Continue reading
A train disaster can stem from something as small as a leak — chlorine gas can be fatal when inhaled — or as massive as an ethanol or crude-oil fed fire. An environmental disaster can stem from something as simple as a train derailment or as complex as the massive amounts of fossil fuels and hazardous materials that are turning Oregon into an energy-industry gateway. Continue reading
Former Lane County administrator Liane Richardson was fired after an investigation stemming from changes she made to her pay, and now questions arise over the pay stubs of County Counsel Stephen Dingle, who has been intertwined with the Richardson controversy. Continue reading
Is it just me, or is the Eugene Celebration website not working right now? Don't worry gentle reader, EW's Celebration issue and guide comes out tomorrow. (Technically the web version comes out tonight, late, or very very early tomorrow morning for the EW web junkies who sit and hit refresh until it comes up and they can start reading the articles, or, alternatively, trolling the comments section). Continue reading
Feral pig, "wild" turkey, bullfrog, dandelions and more will be served up this weekend, 7 pm Aug. 25, at the annual Invasive Species Cook-off in Philomath, Ore., just outside Corvallis, at Chintimini Farm. The event is put on by the Institute for Applied Ecology (IAE) and features top chefs and music by EW's Next Big Thing sem-finalists Edewaard. Continue reading