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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.
Clean drinking water is a logging issue in Oregon, where so many of our watersheds are on forest lands. In the furor over the DeFazio forest bill — or more properly the O&C Trust, Conservation and Jobs Act — river advocates say that the need to protect water for fish, wildlife and humans gets lost as people argue over county payments, timber jobs and board feet. Continue reading
More than 20 percent of Lane County residents are on food stamps — that’s 80,657 people in a county with a population of about 350,000 who need federal assistance to eat and to feed their children. Local mapper and retired government employee Joe Kosewic has been mapping food stamps and other social issues to graphically draw attention to the challenges faced by the poor and the homeless. Continue reading
Type UniversityofNike.com into your browser and see where it goes. Hat tip to UO Matters for pointing it out. Hard to say whether that is actually the UO embracing its worship of Phil Knight or someone playing tricks on the Knight School, as the R-G quoted earlier this week: Continue reading
When the megaloads came through last night, despite the objections of the Nez Perce tribe and the U.S. Forest Service, protesters were there to try to block them. Elders of the Nez Perce tribe were among those arrested as they tried to stop the massive loads of tar sands equipment. According to Borg Hendrickson of The Rural People of Highway 12 — Fighting Goliath, the Nez Perce Drum Circle and the Aug. Continue reading
The county has issued a statement to employees, a media statement and now a video, but really hasn't said anything of substance on the firing of Liane Richardson, citing legal concerns. The results of the investigation have not been released. The employee statement that was emailed out this morning warns county workers not to talk to the media. Continue reading
The county continues to remain silent on the firing of Liane Richardson, citing legal concerns. The lates press release is below. Commissioner Sorenson issued a statement: "Today Lane County Commissioner Pete Sorenson voted in favor of a motion to terminate the Lane County Administrator. The vote was 5-0. Because of advice from legal counsel for the Board of Commissioners, I have no further comment on this matter at this time." Continue reading
Lane County is being close-mouthed over today's vote to fire embattled now-former County Administrator Liane Richardson after a whistleblower called attention to apparently unauthorized changes that Richardson had made to her pay. Here is the letter that Board Chair Sid Leiken sent out to county employees. Dear County Employees, Continue reading
There is an executive session scheduled tomorrow (8/6) and judging from the notification email and the timing, it has to do with the Liane Richardson pay scandal. The county tells EW that not not only is it not clear what exact time the session is scheduled for, it's also not clear if there will be a public announcement following the executive session, which media can attend but not report on. Continue reading
The heavy haul is back. The equipment weighs 644,000 pounds, is 225 feet long, 21 feet wide and 24 feet tall. It's already barged up the Columbia River and now sits at Washington's Port of Wilma, waiting to roll through the forests of Idaho. According to a press release from the Idaho Transportation Department, the massive load is set to move at 10 pm tonight. Continue reading
It's been all over Facebook, newspapers and TV stations have picked it up. Eugene is the number one hippie city (and Madison, Wisc., Missoula, Mont., and others on the list all made the news in their respective states.) Continue reading