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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.
Union Pacific Railroad’s tracks run through Eugene’s Whiteaker and other neighborhoods, and that means when UP sprays pesticides for “vegetation control” in a 12-foot swath on either side of the tracks, people, pets and nearby gardens are affected. Continue reading
Bad news for coal is good news for clean energy advocates and conservationists: Not only has the Port of Coos Bay’s exclusive negotiating agreement with the last of the companies trying to export coal ended, a Eugene attorney has also filed a notice of intent to sue coal companies and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) Railway for violating the Clean Water Act by emitting coal into waterways in Washington. Continue reading
This just in from the Oregon Country Fair's PR service: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Friday, March 29, 2013 Online pre-sale tickets for Oregon Country Fair Start April 1 VENETA, Ore. — Presale sale tickets for the 44th Annual Oregon Country Fair (OCF) go on sale, April 1, 2013, exclusively through TicketsWest.com. Continue reading
While former commissioner Rob Handy might have a lost a battle in the fight for better public records disclosure from Lane County government, he feels that he made some headway in the war. He said in a press statement that the goal of his suit “was to shine a light on the arbitrary nature in which Lane County” responds to public records requests, and with this goal in mind, Handy says the suit was a success. Continue reading
Students Against Imperialism were performing a "direct action in solidarity with Mexico and Palestine" when UO adjunct instructor James Olmsted confronted them at the EMU amphitheater on March 14. Students videoed the confronation in which Olmstead says, "I am the dominant paradigm. If you want the country back. Start a fucking war and take it back. Get a gun. Shoot me. Continue reading
They’ve checked to see if Pop Rocks and Coke will make your stomach explode and tried to tip over a car with a jet engine, but they’ve never put a poodle in the microwave (that would be cruel). The show started off busting “urban legends,” Mythbusters star Jamie Hyneman admits, but “Mythbusters sounds better than Legendbusters.” True. Continue reading
Lane County has been feeling the pinch of budget cuts, and the conservatives on the County Commission have proposed a tax levy to fund jails. When it comes to Congressman Peter DeFazio’s plan to split some of Oregon’s public forests into a timber trust and a conservation trust, the controversy comes from all sides of the political spectrum. A resolution has been introduced into the Oregon Legislature that would support the timber plan. Continue reading
The recent announcement that two foreign investors have pulled out of the International Port of Coos Bay’s coal export proposal doesn’t mean the coal train plans have been entirely derailed. The announcement leads to even more questions, says Bob Ferris, executive director of Cascadia Wildlands, one of several Lane County groups working to stop the fossil fuel exports. Continue reading
Are Occupy flyers banned at the library? Is there just a simple misunderstanding about bulletin board policy at the Eugene Public Library? According to a emailed letter from activist Alley Valkyrie to Lavena Nohrenberg customer experience manager at the library, there might be an issue with free speech and the library's bulletin board. The letter is below: Continue reading
As we reported in this week's EW. When it comes to saving the environment, lawyers and protesters often go hand in hand, so it may come as no surprise that alongside (though not an official part of) the Public Interest Environmental Law Conference at the UO Feb. 28 to March 3, there were acts of protest. Continue reading