Eugene Weekly

A car struck and killed a cyclist Monday, June 2 at 13th and Willamette. The Eugene Police Department reported that a car driven by Latasha Ann Williams, 31, of Eugene struck and killed cyclist David Matthew Minor, 27, of Eugene at 3:47 in the afternoon. An EPD press release states: “A very preliminary review of the investigative information indicates that speed does not appear to have been a factor. It appears that both parties likely had green lights, and that the bicyclist made a left-hand turn into the vehicle’s path.” Continue reading →

Local activist and videographer Tim Lewis has posted video and stills of Eugene police tasering a protester at a May 30 rally downtown against pesticides. Continue reading →

Witnesses alleged police brutality after Eugene officers tasered a protester at a peaceful anti-pesticide rally today downtown and arrested three people. About 40 citizens and 10 police officers showed up for the noon rally Friday, May 30 at the Broadway and Willamette plaza. Numerous citizen witnesses alleged that police threw UO student Ian Van Ornum, 19, to the ground, pulled his hair, kneed him in the back, ground his face into the pavement and shocked him repeatedly in an act of unjustified brutality. Continue reading →

The new McKenzie-Willamette hospital could be built on a widely-supported downtown site centered on the Eugene Clinic under a proposal sent to the hospital this morning, May 21, by Eugene planning director Susan Muir. The site centers on the medical clinic at 12th and Olive streets and its surrounding surface parking lots as well as adjacent largely underutilized downtown real estate. A similar downtown site was once proposed as an alternative to moving PeaceHealth to Riverbend by a coalition of progressives opposed to urban sprawl. Continue reading →

The Eugene mayor’s race and north county commissioner race appear headed for runoffs in November. Candidates in the races failed to cross the 50 percent threshold required to win outright in the primary. With apparently most votes counted by midnight, county elections reported that Jim Torrey had about 49 percent of the vote compared to Piercy’s 48 percent. Candidates Nick Urhausen and Jim Ray split the remaining 3 percent. Continue reading →

The Eugene mayor’s race is looking razor close, and Rob Handy has a small lead over incumbent County Commissioner Bobby Green. With a rough estimate of 60 percent of Eugene votes counted at 9 pm, Kitty Piercy trails Jim Torrey by 36 votes. County elections reports Piercy with 47.74 percent of the vote and Torrey with 47.85 percent. Both candidates need at least 50 percent to avoid a runoff in November. Conservative Nick Urhausen has 2.26 percent. Jim Ray has 1.4 percent. Continue reading →

I guess big contributions from developers don’t buy proof readers. Then again, given the recent sex scandals, maybe we do need to “improve the moral[s] of our police force.” Continue reading →

Kitty Piercy, Jim Torrey, Jim Ray and Nick Urhausen faced off in a taped mayor’s debate hosted by Fox TV on May 14. Questions came from the candidates and a media panel from Eugene Weekly, The Register Guard, KLCC and FOX TV. Fox plans to broadcast the one-hour debate on Saturday, May 17 from 6-7 pm. KEVU-TV will also air the debate on Saturday from 7-8 pm. To listen to the debate audio, check our podcast. Continue reading →