Keynote speaker at the Slow News confer-
ence — no, that’s not a typo — June 25 at the
University of Oregon was none other than Lo-
gan Molen, former publisher at The Register-
Guard, who lost his job there in last winter’s
sale of the paper to GateHouse Media. Now pub-
lisher of The Steamboat Pilot & Today in Colora-
do, Molen confessed growing skepticism about
the influence of digital media on news — and of
the ability of digital advertising to support qual-
ity local journalism. Print, he suggested, may
continue to shrink but will remain the founda-
tion of newspapers; the most successful new
model might be weekly print publication with
digital updates through the week. That sounds
a lot like Eugene Weekly today.
nation to go to the border in Texas and use
social media to tell the country what was
happening there. He was the only senator
bold enough to endorse Bernie Sanders for
president when other Democrats fell into
line for Hillary Clinton. You say Oregon is not
a great base? What about Arkansas, as in
Bill Clinton, or Georgia, as in Jimmy Carter?
Merkley’s exploring his options.
• What we’re reading: Educated: A Mem-
oir by Tara Westover. Published in 2018 by
Random House, this is a wild ride for a mem-
oir. The story of an Idaho family dominated
by a father who doesn’t believe in education,
it tells how Westover escapes her own pri-
vate Idaho through education. She is a fine
writer, and it’s hard to put her book down.
• Bitcoin is big news in Oregon with Sec-
retary of State Richardson interested in al-
lowing it for political contributions. But it is a
complicated cryptocurrency, as Maren Peas-
ley demonstrated at the City Club of Eugene
on June 22. Peasley, an identity specialist at
a global security vendor, recently co-found-
ed DC541, a local cybersecurity discussion
forum that meets monthly and is open to the
public. That sounds like a good way to go be-
fore we take our money out of the bank and
put it in Bitcoin.
• Why not our Sen. Jeff Merkley as a
candidate for president or maybe vice-
president? He had the courage and imagi-
• You probably have picked your favor-
ite team in the World Cup by now, Spain,
France, Germany, Brazil, but not the U.S.,
alas, since we didn’t even make it to the
world’s greatest sporting event. EW is de-
lighted to have Killian Doherty writing and
photographing for us both inside and outside
soccer stadiums all over Russia. A Eugene at-
torney with the Environmental Law Alliance
Worldwide, Doherty will be sending his ob-
servations for print and online until the last
match ends.
SLANT INCLUDES SHORT OPINION PIECES, OBSERVATIONS AND RUMOR-CHA SING NOTES COMPILED BY THE E W EDITORIAL BOARD. HEARD ANY GOOD RUMORS LATELY? CONTAC T EDITOR@EUGENE WEEKLY.COM
Eugfun Downtown
in
Movement for memory
26 a dance class for your brain
June
Tuesdays June 26 - August 14 • 11am to nooon,
1pm to 2pm • Park Blocks and Hi-Fi Music Hall
Presented by DanceAbility International with support from
the Downtown Program Fund. A low-intensity interactive
movement lesson for all people, informed by the DanceAbility
Method. Jana Meszaros, Master DanceAbility teacher, will
guide the group through a series of simple activities, and Rich
Glauber’s lively music will accompany the 35-minute class.
Fridays at the Park Blocks:
29 electric funeral
June
5pm to 8:30pm
Acoustic renditions of classic heavy metal songs. Also enjoy
a beverage garden and food trucks.
JUly
5
Party on the Plaza:
Pura Vida Orquesta
5:30pm to 10pm • Hult Center Plaza
This Portland-based eight-piece Latin band plays salsa,
timba, cumbia, cha cha cha, Latin jazz, merengue, bachata
and Latin funk.
8
June 28, 2018 • eugeneweekly.com