slant
• Enjoy this week’s Give Guide and the
Winter Solstice and ponder all that is good
in the world. Also ponder how much you love
Eugene Weekly because, as of now, this will be
our last print issue until after the New Year.
But fi nd us online at EugeneWeekly.com and get your fi ll of news and snark
in our Tuesday and Thursday email newsletters, which you can sign up for at
EugeneWeekly.com/newsletter.
FIND YOUR Y
$0 Joining Fee until Dec. 31!
• The city of Eugene reports that there were more than 220,000 scooter rides
in the fi rst eight months of the year-long e-scooter pilot program. The city also
reports that you e-scooter-haters will be happy to hear that the program is
no more. Locally, the scooters were administered by Cascadia Mobility, but Super-
pedestrian — which operates in 60 cities across the globe, owns the scooters and
the software used to run the program — has shut down for “fi nancial reasons.”
• It’s nice that Gov. Tina Kotek fi nally made it to Lane County on the fi nal
stop of her not-quite-whirlwind around-the-state listening tour. We hope
she enjoyed the visit — but we also hope she comes back real soon. As the
more rural parts of the state have complained, Oregon isn’t just Portland
and Salem, and those of us living in the southern end of the Willamette Valley
wouldn’t mind a little more attention now and then.
YOUR NEW Y IS OPEN!
COME EXPERIENCE:
Youth spaces featuring a
S.T.E.A.M. lab and maker spaces
14,000 sq. ft. of cardio
and strength equipment
A 6-lane Lap Pool,
Spray Pad and more
in the light-filled
Aquatics Center
• The new Eugene YMCA’s ribbon cutting and open house was Saturday,
Dec. 15. Welcoming hundreds of folks to the fancy new athletic digs were
several local muralists whose art decorate the Y’s walls — Esteban Cama-
cho Steff ensen, Ila Rose, Liza Mana Burns, Nick Rusnock and Eugene Weekly’s
own Chelsea Lovejoy.
• Correction: Rep. Val Hoyle’s communications director disputes a claim
made in a letter to the editor published Dec. 14 that Hoyle “slunk off around
the corner” to avoid demonstrators against the Israeli war in Gaza at her
congressional offi ce. The demonstration was at Hoyle’s Eugene offi ce, says
Hoyle staff er Shamma Matalbert, and Hoyle was at her D.C. offi ce that day.
Letter writer Susan Shafroth responds, “I am fi ne if you want to remove that
part of my letter, as the part about funding the military over the homeless
man in front of her offi ce is by far more important to me.”
• In this week’s keeping tabs on the New York Times, the Dec. 18 story
headlined “How College Football Is Clobbering Housing Markets Across the
Country” raised our eyebrows as we hear tales of students and fi xed income
folks struggling to aff ord housing in Eugene. The NYT writes that around
the U.S., “in small cities reliant on college sports to keep their economies
humming, short-term rentals are destabilizing housing markets, fueled by
wealthy fans and investors who transform single-family homes into de facto
hotels for a few weeks out of the year, and often leave them sitting empty
the rest of the time.” Huh.
F INE S ILKS &
T RIBAL A RT
Traditional Arts Handcrafted by Independent
Artisans in Hill Tribe Laos and Vietnam
• Exquisite Silk Scarves & Shawls
• Handwoven Hemp and Cotton Textiles
• Basketry, Jewelry, Tools, Ritual Art
1801 Willamette St.
(Meridian Bldg., next to Folkways & Yumm)
Open 10-5
(Thru Dec. 24; Closed Mon/Tue)
A BOVE THE F RAY: T RADITIONAL H ILL T RIBE A RT
HilltribeArt.com: traditional textile art, education, and tours
E U G E N E W E E K LY . C O M
JOIN TODAY!
Photo by Todd Cooper
Welcoming spaces
designed for
community building
And so much more!
Just Transition Series :
Weatherization
Workshop
When:: Jan 11, 2024
When
Time:
Time : 5:30-7 PM
Where : Unitarian
Where:
Universalist Church
Learn how to keep your home cozy yet efficient, and
save money at Beyond Toxics, the Eugene Springfield
NAACP, Springfield Eugene Tenant Association, and
Fossil Free Eugene’s Weatherization Workshop.
Just Transition events are geared toward BIPOC,
renters, and low-income community members.
Scan below to register, space is limited
Presentations | Demonstrations | Free Weatherization Supplies | Stipends | Pizza
D E C E M B E R
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