News

To show their ongoing commitment for racial justice, the Eugene-Springfield NAACP celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. Day with a drive-thru rally on Monday. The event saw more than 200 vehicles pass through.

At their Tuesday meeting, the Springfield City Council plans to choose an interim mayor to replace Christine Lundberg who stepped down last summer. 

The University of Oregon has seen a spike in students and employees testing positive for COVID-19 in recent weeks.

191 people associated with UO have tested positive in the past 14 days. That includes 103 on-campus students, 85 off-campus students and three employees. 

In all of December, the university reported a total combined 103 students and employees with positive test results.

Oregon has its first case of the new, more contagious U.K. variant of COVID-19, the Oregon Health Authority announced on Friday.

Eugene Police are looking for tips on a van stolen from the local NAACP last weekend. 

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown said increased vaccine shipments will not arrive next week. The head of the state health authority said this puts vaccination efforts “at grave risk.”

Eugene Police Auditor Mark Gissiner will retire at the end of January. Gissiner has served in the position for 12 years.

The ground floor windows of the Oregon capitol have been covered with plywood in advance of potentially violent demonstrations over the next few days.

Oregon State University’s virtual Martin Luther King Jr. celebrations will include a speech and Q&A with a civil rights activist. Angela Davis will be OSU’s virtual keynote speaker.

Some Oregonians affected by the September wildfires are still without reliable phone service.

Environmental groups are challenging the Trump administration’s decision to remove the gray wolf from the federal endangered species list. 

Lawmakers heed the advice from Oregon State Police and FBI in delaying gathering for the 2021 session.
Oregon state lawmakers are preparing for the possibility of another armed protest at the Capitol in Salem and will delay gathering in-person on the first day of the 2021 legislative session.

The Eugene 4J school district unanimously approved a COVID-19 temporary leave program during their Wednesday school board meeting. This comes after the federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act expired on Dec. 31.

Lane County Public Health officials announced they will hold two COVID-19 vaccination clinics this weekend. The mass vax opportunities are only for high-risk health care providers in a specific group.

After schools closed for winter break, Gov. Kate Brown announced on Dec. 23 that school reopening restrictions would shift from mandatory to advisory recommendations. This was with the goal of having more schools statewide return to some form of in-person learning by Feb. 15. 

Athletics will resume for Eugene 4J school district students on Jan. 25. Director of High School Education Andy Dey said some sports, such as football, basketball, dance, cheer, and wrestling will not have competitions.  

Lane Community College’s virtual Martin Luther King Jr. celebration will include a speech from an activist known as the “father of environmental justice.” Dr. Robert Bullard hopes to inspire the next generation of environmental activists of color.

The Trump administration has slashed protections for imperiled northern spotted owls on 3.4 million acres of Northwest forests, opening up the land to additional logging.

The deployment comes as federal authorities warn of possible armed protests in every state.

In preparation for possible pro-Trump protests in Eugene in the coming days, Police Chief Chris Skinner briefed city councilors on plans during a Jan. 13 work session.