Taisyn Crutchfield says she wanted to be a police officer from the time she was 10. Feeling a need to protect her community after the kidnapping and murder of a 17-year old girl in 2010, she says, “I want to be an officer because I want to be able to bring this family justice.” Her mom saw another opportunity for her when she was 10: To help her daughter develop her interviewing and public speaking skills, she entered Crutchfield in the National American Miss contest.  Today, Crutchfield, a 28-year-old Black woman, has brought those pursuits together as a California police officer who’s v ..read more

Sheng Wang is not the best with a quick comeback, he says. That might seem like a weird flex for a standup comedian, but if you know Wang’s material, it makes sense. His first Netflix special, Sweet and Juicy, came out in 2022, and it’s filled with Wang’s signature, laidback sense of humor — the kinds of observations that are only possible once you slow down or that you might miss while constantly searching for a punchline.  Wang hones his new hour, April 27, at the Hult Center. In Sweet and Juicy, Wang recalls calming his girlfriend’s nerves at her first mammogram. She farted during the ..read more

THANK YOU FROM THE LIBRARY This letter is a giant thank you to all of the people who volunteered or shopped at the Friends of the Library Book Sale this last weekend. The lines were the longest we could remember both getting into the sale and waiting to pay, and yet I heard only patient sighing, happy chatting and lots of book talk.   The young man who accidently spilled his coffee couldn’t apologize enough and stayed to make sure it was cleaned up and all was well. No one bothered the young children intently reading their new discoveries under the “Please do not sit here and sort” sign b ..read more

“In Graffiti anything goes,” says founder and publisher Don Root. Root is right. Similar to the art you’ll find spray-painted under an overpass, Graffiti is equally unpretentious as it is impressive. The alternative zine has no editor and accepts just about everything — as long as it doesn’t break copyright or libel laws.  “We don’t do themes, which I like because you never know what you’ll get,” Root says of zines that are based off of a prompt or idea. “But it’s always a little bit of everything.” Flipping through a copy of the zine you’ll find anything from a poem about a fat black cro ..read more

Country music legend Johnny Cash and American folk music group the Carter Family have influenced modern artists with their legacies. Lynnea Barry: Ring of Fire — The Carter Family takes the stage April 27 and 28 at The Shedd. “I grew up listening to different styles of music. I listened to the oldies station, if you will,” says Barry, vocalist and artistic director of the show. “I remember listening to the Carter family with my grandparents.” Barry and other local musicians traced the American folk music group’s earliest recordings by A. P., Sara and Maybelle Carter back in 1927 and created a ..read more

Timeless elegance will flood the streets of Corvallis along with camaraderie and exploration. Celebrating its 10th anniversary the Corvallis Tweed Ride — Tour de Trees will congregate April 28 at the intersection of 2nd and Washington. It’s highly encouraged to dress in vintage attire to pay homage to its history. The first Tweed Run occurred in London in 2009 and was inspired by Jack Thurston’s disbanded Tweed Cycling Club, which held vintage-attire-themed rides in England in the ’90s. The idea is to shred the modern recreational outfits and dress how they did in the olden days. Bridget Hayes ..read more

The combination of land conservation and herbalism comes alive with Restorative Wildcrafting April 27 at Friends of Buford Park and Mount Pisgah’s Native Plant Nursery. Eugene’s only herbalist apothecary, Rooted Remedies Apothecary, teamed up with Friends of Buford Park and Mount Pisgah for a second year to run this program. It’s “based on health and wellness and bringing a community together to connect over herbal medicine,” says Kassaundra Lynn, local herbalist and owner of Rooted Remedies Apothecary. Lynn works with Jared Tarr, volunteer coordinator with Buford Park, collaborating on the In ..read more

December 2015: In the 1980s, University of Florida student Jim Evangelista and his roommates had a sign that read, “Welcome to Reality Kitchen.” Later, when he started painting murals, Evangelista adopted the name for his Gainesville storefront studio, and Reality Kitchen became a 24/7 coffee house and community center. He got married, had a son, Diego, and, in 1992, took a cross-country trip in a converted school bus. “We wound up in Eugene on the last day of the Country Fair,” he says. “We knew we had to live here.” Though his marriage ended, Evangelista got mural commissions and went back t ..read more

 Occupy Medical first began operating in 2011, when a loosely knit group of enthusiastic medical professionals and volunteers ran a weekly clinic under a first aid tent as an outgrowth of the Occupy movement. As the team grew, and Occupy Medical expanded, the group refitted a former blood mobile bus into an iconic on-the-wheels mobile clinic that was used until 2017.  Today, just over 12 years since the beginning, the nonprofit is still in town, serving Eugene as a model for universal health care. For the last six months, the Occupy team has offered free weekly clinics under tents ev ..read more

• This community lost two remarkable women in April, Nancie Fadeley and Ruth Duemler. The daughter of a minister, Fadeley served in the Oregon Legislature, fighting for environmental protections. She also worked in the University of Oregon administration. Duemler, sometimes nicknamed “Street Heat,” knew how to rally folks to good causes — phoning, letter writing, door knocking, all the efforts that move democracy. Both will be missed. • Sophomore women from near and far are tearing into the University of Oregon distance running record book. Silan Ayyildiz is from Turkey and ran last year for t ..read more