Exposing Problems.
Revealing Solutions.
The Catalyst Journalism Project is a teaching, research and service initiative that brings together investigative reporting and solutions journalism to spark action and response to the complex issues facing our communities. Investigative reporting fulfills the essential accountability role underlying press freedoms. Solutions journalism combats growing cynicism and mistrust of the media by demonstrating even the thorniest social challenges can provide opportunity for hope.
THE Latest Stories from our catalyst student reporters
Eugene 4J Schools Chief Andy Dey is Out
by Sophia Cossette | THE SCHOOL BOARD WILL NOT RENEW DEY’S CONTRACT. LAST MONTH, BOARD MEMBERS MADE A BEHIND-CLOSED-DOORS FINDING…
Stretching to Cover the Gaps
by Bentley Freeman | LANE COUNTY HOPES TO LAUNCH A MOBILE CRISIS RESPONSE TEAM SIMILAR TO CAHOOTS TO SERVE ALL…
4J Superintendent Faces a Review
by Sophia Cossette | EUGENE DISTRICT 4J SCHOOL BOARD FINALLY MAKES IT PUBLIC: SUPERINTENDENT ANDY DEY IS UNDER SCRUTINY
Strip Searching Juveniles
by Amelia Winkelman | INCREASING NUMBERS OF JUVENILE OFFENDERS IN LANE COUNTY’S YOUTH DETENTION CENTER HAVE BEEN STRIP SEARCHED DESPITE…
Retaliation at 4J
by Sophia Cossette and Tristin Hoffman | EUGENE DISTRICT 4J SCHOOL BOARD REPRIMANDS SUPERINTENDENT ANDY DEY FOR RETALIATING AGAINST A…
Drug Reform on Trial
By EMMA J NELSON, BRIANNA MURSCHEL, AMELIA WINKELMAN AND ELLIE GRAHAM | MEASURE 110 FACES THREAT OF REPEAL OR REVISION…
4J Superintendent Investigated
by Camilla Mortensen with reporting from SOPHIA COSSETTE AND TRISTIN HOFFMAN | ANDY DEY FACES ALLEGATIONS OF DISCRIMINATION, MISCONDUCT
Youth addiction prevention in Oregon gets little help from state
by Elizabeth Yost | As Oregon’s substance use crisis intensifies, state agencies provide little support to schools and communities
‘Thriving in Chaos’
by Sophia Cossette | EUGENE SCHOOL DISTRICT 4J BOARD OF DIRECTORS’ NEWEST MEMBER ERICKA THESSEN IS THROWN IN THE FIRE,…
City of Eugene Ignores State Law on Camping
by Alexis Weisend | OREGON LAW REQUIRES A LOCAL AGENCY THAT DELIVERS SOCIAL SERVICES TO HOMELESS INDIVIDUALS BE INFORMED WHERE…
Protecting Pride
by Ella Hutcherson | AN INCREASE IN HATEFUL COMMENTS AT SCHOOL BOARD MEETINGS HAS LED TO AN IMPASSIONED RESPONSE BY…
Summer Fun?
by Ella Hutcherson | WITH A LACK OF STATE FUNDING FOR SUMMER PROGRAMMING FOR KIDS, COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS ARE SUFFERING
‘Respect the Pillow’
by Bentley Freeman | FREE SPEECH PLAZA VENDORS SUCCESSFULLY NEGOTIATED TO KEEP THEIR CANOPIES
Semester Switch
by Ella Hutcherson | 4J HIGH SCHOOLS WILL RUN ON A DIFFERENT — AND CONTROVERSIAL — SCHEDULE NEXT YEAR
‘Security Through Obscurity’
by Bentley Freeman, Alexis Weisend, and Evan Weston | PROPOSED RULES BEFORE THE EUGENE CITY COUNCIL MAY MAKE IT MORE…
No Place for Hate
by Ella Hutcherson | STUDENTS AT SPENCER BUTTE MIDDLE SCHOOL INCITE CHANGE TO 4J SAFETY REPORTING PROCESS
Position One, Politicized
by Ella Hutcherson | TWO CANDIDATES FOR 4J SCHOOL BOARD SPELL OUT THEIR PRIORITIES, INTERESTS FOR STUDENTS
Eugene Human Rights Commission Presses City on Rapid Eviction of Unhoused Campers
by Alexis Weisend | CITY HAS BEEN GIVING UNHOUSED CAMPERS IN PARKS TWO HOURS TO MOVE, DODGING A STATE LAW…
Slashing Animal Services
by Bentley Freeman | EUGENE’S ANIMAL SHELTER TO LOSE 56 PERCENT OF ITS FUNDING FROM THE CITY
Fast and Furious
by Alexis Weisend | THE CITY OF EUGENE HAS QUIETLY GIVEN MORE THAN 1,300 UNHOUSED CAMPERS ONLY TWO HOURS’ NOTICE…
Union Pacific’s Trash Problem
by Bentley Freeman, Evan Weston and Hannah Seibold | DEBRIS FROM HOMELESS CAMPS ON UNION PACIFIC PROPERTY LITTERS THE WILLAMETTE.…
Crisis Mode
by Anna Kaminski and Winter Wagner | A CRISIS STABILIZATION CENTER IN LANE COUNTY COULD MEAN LEAVING BEHIND A SYSTEM…
Foster Youth Achieving Better Outcomes With Special Program
by Hevenn Vanhelsdingen | Treatment Foster Care Oregon (TFCO) is improving chances for children considered “at-risk” of criminal activity and…
How to Care: Lane County is launching a new program to aid victims of tragedy
by Ella Hutcherson | Now that TIP has been funded in Lane County, volunteers will be available locally 24/7, and…
Eastern Oregon voters voice opinions for change
by Hannah Seibold and Zachary Jones Neuray | Oregon’s gubernatorial race has thrust the state into the national spotlight. With…
Faces Behind the Words: Youth and rural voters speak out
by Hannah Seibold and Zachary Jones Neuray | To capture the least heard voter voices — youth and rural voters…
Central Oregon voters voice opinions for change
by Hannah Seibold and Zachary Jones Neuray | To capture the least heard voter voices — youth and those living…
Water contamination worsened as DEQ went easy on Port of Morrow
by Alex Baumhardt, Cole Sinanian and Jael Calloway | SPECIAL REPORT: State officials rarely intervened and never stopped the port…
Powerful port pollutes water for years with little state action: Drinking water of thousands increasingly impaired by excessive nitrogen dumps
by Alex Baumhardt, Cole Sinanian and Jael Calloway | Thousands of Oregonians near the town of Boardman in the northeast…
Oregon’s Climate Leader: 16-year-old climate activist Adah Crandall says she ‘had a lot of hope for the future.’ Then Gov. Kate Brown ‘let us down.’
by Nika Bartoo-Smith | At 16, Crandall has been called the Greta Thunberg of Oregon, a comparison she is not…
After millions spent on hotel purchases, shelter owners in Oregon face steep renovation costs
by Jael Calloway | The hotels are part of Project Turnkey, which just got $50 million in a new round…
Preventing Second Injury: The Trauma Intervention Program provides emotional support during sudden tragedies
by Ella Hutcherson | TIP is a nonprofit program that is deployed by first responders after a traumatic incident such…
Rewards, tougher prosecutions employed to slow illegal slaughter of wildlife
by Cole Sinanian | Government officials, conservation groups work to combat Oregon’s poaching problem.
Oregon would drop remaining limits on self-service fueling, leaving drivers with choice
by Jael Calloway | Large segments of the state have provided self-service gas during the pandemic and officials say there…
Oregon legislators propose big boost in their pay – and they have community support
by Cole Sinanian and Les Zaitz | Groups say a living wage would take down barriers that keep people of…
The Forgotten Answer to the Affordable Housing Crisis
by Cole Sinanian | New zoning laws offer a unique opportunity to fill Lane County neighborhoods with affordable co-ops.
Skipping the Basics: why isn’t it experimenting with universal basic income pilot programs like the rest of the U.S.?
by Shane Hoffmann | The stabilizing potential of UBI could work well in a city like Eugene, potentially helping meet…
Failure to Care: Oregon has allowed many long-term care centers to escape accountability for the Covid deaths of elderly residents
Jack Forrest, Sally Segar and Jassy McKinley | More than 1,700 residents of Oregon’s long-term care centers have died from…
A Hidden Death: Last year a Eugene man was arrested during a mental health crisis
Ardeshir Tabrizian | The man died two days after deputies knelt on his back at the Lane County Jail.
Swept Away: The CDC said to let the homeless stay at their camps during COVID
Joanna Mann, Jennah Pendleton, Addie Peterson and Silas Sloan | Eugene officials have forced unhoused people to move from their…
The Long Division: Gervais turns to unconventional methods to keep students engaged
Shane Hoffmann | Visiting students door-to-door has made the difference in the small Marion County school district.
Designed for Everyone
Anna Sundholm and Danny Latoni | How COVID-19 conversations could change higher education for the better
A Solution to Ending Homelessness Might Be in the Data
Mia Ryder-Marks | Data-driven approaches are eliminating homelessness in communities across the U.S. Is Eugene next?
Oregon nonprofit provides Umatilla Indian Reservation with healthy, sustainable food options during pandemic
Shane Hoffmann | BIPOC households have been disproportionately affected, leading to a food insecurity rate that is two to three times…
Give Housing, Save Money
Jade Yamakazi Stewart | Lane County is providing hundreds of housing units and services to chronically homeless people while saving…
/s3.amazonaws.com/arc-wordpress-client-uploads/wweek/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/27151202/web_tdm_august_15-32-of-32.jpg "Tillamook County Usually Picks the Presidential Winner. Its Residents Are More Polarized Than Ever.")
Tillamook County Usually Picks the Presidential Winner. Its Residents Are More Polarized Than Ever.
By Nigel Jaquiss, Abbey McDonald and Nick Rosenberger | Catalyst expanded its commitment to covering rural areas of Oregon, using the…
Oregon’s coal-free future: Where will power come from?
Nick Rosenberger | With the ongoing global climate crisis, the debate about how electricity can be produced by cleaner, renewable energy…
Community courts and the homeless: Do these programs make a difference?
Gina Scalpone, Zack Demars and Donny Morrison | For more than 20 years, the community court model has been touted…
‘Brady lists’ of untruthful Oregon police officers inconsistent county to county
Whitney Woodworth and Hannah Kanik | The first-of-its-kind survey revealed significant differences in how Brady lists—the index of problematic officers—are handled…
The Response to Homelessness in the Most Unaffordable U.S. Cities? Lock ‘Em Up
Ryan E. Little, Zack Demars, Nick McCool, Theresa Diffendal, Gina Scalpone, Aneurin Canham-Clyne and Riin Aljas | Catalyst was a founding…
Free From Fines — For Now
By Donny Morrison | June 18, 2020 The coronavirus and the ensuing shelter-in-place orders created an unexpected safe haven for…
Climate changed: Oregon bids goodbye to coal power
Nick Rosenberger | The production of energy and emissions from the Boardman Coal Plant—the last such plant in Oregon—will come to…
Out of Focus: Oregon’s elderly are killing themselves at an alarming rate
By Kelsey Harnisch, Megan Yarck and Kiva Hanson Oregon’s elderly population has the highest rate of suicide in the state.…
Oregon schools failing on suicide prevention: Survey shows high schools across the state use widely differing approaches to help students in need
by Ariana Sinclair, Sravya Tadepalli and Michael Tobin Catalyst surveyed the 10 largest districts in the state, as well as…
The Broken System: Lane County ships the homeless and mentally ill to the state hospital without a trial
by Gina Scalpone and Emily Goodykoontz Increases in substance use and mental illness among the homeless are not unique to…
A City in Need of a Solution
by Taylor Perse EW searched around the country for cities that have pursued creative ideas to help people with a…
OR Solutions for #MeToo
Kathryn Thier’s solutions journalism course investigated ways to combat sexual assault.
CCare affords students flexibility with contraception
by Ariana Sinclair CCare provides free contraceptive care to people at or below 250 percent of the federal poverty level, giving…
Unequal Penalties
by Brandon Taylor and Asia Zeller Local schools suspend and expel special education students at twice the rate of their…
An Unsuccessful Solution
by Taylor Perse and Morgan Theophil with contributions from Kenny Jacoby City officials claim Community Court has brought about big…
The Bond Project: Creating a safer drinking environment
by Casey Miller The Bond Project is a joint effort between the UOPD, DOS and Bond to create a safer…
Oregon Promise: How Oregon makes college possible for low-income and first-generation students
by Ryan Nguyen The Promise is a state grant that can pay a portion — or even all — of…
Sharps Kits, Syringes and Solidarity
by Sierra Webster HIV Alliance and Trans*Ponder provide clean needles to people who inject hormones.
UO’s science literacy program cultivates scientific curiosity
Becky Hoag | The UO Science Literacy Program (SLP) strives to improve science literacy by providing instructors and graduate students with…
Family Business: How a community organization in Lane County helps Latino families grow their own food and businesses
by Brittany Norton How a community organization in Lane County helps Latino families grow their own food and businesses.
Homeless Youth on the RAN
by Morgan Theophil 15th Night, RAN (the Rapid Access Network) and the application of technology to help homeless youth in…
Nothing to See Here
Kenny Jacoby and Morgan Theophil | As a follow-up to the Criminalizing Homelessness story, this report considers the role of the mayor and…
Courting the Ones Who Need It
by Kaylee Tornay and Brittany Norton with additional reporting by Sam Felton and Natalia Riccardi The Eugene Community Court seeks…
Criminalizing Homelessness
by Kenny Jacoby, Kaylee Tornay, Francisca Benitez, Victoria Ganahl and Thomas Rivers This data-driven story shows that the unhoused are disproportionately ticketed…
A System of Neglect
by Kelly Kenoyer, Kenny Jacoby This story revealed abuses in senior care facilitates across Oregon and gaps in the state’s…
Putting Oregon’s Records Law to the Test
by Kira Hoffelmeyer and Russell Wilson This story examined the weaknesses of Oregon’s public records law using an innovative approach. The…
Taxpayer-Subsidized Biogas Plant Underperforms, Asks for Massive Tax Break
by Wes Franco and Jonathan Bach The students’ examination of deadbeat taxpayers in Lane County revealed a company that had received…