Published stories from our student reporters

by Sophia Cossette | THE SCHOOL BOARD WILL NOT RENEW DEY’S CONTRACT. LAST MONTH, BOARD MEMBERS MADE A BEHIND-CLOSED-DOORS FINDING THAT DEY RETALIATED AGAINST A MIDDLE-SCHOOL TEACHER

by Bentley Freeman | LANE COUNTY HOPES TO LAUNCH A MOBILE CRISIS RESPONSE TEAM SIMILAR TO CAHOOTS TO SERVE ALL MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS CALLS ACROSS THE ENTIRE COUNTY

by Sophia Cossette | EUGENE DISTRICT 4J SCHOOL BOARD FINALLY MAKES IT PUBLIC: SUPERINTENDENT ANDY DEY IS UNDER SCRUTINY

by Amelia Winkelman | INCREASING NUMBERS OF JUVENILE OFFENDERS IN LANE COUNTY’S YOUTH DETENTION CENTER HAVE BEEN STRIP SEARCHED DESPITE A COURT RULING LIMITING THE PRACTICE

by Sophia Cossette and Tristin Hoffman | EUGENE DISTRICT 4J SCHOOL BOARD REPRIMANDS SUPERINTENDENT ANDY DEY FOR RETALIATING AGAINST A TEACHER. DEY’S FUTURE IN THE DISTRICT'S TOP JOB REMAINS IN DOUBT

By EMMA J NELSON, BRIANNA MURSCHEL, AMELIA WINKELMAN AND ELLIE GRAHAM | MEASURE 110 FACES THREAT OF REPEAL OR REVISION AFTER BEING BLAMED FOR OREGON'S OPIOID CRISIS

by Camilla Mortensen with reporting from SOPHIA COSSETTE AND TRISTIN HOFFMAN | ANDY DEY FACES ALLEGATIONS OF DISCRIMINATION, MISCONDUCT

by Elizabeth Yost | As Oregon’s substance use crisis intensifies, state agencies provide little support to schools and communities

by Sophia Cossette | EUGENE SCHOOL DISTRICT 4J BOARD OF DIRECTORS’ NEWEST MEMBER ERICKA THESSEN IS THROWN IN THE FIRE, AS SHE IS SWORN IN AFTER THE 2023-24 SCHOOL YEAR BEGINS

by Alexis Weisend | OREGON LAW REQUIRES A LOCAL AGENCY THAT DELIVERS SOCIAL SERVICES TO HOMELESS INDIVIDUALS BE INFORMED WHERE AND WHEN A 72-HOUR NOTICE IS POSTED. BUT EUGENE IS LOOKING THE OTHER WAY.

by Ella Hutcherson | AN INCREASE IN HATEFUL COMMENTS AT SCHOOL BOARD MEETINGS HAS LED TO AN IMPASSIONED RESPONSE BY THE COMMUNITY

by Ella Hutcherson | WITH A LACK OF STATE FUNDING FOR SUMMER PROGRAMMING FOR KIDS, COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS ARE SUFFERING

by Bentley Freeman | FREE SPEECH PLAZA VENDORS SUCCESSFULLY NEGOTIATED TO KEEP THEIR CANOPIES

by Ella Hutcherson | 4J HIGH SCHOOLS WILL RUN ON A DIFFERENT — AND CONTROVERSIAL — SCHEDULE NEXT YEAR

by Bentley Freeman, Alexis Weisend, and Evan Weston | PROPOSED RULES BEFORE THE EUGENE CITY COUNCIL MAY MAKE IT MORE DIFFICULT FOR UNHOUSED PEOPLE TO FIND A LEGAL PLACE TO CAMP WITHOUT FACING HIGHER FINES — OR EVEN JAIL

by Ella Hutcherson | STUDENTS AT SPENCER BUTTE MIDDLE SCHOOL INCITE CHANGE TO 4J SAFETY REPORTING PROCESS

by Ella Hutcherson | TWO CANDIDATES FOR 4J SCHOOL BOARD SPELL OUT THEIR PRIORITIES, INTERESTS FOR STUDENTS

by Alexis Weisend | CITY HAS BEEN GIVING UNHOUSED CAMPERS IN PARKS TWO HOURS TO MOVE, DODGING A STATE LAW REQUIRING 72-HOUR NOTICE

by Bentley Freeman | EUGENE’S ANIMAL SHELTER TO LOSE 56 PERCENT OF ITS FUNDING FROM THE CITY

by Alexis Weisend | THE CITY OF EUGENE HAS QUIETLY GIVEN MORE THAN 1,300 UNHOUSED CAMPERS ONLY TWO HOURS’ NOTICE TO MOVE INSTEAD OF 72 HOURS

by Bentley Freeman, Evan Weston and Hannah Seibold | DEBRIS FROM HOMELESS CAMPS ON UNION PACIFIC PROPERTY LITTERS THE WILLAMETTE. AFTER YEARS OF DELAY, THE CITY HITS THE COMPANY WITH BIG FINES

by Anna Kaminski and Winter Wagner | A CRISIS STABILIZATION CENTER IN LANE COUNTY COULD MEAN LEAVING BEHIND A SYSTEM RIDDLED WITH GAPS. BUT FIRST, THE COUNTY MUST ADDRESS WHAT ISN’T WORKING.

by Hevenn Vanhelsdingen | Treatment Foster Care Oregon (TFCO) is improving chances for children considered “at-risk” of criminal activity and incarceration.

by Ella Hutcherson | Now that TIP has been funded in Lane County, volunteers will be available locally 24/7, and Isaacson expects that they will begin responding to calls from the emergency system in March 2023.

by Hannah Seibold and Zachary Jones Neuray | Oregon’s gubernatorial race has thrust the state into the national spotlight. With three candidates, Republican Christine Drazan, Democrat Tina Kotek and Betsy Johnson, unaffiliated, it’s a tight race.

by Hannah Seibold and Zachary Jones Neuray | To capture the least heard voter voices — youth and rural voters from Central Oregon speak out. 

by Hannah Seibold and Zachary Jones Neuray | To capture the least heard voter voices — youth and those living in rural areas — EO Media Group partnered with students from the University of Oregon’s Catalyst Journalism Project to provide a platform for their views in all regions of the state.

by Alex Baumhardt, Cole Sinanian and Jael Calloway | SPECIAL REPORT: State officials rarely intervened and never stopped the port as it dumped hundreds of tons of excess nitrogen over a critical groundwater area.

by Alex Baumhardt, Cole Sinanian and Jael Calloway | Thousands of Oregonians near the town of Boardman in the northeast corner of the state live atop an aquifer so tainted with farming chemicals that it’s not safe to drink.

by Nika Bartoo-Smith | At 16, Crandall has been called the Greta Thunberg of Oregon, a comparison she is not fond of.

by Jael Calloway | The hotels are part of Project Turnkey, which just got $50 million in a new round of funding by the Legislature.

by Ella Hutcherson | TIP is a nonprofit program that is deployed by first responders after a traumatic incident such as a sudden death

by Cole Sinanian | Government officials, conservation groups work to combat Oregon’s poaching problem.

by Jael Calloway | Large segments of the state have provided self-service gas during the pandemic and officials say there have been no problems

by Cole Sinanian and Les Zaitz | Groups say a living wage would take down barriers that keep people of color, low-income workers from pursuing legislative office

by Cole Sinanian | New zoning laws offer a unique opportunity to fill Lane County neighborhoods with affordable co-ops.

by Shane Hoffmann | The stabilizing potential of UBI could work well in a city like Eugene, potentially helping meet the needs of the unhoused community. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 20.4 percent of Eugene’s population lived in poverty in 2019. 

Jack Forrest, Sally Segar and Jassy McKinley | More than 1,700 residents of Oregon’s long-term care centers have died from COVID-related illnesses, state records show.

Ardeshir Tabrizian | The man died two days after deputies knelt on his back at the Lane County Jail.

Joanna Mann, Jennah Pendleton, Addie Peterson and Silas Sloan | Eugene officials have forced unhoused people to move from their campsites more than 1,600 times since the COVID-19 pandemic began, flouting federal health guidelines.

Shane Hoffmann | Visiting students door-to-door has made the difference in the small Marion County school district.

Anna Sundholm and Danny Latoni | How COVID-19 conversations could change higher education for the better

Mia Ryder-Marks | Data-driven approaches are eliminating homelessness in communities across the U.S. Is Eugene next?

Shane Hoffmann | BIPOC households have been disproportionately affected, leading to a food insecurity rate that is two to three times higher than for white Oregonians.

Jade Yamakazi Stewart | Lane County is providing hundreds of housing units and services to chronically homeless people while saving hospitals and governments money.

By Nigel Jaquiss, Abbey McDonald and Nick Rosenberger | Catalyst expanded its commitment to covering rural areas of Oregon, using the opportunity of the 2020 presidential election to examine issues facing Tillamook County, which shifted to the right politically in the 2016 election.

Nick Rosenberger | With the ongoing global climate crisis, the debate about how electricity can be produced by cleaner, renewable energy continues to heat up.

Gina Scalpone, Zack Demars and Donny Morrison | For more than 20 years, the community court model has been touted across the U.S. as an alternative for people who end up in court over and over again, often for the same offenses.

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 from county to county and with variable outcomes.

Ryan E. Little, Zack Demars, Nick McCool, Theresa Diffendal, Gina Scalpone, Aneurin Canham-Clyne and Riin Aljas | Catalyst was a founding member of “Nowhere to Go,” the student-run national investigation reporting project into the criminalization of homelessness. The project, overseen by the Howard Center for Investigative Reporting at the University of Maryland, produced several stories, including a lead story involving two…

By Donny Morrison | June 18, 2020 The coronavirus and the ensuing shelter-in-place orders created an unexpected safe haven for Eugene’s unhoused community

Nick Rosenberger | The production of energy and emissions from the Boardman Coal Plant—the last such plant in Oregon—will come to an end in just a few months and mark the end of an energy era.

By Kelsey Harnisch, Megan Yarck and Kiva Hanson Oregon’s elderly population has the highest rate of suicide in the state. According to data from the National Violent Death Reporting System, the suicide rate for Oregonians aged 65 and older is nearly twice as high as the rate for young people.

by Ariana Sinclair, Sravya Tadepalli and Michael Tobin Catalyst surveyed the 10 largest districts in the state, as well as the biggest school district in every county not already represented by the survey. In all, Catalyst asked 40 districts for the teaching plans they used to discuss suicide prevention with high school students. The districts’ responses to the survey revealed…

by Gina Scalpone and Emily Goodykoontz Increases in substance use and mental illness among the homeless are not unique to this area — other cities are facing the same challenge. However, our findings raise a serious question: Why has Eugene and Lane County been sending more and more defendants to the state hospital and doing so at such an alarming…

by Taylor Perse EW searched around the country for cities that have pursued creative ideas to help people with a place to live and are now carrying out efforts with proven track records. As we learned, no program is perfect, and every community faces its own challenges. We zeroed in on three communities where leaders have been able to do…

Kathryn Thier’s solutions journalism course investigated ways to combat sexual assault.

by Ariana Sinclair CCare provides free contraceptive care to people at or below 250 percent of the federal poverty level, giving eligible UO students more flexibility in birth control options and the freedom to choose the care that works for them.

by Brandon Taylor and Asia Zeller Local schools suspend and expel special education students at twice the rate of their peers. One district is trying to change that.

by Taylor Perse and Morgan Theophil with contributions from Kenny Jacoby City officials claim Community Court has brought about big changes in the way Eugene treats the homeless. The court’s own numbers tell a very different story.

by Casey Miller The Bond Project is a joint effort between the UOPD, DOS and Bond to create a safer drinking environment for students.

by Ryan Nguyen The Promise is a state grant that can pay a portion — or even all — of a student’s tuition toward one of Oregon’s 17 community colleges.

by Sierra Webster HIV Alliance and Trans*Ponder provide clean needles to people who inject hormones.

Michael Tobin

Becky Hoag | The UO Science Literacy Program (SLP) strives to improve science literacy by providing instructors and graduate students with effective teaching methods.

by Michael Tobin

by Austin Willhoft International Community Voices at UO focuses on building a closer relationship among non-U.S. individuals through weekly group therapy while fostering a community.

by Brittany Norton How a community organization in Lane County helps Latino families grow their own food and businesses.

by Morgan Theophil

by Morgan Theophil 15th Night, RAN (the Rapid Access Network) and the application of technology to help homeless youth in our community.

by Cooper Green An investigation into Oregon’s campaign finance laws and the financial transactions known as “pass-throughs.”

Kenny Jacoby and Morgan Theophil | As a follow-up to the Criminalizing Homelessness story, this report considers the role of the mayor and City Council in helping to make police records available and in mitigating homelessness.

by Kaylee Tornay and Brittany Norton with additional reporting by Sam Felton and Natalia Riccardi The Eugene Community Court seeks to support rather than sentence. Eugene city and court officials decided to implement this program to support frequent offenders with their underlying needs rather than punishing them repeatedly.

by Kenny Jacoby, Kaylee Tornay, Francisca Benitez, Victoria Ganahl and Thomas Rivers This data-driven story shows that the unhoused are disproportionately ticketed in Eugene. 

by Kelly Kenoyer, Kenny Jacoby This story revealed abuses in senior care facilitates across Oregon and gaps in the state’s regulation, including small civil penalties for serious cases of abuse and neglect. 

2016 OR Magazine team, led by editor Sami Edge The 2016 issue of OR Magazine uses a solutions journalism approach to report on issues and how Oregon is working to address those issues.

by Carl Segerstrom, Katherine Smith and Erin Carey The reporters discovered that the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality was years — and sometimes — decades behind in renewing water pollution permits granted to major companies and municipal sewer agencies. The result: The state allows companies and cities to operate under outdated environmental standards and pour wastes into Oregon rivers already so…

by Kira Hoffelmeyer and Russell Wilson This story examined the weaknesses of Oregon’s public records law using an innovative approach. The reporters asked for all the emails among members of the Attorney General’s Public Records Task Force, which by then had been meeting for six months without any progress. Their story revealed wide disparity in compliance and understanding of the records…

by Corinne Ellis During the past seven years Oregon has put in motion a plan to reduce teen pregnancy and improve the quality of sexual health education in public schools. This plan was introduced in 2009 as a concept of what sex education could look like. Just three years after the plan was created, the rate of unplanned teenage births…

by Wes Franco and Jonathan Bach The students’ examination of deadbeat taxpayers in Lane County revealed a company that had received millions in state tax subsidies but now was refusing to pay its property tax bill. The students used land records and state tax court documents to present the story.

by Erin Hampton A gender gap between men and women spans many of the nation’s economic sectors. Women farmers make up a relatively small share of the U.S. agricultural workforce. However, when compared to the rest of the nation, Oregon sits well above the national average. More than 300 women around the state participate in Oregon State University’s Small Farms…

by Haley Rivet Wolves and ranchers have a long history of conflict. Ranchers need to protect their animals and wolves need to eat. The historical solution to the conflict was to kill the wolves. But wolves are a crucial part of the ecosystem. Their presence supports biodiversity by controlling the overgrazing of elk and other prey species. The disappearance of…

by Zach Silva In early 2016, both the state of Oregon and the Obama administration released an unprecedented set of rules enforcing equal access for transgender students in educational facilities. But before this topic saw nationwide legislation, similar policies had gained momentum in Eugene. A policy adopted in Eugene’s 4J school district has been creating safe spaces for transgender students…

by Haley Rivet As cannabis becomes easier to access and legal in more states, growing numbers of veterans are using marijuana as a treatment for the symptoms of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Grow for Vets, a national nonprofit with chapters in Eugene and Portland, aims to reduce the number of veteran suicides and drug overdoses by promoting cannabis treatment over the…