Happy Friday,

You know that wooden footbridge in Alton Baker Park that spans the canoe canal and leads to Autzen Stadium? It is scheduled to close for a month beginning Feb. 16 so the city of Eugene and UO can rebuild it. Ashli Blow reports.

A worker at a machine shop in Glenwood died after an industrial accident involving a metal lathe, officials said. State workplace safety officials have opened an investigation. Jaime Adame has the story.

A lawsuit against Springfield police, filed by protesters who contend officers infringed on their First Amendment rights, will be allowed to move forward. The police had said they were immune from the claims, but a judge disagreed. The case involves a protest march in 2020 that was prompted by a noose being hung from a tree across the street from the home of a Black neighbor. Jaime has this story as well.

In our opinion section today:

A letter-to-the-editor writer lauds a column suggesting Eugene be careful what it protests, and that the city actually needs projects like the Amazon warehouse in order to help solve its budget problems and preserve the services citizens say they want.

What do you think? Send a letter to the editor (350 words or less, please): lte@lookoutlocal.com

Have a news tip on something we should cover: newsroom@lookoutlocal.com

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DAILY DIGEST

Footbridge near Autzen Stadium to close for upgrade

By Ashli Blow

The wooden footbridge near Autzen Stadium and Alton Baker Dog Park is set to close Feb. 16, with construction expected to last about 30 days. Pedestrians and cyclists will be detoured to nearby bridges, while officials have not yet released details about the bridge’s design or the reason for its replacement.

Continue reading…

Glenwood machine-shop employee dies after workplace injury

By Jaime Adame

The Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the death of an employee of Myrmo & Sons, a machine shop in Glenwood, a spokesperson for the state agency said Friday, Jan. 23.

Continue reading…

Black Unity protesters’ suit against Springfield police can proceed, judge says

By Jaime Adame

The federal court ruling is a win for protesters seeking to prove their claims that police actions, such as barricading a street, infringed on their rights to free speech during a racially influenced 2020 march.

Continue reading…

Ohio State fan LeBron James just can’t quit the Ducks

By Tyson Alger

Column on Eugene Amazon proposal was a breath of fresh air | Letter to the editor

By Letters to the Editor

With grocery prices up, here’s how some shoppers are managing

By Taylor Goebel

Eugene council extends timeline on remake of former LCC building

By Lillian Schrock-Clevenger

Amid string of freezing nights, Egan Warming Centers seek volunteers 

By Sarah Lorge Butler

Enjoy your evening,

Bob

Bob Passaro has been an editor in various forms for 30 years. Maybe longer, actually, as there was that high school yearbook he assembled -- under appallingly lax supervision -- which was later removed from the school's library due to its irreverence.

And so began his love of press freedom. Bob studied English at Occidental College and journalism at the University of Arizona. He worked at The Associated Press, The Post Register in Idaho Falls, Idaho, and The Salt Lake Tribune.

In 1998 he moved to Eugene to take a copy editing job at The Register-Guard. Not a month later, the Thurston High School shooting happened, and he was amazed by the quality of the journalists in the newsroom he had recently joined. He worked at the R-G for 14 years, through various ups and downs. It was a good run. But as the web began to erode the newspaper business, and after watching too many good people be laid off, he decided somewhat reluctantly to flee the newspaper business himself.

In a moment of "if you can't beat em, join em," he began to learn how to code websites, while working as a writer and editor at the Eugene marketing agency Cawood. Eventually Bob became co-owner of a Eugene design and web agency called Figoli Quinn. Over the next several years, he built dozens of websites and participated in website activities like "content strategy," "information architecture," and "content development." As he tells people: “Those are all just fancy terms for 'editing'."

Bob was so excited to come back to journalism that he wanted to quote Gen. Douglas MacArthur -- "I have returned!" -- but that felt overly grand and dramatic. Suffice it to say, he was happy to join Lookout and be a part of a team that is building a new era of local news in Eugene-Springfield.

When he is not at work, Bob enjoys cycling — mountain, road, whatever — and spending time with his wife and two daughters.