Lookout PM: After CAHOOTS

Good evening,

I hope you enjoyed that summery day.

The city of Eugene has selected an organization called Ideal Option to run a year-long pilot project for alternative crisis-response services, in the wake of CAHOOTS ending operations in Eugene about a year ago. Ideal Option was chosen over the other group to submit a proposal, Willamette Valley Crisis Care, a nonprofit founded by former CAHOOTS employees.

The Lane County district attorney said today his office was dismissing child pornography charges against a 73-year-old Oakridge man who was convicted in 2021. Investigators had searched his home and found “hundreds of pictures depicting child sexual abuse.” But the conviction was overturned last month by the Oregon Supreme Court. The court ruled that because the investigation began by examining the defendant’s use of a public Wi-Fi network at the Oakridge A&W, without a warrant, his right to privacy was violated. The DA’s office said the ruling “created a heretofore unheard-of privacy right.” Lookout justice reporter Jaime Adame explains.

Our partners at the Oregon Capital Chronicle report on concerns about drought and the upcoming fire season in Oregon, after one of the mildest winters on record, one that resulted in minimal snowpack in the Cascades.

In our opinion section today:

In a guest column for Lookout, local blogger Douglas Berg blasts the Eugene lawmaker and speaker of the Oregon House Julie Fahey for her role in eviscerating a popular campaign finance reform law.
Letter-to-the-editor writer Tim Gleason says Eugene City Council candidate John Barofsky is just the kind of person the council needs.
And another letter extolls the virtues of Eugene’s public library and says the levy to help fund it deserves voters’ support.

What’s on your mind? Send us 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

Eugene selects Ideal Option to run alternative response pilot program

By Lookout Eugene-Springfield Staff

Ideal Option and Willamette Valley Crisis Care were the two organizations that had submitted proposals to run a year-long program to provide “CAHOOTS-like services.”

DA to drop child-porn case after state Supreme Court ruling on internet privacy

By Jaime Adame

Citing what it called “a heretofore unheard-of privacy right for users of privately maintained but publicly accessible wi-fi networks,” the Lane County District Attorney’s Office said its case against a 73-year-old Oakridge man was “fatally compromised.”