Good news for bad UO administrators and local pols!

Bad news for good government. The Eugene Weekly has been hit by an embezzler, and will have to drastically scale back operations: https://eugeneweekly.com/2023/12/28/wheres-the-damn-paper/

…Shortly before Christmas, we discovered that EW had been the victim of embezzlement at the hands of someone we once trusted. We are still counting up the damage, but it’s thousands upon thousands. The theft of EW’s funds remained hidden for years and has left our finances in shambles. A team of private forensic accountants is analyzing our books and accounts. We’ve reported the thefts to the Eugene Police Department, which is conducting an investigation.

We’ve discovered that many companies we do business with — vendors who turned out to be very patient — haven’t been paid in months. EWemployees who thought they were paying into retirement accounts have learned the money never arrived at its destination. We had to lay off the entire 10-person staff EW three days before Christmas. One of our biggest creditors, our printer, says it will print EW again only if we pay upfront.

The damage is more than most small businesses can bear. The scale of this moment is unlike anything we have ever faced. But we believe in this newspaper’s mission and we remain determined to keep EW alive. …

If you’re a UO student or employee you’re already being forced to pay to support our administration’s PR flacks and “Around the 0” – people whose job includes keeping President Scholz from having to answer questions about what UO is doing with hundreds of millions in public funds.

If you want to contribute to ensuring the survival of an antigen, you can do so at https://support.eugeneweekly.com/?product=contribute-to-the-eugene-weekly