Good morning, Eugene.

Eugene was selected to join Love Your Block and will receive $70,000 to improve public spaces in Bethel and Trainsong neighborhoods.

The grant offers technical help from the Bloomberg Center — a program that has connected local governments with community members.

Downtown Eugene now has a new Youth Hub at 44 W.

Seventh Ave., which officially opened Monday to offer showers, laundry, job and education support for young people 14 to 24. Three local organizations manage services (including mental health and career planning) to meet youth needs.

Eugene-based Hinman Vineyards is set to begin harvesting wine grapes this weekend after a summer with balanced weather in Lane County & Eugene that avoided extreme heat and wildfire smoke.

Owner Doyle Hinman said the good growing season is a boost for local pride.

More than 50 Eugene artists made over 200 circular pieces for downtown parking meters in 2025 — now the works are brought together at The Oblivion Gallery in West Eugene, where the exhibit opens Saturday, Oct.

3 and runs through November. $30 sales support local art and Art Hop.

The Early Child Care Business Accelerator helped 50 local providers create 543 new care slots across Lane County, moving preschool children out of child care desert status.

The 16-week program supports in-home providers with licensing, business training (and a $5,000 startup grant) in communities such as Eugene and Springfield.

The City of Eugene has recommended a hybrid approach for cleaning contaminated soil at Trainsong Park next summer after tests found dioxin extending 24 inches deep (using both excavation and capping) and plans further design work while opening a public comment period (30 days) before regulatory review.

Eugene voters will decide in November whether to create a Clean Energy Fund that would impose a 2% fee on large retailers’ Eugene gross profits (exempting groceries, medicines, garbage and health care) to fund local climate and clean-energy projects.

A forum with experts aired Monday, Sept. 28 on KLCC FM.

Officials from the Oregon Department of Forestry and the Lane Fire Defense Board warned residents that fire season (with low rainfall) remains active and backyard burning is prohibited, urging tarp use to cover debris as fuels remain dry and fines plus firefighting costs may result if burns escape.

FEMA approved nearly $43 million in new disaster recovery funding for Alaska, Oregon & Washington, including $1.3 million for permanent repairs to transmission lines at Eugene Water & Electric Board damaged in severe 2024 winter storms.

The funds come through Public Assistance, Hazard Mitigation Grant and Building Resilient Infrastructure programs.

Furevergreen Aquamation now offers aquamation in Lane County as a gentler pet aftercare alternative using alkaline hydrolysis that uses less energy + no greenhouse gases and returns powdered bones for urns or keepsakes.

St. Vincent de Paul Society of Lane County added 10 new HOPE homes to Saginaw Mobile Home Park in Cottage Grove; each unit costs under $100,000 plus meets HUD and state codes while being built efficiently at HOPE Homes’ Eugene factory.