• When Republican Jack Roberts and Democrat (and EW columnist) Tony Corcoran shared the stage at the City Club of Eugene on Sept. 22, the civility was shocking. Here are two prominent former office holders talking with a crowd of divergent political views and nobody was insulting, embarrassing or threatening anyone else. It was clear that Roberts and Tony Corcoran disagree on most things political except their shared contempt for Donald Trump. They strongly advocated for their choices for Oregon governor in 2018, Corcoran for Kate Brown, Roberts for Knute Buehler.

• The only music coming out of the Oregon Bach Festival these days is the sound of silence. In the wake of the inexplicable Aug. 24 firing of artistic director Matthew Halls, OBF executive director Janelle McCoy is now bumping queries about the festival’s future up the food chain to University of Oregon Senior Director of Public Affairs Communications Tobin Klinger, who on Tuesday answered all our questions thus: “We don’t have anything to share at this time, but certainly will if something changes.” So if anything ever changes at the UO, here are a couple things we’d like to know: Will there be a festival in 2018? Who is going to run it? And where is the festival board of trustees on this? The board’s silence has been utterly profound.

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• After NFL player Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the National Anthem last year, he said in a press conference that “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.” Kaepernick’s strong stand initially appeared to blow his NFL career after he was not signed this year, but when President Donald Trump attacked NFL players who protest, calling it disrespectful to the country and to military veterans, hundreds more players, team owners and more have taken a knee and locked arms in a show of anger, free speech and support that far outshines Trump’s pathetic cries of “you’re fired.” Our own president has no idea what military veterans fought for.