It’s official: Wendy’s is no more. Well, at least where University of Oregon students are concerned.

The franchise location that was once across the street from Matthew Knight Arena was unceremoniously shuttered earlier this month with no clear replacement. There’s an old Chinese proverb that says that with every crisis comes an opportunity. These are the businesses that should take advantage of this so-called crisotunity:

Courtesy of Flickr user Kevin Dinkel.

In ‘N Out Burger

In ‘N Out and Oregon have the ultimate “will they? won’t they?” relationship. Fans of the California burger chain finally got a reprieve when it was announced that Medford would get one.

In ‘N Out won’t open a location more than 500 miles away from any of its commissaries (that’s how the food stays fresh and consistent from location to location.) And word on the street is that Eugene just barely falls within that reach.

Courtesy of Flickr user Curtis Perry.

Burgerville

For all you Californians — roughly 75 percent of the UO students reading this — Burgerville is, in a way, Oregon’s answer to In ‘N Out. The chain is best known for its seasonal shakes, which are off. The. Hook. The nearest one is in Albany, which is a not-so-short 30-minute drive up Interstate-5.

And if you’re heading that way, you may as well keep going until you hit Portland. Because who wants to be stuck in Albany?

Courtesy of Flickr user Kevin Lim.

Chick-fil-A

Forget that the bible-thumping founder of America’s favorite chicken joint isn’t keen on this so-called “gay marriage” thing. Or that his stores don’t open on Sundays (because religion.) If you’ve ever tried Chick-fil-A’s chicken nuggets, you know this is a no-brainer.

Toss those puppies into a vat of honey mustard and you’ve got yourself a Friday night.

Courtesy of Flickr user Mike Mozart.

Taco Bell

Juniors and seniors fondly remember those three days in November of 2012 when we were given hope that there may be a Taco Bell within a block of the UO campus. Turns out it was a hoax, but the hype was real.

And there’s no doubt that if students had their way, it would rain cheesy gordita crunches all day, every day across the street from Matt Knight Arena.

Holly Brice inserts a Most Meat Zone in one of two ovens at Dough Co. for calzones. The popular late night food spot delivers throughout campus until 3 AM. (Alex McDougall/Oregon Daily Emerald)

Dough Co.

Once upon a time, it didn’t take an hour and a half to get a calzone at 1 a.m. on Friday nights. That’s because Dough Co. had a second location in downtown Eugene. Bring that back, please. Because nobody should have to suffer so long a wait to get their drunchies.

Courtesy of Flickr user Wolf World.

Salt and Straw

Let’s give Prince Puckler’s a run for its money. This Portland hotspot would do well here in Duckville. Salt and Straw’s menu is quirky and unique (Dat gooey brownie, tho). The brand’s social media presence is on. Point. And the more PDX we can bring to the EUG, the better.

Turn the campus area into an extension of downtown Eugene and you’ve got yourself a winning combination. Hell, maybe the ice cream shop can co-habitate with Voodoo Doughnut near campus.

Courtesy of Flickr user FoodTograpiya.

Jamba Juice

Don’t lie: If there were a Jamba Juice within a 10-minute walk to your Econ 201 class, you’d be there every day. Whether you’re a Mega Mango fan or Caribbean Passion is more your style, you know that most of your part-time, minimum wage paycheck would be gone the second Jamba Juice moved into the campus area. Although there’s already a Jamba in Eugene, it’s crazy far away — Green Acres Road, to be exact.

And speaking of businesses we’d like to find a bit closer to home …

Courtesy of Flickr user seanbirm.

IDK, maybe a liquor store that’s not a thousand miles away

Okay, that’s a hyperbolic statement — the closest liquor store is just under two miles away on 29th Avenue and Willamette Street. But that’s still incredibly far away from anyone without a car and the bus service to that area isn’t exactly award-winning on the weekends.

It sure would be great if there were a place where responsible adults who live in the West University neighborhood could purchase the materials necessary for a morning mimosa or other such classy drinks. What do you think? What — if anything — should replace Wendy’s on Franklin Boulevard?

Follow Eder Campuzano on Twitter: @edercampuzano  

Fall Out Boy’s newest album is… Different. That’s probably the only way you can describe how it relates to the Chicago-based quartet’s other work. We know that the words in our review can only do so much to help you figure this out, so we’ve put together these playlists to help.

For the newcomers: The American Psychos

American Beauty/American Psycho, Fall Out Boy’s sixth full-length LP, is a departure from the band’s signature sound. The angsty pop-punk anthems to which your older brother moshed at the Warped Tour in 2005 are gone — they’ve been replaced by what can only be described as a one part stadium sound with two parts EDM and a dash of bravado.

If you like these tracks, there’s no doubt that Fall Out Boy’s latest is right up your alley:

For the old school: The Car Crash Hearts

If you consider yourself a Car Crash Heart, you probably won’t appreciate American Beauty/American Psycho. You put up with the majority of Save Rock and Roll because it was the first new Fall Out Boy material you got in six years, but you probably don’t have more than one or two those tracks on your FOB playlist *cough* “Young Volcanoes” *cough*. Here’s the Fall Out Boy you know and love, along with seven other tracks that take you back to 2005:

Follow Chris Berg (@mushroomer25) and Eder Campuzano (@edercampuzano) on Twitter.

Parks and Recreation finally feels like it’s on track to finish strong.

Leslie and Ron’s reconciliation in these latest two episodes finally drags the season out of the rut it dug itself in its first two.

Last week’s allusions to Morning Star were a decent effort to establish anticipation for the moment. But you know how they say that sometimes it’s more about the journey than the destination?

Although that could be said about the Harvest Festival and the mission to merge Pawnee and Eagleton, the same isn’t true with Ron and Leslie making up. The details and flashbacks in the second half of this pair of episodes are the jewel on the season’s otherwise “meh” crown (Let’s face it: Even though Parks may not bring the laughs like it did before, it’s still some of the best comedy on network television.)

Ron and Leslie’s exchanges were just what was missing from “2017” and “Ron and Jammy.” Although the two had an opportunity to work together in that latter episode, we didn’t get Ron’s usual straight-man performance. Instead, both characters bounced off each other, escalating the situation to a peak that was unsatisfying.

With Ron more or less assuming the stooge position again, Leslie is free to unhinge without being unbearable. What made Leslie Knope difficult to stomach in the first season was that hardly anyone held her back — she was free to take things to their extreme.

Season 2 is when other characters — Ron in particular — helped balance her out. “Ron and Leslie” was a great callback to those days.

The return to the Pawnee parks department offices was the icing on the cake. The episode’s big reveal was an excellent payoff, not just for the last three episodes, but for Ron and Leslie’s relationship thus far in the series’ run.

Finally, Morning Star means something.

Much of the previous episode, “William Henry Harrison,” serves as a slow cook to that final payoff.

Leslie’s only hope to snag the Newport land is to capitalize on the legacy of a man who was elected president of the United States only to die after less than two months in office because he refused to wear a coat. Thus “Operation Quantity” begins.

Much of the focus here is on Leslie, Andy and April’s attempt to collect enough of William Henry Harrison’s possessions to preserve the land they’re wrestling over with Ron.

The visit to a museum dedicated to the ninth U.S. president provides some of the best jokes so far in the season.

At the same time, Ron plans to ambush Leslie as she prepares to unveil her case for the Newport land at a press conference. The ensuing argument leads Ben and company to lock Leslie and Ron up in the Pawnee parks department offices.

Stray observations:

“One day, Magnus. I will wear you as a jacket.”

Zorp the lizard god has returned!

“How did you get in here?” “Broke a window.”

Far-out brain tornado?

Pulitzer Prize for Top-10 listicle? I’m so there.

“He’s an embarrassing footnote. But he’s our embarrassing footnote.”

“They can’t even fill a small museum with stuff about his life because he was so lame.”

“I really like your museum. It’s weird and sad and really unnecessary.”

Calvin Coolidge was a notary? No way.

“Zach! Camp Wamapoke — you had a boner!”

“Come with me as we binge-watch the future.”

“Enjoy your new job, Judith.”

Did anyone else totally love the nod to Parks and Recreation’s spiritual predecessor with that Billy Joel song?

Change is an essential part of any TV show. If the characters are static throughout a show’s run, things get stale. But, when characters repeatedly look to re-invent themselves, things get a little old.

And therein lies the problem with April Ludgate. This is the third time she’s faced with an identity crisis and it’s getting tired.

Remember when April hated her internship with the Pawnee parks department? Then she fell in love with Andy and decided to be a full-time assistant to Ron. Remember how she wanted something more after being Ron’s appointment-deleting secretary got boring? Then she started acting as Pawnee’s one-woman humane society and felt better about life in her own April sort of way.

This time, she realizes that working as an assistant to the regional director of the National Parks Service isn’t quite what she’s passionate about. Big surprise there.

What follows is a series of slights on stability and white collar work.

Ben helps the situation by offering to help April find something she’s passionate about. And now we have another story arc for the next few episodes.

Self-discovery is something most of the characters on Parks and Recreation have gone through. And it’s getting about as exhausting as trying to remember what we’re supposed to call Jerry Gergich these days. Or is it Gary?

At least “Ron and Jammy” brought back one the series’ most delightful secondary characters. Because we see her so infrequently, Megan Mullaley’s Tammy 2 is always a delight to watch, no matter who she’s terrorizing.

This time, she’s seduced Jeremy Jamm to get some pull on the Pawnee City Council. Ron and Leslie put their differences aside to rehabilitate the man in hopes that he’ll give one of them his vote to either designate the Newport family’s undeveloped land as a national park or as timber fodder for Ron’s construction company.

Ron and Leslie’s rehab clinic is where Amy Poehler and Nick Offerman finally get an opportunity to riff off each other for a bit. Unfortunately, most of the jokes here fall a bit short, save for a couple that involve an armoir and a crotch helmet.

The C-story has Tom and Andy traveling to Chicago to rekindle Tom’s romance with Lucy, the woman who left him when he just couldn’t get over his ex-wife. After the two spend a day in the Windy City together, Tom tries to get her back the only way he knows how: by offering her a job as a manager at Tommy’s Bistro. Because that’s how any enduring union begins, right? Too bad she has a boyfriend.

Now that the wheels are in motion for a few different Parks characters (The national park/timber yard debate; Tom’s attempt to win back Lucy; April’s search for a fulfilling career), you’ve gotta wonder if secondary characters like Donna and Terry (Jerry? Gary? Larry?) will have similar setups with one big payoff at the end.

With any luck, the storylines that Harris Wittels, Alan Yang, Matt Murray and the rest of the Parks writing staff cooked up tonight will wrap up with a bit more elegance than what “Ron and Jammy” had to offer. Because for a show that consistently finds ways for its characters to re-invent themselves, the constant change is getting stale.

Stray observations:

• Who’s your human equivalent of gas station sushi?

• “I have a bad case of tunnel vision when it comes to achieving my goals.”

•  “The snooker has become the snort!”

• Wait. It doesn’t count as stripping if no one sees you?

• “What was your mistake? You didn’t check your armoire!”

• “Turns out the crotch blinder was inside you all along.”

• “Oh, you know. Regionally directing the Midwest of who cares.”

This is it. The final season of Parks and Recreation marks the end of a show that was widely bemoaned as an Office clone at first, but totally came into its own as its characters became fully realized.

Tuesday’s premiere picks up three years after the season six finale left off. It’s 2017 and things are definitely different.

Leslie is regional director for the National Parks Service (also a mom of three). Ben, father of Leslie’s three children, has been named Pawnee’s Man of the Year.  Donna is a real estate mogul. Ron is a private citizen with his own construction firm. And Tom has finally made it as a restauranteur. With any luck, the writers won’t shatter his success again. (Let’s face it: The man can’t live through another Entertainment 720/Tommy’s Closet fiasco.)

Alan Yang, Matt Murray and the rest of the writing team have their work cut out for them. After all, these characters are all in remarkably different places from where they were last season, because there’s gotta be some sort of payoff by the time the series finale airs.

With so much to wrap up, there was hope that this season’s plots would deviate from the usual. By now, you could easily write your own Parks and Recreation fan fiction based on the following formula:

Leslie goes overboard on a small project or gets sass from a resident of Pawnee or Eagleton.

Leslie tries to correct the situation.

Leslie struggles or outright fails.

Ben or Ron give her a little pep talk.

Leslie perseveres.

The best episodes of Parks are the ones that deviate from this episode template. Case in point: April and Andy’s healthcare splurge when they found out they have insurance. Leslie running interference whenever Ron and Tammy 2 flare up again. Treat yo’ self.

So, it’s a bit of a disappointment that the show’s conventions show up and stay strong throughout the season premiere.

This time, Leslie and Ron don’t quite see eye-to-eye as her desire to get national recognition for a parcel of undeveloped land clashes with Mr. Swanson’s insistence that it the trees on the property be used to … well, build stuff.

Usually, Leslie would pull together her parks department employees to help her overcome the challenge. But it turns out that Ron has offered Tom and Donna a piece of the pie.

Ron and Leslie’s rivalry heats up at an awards ceremony for Ben, who’s being honored by the city for the work he’s done as its manager. But it’s Leslie’s speech to Nick Newport Sr.’s widow that solidifies the fight for the undeveloped land as this season’s major story arc.

It’s rare that one of Leslie’s heartfelt speeches falls short of changing her adversary’s mind. But the Newport estate isn’t going to let go of that land for less than a boat-load of cash.

April and Andy’s story has the two trying to reclaim some semblence of chaos in their relationship. While they plan their week, they realize that they’ve become *gasp* regular adults. Their arc is resolved when they decide to buy a house that’s haunted (and kinda dilapidated.)

As always, it was the small character bits that made the episode’s best moments.

Jon Hamm’s cameo as a clueless assistant is amazing. So was Ben’s justified fear of the award ceremony being an elaborate setup for the people of Pawnee to pelt him with things.

Yes, the show’s formula has shown wear in the last few seasons. But at least Parks doesn’t seem to be at risk of the same shortfalls that plagued The Office or the last season of Scrubs. Everyone’s still around. The cast has the same amazing chemistry. And most of the jokes still hit hard enough to keep you invested.

No matter what, it’s great to be back in Pawnee.

Stray observations:

• “I don’t even know what bangs are and I don’t intend to learn!”

• The Very Good Building and Development Company is probably the most Ron-esque name for a business ever.

• “I did find a file that says ‘Bird Census 1980!’ It’s empty …”

• Tom, being his own hero, might just be the easiest explanation for every crash and burn the character has ever suffered.

• If Ken Hotate recited every word in every entry of every Encyclopedia Britannica, I’d listen to it. I’d listen to it hard.

• “Being a responsible adult sucks butts.”

• There should always be a backup cake.

The Eugene & Springfield Fire Department responded to reports of a fire at Knight Library on Saturday afternoon.

The call came soon after much of campus, including Matt Knight Arena, experienced a power outage, although Eugene and Springfield officials said the event was unrelated. A bystander called thinking that the two events may be linked, UOPD officers said.

The fire crews were at the library for just over 20 minutes before they left the area.

An earlier version of this story cited fire alarms as the source for the fire crews’ presence at the library. The story has been updated to reflect information gathered at the scene.

Follow Eder Campuzano on Twitter: @edercampuzano

A series of power outages have hit Eugene, knocking the lights out at Matt Knight Arena during the women’s basketball game against Northern Arizona.

The lights went off in the arena during halftime, and the game has been delayed until power is restored, said women’s basketball spokesman Joe Waltasti said.

“There’s nothing we can really do until the power comes back on,” he said. “We just have to wait and see when the city can get power back.”

In the meantime, women’s basketball head coach Kelly Graves and Northern Arizona head coach Sue Darling have been playing hoops with Puddles.

Twitter has been abuzz since the power went out at approximately 3 p.m.

Power was restored to Matt Knight Arena and the game resumed at approximately 4:30 p.m.

The Eugene Water and Electric Board tweeted that the cause of the outage is still unknown but power was restored in the University of Oregon area with a substation at approximately 4:30 p.m..

Employees at the Duck Store were grateful that power at the store was restored less than an hour after it went out. Though the basement level was shut down, the store’s backup lights came on but went out again five minutes before power was restored.

Fortunately, power was restored in time for the Duck Store’s Heisman Trophy ceremony watch party at 5 p.m.

“We’re able to get our customers back in and getting their Rose Bowl and Heisman gear,” Marketing Director Katie Conway said.

Mark Lewis, a part-time instructor at the University of Oregon’s School of Journalism and Communication, died on Dec. 7.

His colleagues and students have already taken to Twitter to offer their condolences and remembrances. If you’d like to share a memory of Mark Lewis, fill in the form below. Names and contact information are optional. We’ll publish a selection of the responses in a new post on dailyemerald.com.

His family has also set up a remembrance page.

LUCKEY’S CLUB

It’s 9 p.m., on a Sunday, one hour before the weekly burlesque show starts at Luckey’s in downtown Eugene. The Buena Vista Social Club soundtrack is playing as the stage is set and sound engineers pore over equipment.

But you wouldn’t be able to tell that anything big was about to go down. Although the bar has a storied history, it’s sparsely populated tonight. There’s a small group playing pool near the bar and a handful of people just walked in.

“Do you guys have Animal Planet?” a member of the bar’s newest patrons, one of the four clad in dreadlocks, asks. “I know you guys are supposed to be a sports bar, but anything’s better than watching Keno.”

Brad Erichsen is the only bartender on duty at the moment. He assures the Animal Planet aficionado that Luckey’s isn’t a sports bar. In fact, he says Luckey’s doesn’t have a type.

“We’re definitely not the college type of bar,” he said. “We have a more mixed crowd. The kind of people you’ll find here really differs from one night to the next.”

Although Erichsen is the only man on duty behind the bar, that’s not typical. Whether you’re in the “Barmuda Triangle” or near campus, there’s almost always more than one person working. Whereas campus bars like Max’s, Rennie’s and downtown establishments such as the Horsehead and Jameson’s will have more than one person behind the counter, Luckey’s stands alone.

Erichsen said what separates his bar from most any other in the area is the atmosphere.

“We very rarely have to deal with too much shit,” he said.

But none of that has changed Luckey’s one bit. It’s still the kind of place where the calendar behind the bar, where pool trophies line the shelf on the opposite side of the bar, shows the page for September even two days after Halloween.

“We make attempts to lure the college crowd,” Erichsen said.

And although that’s evident by the preparation for tonight’s burlesque show and the monthly GLAM nights that happen here, it’s still the hole-in-the-wall dive bar downtown Eugene has always known.

Luckey’s is located at 933 Olive St. It’s open from noon to 2 a.m., every day.

COWFISH DANCE CLUB:

At 5 p.m., on any given night, a neon sign on Broadway between Willamette Street and Olive Street is illuminated, signifying the opening of Cowfish, and the awakening of downtown Eugene’s nightlife.

The doors are unlocked and the music is turned up, but “Where is my mind?” by the Pixies is white noise compared to what will be blasting later.

One by one, the barstools become occupied by a variety of regulars, twenty-somethings sipping on microbrews with their noses buried in textbooks, or middle-aged men with spiked gray hair and gauged ears ordering their usual PBR.

Go in around 5 p.m., and you’d never guess that in just four hours, the place will be packed, vibrating with energy, unrecognizable.

Most don’t notice the eclectic decor, from the neon velvet paintings that line the walls to the daisy chandeliers that dangle from the ceiling. As it glows under the black light – including the club’s quirky, yellow mascot, who lives in a large saltwater aquarium behind the bar: A little cowfish, no longer than a few inches, swims at such a slow pace, it appears to be floating among its sprightly tank-mates. Its name, according to the bartender, is “Cowfish.”

Bartender David Trussell, who has worked for several bars in the area, said Cowfish stands out among the rest, not only because it’s the only dance club downtown that hosts nightly DJs, but also because it has the friendliest staff.

Last year, Cowfish was voted “best same-sex pickup spot” and “best singles scene” in Eugene Weekly, as well as “best dance club” in the Emerald. It’s popular because it offers something to anyone and everyone – like Eugene, its crowd is diverse in age, occupation, sexual orientation and just about everything else.

When asked what the best night to come in is, Trussel responded, “Any night.” Cowfish offers daily drink deals, namely a happy hour from 5 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. that includes $1.50 Pabst, $2 well drinks, $3 microbrews on tap and one rotating drink special.

Connect with Cowfish’s Facebook page and you’ll see it has regular events, such as costume parties and theme nights, including a drag show called FreekNite every second Friday of the month. If you’re looking for adventure, Cowfish is undoubtedly the place to be.

Cowfish is located at 62 W Broadway. It’s open from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m., every day.

SIDELINES BAR AND GRILL:

If you don’t make it to the big game, there’s still a chance for you to watch it on the sidelines – albeit far from the majesty of Autzen Stadium. Sidelines bar and grill offers a roaring sports crowd, free games and food specials that should please any bar-goer in downtown Eugene.

Before Sidelines opened, it was known as John Henry’s, an entertainment/dance club famous among the downtown crowd for its weekly ’80s nights and monthly GLAM Night. Sidelines harbors a different type of crowd: the sports fanatic.

“We ran it for about a year as John Henry’s,” Brian Debos, partial owner of Sidelines bar and grill, said. “After about a year we decided that we don’t really like to be a nightclub.” Sidelines currently draws in every sports fan with a roof thoroughly aligned with sports flags, 17 TVs and every sports package offered through DirecTV.

Since the remodel, Sidelines has also invested in offering several games for customers to play — all free of charge —, a kitchen with daily food specials and an added 10 more beers on tap.

Debos said that giant Jenga and shuffleboard rank the highest among popularity, but bar pong and Connect Four come in a close second. Sidelines just redid its bar pong table, and it’s presented atop a remake design of the Oregon Football Field.

Sidelines is also open every day of the week. In comparison, John Henry’s was only open Thursday through Saturday, with burlesque on Sundays and a few optional Wednesdays.

Debos said since the switch, Sidelines has seen an increase in sales because it is now able to open every day of the week and for longer hours.

Currently, Sidelines is open Monday-Friday from 11 a.m., to 1:30 a.m., and Saturdays and Sundays from 9 a.m., to 1:30 a.m. The earlier hours on the weekends is to cater to the sports fans that are ready for gameday, according to Debos.

“When they (the Ducks) score a touchdown you can’t even really hear anything,” Debos said. “We have a good crowd down here.”

During games, Sidelines offers 75 cents off all drinks, making a domestic beer, such as Budlight or Coors, $2.50, and a microbrew, such as Deschutes or Pyramid $3.50.

Sidelines also offers food specials throughout the week. According to Debos, Thursday’s teriyaki bowls and Friday’s $6 burgers bring in the most customers.

Sidelines will also be releasing a new menu this week, with 14 new options.

Sidelines Bar and Grill is located at 77 W Broadway. It’s open Mondays from 3 p.m. to 12 a.m.; Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 12 a.m.; Thursdays through Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 2:30 a.m.