Make the McKenzie Connection!
Make the McKenzie Connection!
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The Sheriff’s Office has learned that community members are again receiving calls saying they have warrants out for their arrest for missing a court date. The callers are demanding to have money sent to clear the warrant. These calls are a scam, and community members should hang up immediately and not engage with the caller. The Lane County Sheriff’s Office does not make phone calls to community members regarding warrants and would never ask a community member to purchase “cash cards” to pay fees. If you are the victim of a phone scam and hav...
The Eugene Water & Electric Board will begin dewatering the Leaburg Power Canal on Saturday morning, April 2nd, to perform maintenance on the power plant, canal and fish screen. The shutdown of the Leaburg generating facility and power canal is expected to last about two weeks, according to utility spokesman Joe Harwood. "During the shutdown, EWEB will divert very little water from the McKenzie River into the canal, which will cause the river level to rise downstream of the canal’s mouth. During the re-watering period, expected to begin on o...
Jason Johannesen LEABURG: “The first work we’re doing with the Connect America program is in this area,” were welcome words heard by a packed audience last Thursday night. They came from Karen Stewart, CenturyLink’s director of local government affairs, who was talking about a federally backed program to upgrade McKenzie area broadband service that is already underway. Asked for a completion date she said, “September, unless we run into construction problems.” Under the wing of the Federal Communications Commission, the Connect America pro...
Aerial of school FINN ROCK: Some McKenzie Schools staffers may have re-routed their vacation plans in order to spend this week in Portland. “We let the whole staff know where we are in terms of our budget,” superintendent Jim Thomas told the school board last Wednesday. “We’re in the process of notifying people that would be directly impacted by it and chose to do that before Spring Break because Portland had their job fair coming up. It wouldn’t be fair to teachers who may have to be leaving to miss the opportunity to go to a job fair.” Specif...
Maia Hardy NIMROD: Business owners and people planning start-ups heard some interesting news this month from Maia Hardy. Speaking at a meeting of the McKenzie River Chamber of Commerce, Hardy outlined loan programs targeting rural businesses that are available through Community LendingWorks (CLW). “We are a community development financial institution,” Hardy said, adding, “We’re a non-governmental lending institution that does affordable ‘mission lending’ for folks who have had a hard time accessing loans through a traditional bank.” Community...
Jesus saves BLUE RIVER: Randy Boehmer says “Oregon is the 26th state these mules have pulled these wagons.” Averaging three to four miles an hour to a bale of hay, the Arizona native has been on the road for eight years. “I am out here living a slower paced life trusting God that people will see the Bible verses on the sides of the wagons, believe that Jesus is the one true living God, repent of their sins and ask Jesus into their hearts. There are no diesel trucks and horse trailers following us - it’s just the 9 of us - 5 mules, 2 dogs, J...
Internet world Broadband access on the agenda next week LEABURG: Narrowing the digital divide that separates rural areas from high speed internet connections will be the focus of a March 17th meeting at McKenzie Fire & Rescue’s Leaburg Training Center. Organizers of the meeting include several McKenzie area residents who attended a Rural Broadband Conference convened by the Oregon Rural Development Council in Bend last month. That conference offered information on an array of federal, state and local initiatives that were designed to reach u...
Steelhead released It takes just one generation for the DNA of steelhead domesticated in hatcheries to be altered and to be significantly different than steelhead whose parents are wild, according to a recent study by Oregon State University. In fact the study found that in just one generation there were 723 genes that differed between the offspring of wild steelhead and the offspring of first-generation hatchery steelhead. Further, the study found through gene enrichment analysis that adapting to the hatchery environment involves responses by...
Eagle Rock Park EUGENE: The Lane County Parks Advisory Committee will hold a public hearing in two weeks to gather testimony regarding the draft Five-Year Capital Improvement Program (CIP) for county parks projects from 2017 to 2021. The Parks CIP is a five-year program used to plan expenditures for capital improvements to the Lane County Parks System according to Parks Manager Mike Russell. “Projects included in the CIP are designed to improve safety, utility and efficiency of existing facilities and further develop and add amenities that w...
Blue River map By Jim Baker, Blue River CDC & McKenzie Action team The McKenzie Action Team, a group of community volunteers, hosted an open session on February 17 for residents to gather and discuss options for dealing with septic tank issues in Blue River. There has been a long festering problem with aging and failing septic tanks. In addition, the small lots in Blue River do not meet modern standards for building due to septic requirements. As a result, many of the business properties in Blue River cannot reopen or expand. Building lots...
Through wall LEABURG: Firefighters from both of the area’s fire districts took part in last Wednesday night’s drill at McKenzie Fire & Rescue’s Leaburg station. The session, facilitated by the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training. Training included skills to manage getting out of basements through windows, breaching walls, following hoses out of buildings, and diminishing clearance obstacles. McKenzie Fire was able to train 35 of its members and Upper McKenzie was able to get six of its responders trained in the joint exerc...
Bug tent By Kym Pokorny People tend to have a love-hate relationship with their fruit trees. The fruit they love; the work they hate. Especially the regimen of spraying turns off home gardeners, said Steve Renquist, horticulturist with Oregon State University’s Extension Service. But times have changed. Research has resulted in easier methods of dealing with pests and diseases, from resistant trees to low-toxicity products. For years, Renquist and the rest of OSU’s Extension horticulturists have been advocating for integrated pest man...
Donkey ball This Saturday should provide some good opportunities to break away from a bout of cabin fever. At 2 p.m. some hearty individuals plan to get their adrenalin rushing when they take part in the 3rd Annual McKenzie River Polar Bear Plunge at the Silver Creek Boat Ramp. People interested in participating can sign up and register at the Finn Rock Grill before the Saturday, February 6th, event. The cost is $5 per person, with proceeds benefiting the Walterville Preschool. The Finn Rock Grill will match the total of entry fees received. A...
McKenzie General Store...
News Release from FBI - Oregon At approximately 4:25 p.m. (PST) on Tuesday, January 26, 2016, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Oregon State Police (OSP) began an enforcement action to bring into custody a number of individuals associated with the armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. During that arrest, there were shots fired. One individual who was a subject of a federal probable cause arrest is deceased. We will not be releasing any information about that person pending identification by the medical...
Jeff Dehne - Man of the Year Jeff Dehne Nearly a winner in the past, the top vote getter for 2015 was Jeff Dehne of Walterville for his continued leadership of the annual Walterville Community Fair and for volunteering at projects and events throughout the McKenzie Valley area. Besides serving as an officer of the Walterville Grange and riding herd on the Fair’s parade, Jeff seems to have “elbow grease” to spare. “I’ve seen him working on those community signs, building trails and setting up canopies and tables,” was noted by one of his supp...
McKenzie Station hours...
Rosboro bridge The McKenzie River Trust (MRT) has purchased 154 acres of riverfront land along the McKenzie River near the town of Blue River in a closed-bid auction. The property includes approximately two miles of riverfront, numerous side channels, ponds, wetlands, and an old floodplain forest in the scenic McKenzie River corridor. “We are grateful to the folks at Rosboro for working with us on this legacy project,” said Joe Moll, Executive Director of the McKenzie River Trust. “When you think of the McKenzie River, you imagine clean blue...
Pies MCKENZIE BRIDGE: Once again, there will be no reason for anyone to eat alone this December 25th. At the annual Christmas Day Dinner, they can sit down with up to 250 of their neighbors who will have a holiday meal sponsored by the Blue McKenzie Lions Club. The event originated over two decades ago when Peg and Dean Osterbuhr realized there were some people who either had lost family members or were new to the area. Because of that, they often ate alone. The solution was a free community meal that has been held at different locations...
Skiing SANTIAM PASS: The Hoodoo Ski Area is making preparations to open for the season on December 18th, just in time to kickoff winter break. On Monday Hoodoo had from 35 to 40 inches at the base and was expecting more snow fall this week. According to the resort’s vice president of marketing, Leif Williams, “Snow cats are working to compact the snow to create the best conditions possible.” Since opening in 1938, Hoodoo has evolved into a full-service ski area with more than 800 skiable acres, 30 alpine trails, 15.8 km of Nordic trails, three...
Landslides The National Weather Service has issued a flood watch for most of northwest Oregon and southwest Washington for tonight through Wednesday afternoon. The watch includes the greater Portland metro area, north and central Oregon coast, the central Willamette Valley, the central Columbia River Gorge, the north and central Coast Range, and the northern Oregon Cascades and Cascade foothills. "Intense rainfall is a common landslide trigger," says Bill Burns, engineering geologist at the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries...
Spring Creek...
Bridge crew The U.S. Forest Service is gearing up for another round of temporary hiring. The agency is accepting applications for over 1,000 temporary spring and summer jobs in Oregon and Washington. 89 of the temporary jobs include positions in McKenzie Bridge, Oakridge, Sweet Home and Detroit. Openings are available in multiple fields, including fire, recreation, natural resources, timber, engineering, visitor services, and archaeology. “Seasonal employment with the Forest Service is a great way to give back to communities, learn new s...
