Make the McKenzie Connection!
Make the McKenzie Connection!
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River cleanup The McKenzie River Guides Association, McKenzie Watershed Council, and the McKenzie Flyfishers are looking for volunteers to join them for a fun-filled annual family event - the McKenzie River Cleanup. People who stay after the cleanup can enjoy food, prizes, and more. To register for boat routes, land based cleanup, or additional questions, contact Larry Six or Amanda Wilson at 458-201-8150. Litterbags and gloves are available at the Watershed Council office at 442 A Street in Springfield. The Cleanup is scheduled from 9 a.m....
Cafe porch VIDA: Work to repair the fire damaged Vida Cafe was expected to begin this week, after long awaited building permits have been finalized. A big part of the delay, according to cafe owner Sue Nelson, was Lane County’s concerns with prior violations dating back more than 30 years - things Nelson says she and more than one previous owners never knew existed. Starting with removal of asbestos flooring, McKenzie Taylor Construction will be doing more than a simple rebuild. Part of the approval process called for a reconfiguration of the b...
Oregon's Bounty" src="http://mckenzieriverreflectionsnewspaper.com/sites/default/files/Oregon%27s%20Bounty.png" style="width: 180px; height: 80px; margin: 5px; float: left;" Strawberries, squash, asparagus, and salad greens — not to mention a vast array of bedding plants, flowering baskets, and fresh-cut flowers — are just a few favorites of the agricultural bounty of spring. But if people want to buy directly from the source, where do you go? “Everyone knows where their local farmers market is. But what about farm stands, u-pick f...
Dump MCKENZIE BRIDGE: A $1.5 million shortage between operating costs and revenue generated is facing Lane County’s Waste Management Division. County dumps receive no property tax funding to operate. The Board of County Commissioners is tentatively scheduled to receive a presentation regarding a consultant’s report in August and begin public discussion of the options. “We chose August in order to allow ample time for public feedback in July,” according to Devon Ashbridge, Lane County’s Public Information Officer. “The timeline also allows for...
BLM map By Eric Tegethoff Oregon News Service Conservation groups filed a protest yesterday against the Bureau of Land Management’s latest proposal to change forest management in western Oregon. The BLM’s revision eliminates some protections against logging near streams, and could put the state out of step with the Northwest Forest Plan, the 100-year plan coordinated with Washington state and California. Susan Brown is an attorney with the Western Environmental Law Center, which filed the protest on behalf of 22 conservation groups. “Our concer...
Charter school bus FINN ROCK: A “horrendous $459,000 budget deficit” and the loss of 6.91 positions is the harsh image officials see when they look toward the future, people learned at the April meeting of the McKenzie School Board. An alternate opportunity, based on the possible creation of a public charter school, was also up for review. A sixteen member charter school steering committee is currently exploring what impacts the changeover might bring about. Some of their talking points range from maintaining current offerings to reviving dorma...
LifeFlight BLUE RIVER: Police and medical teams responded to the report of a male down with blood all over his face near the Blue River Reservoir last Wednesday. According to Oregon State Police reports, Thomas Burkhard, 55, of Blue River was found unconscious on spur road about 1/4 mile up the Blue River Reservoir Road from Hwy. 126. Personnel from the Upper McKenzie Fire District, a Life Flight helicopter and two state troopers all responded to the scene around 2:30 p.m. Police reported that when they arrived on the scene the patient was...
Clarification of Voters' Pamphlet Measure 20-239 Explanatory Statement Press Release By Leigh Rieder The steering committee of Support Lane County 4-H and Extension (SLC4HE) notes the voters' pamphlets for the May 17 Primary Election contain potentially confusing language in the Explanatory Statement for Measure 20-239. The statement shows a dollar sign ($) before “1.5 cents,” which may be incorrectly read as one dollar and 50 cents. To clarify, the SLC4HE wishes to confirm that the measure, if approved, would establish a 5-year property tax...
Want to vote? The voter registration deadline for the May 17, 2016 Primary Election is Tuesday, April 26, 2016. This is also the deadline to change your party affiliation. People who are not registered to vote in any Oregon county may register online at oregonvotes.gov no later than 11:59 p.m., Tuesday, April 26. The online option is available only to those with a valid Oregon driver’s license, DMV-issued identification card or learner’s permit. Other registration options: · Submit a voter registration form to the Elections Office by...
April 21 Charter School At 5:30 p.m. on April 21st, Kate Pattison from the Oregon Dept. of Education will be a featured speaker at a community meeting about a possible public charter school at McKenzie Schools. The meeting will be held in the district office at 51187 Blue River Drive in Finn Rock. April 21 McKenzie Action Team The McKenzie Action Team will host a community outreach meeting at the Walterville Grange on April 21st. The goal of the meetings is to gain more information on community needs, assets, challenges and opportunities....
Plowing 242 MCKENZIE BRIDGE: Depending on the weather, Oregon Dept. of Transportation crews plan to finish clearing snow off Hwy. 242 this week and then clean up debris like downed trees. The first snow gate at milepost 61.8 will open by the end of the day on April 21st to allow fishing at Linton Lake for the high lakes season. Officials estimate the second gate at milepost 66 will remain closed until June 20th. Clearing is beginning on the west side as well. In the interim, some people will be able to use the route. “ODOT reminds bicyclists a...
Desserts WALTERVILLE: The McKenzie River Guides Association will host their annual Boat Safety Rodeo and Dutch Oven Cook-off this Saturday, April 16th, at the Hendricks Bridge Wayside Park. Outdoor cooking that is part of the lore of professional guiding will be demonstrated when members of the Guides match their skills. Meals coming out of Dutch ovens can range from ribs to enchiladas. In addition to boat inspections by the Oregon State Police, the Emerald Chapter of the Northwest Steelheaders will be holding a swap meet/garage sale with used...
Krystal Kruse By Ada Weeks One of Vida’s best-kept secrets is a sparkly young lady, Krystal Kruse, who attended her first rodeo at the tender age of six. While at the Eugene Pro Rodeo, Krystal was smitten, and knew that horses would be a big part of her life from then on. When Krystal met that event’s Rodeo Queen, who was signing photos and autographs, she treated her kindly and made her feel welcome and at home in the rodeo and horse world. Krystal knew then she would love to also, one day, be a Rodeo Queen. Dreams really can come true. Som...
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...
