Make the McKenzie Connection!
Make the McKenzie Connection!
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UPDATE ON STATE HIGHWAYS IN LANE, LINN, BENTON, LINCOLN AND POLK COUNTIES Snow plows The Monday morning commute in Lane, Linn and Benton counties promises to be less adventurous than Friday morning's but it will still demand reduced speed and cautious driving despite the 24 hour plowing and sanding schedule of the Oregon Department of Transportation. While Interstate 5 has been restored to bare pavement, patches of ice and snow pack will be encountered by motorists traveling all secondary highway Monday morning, including OR 34, US 20, OR 126,...
Special Weather Statement for Cascades In Lane County Nat'l Weather Service" src="http://mckenzieriverreflectionsnewspaper.com/sites/default/files/Nat%27l%20Weather%20Service.png" style="width: 400px; height: 37px; margin: 5px; float: left;" Issued by The National Weather Service, Portland OR: ... INCREASING THREAT OF SNOW THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY... A WEAK LOW PRESSURE AREA WILL DROP SOUTHWARD ALONG THE OREGON COAST THURSDAY NIGHT... THEN SWING INLAND ACROSS SOUTHWEST OREGON EARLY FRIDAY. WITH THE COLD AIR MASS IN PLACE... ANY PRECIPITATION W...
“How’s the NewsArk going?” is a question often asked when we’re out and about and encounter readers. As I write this (Tuesday morning, 12/3/13) the Indiegogo online crowdfunding site has generated $3,915 - with four days left in the campaign. During that process we’ve heard some interesting comments. Some people are afraid of using credit cards online or logging into PayPal. Instead they’ve sent a couple hundred dollars in cash and checks. Others have suggested starting a non-profit publishing venture so contributions would be tax deductible....
Family with tree LEABURG: The Spring Creek Holly Farm will continue it’s Give Back to Schools program for the 2013 holiday season. The idea originated in 2010 when the farm partnered with area residents to raise money for local schools. Through the program, 50 percent of the retail price of each tree sold is donated to a school a purchaser designates. In its first year the Give Back To Schools program raised $2,500 for 38 schools. Last year that number increased to over $6,300, while 48 local schools benefiting. The top five school r...
BLUE RIVER: There are some new faces and familiar people in new roles at the McKenzie River Medical Clinic in Blue River. Long-time medical office assistant Amy Otoupalik retired recently, and Debbie Lemonds, also an MOA, left because her husband transferred to a job in the Florence area. Leah Oliver New employee Leah Oliver is working as the Clinic’s medical office assistant four days a week. Leah, a graduate of Springfield High School, is no stranger to the McKenzie River Valley. She continued her education in Pioneer Pacific College’s med...
Ode To A Weekly Editor I go to work on Monday morn, not rightly sure why I’ve been born. To be an editor endowed with skills to serve the reading crowd. I could have been an engineer, an astronaut devoid of fear, or been a doc, a scalpel whiz, to take me where the money is. Instead I opted to become a writer; destined to succumb to all the woes a weekly brings - like deadlines, debts and other things, like names misspelled, a jumbled quote, a guy incensed because I wrote a piece which went against his grain (is that what caused my stomach p...
Springfield/McKenzie Arch THURSTON: People interested in the progress of the Springfield/McKenzie Arch project will have a chance to take a closer look on Sunday, December 1st. On that day, a scale model of what the full size structure could look like will be on display from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. in front of the Albertson’s supermarket at 57th & Main Street in Thurston. Now that the scale model has been constructed, Arch organizers say they will begin to raise funds for a feasibility study to help determine where it could be built and at what c...
Collier glacier The Northwest is facing increased risks from the decline of forest health, earlier snowmelt leading to low summer stream flows, and an array of issues facing the coastal region, according to a new climate assessment report. OSU’s Philip Mote, director of the Climate Change Research Institute (OCCRI) at Oregon State University and one of three editors of a 270-page report (as well as the 1999 report), said the document incorporates a lot of new science as well as some additional dimensions – including the impact of c...
Blood Drive The McKenzie Valley Community Blood Drive will be held on Thursday, November 7th, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at McKenzie Fire & Rescue’s Training Center, 42870 McKenzie Highway in Leaburg. Do You Bleed Green or Orange? From November 1st through 24th people can help save lives and help their team win the Civil War Blood Drive Trophy! Be a part of the 12th Annual Civil War Blood Drive by registering to donate at any blood drive statewide. At the time of donation donors will fill out a ballot voting for the Ducks or Beavers. Every ballot w...
Animal carcass Animal remains stuffed in buckets, dumped in coolers, wrapped in tarps, and placed inside garbage bags have been showing up in ditches along Lane County roads. According to officials with the county’s Nuisance Abatement Program, the carcasses and dumpsites are becoming a public health and environmental hazard. The county’s is requesting help from residents to catch individuals illegally dumping animal carcasses and identifying illegal carcass dumpsites. Patrols have been increased and surveillance cameras deployed to ide...
Burnt motorhome Last Saturday started out with a frantic wake up call for Vern Langan, owner of the Blue River Service Center. At 5:30 on October 5th the Assistant Chief of the Upper McKenzie Fire District picked up his phone to learn there was a fire at his business. Thanks to his quick response, and the concrete walls of his building, a tragedy was averted. The source of the blaze was a motorhome that had been parked only a few feet away from the shop. Langan believes a burst transmission line was the hot spot that caused the vehicle to...
Stagnant weather conditions causing pollution levels to rise Stagnant weather, along with colder nights and calm winds, has caused air pollution levels to rise in the southern Willamette Valley and in Oakridge. Levels of fine particulate, a major component of wood smoke, have been in the moderate range in the Eugene/Springfield metro area for the last week. A strong high pressure system is creating an air inversion with cold temperatures at ground level and warmer temperatures aloft. Calm winds and lack of weather systems coming through is...
Unicycles MCKENZIE BRIDGE: When does riding a bicycle across the U.S. sound like kicking back? After you’ve done it on one wheel. That’s the opinion of 41-year-old Dustin Kelm after traveling uphill and downhill over 3,347 miles in 92 days. He and his wife, Katie, were having breakfast Thursday morning at Belknap Hot Springs after riding over the Old McKenzie Pass the day before. The route, that even some motorists find challenging, was a delight for the couple – despite that downhill thing. (Unicyclists can’t freewheel and never take...
Gypsy moth trap The Oregon Dept. of Agriculture’s insect management traps, like this one hanging from a tree branch at the Leaburg Boat Landing this summer, have been closely monitored. The Oregon Dept. of Agriculture reports it has been another relatively quiet year for gypsy moth detections, but the discovery of two moths in a single trap near Grants Pass has caught their attention. While the discovery is a far cry from the mid-1980s when more than 19,000 of the plant-eating pests were trapped in Lane County alone, it’s a reminder that gypsy...
BLM meeting LEABURG: Area residents had a chance to hear about the Bureau of Land Management’s plans for logging near Vida at a public meeting last Thursday. Agency staffers with backgrounds ranging from fish biologists to silviculurists explained some of the reasoning for tree removal on up to 2,000 acres on both sides of the McKenzie River. How that might impact the local community was a concern for many of the people in the room. Some questioned impacts of logging traffic in places like Goodpasture Road or how hillsides areas might look t...
Sahalie Falls Usually, when a major wildfire destroys a large forested area in a seasonal zone, snow tends to accumulate at a greater level in the burned area than in adjacent forests. But a new study found that the snowpack melts much quicker in charred areas, potentially changing the seasonal runoff pattern of rivers and streams. The study by Oregon State University researchers, which was funded by the National Science Foundation, documented a 40 percent reduction of albedo – or reflectivity – of snow in the burned forest during...
Reduced blue-green algae levels confirmed Walterville Pond The Oregon Health Authority has lifted a health advisory issued Sept. 13 for Walterville Pond, located off Oregon Hwy. 126, a half-mile northeast of Walterville. High levels of blue-green algae found in the pond prompted the advisory. Water monitoring has confirmed reduced levels of blue-green algae and their toxins. These reduced levels are not likely to be harmful to humans and animals. Oregon health officials advise people who use Oregon water bodies for recreation to always be...
Walterville Market WALTERVILLE: “This was an 11th hour save for our store,” according to Jerry Swartz, commenting on new ownership for the 13,000 square foot grocery in the Walterville Shopping Center. Only a month ago, the Brookings based C&K Market chain had announced plans to lock the doors to the store on September 8th, saying it wasn’t profitable. That deadline has passed without a shutdown, thanks to brothers Don and Lai Sidhu, who arranged to take over on September 23rd. The two have classic entrepreneurial backgrounds. Lai start...
LRAPA logo Tomorrow, October 1st, marks the first day of the open/backyard burning season for most residents in Lane County. “Generally, most residents who live outside the urban growth boundaries of Eugene and Springfield are allowed to burn under LRAPA rules,” said Sally Markos, of the Lane Regional Air Pollution Authority. “However, some cities, including Oakridge, have enacted ordinances that further restrict burning.” LRAPA also recommends residents call their local fire departments for information regarding restrictions on burning...
EWEB meeting LEABURG: Eugene Water & Electric Board chairman John Simpson made the case last Tuesday for why the utility was considering shedding some 3,000 of its McKenzie area customers. ”It’s not about making money. It’s about creating better internal savings over the long term,” he said. Simpson also stressed improved storm response times for the majority of EWEB’s customers if the utility didn’t have to send three crews for 14 customers upriver at the same 7,000 people were without power in the metro area. At issue was a proposed te...
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Refuge Ride unicyclists coming to McKenzie River Unicycle While performing in Switzerland last year Dustin Kelm met a 10-year-old boy who had just come from Syria. He was told the boy had recently lost both his parents because of the unrest. The moment was seared in Dustin's memory and he began thinking about how he could bring hope and help to the people of Syria affected by the civil war. After discussions with his wife, Katie, the Refuge Ride was born. On June 21st Dustin and Katie began riding 36 inch "big wheel" unicycles coast-to-coast...
Rattlesnake Snakes are among the most misunderstood of animals. Myths abound: Most snakes are poisonous, snakes can jump two feet, snakes will not cross a rope, snakes only strike when coiled and snakes travel in pairs. All of these myths are untrue as are many of the others that circulate, but in the absence of information, people often believe them. In this fact sheet, we provide facts about Oregon’s native snakes that dispel myths and promote a better understanding of these wonderful, ecologically important animals. In general, snakes are r...
Vida logging map LEABURG: The Bureau of Land Management will host a meeting on Thursday to review possible logging near Vida. Up for discussion will be up to 2,060 acres in the McKenzie Landscape Project area. According to BLM staffers, in 1994 the Northwest Forest Plan established adaptive management areas (AMAs) to test new methods of achieving resource and conservation goals. The Central Cascades AMA Management Plan calls for “well-distributed late successional habitat outside reserves, retention of key structural elements in regeneration ha...
EWEB commissioners will discuss possible McKenzie “territory transfer” Leaburg dam construction Eugene Water & Electric Board commissioners will hold a regular board meeting beginning at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 17th, at McKenzie Fire & Rescue’s Training Center in Leaburg. Heading up the agenda will be a report on a possible service territory transfer of EWEB’s McKenzie River Valley territory to the Lane Electric Cooperative. Representatives of the Eugene-based public utilities have held preliminary discussions about the possible transfe...
