Make the McKenzie Connection!
Make the McKenzie Connection!
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Efforts to change Oregon’s voting system are on the move in the state Legislature and among citizen groups trying to write laws at the ballot box. The House last week voted mostly along party lines to approve House Bill 2004, Speaker Dan Rayfield’s proposal to establish ranked-choice voting in statewide elections beginning in 2028. The bill’s prospects in the Senate are unclear as Republicans continue a walkout that prevents the Senate from voting on any bills, but citizen groups have also...
"Hall, Laramie, Bridger, and Boise" are more than names to students at Walterville Elementary who had a chance to show what they learned this year during their "Oregon Trail" presentation last Tuesday. The fourth graders in Sheila Garrelts' class brought to life some of the pioneer activities that went on inside frontier forts associated with those names. Class members had all worked hard creating wagon models filled with supplies that reflected historical accuracy. Each student also created...
LEABURG: "My front door would be about five feet from the highway you folks want to put in," was the way Dane Palmer explained his opposition to the Eugene Water & Electric Board's proposal to use the street he lives on. He wasn't the only Leashore Drive resident to tell the utility they were also opposed to plans to remove a bridge and widen their roadway to access properties on Leaburg Dam Road. During EWEB's May 16th upriver meeting, others like Tammy Felton, also told the utility's...
On Saturday, June 3, as part of Wear Orange Weekend and National Gun Violence Awareness Day, volunteers with the Oregon chapter of Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, in partnership with the Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund, will host a Wear Orange event to honor the lives of those affected by gun violence and elevate gun violence prevention efforts nationwide. This Eugene/Springfield community event will include a special tribute to the victims and survivors of the Thurston High School shooting, which happened 25 years ago and...
The ecological benefits of forests along a river’s edge benefit fish and wildlife habitats. They also help improve water quality by shading the stream, filtering out excess sediments and nutrients, as well as eventually contributing large wood to build instream habitat complexity in the river. Shade is important because solar radiation can warm the water too much for native cold-water fish such as salmon, trout, and lamprey during critical times in their life cycles. Thanks to a new program p...
A 17-year-old female was transported to an area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries on May 22nd following an accident at 7:10 p.m. The single-occupant wreck involved a 2005 Ford F250 pickup and occurred at Milepost 1 of Camp Creek Road. Investigators report the truck was traveling westbound when it failed to negotiate a curve. It crossed over the oncoming eastbound lane and struck a concrete barrier. The truck then flipped and came to rest on its roof in the eastbound lane. The day...
Nearly 25 years after, mentions of the Thurston High School shooting bring back painful memories for local residents. For most it was hard to comprehend a mass shooting could happen here, much less in a school. Since then, and Columbine a year later, fatal shootings have become more frequent, while debates on making schools safer, gun control, and sentencing juvenile offenders remain unresolved. Articles from the May 26, 1998 edition of McKenzie River Reflections Thurston High remembers its own By Leah Carlson Two days after a tragic shooting...
The Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS) announced this week the approval of 34 new homeownership development projects that will lead to the creation of 337 new affordable homes. The goal is to increase homeownership opportunities of low- to moderate-income people and families in rural and urban communities over the next three years. In Blue River, a wildfire recovery area, Local Innovation and Fast Track (LIFT) funds will support a new community land trust (CLT) created by a group of residents with a mission to build affordable housing...
A wet winter is likely to delay wildfires, but ongoing drought in eastern Oregon could make for a worse fire season east of the Cascades, Gov. Tina Kotek and state fire officials said Tuesday. Kotek’s press briefing came just ahead of a forecasted heat wave bringing temperatures in the 90s to the Willamette Valley later this week. “Even this week, we are seeing how quickly the weather can turn hot and dry,” she said. “Oregonians should prepare for fire season. Prepare your yard, have an evacuat...
The Willamette National Forest is beginning prescribed burning across approximately 600 acres in the next few weeks, depending on how weather and fuels conditions develop. Officials say fire managers will be closely monitoring temperature, humidity, and winds to ensure specific conditions are met, and prescribed burns will only be implemented if all parameters are in accordance with the developed burn plans. They’ll also be working with State Smoke Management Forecasters to ensure favorable smoke management conditions, and to limit smoke i...
Finding a young wild animal alone does not mean that it’s been abandoned or orphaned, so leave them where you find them. The advice you are likely to hear if you pick up or bring young wildlife home is “put it back,” and you might get a warning or citation from Oregon State Police, too. Removing an animal from the wild is illegal under Oregon wildlife laws. (ORS 497.308 – No person shall remove from its natural habitat or acquire and hold in captivity any live wildlife in violation of the wildli...
A new survey found older Oregonians are concerned about the cost of living in many aspects of their lives. The Vital Voices research program from AARP dove into issues affecting Oregonians age 45 and older. Bandana Shrestha, state director for AARP Oregon, said the cost of health care and housing top the list of topics on people's minds. "One big takeaway from the survey is that Oregonians are really feeling affordability and the economic pressures in all aspects of their lives," Shrestha...
Everyone at the Oregon Capitol knew how an April committee vote on legislative Democrats’ sweeping measure to expand access to abortion and gender-affirming care would go. Democrats who hold the majority in the Legislature believe voters gave them a mandate to pass House Bill 2002, which would protect medical providers from prosecution for providing reproductive health care or gender-affirming care. Republicans adamantly opposed it, focusing most of their ire on provisions in the bill a...
The annual report and election of officers for McKenzie Valley Wellness (MVW) were on the agenda but blueprints took center stage at the non-profit’s meeting last Tuesday. “Our five-year vision is the McKenzie Valley region is sustainably renewed and rebuilt as a lively, robust destination community - not just as a place to visit, but as a place to live,” was the way MVW president Val Rapp described the group’s goals. “Job one for McKenzie Valley Wellness is to rebuild the medical clinic. O...
Traffic came to a halt Friday when equipment on a semi-trailer snagged utility lines. According to Oregon State Police reports, Glen Yadon, 59, told investigators he was entering Hwy.126 from a driveway in the 49600 block around 11:16 a.m. when the rear of his trailer hit the low-hanging wires. Yadon came to an immediate stop and Charter/Spectrum utility crews were called to the scene to move the pole and wires to the right shoulder. The Peterbilt truck and its load were not damaged and were...
LEABURG: Next week, the Eugene Water & Electric Board Commissioners plan to provide an overview of what is likely to occur as plans move forward to permanently discontinuing generating electricity at the Leaburg Hydroelectric Project. Issues sure to be aired at their May 16th upriver meeting include when work to remove Leaburg Dam could get underway and if the utility’s federal license to operate the project will also require removing the Walterville project. At the board’s May 2nd meeting, gen...
The Willamette National Forest will receive a total of $14,700,000 to implement fuel breaks on boundaries of potential operational delineations (PODs) as part of the Wildfire Crisis Strategy implementation. Officials say the Forest was chosen based on opportunities to work with industry partners to accelerate vegetation management projects that integrate fuels reduction objectives and commercial treatments. In a POD, roads or natural features can be used as control lines in a wildfire. Funds...
A power transmission grid can be destabilized by hackers who manipulate smart meters to create an oscillation in electricity demand, researchers at the Oregon State University College of Engineering have shown. The study is important because understanding where a grid’s vulnerabilities lie and what they look like is the first step in designing protection mechanisms, says associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science Eduardo Cotilla-Sanchez, who led the project with g...
EUGENE: Lane Community College (LCC) will host its annual Job Fair, taking place on Thursday, May 18th, from 1 to 5 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. Organizers say the Job Fair aims to connect employers with job seekers from both the college and the community. Gold Sponsors for this year’s event include Eugene Area Radio Stations, Grape Solar, PacificSource, and Willamette Family, Inc. Silver Sponsors are Lane Council of Governments, SERVPRO, and SunWize. Tina Hunter, S...
FINN ROCK: The seats of three incumbent McKenzie school board members are being contested and one open position has attracted two candidates for the May 16th Special District Election. Candidates for the McKenzie School Board are: Position 1 - Danna Brownell and Taya Brock, Position 2 - Kail Hardback and Sarah Mackenzie, Postion 3 - Max Metcalfe and Alyssa Brownlee, Position 5 - Jason Wickizer and Justin Barker. Last Friday voters had a chance to hear from four of the eight candidates at a...
EUGENE: Last week, Blue River Drive joined the ranks of Territorial Highway, East 30th Avenue, and Gilham Road. How? A unanimous vote by the Lane County Board of Commissioners put a stamp of approval on the creation of a “Design Concept” that will allow downtown rebuilding plans to mirror the way the town’s streets were configured for over 100 years. At their April 25th meeting, commissioners were updated on ways that could help people rebuild homes and businesses that had been delayed by restr...
It’s likely to be hot again this summer in Oregon, and that trend is likely to continue. An Oregon State University study on climate change released earlier this year estimates that temperatures will rise 5 degrees Fahrenheit by the 2050s, with more surges ahead. ”Heatwaves are becoming more frequent,” said Erica Fleishman, director of OSU’s Oregon Climate Change Research Institute, which produced the report. “They’re becoming longer and more intense in temperature.” The study does not pred...
