Make the McKenzie Connection!
Make the McKenzie Connection!
Sorted by date Results 426 - 450 of 1812
TAMOLITCH FALLS: A request for help over the Independence Day weekend drew a multi-agency response to the Blue Pool on the upper McKenzie River. The 911 call on July 2nd reported a subject who jumped off the main rock into the water had broken his legs. The subject was out of the water, on the shore. The U.S. Coast Guard Air Station in North Bend responded. Officials said ground crews worked tirelessly to get the injured individual to a suitable hoisting location, where the aircrew performed a...
Downriver residents say they came close to having another big fire last Wednesday when it appeared someone tossed fireworks from their car near Milepost 4 of Deerhorn Road and started a brush fire. Fortunately, it was noticed by a passerby who alerted neighbors that included a volunteer officer of the department who was able to call it in. Luckily people living there had basic equipment and were able to attack the fire was a 20’ x 20’ fire until McKenzie Fire & Rescue arrived. 8 trucks and 18...
Oregon’s attorney general plans to join nine attorneys general in suing the federal Environmental Protection Agency for failing to ensure newly manufactured wood-burning stoves and fireplaces don’t contaminate the air and harm public health. Ellen Rosenblum and the attorneys general from Alaska, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Vermont, and Washington notified the agency on June 29 of their intent to sue, giving it 60 days' notice to take action or neg...
A federal judge has tossed a lawsuit intended to end mail voting and electronic voting tabulation in Oregon, saying “generalized grievances” about the state’s elections aren’t enough to give a group of unsuccessful Republican candidates and other election deniers standing to sue. U.S. Magistrate Judge Stacie F. Beckerman dismissed the suit late last month. Plaintiffs, led by former school superintendent and 2022 Republican gubernatorial candidate Marc Thielman, are appealing her ruling. “Plaint...
MCKENZIE BRIDGE: On July 5th, a lightning-caused fire was reported in the Three Sisters Wilderness near Mink Lake Basin north of Park Trail #3530. Named the Moonlight Fire it involved approximately 2 acres. Initially, 10 smokejumpers were on the scene working to suppress the creeping and smoldering fire. A medium-sized type 2 helicopter was sent in later that day, working out of the McKenzie Bridge Airport. On July 7th the McKenzie Fire 20-person hand crew, as well as 4 additional Helitack...
RAINBOW: Animated patriotic icons - ranging from the Statue of Liberty to the American flag - were joined by Tokatee’s own logo in brightening the night sky last Saturday. The images were part of a 13-minute light show that drew plenty of shouts and applause when it capped off the golf club’s 57th July Celebration. Throughout last Saturday the steady flow of events included a 4-man scramble golf tournament, food trucks, live music, and an outdoor beer garden. As twilight drew closer, even mor...
Due to concerns about protecting wild Chinook salmon that are holding in the McKenzie River near Leaburg Dam and meeting broodstock needs for hatchery production, a portion of the McKenzie River will close to salmon angling effective July 15th. The closure will be in effect from July 15th through December 31st in the mainstem McKenzie River from Leaburg Dam downstream approximately one mile - to the mouth of Trout Creek. Oregon Dept. of Fish and Wildlife officials say angling is impacting a...
On July 5, a lighting-caused fire was reported in the Three Sisters Wilderness near Mink Lake Basin north of Park Trail #3530. The fire is named the Moonlight Fire and is approximately 2 acres. The fire behavior is characterized by creeping and smoldering. Currently, 10 smokejumpers are on the scene working to suppress the fire. A medium-sized type 2 helicopter will arrive later today and will be working out of McKenzie Bridge. Tomorrow, McKenzie River’s 20-person hand crew will arrive in a...
Six projects to improve communities in Oregon have received grants from AARP. The organization has announced the recipients of its annual Community Challenge program. Oregon’s grant projects total more than $65,000. Stacey Triplett, engagement director for AARP Oregon, said this quick-turnaround program fills a gap for many communities. “Funding that’s local, that’s meant to be flexible, that comes right out within weeks of when it’s been requested is hard to come by,” Triplett pointed out...
Both the Willamette National Forest and local Oregon Dept. of Forestry lands have changed their Fire Danger warnings from ‘moderate’ to ‘high’. On July 4th, the ODF change impacted approximately 1.9 million acres of state, private, county and Bureau of Land Management lands in Lane, Linn and portions of Douglas County. The National Forest moved from an Industrial Fire Precaution Level I to IFPL II on July 5th. Officials cautioned that any spark could have the potential to start a wildfire. Dry c...
On and around Labor Day 2020, wildfires burned over one million acres of forestland in Oregon, including over 370,000 acres of privately owned land. Now, funding and support are available to help small forest landowners in western Oregon impacted by the 2020 Labor Day wildfires recover and replant, while also reducing the risk of future wildfires. “This is a chance for small forest landowners to get the support they need to recover from the devastating 2020 Labor Day fires in western Oregon by replanting native trees and helping make their l...
BLUE RIVER: People at a gathering last weekend had a chance to learn more about how vehicles, bikes, and pedestrians might better navigate their way through Blue River in the future. During a review of three options impacting two sections of the town’s main street, they were also advised Lane County had modified its code language “to recognize the existing right of way widths within the downtown area,” according to Becky Taylor, the county’s senior transportation planner. Details on possibl...
Starting today, the Willamette National Forest will be changing the Fire Danger from ‘moderate’ to ‘high’. Due to the lack of recent moisture and temperatures increasing next week, the Willamette National Forest will be moving from an IFPL I to IFPL II as of Wednesday, July 5. Industrial Fire Precaution Level (IFPL) II – The following may operate only between the hours of 8 p.m. and 1 p.m.: * Power saws except at loading sites * Feller-bunchers with rotary head saws * Cable yarding * Blasting...
BLUE RIVER: The Eugene-based Homes for Good housing agency has broken ground to completely rebuild the Lazy Days Mobile Home and RV Park and it's infrastructure “in a resilient and environmentally responsible manner. The park will provide community open space and amenities and manufactured, or modular housing options will be provided on the site.” In December of 2021, Homes for Good purchased an 8-acre portion of the Lazy Days site, located on the north side of the 52000 block of McKenzie Hwy. P...
BLUE RIVER: In a Facebook posting on Monday, a relative reported that “We, as Shane Sprenger’s family, can finally let you know that some bones were found a while ago and identified through DNA as Shane’s. W will not comment any further as it’s an ongoing active investigation. Thank you all.” The 47-year-old Blue River man’s abandoned silver 2009 GMC Sierra was found near U.S. Forest Service Rd. 15 east of Blue River Reservoir on November 4th of 2021. Cellphone pings seemed to show Sprenger had...
LEABURG: A road construction project designed to improve Hwy. 126 had the opposite impact on motorists when work began last week in Leaburg. The problem centered on long delays that some motorists reported had them parked in place for as long as an hour and 45 minutes. “We are working with the contractor to figure out what caused the delays and how to avoid them,” according to David House, the Oregon Dept. of Transportation’s Region 2 communications officer. “We have no way to count vehicles in a traffic backup, but we know the issue was wit...
About 25 people spent over four days last week in a labor of love at the Fish Lake Historic Site, also known as the Fish Lake Remount Depot. Close to double that number showed up on Tuesday, the day of the Friends of Fish Lake general membership meeting. The depot site, located along the Santiam Trail in the heart of the Oregon High Cascades, 1930s. The Fish Lake Remount Depot was first used by the US Forest Service as a Ranger outpost in 1905. Since the mid-1800s thousands of travelers...
An engineer for a construction contractor who is also a volunteer for McKenzie Fire and Rescue is donating six speed feedback signs for three 45 mph zones on OR 126 east of Eugene. Joel Zeni of Suulutaaq, a contractor on several ODOT projects, hopes to reduce the chances of speed-related crashes on OR 126 in Leaburg, Vida, and McKenzie Bridge. Each speed zone will have signs for both eastbound and westbound traffic. “When I was in elementary school, one of my classmate’s sister was killed whi...
The Oregon House and Senate will return Saturday and possibly Sunday for the last gasps of a 160-day marathon that reached its quickest pace this week. Sunday at 11:59 p.m. is the constitutional deadline for the Legislature to adjourn sine die and end its work for the year, though lawmakers could opt to extend that deadline by five days with a two-thirds vote. Legislators, however, are eager to head home. But before they can call it a year, lawmakers plan to act on dozens more bills, including h...
The Community Log Program, organized by the McKenzie River Locals Helping Locals financial impact the program has had a big impact. To date, it has donated $110,107.84 to local non-profit organizations. Over the last two years, those numbers include a total of $15,018.70 was donated to the Vida-McKenzie Community Center; $45,045.12 was granted to the O'Brien Memorial Library; and Locals Helping Locals received a total of $50,044.02. Those amounts are an obviously huge benefit to these three...
COUGAR DAM: Travelers visiting the McKenzie River area may need to plan alternate travel routes to the area’s trails and campgrounds this summer. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has closed the portion of Road NF-1993 that runs along the crest of Cougar Dam to traffic in both directions. The closure extends from June 5th to September 28th. It will reopen on September 29th. Officials say the closure is needed to allow for construction work at the dam. Because of the change in access, v...
Blue River Fire Station The $250,000 grant the Lane County Board of Commissioners approved at their May 23rd meeting is part of the funds helping make a new firehouse for the Upper McKenzie Rural Fire Protection District a reality. After more than three years of effort, concrete for the foundation was poured last week. The lot, at 51742 Dexter Street lot was purchased for the new station in September of 2021 In January a construction contract was awarded to the low bidder, Bridgeway Construction...
Oregon Senate leaders on Thursday reached a deal that brought a handful of Republicans back to the floor, ending the longest walkout in state history and clearing the way for the Legislature to pass a budget and start working through hundreds of backlogged bills. The deal reached Thursday included watering down Democratic measures intended to guarantee abortion access and prevent gun violence, as well as considering a Republican proposal that would allow the Legislature to impeach statewide...
BLUE RIVER: People will have a chance to match ideas with engineered outcomes during a community meeting on Saturday, June 24th. The session, organized by Lane County Public Works has been scheduled to discuss possible changes to the ways traffic navigates its way along Blue River Drive. Up for review are three different designs for two different sections of the roadway. One covers the “downtown” area - from the eastern junction with Hwy. 126 to the Blue River Bridge. The other area covers the...
After a long winter, crews have cleared McKenzie Pass, and the gates will open for all travelers on Monday, June 19th. The Old McKenzie Highway, also known as OR 242, closed for the winter season on November 1st last year. Drivers on this winding road need to be on the lookout for cyclists and pedestrians, as this is a popular scenic route for many types of travelers. Vehicles longer than 35 feet are prohibited from using the highway due to its sharp, narrow curves. Private funding built the...
