Make the McKenzie Connection!
Make the McKenzie Connection!
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A Leaburg man who killed his 71-year-old roommate in July has been sentenced to 15 years in jail. The Lane County Sheriff’s Office had arrested Nickolas Trevor Jessee, 37, on July 8th, after a day-long search. According to reports, deputies received a call from a neighbor shortly after 10 p.m, on Friday, July 8th. The witness reported seeing a dispute involving two males at a residence in the 44000 block of the McKenzie Highway. When police arrived on the scene they found Gary Stuart Coulter o...
BLUE RIVER: More than two dozen people had a chance in March to record their feelings on good and bad aspects of plans that will help determine how Blue River rebuilds after the 2020 Holiday Farm Fire. During a meeting in the McKenzie High School gym, maps and comment forms for Lane County’s Blue River Drive design concept project allowed people to focus on four different sections of the road. Transportation planner Becky Taylor told the group to address issues like what the best and worst o...
BLUE RIVER: The McKenzie School District opened its McKenzie Little Eagles Child Care Center last Thursday. The new offering fills the child care gap left by the devastating Holiday Farm Fire. Previously, there wasn't a licensed child care facility within the school district boundary, making it hard for families to return to work after COVID. Families returning to the McKenzie Valley as rebuilding continues have faced similar challenges. Organizers say it's hoped the center will help attract...
MCKENZIE PASS: An unexpected Spring thaw opened up a lot of territory to outdoor enthusiasts this week. Unfortunately some hikers who ventured up to a section of the Pacific Crest Trail had to be rescued. At 12:01 p.m. on Friday, a youth group from San Jose used a satellite phone to contact the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office. They reported seven members of their twelve person group were suffering from respiratory impairments and circulatory problems. Some were unable to walk. A dispatcher f...
WALTERVILLE: Rumors of a monster catfish living in the Walterville Pond have been told for generations by natives up and down the McKenzie Valley. Although most simply enjoy telling their version of the story, many claim to have actually seen it, yet some never believed it ever existed. Red Mudger of Deerhorn first told the story of the day he discovered the big fish. That was in 1912, only a year after the Eugene Water & Electric Board constructed the 70-acre storage lake. The Mudger family...
People planning on traveling up Hwy. 126 to access Sisters and parts of Eastern Oregon need to replan their route. The road is closed to allow for removal of rock from a landslide as well as filling in a massive hole that had blocked traffic east of Deer Creek over the weekend. Although times and days may vary depending on the weather, repair work is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily from April 3rd through 13th, or until rock removal is completed according to the Oregon Dept. of...
DEERHORN: A truck full of eels overturned near Deerhorn Road last Thursday, dousing a sedan with slithering sea creatures in a scene straight out of nightmares. Shortly after, five other vehicles were doused with goo that sent creatures slithering across the road near the intersection with Hwy. 126.. According to Oregon State Police reports, the fish were technically not eels, but hagfish, which have a skull but no jaw or spine. When distressed, hagfish secrete slime, earning them the nickname...
BLUE RIVER: The board of directors of the O’Brien Memorial Library reports they are poised to start rebuilding this spring, as soon as they get a building permit. As part of the process, the board plans to continue to apply for grants, accept donations, and trim expenses. “Our mission is to provide a welcoming space to residents and visitors of Blue River and the McKenzie River Valley, with books inspiring a love of reading and lifelong learning,” according to Mary Sherman. “Our library will be...
FINN ROCK: Ideas about resurrecting the town of Blue River kept people busy last Saturday during a two-hour community meeting at the old McKenzie High School gym. The discussions were focused on what might happen after people realized Lane County's right-of-way setbacks could have impacts on buildable areas along the town's main street - Blue River Drive. Originally, the county had planned to focus on an area extending from the eastern junction with Hwy. 126 to where the street crosses Blue...
When the fires die down, the mud stops sliding, the drought lets up or the rain quits pouring, land managers must decide: Can damaged land grow back on its own, or will it need some help? That help often comes in the form of seeds: millions and millions of seeds, delivered by a plane, machine, or even foot. But too often, there aren’t enough to go around, according to an expansive new report. That means that restoration is likely to be slow or not happen at all. And that can lead to soil erosion...
Oregon is on track to spend $200 million to help homeless residents move into houses, give people who have fallen behind on rent more time to pay, and create new goals for cities to build homes under a pair of measures approved Wednesday by the state House. House Bill 2001 and House Bill 5019 passed on 50-9 and 49-10 votes, respectively, with only Republicans opposed. The bills now head to the Senate, where a vote is expected early next week. If they pass, as predicted, Gov. Tina Kotek is...
BLUE RIVER: McKenzie Community Land Trust (MCLT) and DevNW were recently awarded $800,000 from the Lane County Board of Commissioners to support the development of a 6-unit affordable homeownership project. For the project, MCLT contracted with the Springfield-based non-profit, Dev-NW to act as the developer. “DevNW has a proven track record of developing high quality, affordable homes in Lane County and throughout Oregon,” according to Lane Tompkins, president of MCLT. He said the group was...
BLUE RIVER: Contractors, architects, and Upper McKenzie Rural Fire Protection District personnel all stood in the cold mud of a vacant lot on March 6th. They were there to discuss when hammers would actually start to swing in the rebuild of a fire station for Blue River. After more than three years of effort, excavation is planned to get underway within a few weeks. Plans call for the new fire station to be up and ready by November. Back in September of 2021, the 51742 Dexter Street lot was...
Local nonprofit McKenzie Valley Wellness is encouraging people to join if they haven’t already. Anyone over 18 can for only $10 a year. Everyone who is a member by April 1st will be able to vote in the upcoming election of board directors at the annual membership meeting set for 7 p.m. on Tuesday, May 2nd, at the Upper McKenzie Community Center. Existing members don’t need to do anything right now. MVW president Val Rapp says, “We had lots of new members join last summer, and they are all still...
Oregon State University research into the ability of a wildfire to improve the health of a forest uncovered a Goldilocks effect – unless a blaze falls in a narrow severity range, neither too hot nor too cold, it isn’t very good at helping forest landscapes return to their historical, more fire-tolerant conditions. The study led by Skye Greenler, a graduate research fellow in the OSU College of Forestry, and Chris Dunn, an assistant professor in the college, has important implications for lan...
EUGENE: Some of the $150 million in funding set aside by the Oregon legislature in 2021 will be coming to Blue River, thanks to a vote last month by the Lane County Board of Commissioners. In accepting a $4,120,547.41 grant from Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS), the board plans to assign the money for home purchases; supplies for volunteer-built housing construction; infrastructure; and staffing for recovery operations. In his report to the board Long-term Disaster Recovery Manager...
The Lane County Sheriff’s Office is seeking help in identifying individuals associated with a suspect vehicle that may have been involved in recent thefts occurring in the Vida and Leaburg areas. Someone also mentioned they mail have seen the car in the Mohawk area when mailboxes were being gone through. Investigators believe the vehicle pictured above is a mid-2000’s Suzuki Aerio or a similar car. An unidentified suspect wearing a hooded sweatshirt and pants could also be involved. Anyone wit...
Water vapor is continuing to condense around specks of dust to form ice crystals. The resulting falling flakes have built up snow levels to their best levels so far this winter. And, snow at higher elevations is expected to continue this week. That solid base, with several inches of fresh powder on top, can hide hazards like hidden stumps, rocks, posts, and fences so officials are advising people to be on the alert. Up around the Santiam Pass this week, depths ranged from 74 to 78 inches at...
A new bill facing the Oregon Legislature this session would lower the voting age for school board elections. Other bills this session aim to lower the state’s voting age in various capacities, including House Joint Resolution 20, which proposes an amendment to the Oregon constitution to lower the state’s voting age from 18 to 16. House Bill 3206 focuses on allowing 16- and 17-year-olds to cast ballots in school district elections. If passed, this could bring in an estimated 100,000 new voters st...
Technology helped searchers find a motorist stranded in the snow after the vehicle became stuck in an area where cell service wouldn’t connect. Making his situation worse, the Lane County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue reports his family was out of the country and nobody knew where he had gone or to call for help if he didn’t make it home. Once stranded he made several smart decisions. First, he stayed with his vehicle. Second, he used some ingenuity to find a way to call for help. The m...
Salmon and steelhead will be better treated according to changes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is recommending for the 500 trillion gallons of water stored in 13 dams and reservoirs it manages in the Willamette Basin. Flood control will remain a priority but endangered fish will move up a list of considerations that includes drinking water, irrigation, and recreation opportunities. The agency's recently released 2,200-page draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) includes...
People who live outside the Eugene-Springfield area are being asked to take a short online survey to help update Lane County’s Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan. Lane County’s Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan is updated every five years and aims to reduce long-term risk from natural hazards around the region. I Officials say updating this plan also makes Lane County and area cities eligible for federal grants and funding to help mitigate potential impacts from disasters like conducting fuel reduction projects to reduce risks from wildfires. “La...
The US Forest Service Pacific Northwest Region has entered into an agreement for almost $100,000 with Sustainable Northwest to enhance collaborative capacity for forest restoration during the 2023 calendar year. The partnership aims to train Forest Service interdisciplinary teams on working with collaborative groups, provide technical assistance to collaboratives, and share best practices through peer-to-peer collaborative learning networks. The funding for this agreement was made possible...
COUGAR RESERVOIR: A 22-year-old Salem man suffered fatal injuries on February 18th. According to the Lane County Sheriff’s Office, a report was received at approximately 4:22 p.m. that a man had fallen off a cliff located on the east side of Aufderheide Drive (USFS Rd. 19), a short distance south of Terwilliger Hot Springs. First responders arrived on the scene and were able to see a man lying motionless on the ground at the bottom of a cliff, but due to the extreme terrain, the rescuers were n...
The Eugene Water & Electric Board (EWEB) has secured over $3 million to help McKenzie Valley homeowners repair or replace septic systems damaged in the Holiday Farm Fire. People who qualify can receive up to $35,000, depending on their type of septic system and household income. Utility officials say improperly maintained septic systems threaten the McKenzie River – the sole source of drinking water for nearly 200,000 people EWEB serves in the Eugene area. It’s feared leaking systems could contaminate the water source with unsafe bacteria, prov...
