Make the McKenzie Connection!
Make the McKenzie Connection!
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It can be challenging for parents and caregivers to shield their children from bigotry and hatred online, but there are a few tips they can follow. Lindsay Schubiner, Momentum program director at the Western States Center, said the work is especially crucial because white nationalist groups are using the internet to recruit people. She pointed out young people are developing identities and ideas in relationship to everything around them, including what they see and hear online. "As hate...
January At the start of 2022, the Jones family (owners of the Seneca Family of Companies) donated 16 acres adjacent to the Aaron and Marie Jones Field/McKenzie Track for community rebuilding and revitalization after the 2020 Holiday Farm Fire. A range of possible range from affordable housing to a state-certified child care center, as well as multi-use office spaces, community drinking water, septic infrastructure, and more. The McKenzie River Trust said it will manage the site with community...
Oregon is joining the ranks of states providing paid leave for all workers. In January, employees and employers will begin paying into the program. Workers will be able to apply for benefits in September. Karen Humelbaugh, director of the Paid Leave Oregon program for the Oregon Employment Department, said the program is important for the safety and welfare of communities. "Some of us have had paid leave through our employer, but many Oregonians do not have any form of paid leave," Humelbaugh...
The Willamette National Forest has authorized the 2020 Fire Affected Road System Risk Project, which aims to reduce the risks posed by fire-killed and injured trees along roads while restoring access to and through the burned area. The work will involve cutting and falling fire-killed and damaged trees along 250 miles of important access routes within the 2020 fire-affected road system. Moderate, high, or mixed tree mortality trees likely to survive the effects of fire or don't threaten the road...
A new study published in Nature Energy found that electricity customers often lack awareness of their daily energy-use patterns at home, which could have a serious financial impact as utility companies move toward time-of-use energy pricing models. If utilities change their pricing structures, consumers need to understand how and when they're using electricity so they can make informed decisions about billing choices, the study's authors say. "Energy systems and the grid are undergoing drastic...
The McKenzie Watershed Council's Firewood Program is helping rural Lane County residents with their heating needs this winter. The program began in December of 2021, spurred in part to help those affected by the Holiday Farm Fire. It has now expanded to include more of the McKenzie River area communities, helping residents in need with firewood harvested from private properties in the burnzone. Lara Colley, Watershed Restoration Specialist at McKenzie Watershed Council mentioned, "We heard...
The McKenzie Watershed Council's Firewood Program is helping rural Lane County residents with their heating needs this winter. The program began in December of 2021, spurred in part to help those affected by the Holiday Farm Fire. It has now expanded to include more of the McKenzie River area communities, helping residents in need with firewood harvested from private properties in the burn zone. Lara Colley, Watershed Restoration Specialist at McKenzie Watershed Council mentioned, "We heard...
BLUE RIVER: The town’s new library will be located on the corner of Blue River Drive and Dexter Street. After the Holiday Farm Fire, two lots adjoining the old O’Brien Library property were purchased with the insurance settlement. The added space will improve access, visibility, parking, and septic service. Funding for the replacement includes $1.4 million in state funding received in November of 2021 and $600,000 in the insurance settlement. PIVOT Architecture of Eugene was selected to des...
BLUE RIVER: Lane County Public Works is developing a design concept for the portion of Blue River Drive between where it crosses Blue River and the McKenzie Highway. Planners say the immediate need for the project is to provide better direction for people who are redeveloping in the area and where to start measuring building setbacks from Blue River Drive. Currently, there is a 60-foot right-of-way along the roadway; however, Lane County code requires 90 feet. "As you can imagine, that 30-foot d...
EUGENE: In what several commissioners referred to as “the best of the worst” options, the Eugene Water & Electric Board has endorsed plans to remove Leaburg Dam, fix stretches of a leaking canal, and back away from some local power generation. The move came after 20 board sessions that have been discussing what to do with the aging facility after water seepage caused the hydroelectric plant’s shutdown in 2018. Studies and negotiations with federal agencies are likely to go on for another ten years before any removal work begins but ongoi...
LEABURG: From his base at Merchandise Mart (now the Twitter Building) in San Francisco, Tom Ripp traveled the world representing firms like Sony and SECO. That meant he had a lot of free time on planes or in hotel rooms. He filled it by reading and since starting in 1957 Ripp has amassed one of the world’s largest collections of books on angling. “The history of angling literature is massive,” he told a crowd at the dedication of the Angler’s Roost room at the Leaburg Libray last Saturda...
EUGENE: In a report sure to dominate the Eugene Water & Electric Board's December 6th meeting, the utility's general manager is calling for a move that would permanently discontinue electricity generation at the Leaburg Hydroelectric Project. While both the Leaburg and Walterville projects are included in the current Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) operating license, Frank Lawson limited his comments to Leaburg and noted that if economic conditions change in the future, EWEB might re...
Some lucky hikers could come home with a new decoration for their Christmas trees this year. Ornaments have been placed on the Tamolitch Falls (Blue Pool) Trail #3507, Waterfalls Loop Trail #3503, and the King-Castle Trail #4326 in the McKenzie Ranger District. People should take only take one ornament per household so other families can enjoy the same thrill. Every ornament on a given trail features the same design. When people find one, they can register to win the grand prize - and put the...
BLUE RIVER: If all goes well there will be a community celebration for a new Blue River fire station next year. When recovery became the focus of the Upper McKenzie Rural Fire Protection District, it became clear the vacated alley on Echo Street where the old station stood wasn't buildable under current standards. A search began for a feasible location to replace a building that was destroyed when the Holiday Farm Fire swept through the town. When long-time volunteers Vern and Renee Langan...
Santa, Christmas trees, and battery-powered lights - all on rubber rafts - cheered the night just before dusk last Saturday in Rainbow. The flotilla of river guides from Horse Creek Lodge passed under the Belknap Covered Bridge in coordination with the annual holiday lighting of the structure....
Nominations are being accepted through mid-January for members to a Federal Advisory Committee for national forests in the Northwest Forest Plan area of Northern California, Oregon, and Washington The Northwest Forest Plan amended forest management for 19 national forests administered by the U.S. Forest Service, covering 19.4 million acres in Washington, Oregon, and Northern California, along with seven Bureau of Land Management (BLM) districts covering 2.7 million acres in Western Oregon and Northern California. Since 1994, the Northwest...
CLEAR LAKE: A bridge at the north end of Clear Lake was reconstructed this year with an eye to the future. One ton I-beams were used in the process, replacing log stringers and sills that were still intact and useable - but showing their age. The rebuild, over the Fish Lake Creek, on the McKenzie River Ranger District, was a training opportunity, enlisting more people than normally necessary for similar work. About 25 people helped on the bridge. Those collaborative efforts included the Santiam...
BLUE RIVER: A plan to block one of Blue River's few paved roads will be decided following a public hearing by the Lane County Board of Commissioners. If approved, a section of the road would lose public status and revert to private ownership. The request to vacate part of the street was filed with the Lane County surveyor's office on November 18th by Earth Quest Partners, LLC, Christopher LaVoie, and the Willamette National Forest. Notices of the filing were sent to 43 area landowners as well...
EUGENE: At next Tuesday's Eugene Water & Electric Board meeting, utility commissioners will hear from General Manager Frank Lawson and his recommendations on what to do with the aging Leaburg hydroelectric project. The facility includes a dam, canal, forebay, penstocks, powerhouse, tailrace, and substation. Constructed in the 1920s with reinforced concrete and steel, the dam structure impounds run-of-the-river flows on the McKenzie River and diverts water into the Leaburg Canal which travels...
A man was killed after a high-speed chase on Highway 126 last Saturday night. According to Springfield Police Department Sergeant Pete Kirkpatrick, a patrol officer at a red light on 42nd Street and Main, observed a dark-colored Range Rover pass him eastbound on Main Street at 80 to 90 miles per hour just before 10:30 p.m. The officer tried to keep the Range Rover in sight and initiate a stop, but wasn’t able to due to extremely high speeds, While officers were searching the area of Highway 126 and Thurston Road, a 911 caller reported a car h...
RAINBOW: Unresolved issues affecting design and siting decisions have been points of discussion during recent meetings of the non-profit McKenzie Valley Wellness (MVW) board of directors. At a meeting on November 15th, the board voted 3 to 1 to terminate their agreement with Pivot Architecture of Eugene. Voting to leave Pivot were Steve Severin, Jane Wilson, and Robin Roberts. Opposed was Val Rapp. Galen Phipps was out of town. “We made that decision after considerable discussion and consultation with industry experts before the board m...
Alex Paul CLEAR LAKE: Linn County Parks staff members have been busy refurbishing three rustic cabins at the Clear Lake Resort - installing log-like fiberglass reinforced concrete siding that is fire-retardant and likely to provide long-term durability against rugged winter weather. On a recent Monday morning, Adam Brenneman and Brett Tetzlaff were busy removing decades-old wooden shutters and mixed siding materials from the cabin's exterior walls. Brenneman said the interior of two of the...
SALEM: "The 2020-21 school year was like no other school year in history.," according to Colt Gill, Director of the Department of Education. "The vast majority of Oregon's schools started the 2020-21 school year in distance learning due to the global COVID-19 pandemic," he adds. For students and families, those outside forces created a blended world of school, home life, and work responsibilities. "The disruption to regular school-based learning posed complex challenges," Gill said. "Some of...
After months of record revenue growth, Oregon economists now expect the state to enter a "mild" recession next summer. State economists told a legislative panel on Wednesday that economic forecasters in Oregon and around the country anticipate a recession within the next year because inflation remains higher than the Federal Reserve wants it to be, with the Fed expected to continue raising interest rates. In a quarterly report released Wednesday, officials from Oregon's Office of Economic...
Organizers say the Eugene Mountain Rescue's primary mission is to provide search and rescue personnel for situations requiring mountaineering skills on rock, glacier, snow, and steep terrain in support of the Lane County Sheriff's Office. They're part of a larger network of volunteer groups in the county, state, and nationwide that provide search and rescue services. They're also called to assist mountain rescue organizations from other counties in Oregon, or in other states if they need additio...
