Make the McKenzie Connection!
Make the McKenzie Connection!
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This summer a pair of Oregon entomologists traipsed through the woods in northern Washington on the hunt. They were looking for a dangerous predator: Asian giant hornets. Native to south and east Asia, they've earned the name "murder hornets" for their ability to decimate a honey bee hive in an hour or two. They can even kill humans. The Japanese enjoy them fried as a delicacy on skewers or in liquor: Their venom gives it a kick. But they're also a menace. They kill pollinators like European...
A La Nina has developed and is projected to extend through the second winter in a row, according to NOAA's Climate Prediction Center - a division of NOAA's National Weather Service. La Nina is a natural ocean-atmospheric phenomenon marked by cooler-than-average sea surface temperatures across the central and eastern Pacific Ocean near the equator and is translated from Spanish as "little girl." La Niña intensifies the average atmospheric circulation-surface and high-altitude winds, rainfall,...
A 16-year-old emergency response plan was tested again last Wednesday at the Hendricks Bridge County Park in Walterville. The joint "spill drill" organized by the Eugene Water & Electric Board, McKenzie Fire & Rescue and the Eugene Springfield Fire Hazmat Team was designed to familiarize first responders with the McKenzie Watershed Emergency Response System (MWERS). "Interagency drills like this are extremely valuable because it allows us to refresh and hone our skills in deploying spill...
The USDA Forest Service will be accepting applications for more than 1,000 seasonal spring and summer jobs in Oregon and Washington from November 5th to 12th. Positions are available in multiple fields, including fire, recreation, natural resources, timber, engineering, visitor services, and archaeology. “We’re looking for talented, diverse applicants to help us manage over 24 million acres of public land in the Pacific Northwest,” said Glenn Casamassa, Pacific Northwest Regional Forester. “If you’re interested in stewarding our national...
The Bonneville Power Administration made its 38th consecutive U.S. Treasury payment Oct. 5, on time and in full. This year’s $1.05 billion payment brings BPA’s cumulative payments to the Treasury to more than $32 billion since 1984. “This payment, along with actions taken as part of BPA’s Financial Plan, reinforces the agency’s financial strength and demonstrates the agency has met all of its financial commitments,” said the agency in a press release. This year’s payment to the U.S. Treasury includes $806 million in principal and $187 million...
Ahead of the busiest season of the year for the U.S. Postal Service, some Oregon postal workers are voicing concerns about the latest policy changes. They include new "service standards" that slow down first-class mail delivery. Mail traveling less than 1,000 miles should reach its destination in three days, and mail traveling more than 1,900 miles will take about five days. The Postal Service also has hiked rates for mail, packages, and other special services. With these changes and staffing...
An all-Black Oklahoma town joins big cities in seeking reparations; a Kentucky vaccination skeptic does a 180; telehealth proves invaluable during pandemic; and spooky destinations lure tourists at Halloween. https://www.newsservice.org/cuts/e/comp-3456.mp3?zz=40ad...
EUGENE: Plans to move ahead on ending the metro area's reliance on the McKenzie River as their only drinking water source got a nod from EWEB commissioners last Tuesday. During their October 5th virtual meeting, board members heard an update on plans that date back for decades. Wally McCullough, the utility's water engineering supervisor, noted that having a single source of water for a community of almost 200,000 people was an "enormous vulnerability." He went on to say that although the...
On Wednesday, the Lane Electric Coop announced it was "one step closer to helping rebuild the McKenzie community stronger than before," thanks to FEMA committing $19.9 million toward costs to repair and significantly improve infrastructure damaged by the wildfire. The FEMA grant will help cover crucial expenses associated with building a more resilient power system. This includes undergrounding the majority of the power lines in the McKenzie area. Undergrounding helps mitigate the extreme weather risks above ground power lines are susceptible...
Oregon is following the FDA and CDC, which recommend booster shots for people 65 and older who received the Pfizer vaccine at least six months ago. Boosters are also encouraged for younger people at risk of severe infection because of other medical conditions, and for front-line workers. Dr. Kristen Dillon, senior advisor of the COVID Response and Recovery Unit for the State of Oregon, said the vaccines provide good protection, but decline over time and in a more pronounced way for older...
LEABURG: State Police Troopers and emergency personnel responded to a report of a two-vehicle crash at approximately 8:48 p.m. on Monday, October 11th,. Wreckage from the accident was blocking Highway 126E near EWEB’s Leaburg powerhouse at milepost 19. Police said the preliminary investigation revealed that a Toyota 4-Runner, operated by Nathan Lee Langan, 29, of Harrisburg, was traveling westbound and crossed into the oncoming lane striking an eastbound Ford F350 Pickup, operated by Richard Edwin Andrews, 42, of Blue River. Langan sustained f...
Lane County's fall outdoor burning season will open on Friday, October 15th. The season, originally set to start on October 1st, was delayed by the Lane County Fire Defense Board and the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) due to a dry and warmer than average weather outlook. "Recent rain has been beneficial to reducing wildfire danger across Oregon," said Lane Regional Air Protection Agency (LRAPA) spokesperson, Travis Knudsen. "But the current forecast is dry, sunny, and warm." Yard debris may...
LEABURG: State Police Troopers and emergency personnel responded to a report of a two-vehicle crash at approximately 8:48 p.m. on Monday, October 11th,. Wreckage from the accident was blocking Highway 126E near EWEB’s Leaburg powerhouse at milepost 19. Police said the preliminary investigation revealed that a Toyota 4-Runner, operated by Nathan Lee Langan, 29, of Harrisburg, was traveling westbound and crossed into the oncoming lane striking an eastbound Ford F350 Pickup, operated by Richard Edwin Andrews, 42, of Blue River. Langan sustained f...
Crews from the Oregon Dept. of Fish & Wildlife have been out on the river recently counting up redds and collecting samples to determine the percentage of wild Salmon are utilizing spawning grounds. Results on what they’re finding should be available by mid to late October....
LEABURG: A project to reconfigure a rearing pond at the Old McKenzie Fish Hatchery is now underway. Over the years, the old earthen pond had filled with sediment and vegetation. Thanks to a $19,054 grant to the McKenzie River Discovery Center from the Oregon Dept. of Fish & Wildlife, the pond is being cleaned and converted to a community fishing pond. When complete, ODFW plans to hold angling and education/outreach events at the site. "The new community fishing pond at the MRDC is not only...
RAINBOW: Darin Harbick on Saturday ended his campaign for governor and is now running as a Republican to unseat incumbent Ron Wyden as one of Oregon's two U.S. Senators. Harbick, an entrepreneur and former school board member, said decided he would, "No longer sit on the sidelines and watch federal government failures and bureaucratic overreach.." He and his wife, Kail, started in business buying Phil's Phine Phoods only to see the business burn to the ground less than two years later. They buil...
Hundreds of Oregon businesses have signaled their support for legislation protecting rivers across the state. In an open letter, more than 200 businesses have thanked Sen. Ron Wyden - D-Ore. - and Sen. Jeff Merkley - D-Ore. - for introducing the River Democracy Act. The measure would protect about 4,700 miles of rivers in Oregon as wild and scenic. The rivers were selected through a public nomination process. Chris Daughters, who signed the letter, owns the Caddis Fly Angling Shop in Eugene....
MCKENZIE BRIDGE: A motorcycle accident about five miles east of Belknap Springs took the life of a man last Saturday. Oregon State Police and first responders from the Upper McKenzie Rural Fire District responded at 2:19 p.m. to the report of a crash involving two motorcycles on Hwy. 126 near milepost 13 of the Clear Lake Cutoff. A caller told dispatchers the drivers were lying in the middle of the highway, blocking whole road. In their initial investigation police reported a blue BMW K11 motorcycle was traveling eastbound and entered the...
EUGENE: The Lane County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday heard an update on how siting tiny homes on private properties might become easier to accomplish. Keir Miller, manager of the county’s Land Management Division gave a background report including a review of how the smaller structures could help recovery and housing needs following the Holiday Farm Fire. “Current regulations enable the use of tiny homes through various permitting paths. However, their use is not widespread outside of urban growth boundaries due to density limitations est...
MCKENZIE BRIDGE: Officials describe it as a project that will provide a sustainable timber supply, improve forest diversity and manage roads. Opponents counter that it threatens old growth forests. "It" is the Flat Country Timber Project, a timber sale that encompasses 74,063 acres man-aged by the U.S. Forest Service along with 28 acres of private property. Those acres extend from Scott Mountain to the McKenzie River, and include the Boulder, Kink, White Branch and Lost Creek watersheds. In his...
VIDA: Some paperwork from the past that could have held up plans to rebuild the Vida McKenzie Community Center (VMCC) was corrected on Tuesday. At the September 21st meeting of the Lane County Board of Commissioners approved easements that were a win for both sides. Agreements dating back sev-eral decades included access to drinking water and the placement of a restroom. In the 1950’s an easement for a water line taking water from a spring was to granted to the McKenzie River Club by Lane County. Not long after that, the county developed an a...
EUGENE: The price of power came up again at the September 7th virtual meeting of the Eugene Water & Electric Board. In a report to the utility, chief financial officer Deborah Hart asked commissioners to consider switching from an annual cost of service analysis (COSA) to one covering a three-year period. “The shift from a single year to multi-year analysis provides management and the board in-sight into estimated costs for a longer period of time that is better aligned with the time frame of strategic initiatives,” according to the rep...
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, after completing the initial review of two petitions, says listing gray wolves again in the western U.S. under the Endangered Species Act may be warranted due to potential increases in human-caused mortality under new hunting and trapping rules in Idaho and Montana approved after wolves were de-listed. The decision comes in response to emergency petitions from the Center for Biological Diversity, the Humane Society of the United States, Humane Society...
Beavers are often translocated to restore populations in areas, reduce their conflicts with humans and to take advantage of their ability to improve ecosystems. However, few studies have accessed the impacts of dispersing beavers, making it difficult to determine best practices for translocations. A new study from scientists at Oregon State University and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Wildlife Research Center begins to change that. The scientists, who collected genetic samples...
