Make the McKenzie Connection!
Make the McKenzie Connection!
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Hello, my name is Steve Severin and I am running as a write-in candidate for the board of McKenzie Valley Wellness. As many of you may know, I was responsible for the remodel of the present temporary housing of Orchid Health, our current medical provider that was displaced from the Holiday Farm Fire. My wife is presently employed by Orchid Health. I have many friends and family here and my wife and I relocated here 5 years ago. I attended McKenzie high school and have always considered the river my home. I have attended the most recent board...
The upcoming McKenzie Wellness election on August 30 is very important as the work moves forward to Rebuild the Building in Blue River on the old Clinic site. I personally recommend voting YES on the 2 membership measures As to Directors, there are 6 people running for 4 seats on the Board of Directors. They are all good candidates I strongly recommend voting for Val Rapp & Jane Wilson and 2 others of your choice. It is difficult to pick which ones, maybe even a write-in candidate like Steve Severin. I personally wish to stick with the...
I am a homeowner on Leaburg Lake, President of the McKenzie Chamber of Commerce, Correspondence Secretary for the McKenzie ClearWater Coalition, and a Broker for Windermere Real Estate Lane County. I wear many hats, but I am only representing myself in this letter. I have been contacted by many folks who are extremely upset with the thought that EWEB would even consider taking out the EWEB/Leaburg Dam which would result in the loss of Leaburg Lake. Leaburg Lake is a huge tourist attraction, hundreds of people a week enjoy boating, rafting,...
For some people, repetition works best - so here it is again: McKenzie River Reflections won't be mailed to subscribers beyond the August 18th edition. After 44 years, the costs of printing and mailing have increased too much to be sustainable - amounting to $700 per week. That's the bad news. The good news is that this newspaper will continue to be published. You can still read it if you send your email address to [email protected]. If you don't, you're risking missing out on a lot. It's...
I live on Goodpasture Road, some of us on Greenwood Drive and along McKenzie Hwy, and would like to inform you of an ingenious opportunity to help the McKenzie River Valley community. Since the Holiday Farm Fire, a small group of faithful volunteers has joined with “The Bottle Boys” to sort and redeem bottles and cans to help rebuild the Blue River Library, Blue River Medical Clinic, and the Vida McKenzie Community Center, all burned to the ground but valiantly attempting to rebuild. Contributions are made to other worthy local causes as app...
to put in Volume 45, Issue 1 of McKenzie River Reflections. It will be the first issue of this publication’s 45th year but the last one that will be mailed to subscribers. Why? Because at close to $700 every week to print and mail Reflections it simply isn’t penciling out anymore. I know there are plenty of people who wish that wasn’t so. Several of you have told me that. Those discussions were behind the plan to produce “Reflections v2.0.” Because it will be produced on my in-house 11” X 17” laser printers, “RR v2.0” will be smaller and only...
Google and Facebook have enormous economic and political power in society – especially over the news industry. Many ask if they have played a role in the misinformation that erodes our free press and plagues our democracy. Google and Facebook have a duopoly in the distribution of digital news content, which drives people to their platforms where they make money. The platforms hoard critical data and use clever tactics, like reframing stories in rich previews, to keep users on their sites – siphoning off the advertising revenue that small and...
River Reflections was launched by my wife, Louise, 44 years ago. We met while she was working at the Holiday Farm Resort where I was roofing the buildings. After falling in love and getting married in 1978, she told me she wanted to publish a local paper that would include items about the area's history and personalities - and everything in between. As a result, McKenzie River Reflections was born on our dining room table and was printed on the big web press at the Springfield News. Much has hap...
Summer is in full swing and with that comes cookouts and gatherings where food is featured. As you plan your menu, keep local farmers in mind. Buying locally-produced food strengthens the local economy. According to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, on average, every $100 spent at locally-owned businesses results in $45 flowing back into the local community. This is much higher than the $14 that stays in the community when we spend our $100 at a business that isn’t locally owned. More customers are now choosing to purchase their food from f...
From 2004 until the start of the pandemic in 2020, the United States lost a quarter (around 2,100) of its newspapers, according to a report from the University of North Carolina’s Hussman School of Journalism and Media. By the end of last year, another hundred were gone, the Poynter Institute reported. The result was the creation of “news deserts” -mostly located in financially-impacted rural areas of the country. Over on the Oregon coast, the News Media Corporation and Central Coast Publi...
Which clinic? Many people still say they go to the "McKenzie River Clinic" even though the name was retired when the nonprofit, formed in 1974, changed its title to McKenzie Valley Wellness. The MRC hasn't seen patients in about five years after actual medical services were taken over by Orchid Health. The recent news that the Oregon Dept. of Justice is investigating MVW, "has created confusion within our community and many have interpreted it to mean that Orchid is also under an ODOJ...
The Upper McKenzie Community Center is having its annual members meeting on Saturday, June 11th from 6 to 7:30 pm and you are invited. This year we will enjoy a Potluck so bring a dish to share and a beverage (non-alcoholic, please) and come visit with your neighbors and friends. We will be voting on Board Members and Officers (only members may vote but all are welcome to attend) as well as updating everyone on the future of the UMCC. Enter to win great raffle items from local businesses, too! We hope you can join us. If you would like to...
The Russian invasion of Ukraine and the attendant destruction, deaths, and war crimes against humanity have dramatically changed the status of our world, and It is a wake-up call for Europe to be ready to confront Russia. We are faced with a Russian devil who launches missiles to indiscriminately kill civilians and destroy civilian property. Ukraine needs the capability to destroy Russian missile launching sites. Europe remembers the murders, destruction, and subjugation of WWII, and history is now repeating itself in Ukraine. NATO countries...
With the passage of the bipartisan infrastructure law last November—a $1.3 trillion investment in our nation’s infrastructure—major funding is now available to rural communities. These funds can be used to rebuild roads and bridges, invest in high-speed internet access and clean drinking water, and upgrade electric power infrastructure. However, just because these funds are available does not necessarily mean they are accessible. Rural communities often find it difficult to navigate funding opportunities because they lack the capacity to resea...
The Bottle Boys invite everyone to help them celebrate the amazing success of the “One Dime at a Time “fundraising campaign, this Saturday, May 21, at the track in Blue River. The Bottle Boys will be joining the community celebration being sponsored by Locals Helping Locals and presenting donation checks to the groups being supported by the income from bottles and cans collected from our community. The campaign began in the aftermath of the Holiday Farm fire in an effort to raise funds to rebuild the O’Brien Memorial Library in Blue River and t...
Get a subscription for someone else: Know someone who loves to follow the news and current events? Get him or her a gift subscription. It has all the benefits of your own subscription with the additional benefit of reminding someone just how valuable the local free press is. Buy a subscription for a school or library. Help make the news accessible to students and people who otherwise might not have access. (You might also add the digital edition to your print subscription) Tell local businesses...
They say April showers bring May flowers. We should have a garden of blooming glory soon. I can’t wait to admire and smell them all. My grandchildren love to stop and smell every flower they see, they are surprised sometimes when one does not smell. How can something that beautiful not have a fragrance to enjoy? Our McKenzie Chamber Annual Board Meeting on April 10th at 1:00 at the Vida Windermere Office went off incredibly well, despite the four inches of snow that fell the night before. Shoveling snow in April in Vida? We had great turnout w...
After writing my letter to the editor in the River Reflections regarding the funding at McKenzie Valley Wellness and reading the current letter to editor regarding the lack of accountability, I believe it is time for new leadership within MVW. I am announcing my write in candidacy for position #3 on the McKenzie Valley Wellness board. Please be sure to submit your ballots now or plan to attend the meeting on May 3rd at the Upper McKenzie Community Center with your ballot in hand. Hope to see you at the meeting. Thank you, Tony Casad Blue...
I urge all McKenzie Valley Wellness members to vote & return your ballots. I am endorsing the following Val Rapp, Jane Wilson, Robin Roberts & Galen Phipps. These are the directors that are working for the communities best interest. These directors are responsible and can be trusted to use the 1.8 million dollars from the State of Oregon to build a replacement Clinic in a responsible way. They aren’t out for a power and money grab. There have been insulting rumors circulated in the community referring to thievery and embezzlement that are n...
As a member of McKenzie Valley Wellness, I must ask: “Where did all that money go?” According to the 2019 McKenzie River Clinic Annual Report, during Fiscal Years, ‘13, ‘14, and ’15, $ 34,500 was withdrawn from the Clinic Endowment Fund (or an average of $ 958 per month). Over the subsequent three Fiscal Years, ’16, ‘17, & ‘18, $358,000 was withdrawn from the fund, (or an average of $9,944 per month). That is more than ten times the withdrawal rate over the preceding thirty-six months. The report also indicates at least $80,000 was withdrawn i...
I‘m writing this to announce that I plan to run for seat 2 of the McKenzie Valley Wellness Board of Directors as a write-in candidate. After working at the McKenzie River Clinic from 2017-2021, I would like to continue to serve the community by supporting programs that promote wellness and ensuring that funding is used responsibly in our community. There have been many challenges for the organization since 2017. I feel that by working with other community organizations, McKenzie Valley Wellness can find positive ways to move forward and help t...
Americans should ask the fundamental question: what is the difference between what a public non-profit utility company provides and what a private for-profit oil company provides? After all they both sell energy to all United States citizens. The difference is that natural gas and electricity are sold in the form of a public good whereas oil is sold in the form of a private product. Accordingly, on the grounds of promoting national security, the United States Congress should convert all oil companies to utility companies. This would eliminate...
April is Grange Month On behalf of the Walterville Grange, we would like to invite you to celebrate the month of April by embracing our common values. The Grange is committed to the development of the potential in families, children, youth, and adults. We emphasize civic responsibility, civil discussions, and involvement. We strengthen hometowns through volunteerism and community support to build up rural America for all. Join us this month as we celebrate these values during Grange Month. Jeffry Dehne Deerhorn...
Every year when the first of April rolls around I can always count on getting a number of phone calls. Sometimes they're from people upset because they couldn't find Page 9 in an 8-page edition. Others might be upset at extravagant government spending after reading about plans to replace the Goodpasture Bridge with an underwater tunnel or some such scheme. People who've read this newspaper for a while know what I'm getting at - the annual April Fool's edition. There are a few who hate it but...
During these past two years as I have worked with organizations and groups in the Valley I have been impressed and moved by the dedication and resilience of them all. I am especially proud of Mckenzie Wellness. They have worked hard and long to make sure there is Health Care available. They didn’t let the loss of the building get in the way of finding temporary space in Rainbow to keep services available. Working with Orchid Health they even provided some services in town for the dislocated. As they look ahead to the new facility in Blue R...
