Make the McKenzie Connection!
Make the McKenzie Connection!
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 1601
BLUE RIVER: People from all over the McKenzie Valley were busy over the weekend when a call went out for volunteers to help during a Cleanup Day. Over three dozen people were armed with rakes, pruners, bucket loaders, and motorized brush hogs last Saturday. The activity was all in anticipation of a Rebuilding Block Party scheduled for Blue River this Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The May 11th event is being sponsored by the McKenzie Community Land Trust (MCLT), McKenzie Valley Long Term...
VIDA: An incident that started at a mental health clinic in Bend wound its way across the Santiam Pass before ending with a car crash in Vida last Friday. During the course of the investigation, the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office determined the suspect, 21-year-old Joshua Davis Buck, was at the Deschutes County Stabilization Center when he requested a ride share service to Sisters. Once there Buck asked to be dropped off in the vicinity of the Sisters Inn and Suites. When the vehicle came to a stop, the driver, Stanley Collins, was a...
LEABURG: Transforming lumber into a craft capable of navigating Colorado River rapids was a task well underway at the McKenzie River Discovery Center last week. Twelve students who’d signed up for a ten-day class to loft, build, and launch a Colorado River dory—on the very site where Keith Steele built the first one in 1962—accepted the chore. Lofting the boat involved transforming initial drawings and photos into a full-size plan. Their result included all the curves of a boat that not only...
Congratulations to McKenzie High graduates Griffin Withaim, Jane Dellinger, and Salomon Acevedo, the Joe McCall Memorial Scholarship recipients. Each student will receive 1500.00 to help fund their first year of college. These exceptional students were chosen based on their community involvement, academic achievement, and desire to further their education. All three students plan to attend Oregon State University next fall. This memorial scholarship honored Joe, who loved the McKenzie River...
Oregon supplies some of its most vulnerable residents with air conditioners, air purifiers, and power banks. It is a first-in-the-nation experiment to use Medicaid money to prevent the potentially deadly health effects of extreme heat, wildfire smoke, and other climate-related disasters. The equipment, which started going out in March, expands a Biden administration strategy to move Medicaid beyond traditional medical care and into social services. According to KFF, at least 20 states,...
NIMROD: The picturesque Eagle Rock Lodge was again the site for the McKenzie River Wooden Boat Festival. The annual event along the banks of this iconic river may have drifted by on April 27th but it continued as a tribute to local river history and the craft of wooden boat building—a testament to community and the spirited camaraderie shared on the river. The event included old and new, large and small, boasting over forty boats displaying both tradition and creativity. Among them were u...
VIDA: Ideas on ways local businesses could work together to improve the McKenzie area’s regional economy were at the core of a meeting last Saturday. The hour-and-a-half gathering at the Vida McKenzie Community Center drew about a dozen people representing businesses ranging from resorts to river guiding. Discussions centered on a model that’s been used to revitalize communities around the United States for about 40 years. By recognizing that rural economies could benefit from a custom app...
A primary in rural Lane County will determine whether the Oregon House Republican caucus will include candidates who differ from the party line on abortion. First-term Rep. Charlie Conrad, R-Dexter, faces a challenge from Republican business owner Darin Harbick in the 12th House District, which stretches south and east from Eugene to scoop up small rural communities including the McKenzie Valley, Creswell, Cottage Grove and Lowell. Conrad has earned praise from colleagues and some constituents,...
EUGENE: EWEB reports it is modernizing utility infrastructure to enhance efficiency, reliability, and sustainability. The initiative includes upgrading to smart meters, which commenced in 2018, as part of ongoing efforts to improve service delivery and meet evolving industry standards. However, the utility says a small but vocal faction of smart grid opponents is obstructing EWEB’s ability to install the new meters on their properties, resorting to threats against utility workers and tactics t...
Hive Five: Oregon’s New Favorite 2024 Hobby is Beekeeping. It’s not just about getting your delicious honey (though that’s a big plus!), it’s also about helping these little pollinators thrive, which in turn brightens up your garden. At its core, beekeeping involves the care and management of honeybee colonies, often in man-made hives. What makes it particularly appealing is the deep connection it fosters with the natural world, allowing people to play a direct role in supporting the health...
Fire management officials for the Willamette National Forest expect to begin prescribed burning across approximately 500 acres in multiple Ranger Districts within the next few weeks, depending on weather, ground, and vegetation conditions. Timing is critical when planning for prescribed burns. Spring in Oregon gives fire managers the vegetation moisture and other conditions needed to fit their specific objectives, which are often unique to each project and limited to a 24-hour permit window. For this reason, public notice of specific burn...
RAINBOW: “My vision has deteriorated so quickly, and without insurance coverage for vision care, I felt lost and worried about my future,” according to Jane, a McKenzie River resident. Her relief was palpable after receiving essential vision care at a mobile clinic hosted by Casey Eye Institute and Orchid Health. “I can’t express how grateful I am. This service was exactly what I needed, she added. This Spring Break, Jane was among 106 individuals who benefited from the mobile vision clinics...
Oregon’s getting better at preventing and responding to wildfires, experts said Thursday, but much more still needs to be done. A panel of University of Oregon professors who study climate change, smoke, and wildfire discussed the 2024 wildfire season in an online forum with journalists as the West braces for summer fires. Wildfire risk in the West and Oregon this year is not abnormally higher than in recent years, said Daniel Gavin, a professor in the geography department who specializes in pal...
RAINBOW: Police caught up with a fugitive on Monday, arresting 33-year-old Andrew Dimmick of Crawfordsville on charges of Reckless Endangering, Eluding Police, and warrants for Kidnapping and a Felon Possession of a Firearm. According to police, Lane County Sheriff’s Office deputies and Oregon State Police troopers were called to Terwilliger Hot Springs around 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, after receiving a caller reporting a subject was huffing from a nitrous oxide tank, swinging a double-handed s...
Researchers who created “family trees” for nearly 10,000 fish found that first-generation, wild-born descendants of hatchery-origin Chinook salmon in an Oregon river show improved fitness. The finding, based on data collected over 13 years, is encouraging for Chinook salmon recovery efforts, said Kathleen O’Malley, an associate professor at Oregon State University and the study’s senior author. In this study, fitness is measured by the number of adult offspring a fish produces, with higher...
LEABURG: About 40 people showed up on a sunny Saturday to learn how to better cope with area disasters like ice storms. According to McKenzie Fire & Rescue Battalion Chief Dana Burwell, the last ice event generated about 40 calls to the district in 24 hours. “We can’t organize with staff during an emergency because they’re going to be out or helping on emergencies,” Buwell said. Deputy Chief Bart Thompson agreed, noting that at times the call volume can get so high that the district will as...
Bicyclists were among some of the people who stopped by the Walterville Grange’s Open House on Sunday. While there they were able to learn more about a variety of community groups and organizations ranging from McKenzie Fire & Rescue to Mobile Meals....
Emergency response coordination professionals were honored last week for keeping the nation’s communities safe and secure. Oregon Governor Tina Kotek proclaimed April 14 - 20 as Public Safety Telecommunicators Week in the state and encouraged all Oregonians to join in the observance. Oregon has 43 standalone 911 centers known as Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) that serve as the first and single point of contact for people seeking immediate relief during an emergency. Nearly 800 d...
The Oregon Workforce Partnership is celebrating a significant milestone in addressing the critical shortage of truck drivers with the allocation of a $3.4 million grant from the Economic Development Administration’s (EDA) Good Jobs Challenge. Under the initiative named Driving Prosperity, led by Southwestern Oregon Workforce Investment Board in collaboration with Lane Workforce Partnership and Rogue Workforce Partnership, over 325 individuals will have successfully obtained their Commercial D...
NIMROD: People who appreciate fine craftsmanship as well as folks who make their living on waterways will all converge at the Eagle Rock Lodge on April 27th. They’ll be there along with hundreds of other fans of a boat that has become known around the world. This year’s Wooden Boat Festival will offer an opportunity to relax, and learn about the river and the history of the influential double-ended McKenzie River drift boat from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free at the Lodge located at 491...
Prescribed fire is the controlled use of burns to minimize the larger risks of wildfires and smoke. It is seen as an increasingly important strategy as wildfire seasons pose greater threats to the Northwest. Casey Sixkiller, Northwest regional administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, said authorities want to work together to maintain forest habitats. “Prescribed burn is one of the best tools we have for making our forests more resilient against catastrophic wildfires and t...
People are invited to join the EWEB Board of Commissioners for their annual event with the McKenzie Valley community on Thursday, May 23. Doors at the Walterville Community Center, 39259 Camp Creek Road, will open at 5:30 p.m. for an open house followed by a customer appreciation dinner at 6 p.m. Officials say this year’s theme is improving communications with the community. Plans call for people to share dinner to discuss interests and community members’ concerns for the future well-being of the McKenzie community, plus how EWEB can support th...
Supported by the 2022 US Economic Development Administration Build Back Better grant, the Department of Land Conservation and Development has released a new resource for local governments seeking to modernize local code to support the use of prefabricated, modular, and manufactured housing types including but not limited to mass timber construction. The Prefabricated and Modular Housing Model Code includes resources to assist local governments in updating their development codes to achieve...
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) reports the state’s wolf population is stagnating. It did not grow in 2023. 36 died in 2023, with 33 human-caused. 16 were authorized by ODFW, four more were hit by cars, and one was lawfully shot by a hunter. 10 wolves were moved to Colorado. The actual population is higher than the minimum count, the report notes — the count is the number of wolves that were verified through tracks, photos, or radio collars. Officials say a dozen were poa...
Cuts to annual federal budgets for trout, steelhead, and Chinook salmon stocking in the Upper Willamette Basin are generating protests from Northwest anglers and organizations. In December the U.S. Corps of Army Engineers (ACOE) notified the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) that it planned to stop funding producing hatchery trout, steelhead, and Chinook salmon in the Upper Willamette Basin. Numbers in the Corps’ plans include an overall 65% reduction from 277,000 lbs. of trout p...
