Make the McKenzie Connection!
Make the McKenzie Connection!
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Governor Tina Kotek has proclaimed April 2024 Oregon Arbor Month. The proclamation states that “Trees play an integral role in fostering healthy communities,” adding that urban development and tree preservation demand a careful balance. It also recognizes the loss of trees in Oregon due to wildfire, extreme heat and drought, development pressures, and new pests, such as the emerald ash borer. Arbor Month grew out of Arbor Day, a one-day tree-planting campaign in Nebraska in 1872. The event sprea...
Lane County Sheriff’s Search & Rescue is constantly training. Last week, they were able to train and help out our Oregon State Parks simultaneously. About 20 volunteers practiced rigging and operating the team’s high and steep-angle rescue systems at Heceta Head Lighthouse…to “rescue” a picnic table on the cliff below that has been an eyesore for 20 years. The team’s rope rescue systems can be deployed quickly almost anywhere by just a few trained personnel. They have been used to rescue many...
BLUE RIVER: A recently completed community wastewater study outlines some services that could support the Blue River community as it recovers from fire damage and outlines ways it might continue to grow. Some of those goals include prioritizing the revitalization of the downtown area, protecting the McKenzie and Blue Rivers, and attracting people back to the community. Based on the number of active water hookups there are now an estimated 80 dwellings serving a population of about 160 people....
EUGENE: Plans that have been in the works for decades were opposed by several people who testified at last week’s meeting of the Eugene Water & Electric Board. Some, like Eugene realtor Kathy Ging were critical of letters sent from the utility’s legal counsel since January that she said threatened to cut off electrical service to ratepayers who opposed the installation of wireless smart meters on their homes. Ging went on to say she felt “EWEB has declared war on ratepayers” who have concern...
Roadwork The Oregon Dept. of Transportation (ODOT) will be working on some sections of Hwy. 126 this summer. Motorists will encounter two 24-hour and six 12-hour closures along an 8-mile-long paving project. That work will also include guardrail adjustments and replacement and striping on the stretch of road east of the Hwy. 242 junction. More rumble strips will be added along the roadway from Cedar Flat to Hwy. 242 to alert drivers if they start to stray from within the travel lane. Providing...
WALTERVILLE: EWEB dewatered the Walterville Canal on Tuesday after receiving an automated alert from a device that monitors water seepage that also triggered a dam safety process. Officials say the leak was detected near the Walterville Powerhouse’s 110-year-old earthen canal embankment. When an increase in seepage occurs, it triggers a dam safety risk mitigation process that requires dewatering of the canal for close-up inspections. The Eugene Water & Electric Board says the issue is not a p...
EUGENE: A state-of-the-art garbage handling facility approved by the Lane County Board of Commissioners is being challenged by an association of family-owned garbage and recycling processors. Membership of the Lane County Garbage and Recycling Association includes Apex Recycling & Disposal, Royal Refuse, Ecosystems Transfer & Recycling, McKenzie Disposal, Coburg Sanitation, and Rexius. Last week, the LCGRA sent a letter to Lane County detailing major legal issues with their 25-year $150,000,000...
Henry honored “Linda Henry recently retired as Deerhorn Ranch Acres Community Organization (DRACO) secretary. Besides serving over 40 years as DRACO scribe and historian for one of Lane County’s largest homeowner associations, she also served as secretary during that period for the Deerhorn Community Water Association. Linda and her late husband, Don, plus a few other residents, initially formed the water and homeowners associations and were instrumental in residential security that led to the...
The First Amendment doesn’t protect state senators who walked out in protest for six weeks from losing their chance to run for reelection, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday. The Leap Day decision is a final nail in the coffin for a handful of Republican senators who have been trying to evade a voter-approved constitutional amendment meant to discourage quorum-denying walkouts by punishing lawmakers who miss 10 or more days of work. Ten Republican senators, six of whom would have been up f...
Gasoline prices are rising in line with the seasonal switchover to summer blend fuels this week, with the national average for a gallon of gas up about 7 cents. Gas prices have risen about 25 cents over the past month. Prices are rising most in states like Ohio, Missouri, and Kansas, where drivers are paying around 25 cents more per gallon than they were a week ago. As gas stations transition to more expensive fuels that produce fewer emissions in the warm weather, demand for gasoline is also...
FINN ROCK: A member of McKenzie High School’s junior class says he’d like to have a larger role in the education he’s receiving. Devon Lawson, a student leader within the district, has decided to launch an early candidacy for School Board Position #6 in the 2025 election. The seat is currently held by Tim Halloran, who was voted onto the board again in 2023. He’s also served as board chair in the past and was recently highlighted in a School Board Appreciation Month posting that cited his “dedic...
VIDA: As she opened a business improvement class last week, Melissa Prestinario advised people to open up to ways they could effectively compete with “businesses that are bigger and better” by identifying their unique qualities to connect with customers. Prestinario of RAIN (Regional Accelerator & Innovation Network) organized the 2-day event that features filmed sessions with Jon Schallert, a motivational speaker who developed his Destination Creation course by studying and interviewing ove...
The 44th Annual Lane County Home & Garden Show will host more than 300 exhibits from March 8th to 10th at the Lane County Fairgrounds, 796 W. 13th Ave, in Eugene. Headlining the show will be the Northwest’s favorite gardener, Ciscoe Morris with OH LA LA Gardening. Discover an acre of exhibits staffed by trusted home and garden contractors, retailers, and suppliers. Shop for the latest in spas, tractors, garden equipment, building materials, and home décor. Learn how to get your next project goin...
Nancy Matela co-owns a vacation home in a wildfire zone northwest of Bend that has a new, annual property insurance premium of $9,000. It’s more than nine times what the company Safeco charged her a year ago. That policy remains her only option as well: Her broker couldn’t find her another one. Matela is among a growing number of homeowners in central, southern, and eastern Oregon who have faced higher annual premiums or had their policies canceled when they came up for renewal, with some ins...
VIDA: The loss expressed by Brenda Severns Dinges struck a chord in the community when she posted on social media last week that their puppy was missing. “We had neighbors all the way up to Rainbow offering their help,” she said. “Local neighbors showed up within minutes to help.” The response helped soften some of the emptiness her family felt, “we feel so blessed to live in this community with wonderful humans,” she said. The people who showed up to help out searched “what seemed like s...
SANTIAM PASS: This Saturday will draw more people to the ski slopes at Hoodoo for the resort’s annual Winter Carnival. The all-day event on February 24th will have several options for ax throwing, frisbee golf, musical chairs, a three-legged obstacle race, a team tube race, a hula-hoop contest, a fly-athalon, a pie eating contest, a ski javelin throw, an archery contest, a Hoodoo employee snow sculpture contest, and Bingo. Highlights include a special dinner menu and the Dummy Downhill contest. Around 9 p.m. the slopes will go dark as lights a...
As the winter recreation season continues and parts of the Pacific Northwest Region remain blanketed with snow and ice, the Forest Service is urging all visitors to prioritize their safety and preparedness when participating in outdoor activities. The allure of snowy landscapes, skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, and other winter sports draw countless individuals to the picturesque lands managed by the Forest Service in Oregon and Washington. Amidst the excitement of winter adventures, it is...
Artists are invited to compete in one - or all three - of the Oregon Dept. of Fish & Wildlife’s 2025 stamp art competitions. The winning artist in each contest will receive a $2,000 award and the winning artwork will be used to produce collector’s stamps and other promotional items - with sale proceeds benefitting Oregon’s fish, wildlife, and their habitats. For more information on contest rules and to order stamps and art prints, visit: https://www.dfw.state.or.us/stamp_contest/index.asp Entri...
BLUE RIVER: The Holiday Farm Fire of 2020 removed all traces of fences and other unofficial landmarks commonly used to mark property boundaries. That caused Lane County to launch a retracement survey in "downtown" Blue River to relocate section corners, quarter-section corners, and one-sixteenth corners - all determined to be vital to the reestablishing property boundary lines. However, determining the location of underground water lines "can be difficult" because they often don't have a...
MARCOLA: People traveling in the Marcola and Camp Creek areas on Monday afternoon were surprised to encounter police roadblocks. At about 4:30 p.m., Lane County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to a report of menacing that occurred in the 37000 block of Parsons Creek Rd., Marcola. Motorists were stopped from accessing the area after spike strips were placed on the roadway near the Riverview Market and access along Camp Creek Road was blocked near McKenzie Fire & Rescues Station #2. Some motorists also reported traffic on 42nd Street was b...
FINN ROCK: A sunny day offered a good draw for people who showed up last Saturday for an outdoor “Listening Session.” The Jones family donated the property for community uses that are still to be determined. Some of the ideas aired on Saturday ranged from walking trails to low-impact housing, all to keep much of the site’s rural character. Another Three Sisters Meadow Community Listening Session - this time indoors - is scheduled from 6 to 8 p.m. at the McKenzie Community School’s old gym, 51...
This weekend, February 17 & 18 is Free Fishing Weekend in Oregon.No fishing/shellfish licenses or tags (including a Combined Angling Tag, Columbia River Basin Endorsement, Two-Rod Validation, or Rogue-South Coast Steelhead Validation/Tag) are required. Both Oregon residents and nonresidents can fish for free. All other fishing regulations apply including closures, bag limits, and size restrictions. See the Oregon Sport Fishing Regulations for rules and remember to check for any in-season...
RAINBOW: “We thought it would be a great idea to get together as a community and try to figure out what went wrong and what we could do better,” was the way Upper McKenzie Community Center president John Carlile kicked off a “Disaster Debriefing” last Saturday. He also detailed some challenges the organization faced when it was decided to open the building as a warming center following a severe ice storm that delivered a hard hit to the region. “All the redundancies that we thought were in p...
The Willamette National Forest has issued a temporary closure order for a portion of Forest Road (FR) 2600-730. This closure order will be in effect from February 12 to 15, or until rescinded. Officials report the temporary closure order was issued for public safety while Eugene Electric & Water Board (EWEB) conducts construction for a seismic retrofit on the Carmen Access Bridge. The closure will extend on both sides of FR 2600-730 from the junction of Highway 126 for approximately 0.25 miles, including Carmen Bridge, and up to the junction...
VIDA: Firefighting crews that arrived at a house fire last Thursday night found smoke that was already showing at the back of the home at 45767 McKenzie Highway was rapidly intensifying from openings in the roof. A caller, who reported the incident around 6:15 p.m. advised the structure contained three 800-watt lithium battery packs. More than 30 responders along with 14 apparatus were on the scene to fight the fire. Backup for McKenzie Fire personnel came from Eugene-Springfield Fire, Mohawk...
