Make the McKenzie Connection!
Make the McKenzie Connection!
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I had to pinch myself when I stumbled across the opinion piece in the McKenzie River Reflections written by Rusty Bentz. I know Rusty and to hear him advocate for the four lower Snake River dams blew my mind. He and his brother made their living to a large extent on having access to a free-flowing river to run their boats through the rapids and take rubes fishing for steelhead. (The salmon had long since been destroyed by the dams). Rusty delved into several ideas as to how one could manage to get a few of the Frankin fish back upstream so...
Hello to all, especially those of you who may not know me. I’m Lane Tompkins, Superintendent/Principal of McKenzie School District and McKenzie River Community School. A native of McKenzie Bridge, I’m a proud alumnus of McKenzie Schools. Our district has seen transformative changes under my tenure. Notably: - We evolved our school into a community-centric charter, emphasizing place-based, project-based, and service learning. - We’ve inaugurated the first licensed child care center in the McKenzie corridor, a testament to our commitment to ea...
Oregon will receive $157 million from the federal government to help connect about 17,000 homes and businesses to the internet, the White House announced Wednesday. The money, which comes from the $1.9 trillion pandemic relief package passed by Congress in 2021, follows an earlier allocation of $688 million for broadband in Oregon through the $1.2 trillion infrastructure law, also passed in 2021. “Between those two programs, I would expect that we’re going to get all Oregonians that are currently unserved access to service,” Oregon broad...
Americans have more media options than ever. We are inundated with stories, memes, videos, and promotions 24 hours a day. Most of us are on social media, which is built to provide an endless feed of content to keep us glued to our screens. Unfortunately, misinformation is prevalent, and much of that content isn’t fact-checked, verified, or professionally produced. The result is that we’re not always shown what we need to know, or the information that is most likely to impact our lives. That’s where local newspapers come in. Your local newsp...
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this op-ed are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the McKenzie Valley School District. The recent McKenzie School District board meeting illuminated a pressing issue: the critical need for qualified school bus drivers. Amidst the voices of concerned parents and experienced drivers, the board’s response highlighted a glaring gap in their approach. It’s essential to recognize that school board meetings are the proper place to address urgent matters like this on...
Growing up it was a festive month with plenty of cake to go around because we celebrated my Mom’s birthday, and five days later, mine. That was many years ago and now far away as I moved around the country before settling in Oregon. Three years ago COVID and the Holiday Farm Fire impacted all of us. It was devastating to Louise, my wife, who was already being battered by the negative impacts of Alzheimer’s. Her passing made me less likely to look forward to future arrivals of the ninth month of the year. That foreboding proved to be acc...
Today I heard the news that a vital part of our community is gone. Sue O’Brien passed away last week of heart failure. When her own heart was failing she continued to serve and lift others. For many years Sue was Sister John’s right hand. She helped Sister John feed this community. When Sister John was weak…Sue came along beside her and continued the mission and vision that Sister John had for those in need. She helped move the food being distributed out of the trunk of Sister John’s car to an actual Food Pantry that serves 43 families at this...
Life isn’t seamless, but some people swing that way. I’ve been working on a Substack piece that was getting kind of ponderous and it occurred to me just this morning that I really should be writing about golf lessons instead. The annual tournament, put on by the United States Golf Association and played over four days, is open to women over 50. Many of the competitors were international stars when they were younger. I’ll go ahead and tell you now that Trish, our favorite, won the U.S. Senior Wom...
We would like to send a special thanks to the Patio RV Park. They are allowing fire staff to use camping sites, showers and laundry. We can be a difficult group with loud trucks and dirty showers. We really appreciate the Patio Park. Lookout Fire Group...
As I sit here writing this, the hazy air brings up anxiety reminiscent of September 2020. It also brings up frustrations over the continued mismanagement of our federally managed state lands. I’m Melinda Montgomery. My roots in Lane County go back to the 1850s when my great-great-grandfather Parvin settled in Dexter. The Montgomery side arrived in Noti about 100 years ago and I am one of three generations living on the family timberlands today. We actively manage our property by maintaining l...
After much thought and consideration, the board members of the Vida McKenzie Community Center have decided to cancel the McKenzie River Poker Fundraising event scheduled for Saturday, August 19th. We believe our community will be best served without the added stress of this event during this time due to the two wildfires in our immediate area. We appreciate everyone’s support of this event, including those of you that had planned a fun day on the river while helping with the rebuilding process of our community center. Those who donated p...
As I inhale the smoke and listen to the helicopters racing back and forth over the house, fighting yet another fire in the Central Cascades and McKenzie River Valley, my thoughts wander to the Permian Period of Earth’s history which ended in a mass extinction, and how this summer, with all it’s disturbing weather and environmental news, is reminding me of the conditions on Earth about 250 million years ago (mya) that brought the Permian to an end. In story form, Pangea, the most recent supercontinent, attained its condition of maximum tec...
The 8-13-23 “Very Soft Opening” of Vida McKenzie Community Center was a wonderful success and the Board of VMCC wants to extend a “Thank You” to everyone who attended and who supported the event. For the first time since the Spring of 2020 (remember COVID) the Center was exactly what it is meant to be: a gathering place where friends, neighbors, and even out-of-town visitors meet. A special thanks to McKenzie Crest Wines who donated the sip tastings, to JoDee’s Cakes for donating the sweet bit...
“The longest-running newspaper in southern California has ceased publication after filing for bankruptcy.” That email is part of a depressing trend as the United States continues to see newspapers die at the rate of two per week, according to another report on the state of local news. News “deserts” are growing. It’s estimated that some 70 million Americans live in a county with either no local news organization or only one. Locally, though, I hope you’ve been enjoying the work of Mc-Kenzie R...
And look, you’ve got a Lake Agnes. In Alberta there, eh? Agnes was my mom’s name, so of course we had to go see. She’s a beauty, set apart and overlooked, maybe. And an uphill 3.5-kilometer hike to reach, a little over 2 miles. But with a sweet tea house at the end of the trail, welcoming you when you get there. We were in Alberta for about 10 days, including for Canada Day on July 1, and it was one of those trips that make you sigh if you know what I mean. We stayed in Calgary and Canmo...
Two years ago, the Oregon Legislature passed House Bill 2021, which requires Oregon’s investor-owned electric utilities to phase out fossil fuels by 2040, producing all electricity from renewables—mostly wind and solar. But renewables have a problem: Wind and solar are notoriously unreliable. They must always depend on on-demand “dispatchable” resources, which in Oregon means natural gas and hydro. New hydro is nearly impossible to build, and with other dispatchables outlawed, Oregon could find itself without electricity when it’s really needed...
As we move closer and closer to the next election, and continue to debate the role of the media in American politics, we might want to stop for a moment and reflect on just how fragile our free-expression rights can be. In mid-July 1798, Congress passed the Sedition Act, which made it a crime to publish false, malicious, or scandalous writing about the government. Despite the First Amendment, which guaranteed a free press and free speech, despite all of the talk about freedom from tyranny, despite all of the newspapers springing up, with the...
The Fourth of July holiday is an incredibly festive time nationwide. Across the state, families come together for gatherings and BBQs; there are parades, festivals, concerts, and fireworks. July Fourth is also America’s top beer-drinking holiday, with an estimated one billion dollars spent on beer during the holiday. Heavy drinking does have its pitfalls. These environments are challenging for anyone sober or in recovery from alcoholism or drug addiction. According to the National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics, 17% of adults over 18 binge d...
I was standing in line at OHSU — Oregon Health and Science University, Oregon’s premier medical facility — when I overheard the clerk ask a patient ahead of me, “Do you want your pronouns added to your chart this morning?” The country boy in me raised his eyebrows and stifled a smirk, because what could be more Woke, more Portland, more urban lib, than brandishing your preferred pronouns? (Mine are singular.) Right there, standing at ground level in OHSU’s Center for Health and Healing com...
There's admirable support for independent local businesses these days. Many expected Amazon to put local bookstores out of business, but after a steady decline in the aughts, independent stores have had a resurgence, fueled in large part by a sense of community and the need to support businesses in our own backyards. We've seen the same thing with independent record stores. Though few saw the revival of vinyl coming, there has long been a concerted effort to support local record stores because o...
The Oregon Senate has come to a standstill over the past several weeks. Most Republican Senators are boycotting floor sessions due to objections about both policy and process. Media accounts have portrayed the missing Senators in a negative light, but voters should ask why the majority party has driven Republicans to such extreme measures. Democrats hold all the power, so only they can broker a compromise. They’ve been unwilling to do that. One of the most basic rules of political leadership is to treat minority members with respect, because y...
Oregon taxpayers have spent tens of thousands of dollars paying senators who are participating in the GOP-led Senate walkout. And their salaries and per diem are just part of the cost of the stalled session. Since May 3, most Republican senators and an Independent senator have boycotted Senate floor sessions, denying the upper chamber its two-thirds majority needed to conduct business. Senators face no financial consequences for failing to show up for floor sessions: They get paid their salary...
The Massachusetts Air National Guardsman who posted highly classified documents on social media should not have received a top-secret security clearance or any security clearance based on his terrible background. He discussed violence and murder and the use of an assassination van on social media. He also looked up mass shootings and government standoffs on his government computer. He was suspended from high school for discussing the use of Molotov cocktails and other weapons and making racial threats. Why didn’t an FBI background check, w...
Each April Fools’ Day, you might brace yourself for tricks from friends and family and on social media. With all the swirling in our information universe, it can start to feel like April Fools’ Day all year long. The skills you use each April 1 can be used year-round to fight the onslaught of junk media content in our media-saturated world. If you are feeling overwhelmed by your daily dose of media, even when it’s not April 1, know you aren’t alone. This is a longstanding challenge of navigating the environment created by a free press. George...
The results of this election and the renewal of the Lane County Public Safety Levy show that this community remains committed to our safety. I am very thankful that Lane County residents recognize the need for a functional jail system including local jail beds to help hold those accused of violent and dangerous crime accountable. Renewal of this levy will allow the Lane County Jail to continue to operate with a minimum of 255 local jail beds, as well as 8 youth detention beds and 8 youth treatment beds at Lane County Youth Services. Renewal of...
