By ALEX BAUMHARDT/Oregon Capital Chronicle — School leaders across the state are five weeks away from having the power to make masks optional for students and staff without the risk of fines or the loss of Covid relief funds. Still, school boards in Alsea, Redmond and Molalla River have decided[Read More…]
Doug Bates
Upper Willamette gets another blanket of snow, followed by sunshine, a cold snap and icy roads
OAKRIDGE-WESTFIR received a few more inches of fresh snow Monday night, making travel on Highway 58 temporarily treacherous as temperatures dropped into the teens. Tuesday dawned bright and sunny, and by mid-morning the area’s streets and roads had begun to clear except in shady spots where the sun had yet[Read More…]
Legislative leaders agree on 7 spending plans on energy efficiency, rural areas and more
By LYNNE TERRY/Oregon Capital Chronicle — Legislative Democrats and Republicans have been working behind the scenes to devise spending packages for rural communities, energy efficiency programs, homeless services and education. House Speaker Dan Rayfield, D-Corvallis, said $100 million will be devoted to rural infrastructure. That package came out of meetings[Read More…]
Commentary: Here’s hoping that your walk doesn’t end in a heap of shattered glass
By BEN OLSON/For The Herald — I guess it was just a matter of time. I’d heard the stories, some of them first-hand. “We went for a hike on a trail off this quiet Forest Service road. When we came back we found someone had broken a window and rifled[Read More…]
Winter returns to the Upper Willamette, ending prolonged period of dry, springlike weather
AFTER A LONG STRETCH OF SUNNY winter days, residents of the Upper Willamette woke up with snow Monday morning — as much as four inches in parts of Oakridge and Westfir. More snow and colder temperatures — possibly as low as 16 degrees — are forecast for the area on[Read More…]