Lane County to welcome returning soldiers…
Roughly 400 Lane County citizen-soldiers will return home this week after spending 11 months on active duty in Iraq. Most of those will be greeted tomorrow afternoon for a demobilization ceremony for the 2nd Battalion, 162nd Infantry Regiment, 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team. That ceremony is set for 1:30 at the Lane County Fairgrounds in Eugene. Lane County Veterans Subcommittee chair Tim Mueller says helping those guard members reintegrate into civilian life is a major goal. More than two-thirds will be able to take off the uniforms, lay down their arms and get back to what they were doing before being called up. But, says Mueller, 30 to 40 percent will face a variety of challenges such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. For those soldiers, the ten day transition from Iraq to Lane County isn’t enough. The committee was formed to help address the needs of returning National Guardsmen and women… and their families. The Lane County Board of Commissioners will approve a proclamation next week urging all residents of Lane County to support them in their new mission.
Even as that Oregon National Guard unit is returning home, a group of area residents will be remembering those who have not. Citizen’s Democracy Watch is hosting an observance of the anniversaries of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan at Siuslaw Public Library from six to nine PM this evening. Veteran’s advocate Bill McCollum will talk about issues facing returning vets. Folk singer George Mann will perform music for veterans and their kin. The Afghan war began in October 2001, and the seventh anniversary of the Iraq war was March 18th. Tonight’s event is free.
Water quality samples from 25 Oregon beaches will be taken on a regular basis between Memorial Day and Labor Day again for the eighth straight year. The summer program is coordinated by the Oregon Department of Human Services and the Department of Environmental Quality. They’re undergoing the process of finalizing that list of beaches to be monitored. No locations in Western Lane County are included. Public comments are being taken through April 28th.
Hundreds of Rhododendron and Azalea trusses and sprays are expected for this weekend’s ‘early rhododendron show’ at the Florence Events Center. Each year the Florence Chapter of the American Rhododendron Society hosts two shows. The late one is the largest and coincides with the Rhododendron Festival in May. This weekend’s show is aimed at catching the ‘early bloomers’. Entries for judging can be delivered to the FEC between seven and nine AM Saturday. The show opens to the public that afternoon from one to five and then again on Sunday from ten to five.
Here is the latest Oregon news from The Associated Press
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Closing arguments are expected to begin in
Portland this afternoon as jurors consider whether to grant $25
million in punitive damages against the Boy Scouts of America in a
sex abuse. The jury already awarded an Oregon man $1.4 million in
compensatory damages last week after deciding the Scouts were
negligent for failing to prevent his abuse a Scout leader in the
1980s.
SALEM, Ore. (AP) - The Oregon Board of Forestry is expected
today to give final approval to a new management plan for state
forests that allows more logging. The board is considering changes
to the plan adopted in 2001 because it is not delivering as much
timber as expected. At issue is how much forest will be managed to
be like old growth.
GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) - The resignation of the head of the
Oregon attorney general's environmental crimes unit apparently
stems from the way a water sample was collected in a pollution case
against a Hood River juice manufacturer. Attorney General John
Kroger would only say that Brent Foster resigned after telling him
he misrepresented his involvement in the investigation of criminal
water pollution charges against the owner of Hood River Juice.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - The United States has an estimated 200,000
alpacas -- and someone has to shear them. Oregonian Robert Morrison
says there are only 15 or 20 itinerant shearers like himself, who
travel from farm to farm to give the animals their annual cuts.
Morrison tells The Oregonian newspaper that understanding the
animals is half the battle - the rest is getting along with their
owners.
BURNS, Ore. (AP) - A National Weather Service meteorologist is
backing away from his belief that a tornado ripped through sparsely
populated southeast Oregon. Boise, Idaho-based meteorologist Paul
Flatt says he'd based his opinion on reports that a roof was blown
off a house southeast of Burns on Tuesday. The house only lost
several shingles, which doesn't indicate tornado-strength winds. He
says the winds were likely 70-to-75 mph.
MCMINNVILLE, Ore. (AP) - A Texas lab has confirmed that a leg
discovered on the banks of the Willamette River belonged to a
58-year-old Corvallis woman who was reported as missing and
suicidal in May 2007. Yamhill County Sheriff Jack Crabtree says the
leg was found in October 2008 -- five months after a different leg
was recovered in the river between Salem and Independence. A Texas
lab matched the legs with Gloria Knoll's DNA.
DAYTON, Ore. (AP) - The city of Dayton is warning people to
avoid contact with Oregon's Yamhill River because of a sewage
spill. The News-Register reports that people are being told to stay
away from water downstream from the city's wastewater lift station
until Saturday. The spill occurred after a truck hit a power pole
just east of town. Power was cut to the station while crews were
repairing lines, sending the sewage into the river.
MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) - Public health officials are urging people
to avoid the water in Oregon's Willow Lake because of unhealthy
levels of algae. The Mail Tribune reports the advisory issued
yesterday was the first time that blue-green algae levels have led
to such a warning for the lake 24 miles east of Medford. High
levels of the algae can produce harmful toxins. Officials say
people should also avoid fish and freshwater shellfish from the
lake.
HILLSBORO, Ore. (AP) - Nearly all the gold that was stolen from
the Rice Northwest Museum of Rocks and Minerals in Hillsboro has
been recovered. Washington County sheriff's detectives said they
were led to the gold at a home in Tigard by a suspect identified as
Jeff Harvey of Portland, the great-grandson of museum founders
Richard and Helen Rice and the grandson of Bill and Sharleen Rice
who donated most of the gold.
GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) - Police arrested a man and woman accused
of robbing a Grants Pass liquor store. Witnesses told police the
pair fled in a pickup with flames painted on the fenders. Police
found the truck Tuesday and 48-year-old John Whisenant of Grants
Pass. The next day Jodi Rose Ventrella of Grants Pass was arrested.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
TAKING A LOOK INTO COAST RADIO SPORTS:
Prep Softball:
Gabbie Schaffner had two doubles and the Siuslaw Vikings picked up their first league victory of the season yesterday afternoon, 8-4 over the Bulldogs in North Bend.
Prep Baseball:
Siuslaw remains undefeated in Far West League play after winning another extra inning contest. Gage Miller scored on a past ball with two outs in the bottom of the eighth to give the Vikings a 6-5 victory over the North Bend Bulldogs. Trevor Roberts started on the mound and was relieved in the fourth inning by Kevin Warren who allowed only two hits and threw seven strikeouts in his five innings of work for the win.
Prep Track and Field:
The Mapleton girls were second, the boys fifth in a six-way Mountain West League meet in Mapleton yesterday afternoon. Liz Harry was the lone individual winner for the girls in the javelin. Jesse Nelson won two events on the boys’ side… the Javelin and the 110-meter hurdles.
College Baseball:
The number 18 ranked Oregon Ducks produced their best offensive outing since reinstatement yesterday, downing Gonzaga 19-10 in Spokane. The Ducks faced five Bulldog pitchers and produced 25 hits. They improve to 25-and-12 on the season.
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