COTTAGE GROVE – Most folks don’t want to think about what happens when they flush the toilet. They are happy enough to see that swirling vortex, to hear the reassuring sound of a flush, thinking that it is now somebody else’s problem.

In 1927, the Creswell Civic Improvement Club (CCIC) bought the building on the NW corner of south 2nd and D Streets from the Oregon Baptist Society. The Club had organized in 1913 as an affiliate of the National Federation of Women’s Clubs and needed its own meeting place.

Our culture is changing. This idea of culture is not confined to race. The culture of doing business, communication, spiritual services, interacting with our community, requires our ability to adapt, accept and respond to this reality.

As the weather gets warmer and this unpredictable school year comes to a close, Lane County school districts begin planning for graduation, summer learning and the return of a fully in-person school schedule for fall 2021.

SPRINGFIELD – Mona Castle, like many small business owners struggling with the economic effects of the pandemic, was forced to make hard decisions regarding her beads business. One might say it was hanging on by a thread.

This past week has been a difficult one for those of us who are longtime residents of Lorane. One of our own special people who was raised in Lorane and went to school in the Lorane and Crow schools was admitted to the intensive care unit at McKenzie-Willamette Hospital.

CRESWELL – A string of catalytic converter thefts has led Lane County Sheriff’s Office to ramp up its patrols, Creswell Sheriff Scott Denham said Tuesday.

The building in Creswell on the corner of South 2nd and D Streets, across from the Creswell Bakery, is known as the old library or the old schoolhouse. Further back in time, it was known as The Civic Club when the Creswell Civic Improvement Club owned it. Before that it was the Baptist Church, when the Oregon Baptist Society owned it. Even further back in time, it was P. Noland’s hall. Before that it was just “the school” when it was Creswell’s first and only school.

Before about 1890 there were absolutely no sunfish species in Oregon. No bass, no crappie, no bluegill and several other species of warm-water fish. They all were absent from the water bodies in Oregon. There were also no carp, shad, striped bass or catfish and it was decades before any of the dams and reservoirs were built. It was a time when all our waterways were unrestricted to fish migration and every river in the Columbia River Basin was still fully connected, leaving fish free to wander.

In a bind for time this Mother’s Day? Small businesses in South Lane County will be open this weekend, and are goldmine for locally-made and thoughtful gifts. In Cottage Grove, The Bookmine at 702 E. Main St. is one of the town’s grooviest local bookstores. Sisters Gail and Birdy Hoelzle have been running it since the mid-‘70s, and in April celebrated its 46th anniversary. Through the hard work of the Hoelzle sisters and their husbands, The Bookmine has evolved into much more than a bookstore.

We have fantastic students in our schools, representing an array of diverse communities within the Springfield School District. I believe it’s the same in every district. However, as successful as we are with some of our kids, far too many of our wonderful students, nearly 28% in Springfield, fail to graduate on-time and are ill-prepared for the next step. Even more dismal, this statistic has been unchanged for decades. We can do better.

Friends and neighbors, This last year has been a tough one for all of us. The pandemic, the social unrest and the disastrous fires in our area. One of these alone would have been difficult, but the combined effects have been devastating. Some of us lost friends and loved ones. Some of us lost our jobs or homes. All of us lost a year and then some. I want to do my part to lift our community up and build it back better than ever. That’s why I’m running for Springfield School Board.

My name is Pam Duffy. I am running for the South Lane School Board Position 2. I am a Federal retiree having worked for the US Secret Service and the Federal Office of Workers’ Compensation. I moved to Cottage Grove in 2003. I was involved in a grade school/middle school mentoring program in Seattle for seven years. Upon moving here, I mentored at London Elementary for two years, but stopped to care for my mother who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. As a new member on the Board, I will have a great deal to learn and the federal/state governments dictate much of what the school district can do.

My name is Taylor Wilhour and I’m running for re-election to the South Lane School Board. My wife and I moved to Lane County in 2006 when our first child was just a toddler and we have grown to love this community more and more over the years. I’m proud to call this my home. We have three kids now, one each in elementary, middle school and high school, so I am involved at every level of our school district.

Applications are now open until June 9 to be part of Springfield’s effort to beautify the city. The “Stormwater Team” is looking for artists of all ages and from anywhere in Oregon to join the summer mural-painting project, UpStream Art.

Hello Chronicle readers, I am running to represent Zone 5 on the Lane Community College Board of Education. I have proven experience and success as a community leader, and I seek your support in my bid to work hard in support of our community college. I’d like to tell you a bit about myself, why I’m running and ask for your support.

Commitment. Integrity. Community. Family. These are just some of the key tenets I live by and will bring to the Lane Community College Board of Directors. Serving as a board member is a convergence of experiences and principles, including an understanding of Board processes, student experience and goals for success. The area represented is mostly Western Lane County from Hwy 99 West to Florence and Lorane North to Monroe. For these positions every precinct in Lane County votes.

Shortages of substitutes are a common theme in regional school districts, and are leaving staff feeling stretched thin. That’s according to Stephanie Rogers, an educational assistant at Bohemia Elementary School, who addressed the South Lane school board this week with concerns that staff is taking the brunt of the hit.

SALEM, Ore.—State wildlife biologists counted 173 wolves in Oregon this past winter, a 9.5 percent increase over last year’s count of 158 according to the Oregon Wolf Conservation and Management 2020 Annual Report released today at odfw.com/wolves.

When you hear the word “marathon” it usually means something epic or vast in proportion, such as “Last night I did a marathon study session to try to get ready to pass that @#$&! exam.” If you are athletically inclined the 26.2-mile footrace, a marathon, probably is what comes to mind. The name of the race comes from the Greek city Marathon, about 25 miles from Athens.

Suicide is a serious public health issue in the US, Oregon and particularly here in Lane County. The rate of suicide in our county has been roughly 50 percent greater than the national average since 2015. In 2019 alone, 106 people died– the greatest number of deaths our county has ever seen.

CRESWELL – Four people within the Creswell School District have been diagnosed with COVID-19 within days of each other, as the virus surged in Lane County.

SPRINGFIELD – A student-driven interview of Dolores Huerta – longtime social justice advocate, educator, and civil rights activist – was one of the highlights of this year’s Huerta/Chávez Celebration, an event that hopes to inspire students to stay strong and celebrate their different backgrounds.

Coming Fall 2021 – the Springfield High School baseball team will be hitting home runs from a new home field. In partnership with Bushnell University, the Springfield Baseball Project and Springfield Public Schools will renovate a baseball field located at Hamlin Middle School, known as the Hamlin Sports Complex.

COTTAGE GROVE – Bret Lucich received an eager request Friday night at the Village Green. Someone asked him to play “Bring ’Em Home.” But the name of Lucich’s beautiful, somewhat-famous, patriotic song is actually “One Hero at a Time.” He was still flattered by the moment.

Friends and neighbors, This last year has been a tough one for all of us. The pandemic, the social unrest and the disastrous fires in our area. One of these alone would have been difficult, but the combined effects have been devastating. Some of us lost friends and loved ones. Some of us lost our jobs or homes. All of us lost a year and then some. I want to do my part to lift our community up and build it back better than ever. That’s why I’m running for Springfield School Board.

Raising my two daughters in Lane County, I had the opportunity because of my husband’s job to stay at home to care for and teach them during the early years of their lives. As they grew older and started school, I volunteered regularly in their classrooms, coached their Kidsports teams, and worked part-time in retail while completing my undergraduate education at Lane Community College.