Oregon is bracing to fully experience the impacts of the Omicron variant over the next several weeks, as the state is likely to experience a significant COVID-19 surge, driven by the Omicron variant, now through February.  According to experts at the Oregon Health and Science…

A stock image of a drone SPRINGFIELD – City Council this week considered the implementation of drone usage as a means to strengthen the methods of 21st century policing in Springfield.  It’s a topic that both Springfield councilors and police officers are already foreshadowing as controversial,…

Stinnett Of the many benefits that Downtown Cottage Grove can offer, the Main Street Revitalization Grant has to be near the top of the list.  Recently, the State Historic Preservation Office of Oregon announced that it will fund the Main Street Revitalization Grant in 2022-23…

At this time of year, competition is all around us: competition for a national championship in college football, competition at the mall to return holiday presents, competition at the gym to take off some of those extra pounds. But there is another competition playing out…

It was almost a white Christmas in South Lane; a day late, but residents didn’t seem to mind — unless they didn’t receive a shovel for the holiday. Slick conditions from snow and ice compacting on the roads prompted late starts, cancellations and days off…

A scene from Northern Lights Christmas Tree Farm in Pleasant Hill. CHRONICLE ARCHIVES It’s the end of December — the time of reckoning for local tree farmers. Years’ worth of labor has culminated, but not without immense work and planning. And while no one could…

CRESWELL The year began with the swearing in of newly elected government leaders, but Creswell lost some along the way.  Judge R Scott Palmer began the year with optimism. “In contrast to what we’ve been experiencing at a federal and state level, we are blessed…

Kenneth Michael Roberts/Courtesy photoJerry Vervarka, right, joins other volunteers in preparing the Christmas Community dinner a few years back. The kitchen at First Presbyterian was humming on Christmas Day as teams of volunteers worked together to fill orders for community dinners, no questions asked. The…

Clothes pile up at a St. Vincent de Paul warehouse in the southern Willamette Valley. Some clothes are from online returns. Full disclosure: I’m a tad ignorant when it comes to the business of retail. Having never worked in a typical department store or shop,…