Lane County Waste Management began a six-month pilot project that seeks to improve the quantity and quality of recycling at apartments, condominiums and multi-tenant properties.  Some of the 2,000 households in the pilot may be wondering: “Who is that peeking into garbage and recycling containers?”…

FRANK ARMENDARIZ/THE CHRONICLE Named after the river where they were invented, the McKenzie River drift boats connect people to a historic pastime and are as popular as ever. A local innovation, the McKenzie River drift boat has been around for almost 100 years and is…

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted students’ mental well-being in numerous ways. Prolonged school closure and online learning pose some challenges for students such as loss of in-person connection, zoom fatigue, and lack of access to stable internet connection. Further, these transitions have presented parents with…

Suds up, mask up, and stay put because the next 100 days are projected to be “relative misery” according to local public health officials.  “We are really on the steep part of the curve right now,” said Dr. Patrick Luedtke, the county’s senior public health…

SPRINGFIELD – The Oregon School Boards Association held a staff training session for Springfield district board members and staff discussing how to best improve the equity challenges students and families face in the district. The meeting was led by Vincent Adams, OSBA board development specialist,…

The UK mutation A more contagious mutation of the coronavirus that rapidly swept through the United Kingdom has made its way to Oregon – one case each in Yamhill and Multnomah counties – but none in Lane County, public health officials stated.  Keeping the more-contagious…

EMMA ROUTLEY/THE CHRONICLE Owner Melanie Stuhlmiller at her boutique on East Main St. in Cottage Grove. COTTAGE GROVE – Melanie Stuhlmiller wasn’t about to spend her life working 9-to-5s. Despite the familiar pandemic-related challenges, she pushed through to make her small-town women’s boutique, Free Rein…

DANA MERRYDAY/THE CHRONICLE Shop owner Chris Compton advises a customer at Rainy Peak Bicycles in Cottage Grove. Cottage Grove has a history of reinventing itself.   For a while, gold mining dominated the local economy. After the glimmer of gold faded, the Grove became a…

This week Dear Bernard’s guest columnist and licensed psychologist Jon Davies offers tips on persevering your well-being through the next six months of the pandemic.  Have you been feeling frustrated, irritable, anxious, lonely, depressed or even hopeless? Are you worried about your health or that…