FLORENCE – California gray whales can live to be 70 years old, can grow to nearly 50 feet and adults can weigh 60,000 pounds.  Gray whales can dive 500 feet and are able to stay underwater for 30 minutes or more. Their annual migration covers…

Editor’s note: “Dear Bernard” addresses mental-health issues, and is published in partnership with the Center for Community Counseling. Have you ever wondered if you are mentally fit? How has the pandemic affected someone with a mental illness? Are men handling the crisis differently than women?…

SPRINGFIELD – City council is considering an amendment to its charter to fill the mayor vacancy through an election, after residents at Monday’s meeting said they’ve gone too long without a mayor.  An unusual situation, Mayor Christine Lundberg suddenly resigned in August 2020 after being…

BRADLEY COOK/ FLASHBOX STUDIO Bella, aka Granny Belle. For many of us, saying goodbye to our loved ones is the toughest thing we ever face in life. That challenge certainly isn’t made any easier when we can’t fully communicate with those beloved souls, and really…

County leaders this week delivered a virtual State of the County address on Jan. 4, in which they reflected on the hardships and achievements of 2020, and their high hopes for the new year.  “Lane County began the year in solid financial condition with a…

EMMA ROUTLEY/ THE CHRONICLE The warming shelters have been built and placed behind the Post Office parking lot and Dari Mart at 1200 E. Main St. COTTAGE GROVE – When a local organization said it could no longer offer shelter for people without homes on…

It’s a new year with the same focus: coronavirus and vaccinations.  County health officials are rolling with the punches as they work to coordinate vaccination distribution, and as long-term care facilities and workplaces continue to be at the center of coronavirus outbreaks locally.  With a…

Going to share a Christmas story from 1964. I need to premise this story with the following: As a boy growing up in the 1940s and ’50s in the great Northwest, clothes drying was a major task in the household. I grew up with a…

Lake Creek, looking down river from Deadwood Boat landing. Two days after I took this picture the Lake Creek rose a couple of feet but should be excellent for New Year’s weekend. Happy New Year’s everyone …  The beginning of winter ushered in a couple…