Roosevelt elk at Jewell Meadows Wildlife Area. Photo by Jim Yuskavitch. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife announced that public tours for the 2020-2021 elk feeding season at Jewell Meadows Wildlife Area have been cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions. “Given current Covid-19 restrictions and the inability to practice social[Read More…]
Chas Hundley
Washington County added to COVID-19 ‘Pause List’
A face mask. File photo: Chas Hundley Washington County and three other counties have been added to a new list of counties that will see restrictions placed on social gatherings and businesses beginning November 11, the office of Governor Kate Brown announced. In a Monday afternoon press release, Brown said[Read More…]
Oregon’s ‘Exploding Whale’ legend turns 50
A mother sperm whale and her calf off the coast of Mauritius. The calf has remoras attached to its body.By Gabriel Barathieu – https://www.flickr.com/photos/barathieu/7277953560/, CC BY-SA 2.0, November 9, 1970. The sperm whale, washed up on Heceta Beach near Florence, Oregon, was dead, and the plan was to blow it[Read More…]
Saturday election update: Biden, ballots, Brad Witt and Brian Stout
A sign supporting presumptive vice-president Joe Biden in Gales Creek. Photo: Chas Hundley This will be our last regular daily elections update; we’ll have a story for the results of House District 31 once there’s enough certainty to determine a winner, as well as stories and interviews with new and[Read More…]
State officials urge limiting gatherings, enact “pause” restrictions on five counties
A face mask. File photo: Chas Hundley With climbing numbers of COVID-19 being recorded with no slowing down in sight, Oregon is walking toward the limits of hospital capacity in the Portland Metro area, a scenario public health officials have been trying to avoid since the first lockdown order in[Read More…]
Thursday vote tally for county, state races and measures
A handmade sign encouraging voting in Banks on Tuesday, November 3. Photo: Chas Hundley With newer results in hand from the Oregon Secretary of State, here is where county, state, and federal races and measures stand on Thursday afternoon. The percentages and vote counts will likely shift slightly as county[Read More…]
Stephanie Jones wins election for Banks mayor
Stephanie Jones (right) and husband Kelly Jones (left). Photo courtesy Stephanie Jones Stephanie Jones has won the election for Banks mayor. Fending off a campaign from political newcomer Jonathon Boyer, Jones is on track to win the election handily, with Wednesday’s latest results showing her at 67.04% of the vote,[Read More…]
Running unopposed, Janeen Sollman wins reelection bid for House District 30
Janeen Sollman, photo courtesy Oregon Legislative Website Running unopposed in the House District 30 race, State Representative Janeen Sollman coasted to an easy victory, netting 93.94% of the vote in early returns. When she is sworn in, Sollman will begin her third term in Salem. House District 30 covers a[Read More…]
Banks voters support annexation measure in initial vote results
The area that is up for annexation. Photo: city of Banks Voters in the city of Banks are on track to approve a measure to annex just over one acre of new land into city limits. According to early election results, the measure has received 69.1% of the vote, or[Read More…]
Results for city council races arrive with initial vote count
Banks City Hall. Photo: Brenda Schaffer Polls closed at 8 p.m., and moments later, the first wave of numbers were released on the Oregon Secretary of State’s election results website, confirming that the candidates running unopposed for a city council race — Jeff Thompson for CC2, Peter Edison for CC4,[Read More…]