North Bend
North Bend, OR · Health
The Register-Guard
City of Eugene, Eugene recycling center among recent DEQ fines
This story was updated to add new information. The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality levied nine penalties in September, totaling $152,496. Recipients included the City of Eugene for polluting Amazon Creek and violating its water quality certification, a Eugene recycling company that operated an unpermitted waste disposal site and an east Oregon car dealership that failed to properly test its underground storage for spill prevention, line tightness and release detection. Recipients can appeal their fines by requesting a hearing within 20 days of receiving their penalty letter. DEQ sometimes reduces or eliminates fines after appeals. Recipients may also be able to resolve part of their penalty by completing or sponsoring an environmental improvement project instead of paying a fine. Oregon DEQ issues 9 penalties in September Here are the citations: City of Eugene , Eugene, $23,400: For polluting Amazon Creek and violating the city's Water Quality Certification issued for the Amazon Creek Restoration Project . Specifically, the city failed to install erosion and sediment controls, stored equipment in the active channel of the creek and failed to isolate in-water work area. A city spokesperson said that while the city was working on the project in the summer of 2024, two
klcc.org
lookouteugene-springfield.com
Odors return to Baxter site during cleanup, but air stays safe, EPA says
In its expedited cleanup at J.H. Baxter, the Environmental Protection Agency has unearthed so much contaminated water and soil at the Superfund site that it could cover the football field at Autzen Stadium. And some of it smells. The Baxter site in West Eugene treated wood products like telephone poles...
klcc.org
Changes coming to blood draw locations in Eugene/Springfield
Quest Labs is closing its locations at RiverBend in Springfield and University District in Eugene at the end of the day Friday, Oct. 23. In a statement sent to KLCC, PeaceHealth announced it will be reopening the locations as PeaceHealth labs next month. PeaceHealth says during the transition it has...
philomathnews.com
Good Sam brings in mobile MRI unit to cut imaging wait times
Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center in Corvallis has set up a mobile MRI unit to boost its imaging capacity and shorten the wait for patients who need scans. The trailer, parked outside the lower entrance of the hospital’s Neville Building, is expected to begin taking patient appointments during the last week of October. Before that, staff will use a short startup period to test the equipment and confirm its network connections.
lookouteugene-springfield.com
J.H. Baxter stormwater treatment system lapsed after president left prison
Earlier this year, J.H. Baxter & Co. in west Eugene stopped running its stormwater system that treats contamination before it flows out of the facility and into a canal that lines a residential area, according to a summary of a state-convened meeting recently made public. Water sampling and reporting also...
kezi.com
nbc16.com
New PeaceHealth Oregon Exec. makes plans to rebuild trust
PeaceHealth Oregon's new Chief Executive Heather Wall says better collaboration and access to care are what the community can expect to see with her in the role. "We're working really, really collaboratively with our physicians, our clinicians, our health system, our community partners to work to improve access to our community," Wall said.
lookouteugene-springfield.com
Blasting a butte: Oakridge residents take water, air concerns to commissioners, again
Sabrina Ratkowski drank Coca-Cola out of a glass bottle in uptown Oakridge as the sun slipped behind the mountains. At the golden hour, she watched the First Friday Art Walk festivities from a brewhouse patio. Musicians strummed instruments on the lawn of City Hall. The local theater group threw a...
klcc.org
State approves transitioning owner of McKenzie-Willamette hospital to nonprofit
The Oregon Health Authority announced Wednesday it has approved a proposal to transition the for-profit owner of Springfield’s McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center to a nonprofit organization. The proposed deal calls for the nonprofit Healthside Partners to acquire the for-profit Tennessee-based Quorum Health Corporation, which owns McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center and several...
lookouteugene-springfield.com
State OKs transfer of McKenzie-Willamette hospital ownership to a nonprofit
The Oregon Health Authority approved, with conditions, a deal that would transfer ownership of McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center in Springfield from a for-profit company to a nonprofit. In June, Lookout Eugene-Springfield reported that the Tennessee-based, private-equity backed Quorum Health hoped a merger with nonprofit Healthside Partners would help the hospital prepare...
The Register-Guard
Eugene mom says gaps in crisis services failed her son before suicide
This story was updated because an earlier version contained a reference to Hourglass Community Crisis Center, which closed in 2024. Editor's note: The following story discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of self-harm, help is available by calling or texting 988 or chatting at 988lifeline.org . Eva Wilnau first discovered that her 19-year-old son had died by suicide from a Facebook post she saw early the morning of Aug. 12. The post featured images of police vehicles from the evening prior, blocking off part of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard outside Autzen Stadium in Eugene. The post's author wrote something along the lines of, "there's a cleanup crew at Autzen Stadium. Somebody took their life. Bless their family." "The second I saw it, I just knew," Wilnau told The Register-Guard. Two days before Blayz Caceres committed suicide, Wilnau said she and her husband called the Eugene Police Department to report red flags they were noticing in their son's behavior. Caceres had purchased a $4,000 semi-automatic rifle. He also started giving away his favorite possessions to friends and began making statements about how he had to protect his belongings or else they would get shattered.
Statesman Journal
Corvallis workers vote to strike Oct. 14 over pay, health care
The union representing workers for the City of Corvallis has filed a 10-day strike notice with the state and said it intends to strike starting Oct. 14. A final scheduled session with a state mediator is Oct. 8. The union, which is part of AFSCME Local 2975, represents about 246 employees in the city. That includes employees in public works, administration and other city departments. The strike notice followed declaration of an impasse in August and a 30-day cooling off period. It would be the first strike in city history. The city’s final offer includes a 6% cost of living increase in the first year and 3% cost of living increases in the second and third years. The union says among the items it is asking for are cost of living increase and increases in the percentage of contributions for health care premiums. “Corvallis has already become one of the most expensive places to live in the state, and many of our members are already struggling to make ends meet,” Evan Newton, a land use planner for the city and president of the union said in a press release. The union says its workforce has experienced 77% turnover in the