Spanning the State: "On the Lam" version

Carla Axtman

Awhile back, I stopped writing Spanning the State because of the difficulty of obtaining hyper local news online for towns in Oregon. Especially for rural areas. Honestly, it's still pretty tough. But I've missed writing about this. So I'm going to pick it back up and see if I can once again contribute a weekly round-up of stories from around the state.

If you've got a news story you'd like to see in Spanning the State, feel free to send an email to [email protected], and I'll see if I can use it. Please make sure to include a link to the story. Good stories from rural areas of Oregon will definitely get priority whenever possible.

And now without further adieu, let's Span the State!

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For almost a year, two rogue Barbados sheep have been on the lam in and around Medford. The sheep (which look a LOT like goats, actually) were finally captured last week in a green space behind a local apartment building. ODOT tried to capture the sheep last month, to no avail. The final attempt to wrangle the animals started last Monday when they left their favorite field and wandered on to I-5, triggering about 50 calls to Oregon State Police. The sheep have been relocated to an animal sanctuary, where they'll eventually go up for adoption.

For the third year in a row, timber sales are up in Oregon. Driven largely by exports from sales on private lands, 3.75 billion board were harvested feet in 2012. By far, the largest sales were from family-owned forest lands, totaling 318 million board feet.

Many in the Oregon political world continue to look on in astonishment as Clackamas County rolls into it's apparent implosion. The latest salvo comes from the dismissal of a veteran member of the Planning Commission, Brian Pasko. Pasko, who is also Oregon's Sierra Club director, was let go from the commission last week in a move that County Chair John Ludlow said was necessary in order to get people off the commission who wouldn't vote the way he wanted on issues around Exclusive Farm Use zoned land. Pasko said that he's never had to make such a land-use decision while serving on the commission.

Another drought year, another water panic in the Klamath Basin.

Members of Oregon Rural Action are speaking out against proposed coal transfer terminal in Boardman. DEQ hearings held in Portland and Hermiston gave members of the group an opportunity to air their grievances with the proposed project. Among the ORA members testifying was a farmer from Union County concerned about the endangering of local wheat exports. Gary Neal of the Port of Morrow says that the project would create about 25-30 full-time jobs at the Port.

By Carla Axtman July 15, 2013