Measuring snowpack is a combo of cutting-edge tech and people power
Central Oregonians closely monitor snowpack accumulation high in the Cascades west of Bend. Area farmers depend on a large snowpack to stay in business and paltry snowfalls can reduce the number of acres planted or shutter farms altogether. Snowpack is also important for healthy ecosystems, outdoor recreation and more. Measuring snowpack relies on a vast network of remote snow telemetry stations that’s been in place since the 1970s. Most gather data automatically, but some still require in-person visits from snow researchers. (Michael Kohn/Bend Bulletin)
Federal grants help Southern Oregon yak and bison ranchers expand
Two Rogue Valley ventures — one that raises yaks and the other focusing on bison — are using grant money from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to expand their operations. Firebird Farms outside Ashland and Wild Oasis Bison Ranch, which started near Butte Falls, were among 11 Oregon agricultural operations chosen to receive a portion of $2.1 million in grants last October. The USDA awards grants annually to small farms and agricultural producers across the country to support additional revenue streams from their operations — often referred to as added value — that might otherwise be out of reach. (Morgan Rothborne/Rogue Valley Times)
Court upholds $16M verdict in Camas asbestos case
The Washington Court of Appeals recently upheld a $16.67 million jury verdict in favor of Sherrie Holdsworth, who lost her husband, Kevan — a former Camas paper mill employee — to mesothelioma in 2021. Kevan Holdsworth’s cancer was caused by exposure to asbestos from paper mill “dryer felts” sold by Scapa Waycross Inc., his family alleged. He worked in the Camas mill from 1964 to 2001. Following his death in 2021, a King County Superior Court jury ruled in favor of Sherrie Holdsworth after a four-week trial and awarded the damages, one of the largest asbestos verdicts in Washington. (Sarah Wolf/The Columbian)
6,800 gallons of sewage spill into the Willamette near Salem
About 6,800 gallons of untreated sewage spilled into the Willamette River over four days, the city of Salem announced on Thursday. City officials said the overflow was reported at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday near the Church and Union Street overflow tide gate. It was caused after a buildup of solids in the sewer line caused by low flow in the line led to the tide gate pushing open just enough for a steady stream of sewage to flow out to the river, officials said. Sewage spilled into the river for four days until the overflow was noticed during a routine inspection of the flow monitoring equipment at the tide gate location. (Whitney Woodworth/Salem Statesman Journal)
Free ‘trolleys’ return to Independence and Monmouth after a century’s absence
When Paul Evans was an 18-year-old, first-time city councilor in Monmouth in 1988, he went to coffee shops and barber shops around town to hear what some of the city’s older residents would talk about. A frequent topic was a trolley that ran between the city and neighboring Independence until 1918. Evans said residents talked about how they would love to have a trolley again. After decades of dreaming and years of planning, the MI Trolley — in the form of buses decorated and designed to look like trolley cars — is scheduled to begin a two-year pilot of free service between the Polk County cities on Sunday. (Bill Poehler/Salem Statesman Journal)
