Homeless Count
Lane County Human Services, along with several community partners, will be conducting the annual Homeless Point-In-Time count today and tomorrow. A news article published on the agency’s website in June of last year estimated that tonight’s count could be close to 43 hundred. That item has since been removed. If it is even close to that number, it would eclipse the 2024 count which came in at 3,085. The count serves as a “snapshot” of homelessness in Lane County and provides a sense of the general scope and state of homelessness in our area. It is required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development with volunteers and service providers spreading out to try to determine how many people are sleeping in emergency shelters and transitional housing programs as well as those “couch surfing”, sleeping in cars, tents, parks or other outdoor spaces not intended to be housing. The final amount won’t be available to the public until it is submitted to HUD sometime in May.
Accident Temporarily Closes 126
A Tuesday afternoon crash on Highway 126 6-miles west of Walton prompted a brief closure yesterday while emergency crews responded, and police investigated. The crash occurred a few minutes before four o’clock and the Oregon Department of Transportation opened it just over an hour later. No official cause has been released but it is presumed, due to the location of the crash in an area with several winding curves in shaded areas, slick highway conditions could have contributed.
North Bend Woman Dies in Fire
North Bend firefighters responding to a house fire at 2555 Sherman Avenue Tuesday afternoon quickly extinguished the blaze but discovered the lifeless remains of the woman who had lived there. Crews worked at the scene to revive 40-year-old Kayla Padgett and she was transported to Bay Area Hospital where she was later pronounced dead. They were able to save a dog. The North Bend Fire Department, in conjuction with the Oregon State Fire Marshal’s office, investigated and blame the fire on an “unattended flame” and determined it to be accidental.
ODFW Gathering Input
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is hosting an online public meeting on February 10 at 5:30 p.m. to gather input on the number and timing of fixed and back-up dates for the central Oregon coast spring all-depth Pacific halibut season. While other area and season dates were finalized last fall, ODFW is seeking feedback on this specific fishery. Fishery managers will also review key takeaways from the International Pacific Halibut Commission’s annual meeting, including recreational halibut quotas for the upcoming season. Meeting materials will be available on the sport Halibut webpage by 12 p.m. on February 7.
