Improving Rural Emergency Response in Deadwood Area
A new effort aimed at strengthening emergency preparedness in the Deadwood area is getting underway. Deadwood Creek Services, Deadwood Community Action, and Siuslaw Vision have launched the Deadwood Resilience Collaborative with support from a Community Transformation Grant from United Way of Lane County. Organizers say the two-year project will focus on emergency communications, volunteer response training, food resilience, and expanding the Deadwood Community Center as a resilience hub. The initiative will officially launch September 19th with a community cookout and information session at the Deadwood Community Center. Residents can learn about volunteer opportunities and preparedness programs designed to help the community respond to future emergencies.
Food Backpack for Kids Receives Influx of Funds
Food Backpack For Kids has received a $5,000 grant from Safeway Albertsons to help address weekend food insecurity among students in the Florence and Mapleton school districts. Program leaders say the funding will support the delivery of more than 28,000 weekend meals during the 2026 school year. Founded in 2012, Food Backpack For Kids provides shelf-stable food bags containing meals, snacks, and drinks for students facing hunger outside the school week. Volunteers pack and deliver the bags each Wednesday, helping ensure students return to class nourished and ready to learn.
Missing Veneta Man
Lane County Sheriff’s deputies and Search and Rescue volunteers are looking for a missing Veneta man with Alzheimer’s. Seventy-two-year-old Steven Jay Friedman was reported missing Sunday evening after walking away from his home on Jeans Road. Family members last saw him around 3:20 p.m. Authorities say he left without medication, a phone, or personal belongings. Friedman is described as 5-foot-10, 200 to 225 pounds, and was last seen wearing a blue hooded sweatshirt, blue jeans, and gardening shoes. Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to call 911.
Update:
The search for 82-year-old George Friedman has ended safely. Lane County Sheriff’s officials say Friedman was located Monday morning, August 3, at about 7:10 a.m. in the area of Zumwalt Park outside Veneta. He was transported by paramedics to a local hospital for treatment. Authorities have notified his family, and Friedman has been cleared as missing. The Lane County Sheriff’s Office thanked everyone who assisted in the search and helped bring him home to his family.
Heat Advisory For Mapleton, Smoke Expected on the Coast
A Heat Advisory is in effect from noon Tuesday through 11 p.m. Wednesday for the Mapleton, Deadwood and surrounding inland areas. Afternoon highs are expected to reach 95 to 100 degrees, with overnight lows only dropping into the 60s. The prolonged heat increases the risk of heat-related illness. Wildfire smoke may keep temperatures a few degrees lower, but conditions will still be dangerously hot. Stay hydrated, avoid strenuous outdoor activity during the hottest part of the day, check on family and neighbors, and monitor local air quality at LRAPA.org.
