Lane County’s annual State of the County Address will take place on Monday, January 6, at 10:00 a.m. in Harris Hall (125 E. 8th Avenue, Eugene).
Board of County Commissioners Chair Laurie Trieger will share progress made over the past year while focusing on the innovation, collaboration with community partners, and transformative initiatives helping Lane County embody its purpose to improve lives.
Ceremonial swearings-in will be held for re-elected Sheriff Cliff Harrold, newly-elected District Attorney Chris Parosa, re-elected Commissioner Pat Farr (District 4, North Eugene), and re-elected Commissioner Laurie Trieger (District 3, South Eugene).
Local musician Eric Richardson will play during the event.
Community members are welcome and encouraged to attend. The event will also be livestreamed at www.LaneCountyOR.gov/webcasts and broadcast on Comcast Channel 21 in the Eugene-Springfield area.
The first Board of County Commissioners meeting of 2025 will be held the following day, Tuesday, January 7, at 9:00 a.m.
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There have been more than 30 referrals to Lane County’s new deflection program since it began in October. The program, created as part of the Oregon Legislature’s reform of Measure 110, provides law enforcement officers with an alternative to arrest. People facing low-level charges that affect quality of life in the community may be offered treatment for substance use disorders instead of arrest.
In Lane County, if a person is eligible for deflection and has indicated interest, the responding officer has the option to call on a peer navigator to connect with the person. The peer navigator will enroll them in the program, which includes case management and tracking. If the deflection program is successfully completed, the charges will not be filed. If the program is not completed, the charges may be filed, and the case will proceed through the criminal justice system.
Download interview footage of several public safety officials talking about their experience so far with the deflection program. Video statements are available from:
- District Attorney Chris Parosa: https://vimeo.com/1040197140/18f05edf23
- Sheriff Cliff Harrold: https://vimeo.com/1040197973/6581208cd5
- Eugene Police Chief Chris Skinner: https://vimeo.com/1037993803/3a347c2ae0?share=copy
- Springfield Police Chief Andrew Shearer: https://vimeo.com/1039792035/7fc0b0a901
- Lane County Deflection Program Manager Clint Riley: https://vimeo.com/1040197467/3d71520f45
Media are, of course, welcome to download and use the videos in stories or pull quotes from the videos. Please do not link to or post the raw interview videos provided.
In Lane County, people may be eligible for deflection on the following charges if drug use is suspected as a contributing element:
- Unlawful possession of any criminal-level controlled substance
- Criminal Trespass 2
- Disorderly Conduct 2
- Criminal Mischief 3
- Theft 3
Those who are involved in a non-deflection-eligible investigation, have previous domestic violence or sex crime convictions, those who may be a danger to the peer navigators, or those with severe and persistent mental illness are not eligible for deflection.
Learn more at www.LaneCountyOR.gov/deflection.
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The free 15th Annual Community Holiday Meal with Lane County Youth Services is coming up on Wednesday, December 18. All community members are invited and welcome to join Lane County Youth Services in celebrating the holiday season with food prepared by students in the Martin Luther King, Jr. (MLK) Education Center Culinary Arts Program. The meal includes turkey, baked ham, several traditional side dishes, and dessert.
“Our annual Holiday Meal is something our students look forward to all year,” said Senior Juvenile Justice Supervisor Shellye Reynoso. “It’s a chance for them to demonstrate their skills and to do something wonderful for their community. We’re all looking forward to inviting people back this year and feeding them really well while we celebrate the holiday season.”
The meal will be held from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, December 18, in the Lane County Youth Services Carmichael Room (2727 Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard, Eugene).
The meal is free and open to everyone. It also includes a free raffle for prizes and free food boxes to take home.
No reservation is required.
About the MLK Education Center
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Education Center serves middle and high school students who have an active case with Lane County Youth Services. This program is a collaboration between Youth Services and the Lane Education Service District (Lane ESD). In addition to academics, the MLK Education Center provides vocational opportunities, including in the culinary arts. The Culinary Arts Program offers youth the opportunity to learn different jobs involved in food service and catering. Students gain skills and learn to safely use the equipment in an institutional and commercial kitchen that prepares meals for youth in detention, a residential treatment program, and more. Students may participate in all aspects of catering including preparing foods, serving, and customer service.
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The free 15th Annual Community Holiday Meal with Lane County Youth Services is coming up on Wednesday, December 18. All community members are invited and welcome to join Lane County Youth Services in celebrating the holiday season with food prepared by students in the Martin Luther King, Jr. (MLK) Education Center Culinary Arts Program. The meal includes turkey, baked ham, several traditional side dishes, and dessert.
“Our annual Holiday Meal is something our students look forward to all year,” said Senior Juvenile Justice Supervisor Shellye Reynoso. “It’s a chance for them to demonstrate their skills and to do something wonderful for their community. We’re all looking forward to inviting people back this year and feeding them really well while we celebrate the holiday season.”
The meal will be held from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, December 18, in the Lane County Youth Services Carmichael Room (2727 Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard, Eugene).
The meal is free and open to everyone. It also includes a free raffle for prizes and free food boxes to take home.
No reservation is required.
About the MLK Education Center
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Education Center serves middle and high school students who have an active case with Lane County Youth Services. This program is a collaboration between Youth Services and the Lane Education Service District (Lane ESD). In addition to academics, the MLK Education Center provides vocational opportunities, including in the culinary arts. The Culinary Arts Program offers youth the opportunity to learn different jobs involved in food service and catering. Students gain skills and learn to safely use the equipment in an institutional and commercial kitchen that prepares meals for youth in detention, a residential treatment program, and more. Students may participate in all aspects of catering including preparing foods, serving, and customer service.
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‘Tis the season to give thanks and Lane County commissioners took time during their December 3 meeting to do just that in honor of retiring State Representative Paul Holvey.
Representative Holvey has represented House District 8, which includes portions of Eugene, Springfield and South Lane County, since 2004.
Notably, Representative Holvey helped bring significant investment into the local community to support wildfire recovery, rehabilitation and seismic upgrades of key infrastructure, housing production, public safety and emergency communications, and more.
Commissioners presented Representative Holvey with a commemorative “crystal bridge” and certificate of thanks after offering individual comments about Representative Holvey’s long service to the community.
To watch, please visit Lane County’s public meetings YouTube channel.
In the attached photo from left to right: Commissioner Pat Farr, Commissioner Ryan Ceniga, Chair Laurie Trieger, Representative Paul Holvey, Commissioner Heather Buch, and Vice Chair David Loveall.
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With the holiday season here, BRING encourages residents to clear out their old, reusable items to make room for the new. This year, Lane County residents can donate directly at the Glenwood Transfer Station, where BRING recently opened a donation site in partnership with Lane County Waste Management and St. Vincent de Paul of Lane County. This site offers residents a convenient one-stop solution for donating, recycling, and disposing of household and building materials, promoting reuse while reducing landfill waste.
With increased holiday activities, waste generation can increase by as much as 25 percent between Thanksgiving and New Year’s. BRING and Waste Wise Lane County—a part of Lane County Waste Management—encourage the community to consider sustainable practices like reuse, especially during high-waste times of the year. BRING’s new collection site allows residents to easily donate gently used building materials, garden supplies, furniture, tools, and more, helping these items find new life and reducing their environmental impact.
“We are excited to expand our services to the Glenwood Transfer Station,” said Sonya Carlson, BRING’s executive director. “With this new location, we aim to make it convenient for people to donate reusable building materials that might otherwise end up in the landfill. Items like bricks, windows, doors, fencing, lumber, sinks, and tiles can all be repurposed into new projects, helping both our environment and community.”
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that construction and demolition (C&D) debris accounts for more than twice the amount of municipal solid waste, with 600 million tons of C&D debris generated annually in the United States. BRING’s efforts at the Glenwood site and its main location are part of a larger initiative to help Lane County achieve its goal of recovering 63 percent of its waste stream through reuse, recycling, and composting.
Since the Glenwood donation site opened in August, BRING has already diverted 32,579 pounds of reusable materials from the landfill. By donating at this auxiliary location, community members can contribute to BRING’s Planet Improvement Center, which provides affordable, environmentally-friendly options for local DIYers, contractors, and residents looking to repurpose quality materials.
Residents planning renovations or holiday declutter projects are encouraged to gather reusable materials for donation and save a trip by combining it with their visit to the transfer station. For a full list of accepted items or to learn more about the waste reduction initiative, visit www.bringrecycling.org.
About BRING:
BRING is a Eugene-based home and garden thrift store committed to recovering construction waste and building materials from the waste stream, providing environmental education to Lane County communities, and highlighting the importance of reuse. Today, we focus on the urgent issues of consumption, climate change, and community resiliency. Through these initiatives we fulfill our mission to provide vision, leadership and tools for living well on the planet we share. BRING has consistently been voted one of the “100 Best Green Workplaces in Oregon.”
About Waste Wise Lane County
Waste Wise Lane County— a part of the Lane County Waste Management Division—empowers residents, schools, and businesses with education, tools, and resources that can be used to reduce waste, conserve resources, and live more sustainably. For more information, visit lanecountyor.gov/wastewise.
Multimedia
Video footage available at https://drive.google.com/file/d/160m-1DYdd74R-xm71koWsNYviazpdlNQ/view?usp=sharing
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Waste Wise Lane County—a part of the Lane County Waste Management Division—is back with its third “Simplify the Holidays” campaign.
The campaign, which started in 2022, is produced by the Center for Biological Diversity and has again been adopted by the County. “Simply the Holidays” encourages residents and businesses to reimagine how they view and participate in the holiday season to inspire joy while curbing waste.
The campaign runs from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day and includes earth-friendly gift ideas and a holiday leftovers recipe contest.
“The leftover recipe contest was a fun addition to the campaign last year,” said Lane County Waste Reduction Outreach Coordinator Daniel Hiestand. “We had many great entries, and I’m excited to see what culinary creativity our residents submit this year.”
Recipes can be submitted on the County’s new website at wastewiselane.org/holiday, where they will also be published. Those who share recipes will be automatically entered into a prize drawing, with contest winners announced on January 9.
Prizes include Lion & Owl and BRING gift certificates, free enrollment in Oregon State University Extension Master Food Preserver workshops, and a collection of sustainable products from Main Street Market.
Follow the campaign on Waste Wise Lane County’s social media pages @WasteWiseLaneCounty on Facebook and Instagram.
Food Waste Facts
- Last year, ReFED estimated that Americans would waste 312 million pounds of food during Thanksgiving. This figure would have produced an amount of carbon dioxide equivalent to driving a car 73,109 times around the Earth’s equator.
- Per ReFED, $2.08 worth of food was wasted per person during the 2023 Thanksgiving holiday, which was more than $20 per 10-person dinner.
- Residents in Eugene, Veneta, and Springfield can place food waste in their curbside yard waste bins.
About Waste Wise Lane County
Waste Wise Lane County— a part of the Lane County Waste Management Division—empowers residents, schools, and businesses with education, tools, and resources that can be used to reduce waste, conserve resources, and live more sustainably. For more information, visit lanecountyor.gov/wastewise.
About Simplify the Holidays
Simplify the Holidays is an award-winning program of the Center for Biological Diversity. Simplify the Holidays seeks to empower individuals and families to be more conscious of the impacts of holiday traditions and, in doing so, reconnect with meaningful and lasting celebrations. Learn more at simplifytheholidays.org.
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