Tiffany Eckert

Large spikes in COVID-19 cases in Benton County have prompted public health action. Starting Tuesday, masks are required when working at or visiting indoor county-run facilities.

On Tuesday, Lane County Public Health reported 97 new COVID-19 cases, the most seen in a 24-hour period since mid-spring.

A popular Lane County voucher program has been extended to make locally grown food more affordable to low-income residents.

Lane County Public Health was recently notified of another case of bat rabies—the fourth this year. A rabid bat was also just discovered in Deschutes County.

Oregon children who missed out on free or reduced-price meals at school - because of the pandemic -will soon be receiving food benefits in the mail. 

Lane County Public Health was notified of a large COVID-19 outbreak at a memory care facility on the Oregon coast.

The million-dollar prize winner of Oregon’s Take Your Shot COVID-19 vaccination campaign was announced Friday. She is a fine arts student at Oregon State University.

The Executive Coordinator of White Bird Clinic was at the White House for its Independence Day celebration last Sunday. The Eugene-based outreach clinic was honored for it’s COVID-19 vaccination project.

For the second year, the Oregon Country Fair will not be held on the wooded site in Veneta. The pandemic forced the decision in late spring, when many would have begun preparing for the popular festival. In the interest of safety, the Board of Directors made the choice to put an in-person Country Fair on hold-- again. What will happen this weekend is a virtual event called Fair in the Clouds.

Oregon Country Fair has named a new Executive Director. The position has been vacated since December, 2020.

Now that most of Oregon’s COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted, businesses may forgo requirements for physical distancing and masking—or not. This Eugene store is keeping the rule for facial coverings intact for the time being.

As temperatures reached record highs over the weekend, the cooling centers at the fairgrounds in Eugene had more than 120 visitors taking respite from the heat.

The Eugene Register-Guard recently sent a letter to some subscribers explaining plans to cut newspaper delivery by one day a week.

During Oregon State University’s seventh round of COVID-19 sampling throughout Corvallis—TRACE volunteers found evidence of the virus at similar levels seen at the start of the pandemic. 

To parents, it may seem that their offspring speak a totally different language, especially when conversing online. Modern lingo may sound like alien terminology—but SLANG is the same linguistic tool that has separated teens from adults for generations. And as KLCC’s Tiffany Eckert discovered, the kids in Eugene like it that way.

For many it may seem that life is heading back to normal after Lane County met the vaccination metrics to move to Low risk for COVID-19 restrictions.  However, the future is uncertain for the unvaccinated.

The Johnson Teen Center is an offshoot of the Boys and Girls Club of Corvallis. Many of their programs, including a panel addressing racism, help youth of color find their voice.

Now that Lane County has achieved Low Risk status for business restrictions, Public Health has shifted the goal. Officials say now it’s about reaching “herd immunity” in order to protect everyone. The focus is on vaccine access.  

The Douglas County Board of Commissioners just sent another letter to Oregon Governor Kate Brown. The latest missive asks for a halt to enhanced unemployment benefits put in place during the pandemic. 

Lane County has met the state’s 65% metric for COVID-19 vaccinations and will now move to the Low Risk category—permanently. Changes in community restrictions will go into effect sooner than expected. 

HIV Alliance has launched a Medication Assisted Treatment (MET) program for people who inject illicit drugs in Lane County.

The drinking water that flows out of taps in Eugene remains among the best in the nation, according to a federally required report just released by the Eugene Water and Electric Board.