JOHN SOWELL/News-Review photos
Doug Agee, president of the Douglas County Men's Softball Association, shows where thieves unbolted the edge of a chain-link fence where an all-terrain vehicle used to groom the slowpitch softball fields at Sunshine Park was stolen.

Second theft at Roseburg softball fields leaves league in rough spot

Things are not going smoothly for the Douglas County Men’s Softball Association. Players arriving Monday evening for games at Sunshine Park in Roseburg found the park’s three ballfields ungroomed. Overnight, thieves stole the all-terrain vehicle that …

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South Umpqua Falls, shown here, is located near South Umpqua Falls Campground, which will be closed during May so the damage caused by vandals can be repaired.

Forest Service closes South Umpqua Falls Campground to let vandal-ravaged ground recover

TILLER — A popular Douglas County campground will be closed until Memorial Day weekend because of vandalism. The Umpqua National Forest and Cow Creek Umpqua Tribe are offering a $1,500 reward for information leading to the conviction of the vandals w …

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Douglas County Fire District No. 2 firefighters respond Friday to a burn pile that got out of control at Snowberry Road in Melrose. Firefighters are urging propery owners to follow safety procedures as spring advances and fire danger hazards escalate.

Melrose brush fire could signal rough fire season ahead

Douglas County fire officials say conditions are shaping up for a severe wildland fire season. A combination of hot weather and strong winds drove a fire Friday that burned nearly an acre of private forestland at 1287 Snowberry Road in Melrose. Nine …

MICHAEL SULLIVAN/The News-Review
Lee Bartholomew, Douglas County's sole animal control officer, often drives 250 miles each day he reports to work.

Crime bites: Canine capers keep animal control deputy hopping

Douglas County’s lone animal control deputy, Lee Bartholomew, drives about 250 miles each shift. One morning last month, Bartholomew had to get to Oakland for a dog chasing goats; then to Riddle, where senior services was concerned about the welfare …

NICHOLAS JOHNSON/The News-Review
Brianna Snow, back to camera, hugs her daughter following the sentencing of the man convicted of killing her 2-year-old son, Dennis Young, on Monday outside a Douglas County Circuit Court courtroom.

Mark Allen Vanderhoof sentenced for killing 2-year-old boy

Child killer Mark Allen Vanderhoof’s silence made the mother of his victim gasp. Convicted of abusing to death a 2-year-old boy and facing the prospect of spending the rest of his life in prison, Vanderhoof, 53, of Lookingglass declined to speak at h …

NICHOLAS JOHNSON/The News-Review
Fire crews and law enforcement work to clean up the intersection of Southeast Stephens Street and Douglas Avenue Thursday afternoon in downtown Roseburg where a head-on collision slowed traffic for about 20 minutes. No one was injured.

Woman cited in downtown Roseburg head-on collision; no one injured

A Roseburg woman was written three citations following a head-on collision at Southeast Stephens Street and Douglas Avenue that stopped traffic Thursday afternoon. Ceana Ogan, 34, of Roseburg was cited for making a dangerous left turn, driving with a …

James Kaineg sentenced for abusing girls at Glide day care a decade ago

A former Glide man who pleaded guilty to sexually abusing three young girls at his wife’s day care more than a decade ago was sentenced Monday to six years and three months in prison. In Douglas County Circuit Court, Melrose resident James Raymond Ka …

Mark Vanderhoof of Lookingglass guilty of murdering 2-year-old, faces life sentence

Two years, one month, 15 days. Dennis Young’s grandmother, Denise Barger, knows exactly how long it took for justice to catch up with Mark Vanderhoof. Vanderhoof was found guilty today of abusing 32-month-old Dennis to death on Jan. 25, 2011. Douglas …

Daughter gets light sentence in Douglas County court for testimony against mom

A Eugene woman who pleaded guilty to bilking the government out of $40,500 avoided prison by testifying against her mother to a grand jury. Ashlee Maechelle Heinecke, 27, was ordered by Douglas County Circuit Judge Frances Burge to repay the Departme …