http://www.NRToday.com Serving Douglas County, OR Sun, 19 May 2013 00:00:00 +0000 en 30 A Eugene man who will spend 10 years behind bars for manslaughter has no memory of the crash that killed an Oakland man, his defense attorney said today. Joshua James Davis, 27, was driving the wrong way on Interstate 5 in Canyonville when he collided with a vehicle driven by … ]]> http://www.NRToday.com/news/ticker/6559023-113/davis-anderson-contest-death http://www.NRToday.com/news/ticker/6558785-113/police-mask-schexnider-beer Flames erupted into the air as Douglas County Fire District No. 2 firefighters trained Wednesday to battle fires fueled by flammable liquids. Firefighters practiced advancing, spraying flames with hoses until one firefighter was close enough to shut the valve of a leaking tank. Fire district Lt. Keith Neff said the … ]]> http://www.NRToday.com/news/ticker/6535215-113/district-fire-firefighters-training http://www.NRToday.com/news/ticker/6544709-113/block-suspicion-county-douglas http://www.NRToday.com/news/ticker/6523022-113/andre-fugate-hospital-roseburg All you have to do to see the effect budget cuts have on law enforcement is to look at Douglas County’s neighbors, Sheriff John Hanlin told the county budget committee Tuesday. Crime is up and arrests and convictions are down as timber safety net money dries up in Lane, Josephine, … ]]> http://www.NRToday.com/news/ticker/6520253-113/budget-county-douglas-million The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office was still unable Saturday to identify the woman whose body was spotted Friday in the South Umpqua River near the Douglas County Fairgrounds. Sheriff’s department Corporal Mark Norris said Saturday an autopsy is scheduled for Monday. While the department has received some phone calls, no … ]]> http://www.NRToday.com/news/ticker/6472876-113/woman-sheriff-body-norris Roseburg resident Stacy Bass drinks her coffee black, one cup in the morning and another at 2:30 p.m. Sipping an Americano espresso at My Coffee & The Wine Experience on Northwest Garden Valley Boulevard Tuesday afternoon, Bass, 38, said she likes coffee because it makes her feel more alert, especially … ]]> http://www.NRToday.com/news/ticker/6380631-113/coffee-dannenhoffer-health-cup http://www.NRToday.com/news/ticker/6363405-113/store-thrift-morrow-roseburg For Dave Lund, who was a teacher in Roseburg for 17 years before becoming a police officer, there’s one call he’ll always remember. He was one of the first officers on scene at a crash off Melrose Road. The occupants, high school students, had been killed on impact, he said. … ]]> http://www.NRToday.com/news/ticker/6317033-113/lund-dui-officer-driving 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 who left a muddy mess at the South Umpqua Falls … ]]> http://www.NRToday.com/news/ticker/6317013-113/campground-umpqua-falls-south 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 firefighters spent 6 1/2 hours and used 12,000 … ]]> http://www.NRToday.com/news/ticker/6312633-113/fire-district-friday-burn http://www.NRToday.com/news/ticker/6313523-113/dryer-fire-dimare-roseburg WINCHESTER — Warm spring weather may have inspired Kalista Bocurt to write a poem about summer vacation. The Winchester Elementary School third-grader penned a haiku describing a leisurely summer morning. I lay on my bed Hanging off my bed sleepy I am so lazy Kalista, 8, was among about 50 … ]]> http://www.NRToday.com/news/ticker/6216540-113/poetry-students-winchester-workshop One of Douglas County’s remaining World War II veterans will be filmed returning to France next month to visit some of the places where he fought. This time he will fish. Fly fishing legend Frank Moore was a 21-year-old sergeant in the 453rd automatic weapons battalion in June 1944 when … ]]> http://www.NRToday.com/news/ticker/6178941-113/moore-fly-france-fishing An 18-year-old Roseburg man was sentenced to more than two years in prison Thursday for breaking into a house, stealing a laptop and struggling with the deputy who arrested him. Appearing in Douglas County Circuit Court, Jeffrey Michael Beck was given 29 months in prison and 36 months of post-prison … ]]> http://www.NRToday.com/news/ticker/6270170-113/beck-deputy-prison-burglary http://www.NRToday.com/news/ticker/6256776-113/sheriff-counter-according-arrested DAYS CREEK — The owner of a barn listed on the National Register of Historic Places wants permission to tear down the structure. In a petition to the Douglas County Historic Resource Review Committee, Trudy Wentland says the Peter Weaver barn on the east side of Days Creek Cutoff Road … ]]> http://www.NRToday.com/news/ticker/6246577-113/barn-creek-historic-owner http://www.NRToday.com/news/ticker/6255169-113/block-roseburg-road-reported http://www.NRToday.com/news/ticker/6227987-113/mail-theft-benefits-card http://www.NRToday.com/news/ticker/6222150-113/neighborworks-loans-money-housing http://www.NRToday.com/news/ticker/6227035-113/fire-county-douglas-suspected Andrew Johnson says he always knew he’d become a lawyer, just like his father, prominent Roseburg attorney Darryl Johnson. He breezed through college and law school in Eugene with good grades, passed the bar and moved back to his hometown ready — or so he thought — to make a … ]]> http://www.NRToday.com/news/ticker/6164546-113/johnson-roseburg-lawyer-says http://www.NRToday.com/news/ticker/6213441-113/roseburg-chain-police-arrested People walking past the Douglas Avenue entrance of the Douglas County Courthouse the past couple of weeks may not have noticed anything different, but a new Old Glory has been flying above the building. The flag had been absent from that spot for several years, after the top of the … ]]> http://www.NRToday.com/news/ticker/6142775-113/county-courthouse-flag-potter BOSTON — Moments after investigators went before television cameras to broadcast photos of two men in ball caps wanted for the Boston Marathon bombing, queries from viewers started cascading in — 300,000 hits a minute that overwhelmed the FBI’s website. It marked a key turning point in a search that, … ]]> http://www.NRToday.com/news/ticker/6180822-113/boston-police-investigators-tsarnaev Three years ago, Dillard resident Lisa Buck had tried nearly every church in town, but was still desperate to find a spiritual home for her struggling family. She discovered what she was seeking in an unexpected place — an upstairs room at St. George’s Episcopal Church on Southeast Cass Avenue … ]]> http://www.NRToday.com/news/ticker/5969566-113/church-orthodox-christian-roseburg Saturday marks the 36th annual Douglas County Spelling Bee. Twenty-nine district winners coming from the fifth through eighth grades throughout the county will take the stage in the Wildlife Safari auditorium and vie for the title of the county’s best speller. Each contestant has already advanced through classroom and school … ]]> http://www.NRToday.com/news/ticker/6133084-113/grader-cooper-middle-county A Tenmile man who hit his girlfriend in the head with a baseball bat, wrapped her in plastic and left her for dead on a county road last September was sentenced to 90 months in prison Wednesday in Douglas County Circuit Court. Marcus Anthony Toler, 49, pleaded no contest to … ]]> http://www.NRToday.com/news/ticker/6143115-113/toler-woman-attack-court Douglas County Sheriff John Hanlin told a legislative task force Wednesday in Salem that without an extension to the federal timber safety net, he will be forced to choose between cutting patrol deputies and investigators or reducing the number of inmates held in the county jail. “It’s a dilemma,” Hanlin … ]]> http://www.NRToday.com/news/ticker/6158456-113/county-hanlin-counties-force http://www.NRToday.com/news/ticker/6157505-113/block-roseburg-road-reported DAYS CREEK — Two incumbent school board members have filed to run for a vacant seat on the Days Creek School Board. Each candidate has served for four years on the board. Tammy Eichmann, 51, and Larry Ellis, 52, both filed for Position 6, which is an at-large post. A … ]]> http://www.NRToday.com/news/ticker/6131717-113/creek-board-eichmann-experience After completing the Boston Marathon Monday, Sam Friedman was weaving back through crowds to watch the rest of the race from the finish line when he heard a blast. “It was very loud. It kind reverberated,” the Roseburg resident said today. “It sounded like a cannon.” Like those surrounding him, … ]]> http://www.NRToday.com/news/ticker/6126405-113/boston-marathon-friedman-race http://www.NRToday.com/news/ticker/6127501-113/police-officer-sutherlin-according City and state officials hope it will be a lot easier to get from Interstate 5 to Diamond Lake Boulevard 2 1/2 years from now. Highway 138 forms a major thoroughfare through town, carrying traffic between Interstate 5 and Diamond Lake Boulevard via Harvard Avenue, the Oak and Washington Avenue … ]]> http://www.NRToday.com/news/ticker/6012312-113/avenue-project-roseburg-downtown IDLEYLD PARK — Two longtime residents lauded for their efforts to preserve the North Umpqua River say it would be a bad idea for Douglas County to consider selling a park at the edge of the river’s Wild and Scenic section. Frank and Jeanne Moore of Idleyld Park say they … ]]> http://www.NRToday.com/news/ticker/6125901-113/park-county-river-swiftwater OAKLAND — Josh Witten remembers waiting at the corral on his grandparents’ place for the mobile slaughter truck. He said he was intrigued by the process of turning a beef animal into a carcass and then later enjoying a steak or hamburger on his dinner plate. “It was not gruesome … ]]> http://www.NRToday.com/news/ticker/5840328-113/witten-oakland-lockers-business Brian Davis has spent the past seven years planning for Roseburg’s growth and development. But ask the city’s community development director what is really important to him, and he may well pull out his smart phone and show you pictures of himself, his wife, Wendy, and their six children, lined … ]]> http://www.NRToday.com/news/ticker/6012251-113/davis-roseburg-planning-community MYRTLE CREEK — More than 100 barefoot students milled around the Coffenberry Middle School football field Thursday evening to experience life without shoes. Sixth-grader Dallin Fee led the group in the popular dance called the Harlem Shake for a commemorative video. The kids plan to send the video to Toms, … ]]> http://www.NRToday.com/news/ticker/6042428-113/shoes-students-kids-creek The nephew of a Roseburg man killed Thursday in a head-on collision near Winston said this morning his uncle was an “A-1 professional” with a tender heart. Retired small-business owner Denver David, 66, died at the scene of a crash that took place at about 3:45 p.m. on Oregon Highway … ]]> http://www.NRToday.com/news/ticker/6070803-113/david-roseburg-denver-highway Rose Elementary School will close in the fall if a $6 million levy fails in May, the Roseburg School Board decided Thursday. After a lengthy discussion that included analyzing various scenarios for closing either Rose or Melrose Elementary, the other top contender for closure, the board voted 4-3 to shutter … ]]> http://www.NRToday.com/news/ticker/6043920-113/board-rose-elementary-close Marijuana (pot) is the most commonly used illicit drug the United States. As of 2010, 17.4 million or 16.9 percent of Americans were considered to be regular marijuana users. In recent years pot has lost its hype for being a potent drug. Because pot is viewed by many teens as … ]]> http://www.NRToday.com/news/ticker/6012670-113/marijuana-percent-mental-among http://www.NRToday.com/news/ticker/6041719-113/girls-alcohol-roseburg-beer A Democratic proposal to reduce public pension payments could save local governments money in the short run but increase costs in the long run, according to Roseburg City Manager Lance Colley. Colley spoke to about 100 members of the Roseburg Area Chamber of Commerce Monday at the Douglas County Fairgrounds. … ]]> http://www.NRToday.com/news/ticker/5968956-113/pers-colley-percent-roseburg A program that originated in Douglas County will receive a statewide award tonight in Portland for promoting childhood literacy. Battle of the Books, which encourages Oregon students in third through 12th grades to broaden their reading, will receive the Walt Morey Young Readers Literary Legacy. The award will be presented … ]]> http://www.NRToday.com/news/ticker/5972961-113/program-books-battle-oregon MYRTLE CREEK — Music will again serenade listeners on summer evenings at the 27th season of Music in the Park. This year’s diverse lineup will include classic rock, country, soul, funk and blues. The shows will be from 6 to 8:30 p.m. most Thursday evenings at Millsite Park. The Myrtle … ]]> http://www.NRToday.com/news/ticker/5924019-113/aug-park-band-july A 12-year-old Winston boy died Sunday at a Portland hospital from complications of a seizure and cardiac arrest. Skyler Cole Steele was stricken while playing Friday at a Springfield water park, an uncle, Rob Price, said today. Steele was taken from Splash! at Lively Park to a hospital in Springfield … ]]> http://www.NRToday.com/news/ticker/5829349-113/hospital-springfield-died-park Bill Bayliss takes pride in the property improvements he sees around Douglas County. As owner and salesman at Monteith Equipment in Roseburg, Bayliss has sold hundreds of tractors to landowners. “Our equipment helps keep the county looking better,” said the 59-year-old Bayliss. “Otherwise, there’d be a lot more blackberries and … ]]> http://www.NRToday.com/news/ticker/5756582-113/business-bayliss-monteith-equipment Two riverfront parks in Roseburg could be developed by using a method of financing the city already plans to employ downtown. The Roseburg City Council on Monday approved adding 14 acres along the South Umpqua River, including Micelli and Templin Beach parks, to the city’s urban renewal district. The district … ]]> http://www.NRToday.com/news/ticker/5723225-113/parks-improvements-funds-micelli Since Liam was born, John and I have had very little time alone. It's not that we didn't expect it to happen, but it's definitely changed the dynamics of our relationship. Our conversations often focus on what Liam is doing. Our weekend outings are more hurried. Dinner time has become … ]]> http://www.NRToday.com/news/ticker/5744139-113/john-anne-blodgett-creighton