Thursday, Sept. 12
Developers broke ground on Battery Point Apartments on Tuesday. Spearheaded by Synergy Community Development Corporation and Step Forward Communities, the 162-unit apartment complex will provide workforce housing and homes for low-income families and seniors.
There will also be amenities including exercise rooms, garden and green spaces, a playground, a mobile dental van and health classes, said Bill Rice, chief development officer for the Synergy Community Development Corporation.
The senior housing units are expected to come online between March and May 2025 with the family units coming online in December 2025, City Manager Eric Wier said.
The Brookings City Council on Monday agreed to pay St. Timothy Episcopal Church $400,000 after the church won a federal lawsuit over whether it can feed the hungry. Councilors also agreed to repeal city ordinance that restricted when local organizations could offer meals to the community and withdraw an abatement notice against the church’s other services.
Despite approving the agreement, two councilors weren’t pleased with the outcome, Jefferson Public Radio reported Wednesday.
“The losers are the people in this neighborhood that have had to deal with this,” Councilor Andy Martin said.
A task force focusing on black market cannabis grows seized more than 6,000 illegal marijuana plants in 20 greenhouses at a Fern Valley Road property in Phoenix on Wednesday. The Illegal Marijuana Enforcement Team also arrested 44-year-old Yuhua (AKA Shirley) Hong, of Montague, Calif. on charges of unlawful possession, distribution and manufacture of a marijuana item.
Jackson County Code Enforcement issued a total of $26,000 in fines to the property owner. The Oregon Water Resources Department Enforcement Section is also investigating the property’s water usage and may levy charges for water violations at a later date.
A 63-year-old Eureka woman is safe and reunited with her family after she went missing three days ago. Jean Marie Etherton was found at about 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday. Her family reported her as missing to the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office who called out SAR volunteers and K9s, the California Rescue Dog Association, U.S. Coast Guard Sector Humboldt Bay Helicopter as well as an HCSO thermal drone and an ATV.
Other agencies who responded include Sonoma County, Marin, Santa Clara and Alameda County SAR, CalOES, the HCSO’s Office of Emergency Services. Redwood Acres provided housing for volunteers, Ridgewood Heights Baptist Church housed the command post.
Regional News
(OPB) Cooler temperatures and rain have slowed down wildfires threatening 6,000 structures in Central Oregon Wednesday.
Mt. Bachelor resort and other public lands were under Level 3, “Go Now” evacuation notices. Parts of the community of Sunriver bordering Deschutes National Forest were under a Level 2 – “Get Set” evacuation notice. Areas east of that zone, bordering Highway 97 between Bend and La Pine, were under Level 1– “Get Ready” notices.
For real-time updates to evacuation notices, visit Deschutes County’s emergency map.
Firefighters from all over the Pacific Northwest began to descend on the Bachelor Complex, Flat Top and Firestone fires Tuesday. Misti-Kae Bucich is a spokesperson for the Northwest Incident Management Team 3.
“They are working more on a defensive fire attack strategy instead of offensive,” said Bucich. “The weather is working in our favor.”
WRIGHTWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Three major wildfires in Southern California’s mountains east of Los Angeles torched dozens of homes and forced thousands of people to evacuate, officials said Wednesday.
At least a dozen people, mainly firefighters, were treated for injuries that were mostly heat-related, authorities said. One person from Orange County was burned. No deaths have been reported.
The wildfires have been endangering tens of thousands of homes and other structures across the region after they sprung to life during a triple-digit heat wave over the weekend. Other major fires were burning in Idaho, Oregon and Nevada, where about 20,000 people had to flee a blaze outside Reno.