The Oregon Department of Transportation said it couldn’t comment about what happened to the Skagit Bridge in Washington, but representatives hoped they could ease the public’s concerns by filling them in on how bridges in our area are taken care of.

ODOT reps say they’re grateful that no lives were lost in the Skagit Bridge collapse, and they’re using the experience as a reminder.

“One of the things that always happens when we have these kinds of situations is we think about the safety of our bridges. In Oregon we inspect our bridges every two years or more,” said Shelly Snow, ODOT spokeswoman.

Older bridges, or any with signs of concern, are looked at even more often.

Investigators are still looking into exactly what caused the Washington collapse, but there’s speculation an oversized truck could be to blame.

Here in Oregon, ODOT says it has very specific rules about such things that may help to ease those concerns.

Any oversized trucks–either by width, height, or weight–are required to get a permit to travel anywhere through the state.

“That is to put them on a route where they’re not going to encounter a bridge that’s too small for them, or a corner that’s too sharp, or a road that can’t handle the weight of their load,” Snow said.

The City of Eugene wasn’t able to comment about its bridges, but public works managers in Springfield say they have plans in place to cope with a similar disaster.

“The regional agencies get together and talk about emergency management and emergency response during an event. A bridge failure event and the response is coordinated, and I expect that Wash. DOT and ODOT will respond quickly in those circumstances,” said Brian Conlon, Springfield Public Works Operations Manager.

Springfield Public Works managers say they and similar departments are waiting to hear about the exact cause of the collapse.

Until then, they hope the public will find ease in knowing they all keep watch on the bridges regularly and will look even more closely as more information is announced.

EUGENE, Ore. — A local marijuana dispensary is back open after a narcotics raid Thursday afternoon.

The team of local law enforcement agencies says it seized pounds of marijuana that was ready for distribution, as well as evidence of money laundering. But customers of the dispensary say it’s hard for them to believe the business owners were doing anything illegal.

An open sign hung in the window of The Greener Side Friday morning, less than a day after an interagency narcotics team raided the dispensary.

“I can see some circumstances where the business wouldn’t be up and running today, but you know there might be a circumstance where they could be,” said Sgt. Carrie Carver, Lane County Sheriff’s Office.

Both Chelsea Hopkins and Jill Tanner were taken to the Lane County Jail, but neither sit behind bars anymore.

“One was pre-trial release and one was a capacity based release,” Carver said.

For people who frequent the dispensary, this raid was a surprise because they say the women are compassionate about their patients.

“People that are doing things for profit don’t help those that can’t afford it that just doesn’t go together,” said Eugene resident Katherine Hayden.

Police also raided a home in the River Road Area. Down in Medford, it was a similar story Thursday.

“These search warrants were actually executed in conjunction with the Medford Narcotics Team as well,” Carver said.

On The Greener Side’s website, it says the company operates in strict accordance to all local and state laws. But local authorities say the arrests come after a local investigation regarding the sale of marijuana.

“I do know that our teams do a really good job of gathering information and making sure they have probable cause for the search warrants, for the arrests,” Carver said.

But one Greener Side customer describes the raid differently. “They were just in there snapping pictures and it looked very, very shady and illegal,” Hayden said.

And although the doors were open for customers today, those who entered the dispensary left empty handed.

The interagency narcotics team consists of officers from Eugene, Springfield, the Lane County Sheriffs Office and Oregon State Police.

EUGENE, Ore. – After a car struck a man in a motorized wheel chair last year, the city of Eugene is taking a close look at the safety of crossing 30th Avenue. Traffic engineers held a meeting to get public input Thursday night.

The victim of the crash, Robert Six, was there to speak out on what he believes needs to be done. Six has been in a hospital bed for five months and he’s just now back in his wheel chair. He had a broken back, shattered leg and other injuries included bleeding in the brain.

Six is much better but financially burdened and still seeking compensation. He hired an attorney who is looking into suing the city for not doing something about this dangerous intersection sooner. The December crash is still under investigation.

EUGENE, Ore. — Memorial Day weekend is just around the corner. It’s the perfect time to BBQ at one of the parks by the Willamette River. But if you plan on getting in the water, it can be dangerous if you’re not careful.

The fire department is warning visitors about the dangers of drowning.

“Water is very unforgiving, and you can be under the water in seconds,” said Batt. Chief Leldon Little, Springfield Fire Department.

In the choppy and freezing Willamette River, rescue crews practiced water safety techniques to prepare for the Memorial Day weekend.

“One of the things we find is that people really underestimate the power of water and the temperature of the water,” Little said.

The CDC says drowning is the fifth leading cause of death in the U.S. In Oregon, there were about 52 unintentional drownings last year, so experts are stressing the importance of wearing a life jacket.

“If they have a life jacket on, that helps immensely. Unfortunately, a lot of times they don’t. They’ll have a life jacket with them and not wearing them, and tragically there are a lot of fatalities that happen because people aren’t wearing their life jackets,” Little said.

Two weeks ago, crews had to rescue several people whose boat sank just above Beltline Highway. There were eight life jackets on the boat, but not one person was wearing one. No one was hurt, but the fire department says that’s not always the case.

“Not very often do we get people floating in the water. Usually, unfortunately, they’re stuck on a stream without a life jacket or a recovery. Sometimes when we get there people have passed away,” Little said.

The water is also very cold, in the 40s. You can reduce your risk of hypothermia by wearing a body suit. But again, the fire department is stressing that wearing a life jacket will greatly increase your chances of survival.

VENETA, Ore. — A head-on collision near Veneta killed one driver early Thursday morning.

When deputies arrived to the scene of the crash, they found that a semi truck had completely torn off the top of a Honda Accord after the two vehicles collided head-on.

Troopers say at about 8 a.m. a large Lane County Public Works Truck was headed west on Highway 126 when the oncoming Honda crossed the center line.

“We have to let our investigation take its course and try to figure out why the honda was in the wrong lane, he could’ve been passing he could’ve lost control, we just don’t know at this point in time,” said Lt. Rob Edwards, Oregon State Police.

The collision killed the Honda’s 32-year-old driver, who wasn’t wearing his seat belt properly, and the semi’s driver was treated for minor injuries.

The mess left behind took crews a while to clean up, forcing drivers to find another route.

“Probably a 10-minute delay at most, but there is a detour set up,” Lt. Edwards said.

“Everybody was turning around or turning some other way. I didn’t have time to do diversionary action to get where I was going. I would’ve been so late. It would’ve been silly,” said Elmira resident Kate E. Cole.

That driver from Elmira says she travels this route often and has seen too many crashes like this one.

“There often are bad wrecks opposite Diess Feed and Seed because people try and turn left and nobody’s, people don’t pay attention that well. I’m surprised there aren’t more accidents,” Cole said.

The lieutenant on the scene of the crash says this was one of the worst crashes he’s seen when it comes to damage of the vehicles.

VENETA, Ore. – Highway 126W, three miles east of Veneta is closed. At least one person was killed in a crash involving a semi and a passenger vehicle.

The highway is expected to be closed for several hours. A detour is being established.

We have a crew on the scene and will bring you more information as it becomes available.

ROSEBURG, Ore. — An elementary school in Roseburg will shut its doors in the fall.

Rose Elementary parents, teachers, and administrators say they’re disappointed that the bond measure did not pass.

For the school board and even the district superintendent, the failure of the bond levy came as a bit of a surprise.

“We’re obviously disappointed with the bond levy failing,” said Steve Patterson, Roseburg School Board Chair.

“This was really important to us and I was extremely disappointed that it didn’t pass,” said Larry Parsons, Roseburg Schools Superintendent.

“I think a lot of people don’t want to pay extra taxes, and I understand that and we’re just coming off of a economic depression, and so I realize that people don’t have funding,” said Jeff Plummer, Rose Elementary Principal.

Although the school board voted to close Rose Elementary earlier this year, the board always said if the bond measure passed Rose Elementary would be saved. And so many parents and administrators rallied together to try to save the school. But in the end, the majority of voters in Roseburg voted against the measure, meaning major changes are coming for students who go to Rose Elementary.

“Most of them will go to three other schools in our district. But there is a kid, at least one, that’s going to go to every single of the other eight schools in our district,” Plummer said.

“There will be a reboundary. The boundaries are going to change and there’ll be kids in each school that’ll most likely. Their enrollment may change. They may be going to a new school,” Patterson said.

All teachers from this school will transfer to different schools within the district.

There were plenty of surprise election results in Lane County– the passage of the public safety levy, the failure of the Eugene service fee–but maybe the most shocking result was the voter turnout.

Lane County election workers expected 50 to 55 percent of registered voters to turn their ballots in. Instead, the number was just shy of 40 percent.

Residents say they can’t understand why people wouldn’t exercise their right to vote.

“People do have a lot of opinions, but then they don’t really want to do that much or they don’t want to vote or they’re too busy. You know, it does seem kind of hypocritical,” said Eugene resident Bryan Shephard.

Voters told KEZI 9 News they conceded this wasn’t a major election. But because there were important measures on the ballot, they thought more people would want to weigh in.

PHILOMATH, Ore. — Voters passed the Philomath school levy by 132 votes. At a gathering at Philomath School Board Director Tom Klipfel’s home, supporters of Measure 02-84 celebrated a victory, but they were more surprised than relieved.

“Little disappointed that the margin was so tight,” said Tom Klipfel.

“It’s very tight. It’s a lot closer than I thought it was going to be,” said board member Jim Kildea.

Homeowners will pay $1.5o per $1,000 of assessed property value. That’s in addition to what homeowners are paying now, which is about $5. The increase may have been a reason behind the close race.

“Seventy percent of taxpayers don’t have children in school, so we had strong support from parents, and the community was a lot more divided on a new tax,” said Kildea.

The operating levy will raise $3 million over the next five years, saving extracurricular programs that were going to be cut if the levy didn’t pass. The close margin is a good indicator that board members have a lot of work ahead.

“The taxpayers expect us to be prudent with our funds which we’ll have to do that,” said Klifel.

“I think it will be very good for students and the community, and I think we owe it to the community to show that this was the right thing to do, to invest in our schools,” said Kildea.

Three board positions were also on the ballot. The incumbents, Tom Klipfel, Jim Kildea, and Don Cruise were re-elected.

EUGENE, Ore. — The Lane County Public Safety Levy was one of the most visual campaigns over the last few weeks.

Those in favor of the measure held a watch party Tuesday night at the River Ridge Golf Course.

Earlier in the evening, only smiling faces could be found as Lane County Sheriff Tom Turner and levy supporters soaked up their measure’s projected success.

The first numbers were reported at 8 p.m., which revealed 56 percent of voters voted in favor of Measure 20-213, meaning the sheriff’s office will have rejuvenated funds for jail beds and youth services.

Sheriff Turner was one of the most vocal during this campaign and easily the most excited when preliminary results rolled in.

“I was just hoping to be ahead, and this is far behind what I could have hoped for. We’ve worked so hard for this, and this is a fantastic result,” Turner said.

“Lane County has always been very supportive of youth services and the work we do. And so it’s reinforcing and encouraging, and I’m excited to go to work tomorrow morning and continue forward. We still have a lot of work to do,” said John Aarons, Lane County Youth Services.

Secondary numbers came in at 9:30 p.m. showing the same results at 56 percent voting in favor of the levy, another reassurance for supporters.

This is a very big win for the sheriff’s office, especially when you look at recent history. Knowing since 1974 that 14 of the sheriff’s office’s proposed levies failed, this is a big relief for the county’s public safety departments and for those residents hoping to see more criminals stay in jail.