It’s a weekly training course that teaches women what it takes to become an officer, all in hopes that some of these women will eventually apply for jobs within the department. Saturday the 20 participants spent the day completing a number of simulation exercises. These included pulling over intoxicated drivers, responding to domestic disputes, and assisting a K9 search unit.

The goal is to help jump start the application process for women. “It’s been designed around helping women be successful in the application process as well as giving them some insight into the police,” said Melinda McLaughlin, EPD spokesperson.

Many of the participants said they initially wanted to see what police officers do, but now are considering careers in law enforcement.

The program focuses on pairing children with an adult mentor. Saturday the mentor pairings gathered for a barbecue at Fern Ridge Reservoir. During the barbecue the group also went sailing.

Organizers said they are slowly trying to rebuild and improve the program. “We are looking to get back to kind of our quality service, make sure that we serve the kids that we have in the program as best as we can,” said Jay Baughman, Executive Director Big Brothers Big Sisters.

The organization offers a number of different mentor programs including pairing high school students with younger kids.

PORTLAND/EUGENE, Ore. — On Saturday, friends and family gathered to remember a University of Oregon athlete who died in a drowning accident the week before. The funeral for 21-year-old Alex Rovello was held in Portland that afternoon. So many people arrived to pay their respects, the church brought in a production company to pipe the video and sound into overflow rooms. There were hundreds of pictures, signed posters and tennis memorabilia laid out in his honor.

Rovello was a star tennis player in high school and later at the University of Oregon. Many of the friends Rovello made in college, including fellow athletes, classmates and even staff, spent the day sharing their memories of him as a means of coping with their loss. It was a tough time for all those who were close to him, but instead of focusing on what happened to Rovello and his standout tennis skills, those who knew him insisted the he needed to be remembered for the simply amazing human being that he was.

Rovello’s teammates said he was a heck of a competitor.

“As a tennis player, he was a fighter. I could always see it in his eyes if he was going to win said,” said UO tennis player and friend Robin Cambier, “He hated to lose, so he would do whatever he could on the court to win.”

Off the court, Rovello used that same energy to win over his friends.

Cambier said, “Alex wasn’t just a teammate or classmate, but I considered him like my American brother.”

School was no different. He gained his professors’ respect with ease.

“He would come see me every week to make sure he was keeping up with all his work and he was always just so happy and funny. He’d make me laugh. He was just full of life. He was a terrific young man,” said School of Journalism and Communication Professor Dan Morrison.

His impact to this community was evident in the outpouring of support that followed his death.

“Athletics, Student Life and the School of Journalism and Communication have all come together to make sure that people can get up to Portland for this memorial service and properly remember Alex,” said the UO School of Journalism and Communication’s Dean Tim Gleason.

Repeatedly described as classy, humble and genuine, friends said Rovello had many fans and not because of his talent, but because of his character and that is what they will all miss most.

“We’ll miss him just in general, in the locker room, his music, him coming into the locker room, being around always happy,” said Cambier.

In lieu of gifts, Rovello’s family is asking people to donate to a fund in his name. It is called the Alex Rovello Memorial-Berkeley Park Tennis Donation Fund. The money raised will be used to repair and renovate the courts Rovello grew up on. If you’re interested in donating, you can do so at any Wells Fargo Bank.

Another memorial service will be held in Eugene at the Matthew Knight Arena on Wednesday, May 22nd at 6 p.m.

METEOROLOGIST MARISA WOLOSZYN’S FORECAST DISCUSSION: 

Few showers will continue Saturday evening but wrap up around midnight. Clouds and fog will start Sunday morning, but burn off through the morning. Mostly sunny skies will close the weekend with high temps in the mid to upper 60s inland, upper 50s along the coast.

High pressure will be in control Monday; this means skies will be mostly clear and high temps will climb just above average, low 70s inland, low 60s along the coast.

A large low pressure system will move in Tuesday afternoon and spin just of the coast through the rest of the weak. This storm will be like most winter storms; it will bring scattered showers across the area, snow showers above 3,000 feet, gusty winds and colder temperatures. High temps will fall well below average in the mid to upper 50s Tuesday and Wednesday.

The storm looks to move out of our area by Saturday.

Have a super Sunday!
Meteorologist Marisa Woloszyn

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Courtesy: OSU Sports Information

EUGENE, Ore. – Andrew Moore tossed a two-hit shutout and Michael Conforto and Ryan Barnes each hit solo home runs to send the sixth-ranked Oregon State baseball team to a 9-0 win over No. 10 Oregon Saturday afternoon at PK Park.

The Beavers evened the series with the shutout, which was the team’s 10th of the season and second of the year for Moore, who improved to 11-1, becoming the Pac-12 Conference’s first 11-game winner. The victory pushed the Beavers back ahead in the chase for the Pac-12 Championship, and now lead the Ducks by one game.

Oregon State (42-9 overall, 21-5 Pac-12), up 2-0 after seven, scored five in the eighth and two more in the ninth for the convincing win. The nine-run victory margin was the largest between the teams in a game that counts toward the Pac-12 standings since Oregon (43-12, 20-6) reinstated its program in 2009. It’s the second-highest overall.

“This was a very important bounce back win for us,” head coach Pat Casey said. “We battled through five tough innings against a very good starter in Cole Irvin. We were focused today and it showed.”

Moore held Oregon to just two hits – a double by Ryon Healy in the fourth and a single by J.J. Altobelli in the sixth – while walking one. He only picked up two strikeouts, with both coming in the eighth.

Pitching in his hometown of Eugene for the first time at the collegiate level, he did so in fine fashion, and in the process, set the Oregon State freshman record for victories in a single season, surpassing Sam Gaviglio’s 10 in 2009.

Moore also pushed his earned run average to 1.34 on the year.

The teams were embroiled in a scoreless tie through six but Conforto lofted a home run over the left field fence in the sixth off Irvin. Barnes did so in the seventh as well to put the Beavers in the driver’s seat, 2-0.

Then came the eighth inning. Oregon State sent 10 batters to the plate with Barnes and Danny Hayes highlighting the inning. Hayes hit a two-run single and Barnes tripled to right for three of the inning’s five runs. Andy Peterson, who went 4-for-4 with a walk, also drove in a run during the inning, which he followed in the ninth with another RBI.

Peterson’s four hits led the Oregon State offensive attack, which finished with 12 hits off four Oregon pitchers. Hayes and Barnes each had two hits as well.

Irvin took the loss and dropped to 10-3 on the year. The Oregon lefty allowed six hits and two runs with a walk and three strikeouts in seven innings.

Oregon State head coach Pat Casey:

Oregon State pitcher Andrew Moore:

Oregon State second baseman Andy Peterson:

Oregon Head Coach George Horton:

Oregon Pitcher Cole Irvin:

This is the free event’s 25th year. Participants had to show proof of their Springfield residency to drop off all their unwanted items. While organizers take just about everything, they say they shoot for 85% of the intake to be recyclable or reusable.

“As you can see with the people moving around and the activity that’s going on, it’s just a fun event and people enjoy it. They enjoy being part of something that’s not just themselves, but the community too,” said event coordinator David Raivo.

Organizers said they had about 600 cars come through last year, but they expected a bit less than that this year due to the weather.

Friday’s Weather Discussion from Chief Meteorologist Justin Stapleton 

I’m expecting a quiet night overall with some good breaks in the clouds and mostly dry skies with the occasional exception of a passing sprinkle or some enhanced mist at times along the coast. Overnight lows will fall slowly into the upper 40s for early Saturday.

Saturday, the next front will bring scattered showers and periods of steady rain mainly in the early afternoon. Rainfall totals look to be around .10″- .25″ inland, higher at the coast and in the mountains. Cloudy skies with some sun breaks by late afternoon and a few degrees cooler with highs back down in the low 60s. If you’re headed to either the Ducks softball games or game 2 of the Civil War in baseball, keep the rain coat handy. Sunday and Monday, drier weather is on tap as high pressure moves in offshore behind tomorrow’s front. I do expect low clouds to hang tough for most of Sunday morning, but should see some afternoon sunshine. A great sunny day Monday with highs back into the upper 60s and low 70s.

After that, a stronger storm will spill in from the Gulf of Alaska for Tuesday through Thursday. It’ll be a chilly one with a few days of rain showers, cool temps back down into the mid 50s AND a chance to drop snow levels back below the passes! It’s nice to get some much needed rain for a few days but it’ll be a stark contrast to the early summer-like spoiler weather we’ve seen most of the month.

Have a great weekend!

- Chief Meteorologist Justin Stapleton

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Courtesy: Oregon Sports Information

EUGENE, Ore. – Tommy Thorpe picked the right night to have the best start of his career at Oregon. The sophomore was dominant holding No. 4 Oregon State to just two infield hits in eight innings in a 3-0 win for the sixth-ranked Ducks on Friday night.

Thorpe matched a career-high with seven strikeouts while only allowing infield singles in the second and third innings. The sophomore, who moved to 6-4 on the season with the win, only faced real trouble in the third. The Beavers (41-9, 20-5 Pac-12) put runners on second and third with a bunt single, a hit batter and a wild pitch, but Thorpe struck out Michael Conforto to end the inning.

Thorpe took the mound in the ninth and walked the leadoff hitter forcing Oregon (43-11, 20-5 Pac-12) to go to closer Jimmie Sherfy. The Ducks’ All-American picked up his 20th save, breaking the Oregon record of 19 he set in 2012, to help UO pull into a first-place tie with the Beavers in the Pac-12.

The Ducks jumped out early scoring two runs in the first and one run in the second. Ryon Healy, who returned to the starting lineup after sitting out the last three games, put Oregon on top 1-0 with a base hit to left field scoring Brett Thomas. After a Mitchell Tolman sacrifice bunt put runners at second and third with one out, Aaron Payne scored to make it 2-0 on a slow roller to first by Scott Heineman.

Freshman Nick Catalano led off the bottom of the second with a double and scored on a RBI flare single by J.J. Altobelli to give the Ducks a 3-0 lead.

Thomas and Payne led Oregon with both going 2-for-4 with a run scored. Matt Boyd (10-3) took the loss for Oregon State.

The Ducks and Beavers meet Saturday at 2 p.m. at PK Park in game two of the three-game series with both teams scheduled to throw freshmen. Cole Irvin (10-2) will pitch for Oregon, while Andrew Moore (10-1) gets the start for Oregon State.

Oregon head coach George Horton:

Oregon pitcher Tommy Thorpe:

Oregon closer Jimmie Sherfy:

Oregon first baseman Ryon Healy:

Oregon State head coach Pat Casey:

Oregon State pitcher Matt Boyd:

Oregon State second baseman Andy Peterson:

EUGENE, Ore. — A piece of World War II history is spending the weekend at the Eugene Airport.

One of the remaining 13 active B-17 bombers in the country, the Aluminum Overcast, arrived in Eugene Friday is on display on the tarmac and in the air.

“I come every time a B-17 comes to town. This is my fourth time flying in a B-17,” said aviation enthusiast David Gault.

It’s an experience worth having time and time again. But whether it was their first time or fourth, hundreds gathered Friday to get an up-close look at a rare piece of world war two history.

“To see things like this, you just don’t see very many of them, and it’s a real true piece of history,” said aviation enthusiast Jim Thomas.

That’s why veterans, history buffs and aviation enthusiasts made the trip to the tarmac. Some took it in outside and some from within.

KEZI 9 News was one of the lucky ones who got to experience the aluminum overcast from its native environment–the sky. It was bumpy but beautiful.

The original parts and unique atmosphere could be felt from nose to tail, as we all took in the majesty and history that donned the dignified flyer–the reason everyone came to appreciate this one of a kind craft.

“Because it was the greatest battle the human race has ever fought, and this played a key part in that, in that battle,” Gault said.

The Aluminum Overcast is one of less than 20 of these B-17 bombers that’s still able to fly in the us, and it will be here through the weekend for you to come check out.