Articles written by Scott Swanson
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SHEDG: Cost-efficient Jamboree in black
Reduced talent budgets and cuts in other expenses are turning things around for the Oregon Jamboree, festival Director Robert Shamek told Sweet Home Economic Development Group board members last...
Huskies score another cardiac football win to set up showdown at Newport
Sweet Home pulled out its second nail-biter football win in a row Thursday night, Oct. 11, with a 20-19 win over Stayton to stay unbeaten in the Oregon West Conference. The Huskies, now 4-0 in league,...
Judge candidates discuss qualifications, concerns at forum
A judicial shortage in Linn County Circuit Court and the need to help unrepresented litigants were two big topics as candidates for two open judgeships made their cases last week to voters at a forum...
Chamber leaders say they're working on communication, services, events
Chamber of Commerce officials are continuing to rebuild the organization, with emphasis on re-establishing a solid membership base and effective communication with that base. That was the main thrust...
CCC veterans evidence value of productivity
I should begin by admitting I’m not a big fan of government social programs, which typically, in my view, are sadly wasteful of tax dollars and generally not very effective in solving problems. But I’ve always been impressed by the Civilian...
New season brings changes to high school football landscape
High school football in Oregon has undergone some significant changes in the last year, courtesy of the Football Ad Hoc Committee established by the Oregon School Athletics Association Executive Board to address problems such as declining...
Jamboree proposal plays out for Sweet Home bride
Leah Dauley, of Sweet Home, got a surprise marriage proposal two years ago at the Oregon Jamboree, courtesy of her then-boyfriend Michael Jones of Springfield and festival favorite Neal McCoy. Dauley...
Sweet Home Coach Thorpe named national USA Wrestling director
Sweet Home wrestling coach Steve Thorpe has been elected to the executive board for USA Wrestling, the organization that governs amateur wrestling in the United States. Thorpe, who has served as...
Noah boats set for official christening – on Foster Lake
When a fleet of small sailboats embark on Foster Lake from Lewis Creek Park this Sunday afternoon, Aug. 12, Pastor Joe Medley will see a longtime dream come to life. The moment of truth will occur...
Jamboree looked little different, but it still was fun
Sweet Home folks have been waiting to see what the outcome would be with an Oregon Jamboree line-up that lacked the mega-stars who have headlined recent festivals. In some senses, this year’s Jamboree wasn’t what previous ones have been. The...
Council OKs inter-fund loan to pay for City Hall
The City Council, meeting Tuesday, July 24, at its new chambers location, the Police Station community room, approved an inter-fund loan within the city’s budget to finance the new City Hall at 3225 Main St. The council last year authorized the...
Councilors take Jamboree to task for late request before granting it
The Sweet Home City Council voted 5-2 to approve a list of requests for closures and fee waivers from the Oregon Jamboree Tuesday, July 24, after a lengthy give-and-take exhange over particulars in the request and other concerns. The list of street...
Colleagues' encouragement good for us all
I’ve just returned from the annual Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association convention, held last week on the other side of the mountains. Typically, in addition to some rounds of golf on high-end resort courses and a bunch of business meetings, the...
Gubernatorial candidates lay out cases for newspaper crowd
With Gov. Kate Brown bowing out, a proposed debate between the top gubernatorial candidates became, instead, campaign stump speeches by her chief opponents, Republican Knute Buehler and Independent Patrick Starnes, to an audience of newspaper...
Sweet Home provides pit stop for Gambler 500 participants, all in good fun
Decked out in a straw hat and red striped shirt, Kelly “Kell-Dog” Whitlock fronted a group of men hunched over the engine compartment of a 1995 Lincoln Town Car in the parking lot at the O’Reill...
Being part of the news isn't always fun
It’s kind of an unwritten rule for print journalists to stay out of the news. We cover news. We try not to make it. So we sometimes find ourselves in awkward positions when we become part of a news story, even sometimes when we actually experience...
Commissioners approve bed tax, discuss rural recycling costs
Linn County Commissioners last week approved what amounts to a 5 percent transient occupancy tax that will be collected from county businesses that offer lodging to visitors. The approval was...
Local residents get serious about pledging allegiance to flag
They stood in a tight semicircle, 30-some local residents on the morning of the Fourth of July, quietly waiting for a signal that it was time. To say the Pledge of Allegiance. They were gathered in...
Fire danger on rise, with new restrictions
Things are drying out fast. The public fire danger went to “high” on Monday and the industrial regulated use will be at Level 2 at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday. “Fire risk is going to increase,” said Chad Calderwood, fire protection supervisor for...
Council pushes to hold down trash rate hike
City Council members made it clear Tuesday night, June 26, that they believe a 16 percent garbage rate increase proposed by Sweet Home Sanitation to cover its increased recycling costs is excessive and questioned why it took so long for the matter...
Council approves budget for 2018-19 among other actions on busy evening
The City Council approved a $17,878,561 budget for the fiscal year 2018-19, which began July 1, at its meeting Tuesday evening, June 26. City Finance Director Brandon Neish told council members that though the Budget Committee approved the budget...
LBCC Small Business Development Center upping efforts in E. Linn County
Linn-Benton Community College's Small Business Development Center has reignited its efforts to boost business in east Linn County, SBDC representatives told a Lebanon Chamber of Commerce Forum...
Local firefighter honored with statewide award
Craig Wilson, a Sweet Home teacher who spends his summers as a member of the local Oregon Department of Forestry fire crew, has been named the state's Seasonal Firefighter of the Year . "Craig's...
Fire season begins in Linn County
Fire season began Thursday, June 21, in the Oregon Department of Forestry’s South Cascade Fire protection districts from the mid-coast through the southern Willamette Valley to the crest of the Cascades. “We’re in fire season a couple of weeks...
Longtime inventor has plans to help destitute in Sweet Home
Alvin Kimble has faith – that if God wants him to fulfill Kimble's goals to help local individuals who are down and out, it will happen. If that perspective seems unusual, Kimble acknowledges that h...
