Articles written by Scott Swanson
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 1278
By 
Sheriff's levy goes to voters on Nov. 2
Linn County voters will have another opportunity in the upcoming Nov. 2 election to vote on whether or not to renew the Linn County Sheriff’s Office’s Four-Year Option Tax Levy. Ballots for the election were mailed last week and should have...
Increased scrutiny by reporters in Oregon's state Capitol good for all (Oct. 20, 2021)
In the wake of National Newspaper Week, I've got some good news. A big concern I've had, both as a journalist and as a citizen, has been the dearth of news coverage of state government in recent...
Athletic directors struggle to get kids – and officials – to games
If you're Dan Tow, Sweet Home's new athletic director, putting together a sports schedule is, well, a crap shoot. He's not alone. In addition to juggling COVID-19 requirements and restrictions, just...
New LBCC head looks to work with 'rural partners'
Dr. Lisa Avery, newly arrived president of Linn-Benton Community College, told a group of Sweet Home leaders last week that she intends to see the college "really step up our game and work more...
Editorial: Remembering why we are here (Oct. 13, 2021)
The first week of October was the 81st annual National Newspaper Week, a recognition of the service of newspapers and their employees across North America. Like a lot of similar celebratory events one can find on the calendar, its goal is to...
Farmers Market concludes for the summer
Sweet Home Farmers Market closed last week for the season, following two years of operations in a COVID-19 world. It was a good summer, said some vendors who participated. Unlike last year, when...
Growth opportunities for small-town church
Mark Scott has been pastoring churches for 30 years, and his latest call – Crawfordsville Calvary Chapel (formerly Crawfordsville Community Church) – is familiar ground. It’s rural, it’s sma...
Notes from the Newsroom:
Linn County made a very positive move, both for the county as an organization and for its citizens, when county officials decided, earlier this year, to beef up communication with said citizens. One obvious outcome of that strategy, signed off on by...
Extending a helping hand
Ginny Cotter didn’t wake up one morning and decide she was going to help Sweet Home’s homeless. But the longtime resident has definitely become a significant player in helping them – primarily...
Lifelong fisherman finds perfect job as a guide
Brock Crocker started fishing when he was a toddler and, some 25 years later, he's still going at it – nearly every day. Crocker, 29, has turned his hobby into a business, the Sweet Home-based...
When there's smoke, send in the drones
It's early on a Saturday morning and someone's reported smoke emanating from the site of a fire local agencies had responded to the previous evening, Sept. 3, on a bluff overlooking the South Santiam...
County to resume vaccination clinics
The Linn County Public Health Department will resume hosting free weekly primary and secondary COVID-19 vaccination clinics starting Tuesday, Sept. 21, at the Linn County Fair & Expo Center. Todd Noble, Linn County Health administrator, said the...
County to revisit Crawfordsville Drive zone decision
Developers and neighbors of a proposed plan map amendment and zone change on a 108.59-acre property on Crawfordsville Drive will take their case back to the county Board of Commissioners Tuesday, Sept. 21, after two years of legal wrangling. The...
9/11: Remembering a day of tragedy, pain
Significant public events have a way of searing themselves into our memories. My mother, now in her mid-80s, remembers the exact moment she heard that President John F. Kennedy had been shot. Likewise, I remember Tuesday morning, Sept. 11, 2001,...
Remembering 9/11: Smoke, flames, fear, gridlock
Army Major Craig Anderson was in a meeting on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001 in the high-rise office complex where he worked, in Falls Church, Va., when his world changed. His boss, though, in an upsta...
Dry summer putting the heat on trees
Trees, especially those along some local highway stretches, have suffered from the record-setting heat Oregon has experienced this summer, experts say. "It's been a super hot and dry summer," said...
Huskies have numbers and skills as they enter football season
New Head Coach Ryan Adams and his Sweet Home football team should find out pretty quickly where they stand in the state 4A competition as they open against Marist this Friday, Sept. 3. But with a...
Volleyball: Defending state champs start season with question marks
What do you do after you've just won the first-ever state championship for your school, and then lost eight decorated seniors to graduation? Welcome to the world of Coach Mary Hutchins and the...
Cross-country team seeks competitors to get SH on scoreboard
The biggest challenge facing Sweet Home's cross-country program this season is ... finding runners, it appears. "To be honest, the numbers are just not there right now," Head Coach Kambria Schumacher...
From trial-and-error to master gardener
Gardening has always been part of Brenda Winslow's life, but it's taken more priority in recent years, as she's become a Linn County Master Gardener. "I would be out in the yard with my mom, working o...
Rising COVID-19 numbers cause concern in county
As COVID-19 numbers escalate across the state and in Linn County with the arrival of the Delta Variant and local hospitals fill up, health officials are encouraging reluctant residents to rethink...
'Mystery' company arriving; city preparing with cleanup
Sweet Home has a chance to be the location for a company that could bring 100 or more jobs to the area, local officials say. Consequently, they’re asking residents – particularly downtown property owners – to put on the best face possible in...
Downtown medical clinic opening this month
Sweet Home residents will soon have another option for healthcare, with the opening of a new medical clinic downtown. Ridgeway Health, located at 1023 Main St., is set to open its doors later this...
Student wins 'If I Were Mayor' contest
For a 10-year-old, Madalyn Coleman has had a lot of exposure to politics, being the youngest daughter of a Sweet Home city councilwoman and former state legislative assistant. Oh, and her dad's a...
What will high school sports programs look like this fall?
Following Gov. Brown's July 30 directive to require face coverings for everyone 2 years and older in all indoor school settings, both public and private, school officials were waiting for clarity on...
