Green tips for Blazers tix
Recology Western Oregon giving away two tickets to Sunday's playoff game at the Moda Center
(News-Register staff) LaMarcus Aldridge and company have Blazermania brewing. After taking a 2-0 lead last night in their first round series against the Houston Rockets, the Portland Trail Blazers need two more victories to win their first NBA playoff series since 2000.
If Portland can beat the Rockets Friday, then Sunday's game will be for the series, and Recology Western Oregon is giving away two tickets to the game.
RWO is using the giveaway to encourage an online dialogue about green tips around the home and office.
"How do you go green?," the company asks on its Facebook page. "Share how you reduce waste, conserve resources, or reduce your carbon footprint on our Facebook wall or in the comments section to win 2 tickets to the Portland Trailblazers game on Sunday!"
Check out the page for more entry rules and guidelines.
A very decent proposal
Most importantly, what was Moira's answer to the N-R's wrestler of the year?
(Robert Husseman/News-Register) “Hey, so I have an interesting request,” McMinnville High School senior J.T. Barnes texted me.
“Shoot,” I replied.
The News-Register honored Barnes, who won an individual state championship for the Grizzlies’ wrestling team at 152 pounds, as the All-Valley Wrestler of the Year for 2013. Barnes was excited about the award, and he had something else on his mind: asking his girlfriend, Mac High senior Moira Hampson, to the prom.
So, Barnes wondered, was there a way to incorporate a prom invitation into his Wrestler of the Year photograph? Two birds, one stone.
Orcas are back in large numbers
Spring sightings have come earlier than usual this year
(By the Oregon Coast Beach Connection) The somewhat mysterious “transient” Killer Whales are back on the central Oregon coast – and the sightings of them have been spectacular so far.
Every year they show up, usually around April, following gray whales as they migrate northward with their young, looking to feed on the newborn whales.
This time around, the sightings came in earlier than usual, and not only in large numbers but in some very dramatic appearances as well.
They were spotted near Newport early on in the month. Other reports came in from different spots along the central Oregon coast, many of larger-than-usual pods of Orcas. The Whale Watch Center in Depoe Bay said at least two reports were of a pod of eight, including one where they had separated into groups of four and were apparently trying to corral their prey.
Firefighters fight blaze in garage, threatening house, near Amity
Several departments answer call
AMITY -- Firefighters from Amity, Sheridan and other departments responded to a fully-involved structure blaze at 21700 Broadmead Road, west of Amity, Wednesday afternoon.
At 1:35 p.m., first arrivals on the scene said the garage is in flames and the fire is threatening a two-story wood frame residence. A second alarm has been set off to call more firefighters to the scene.
The blaze is in the area of Broadmead Road and Bellevue Highway. If you're driving in the area, yield to emergency vehicles. Choose another route if possible.
Bucket brigade
Bethel Christian students pack up 642 pounds of donated food
(Bethel Christian school staff) More than 125 students and staff at Bethel Christian School formed a bucket brigade down the halls of the school to pass 642 pounds of donated food to the Salvation Army last Wednesday. Each grade (pre-school through 8th grade) collected food as part of the school's community service week.
Students lined the halls and patio of the school to pass each donated item into the back of a Salvation Army truck.
Sue Buel leader named Oregon Elementary Principal of the Year
Stephanie Legard one of two McMinnville staffers to win state honors
(News-Register staff) Stephanie Legard, principal of Sue Buel Elementary School in McMinnville, has been named Oregon Elementary Principal of the Year.
It's the second statewide honor for a McMinnville School District staff member in the past week. Cindi Hiatt Henry, food service director, was named the top nutrition program director in the state.
International Chicken Tractor Races of the Nation Part III: Return of the Grimey
One thing's for sure, these guys take this serious -- like, seriously serious
Chicken Tractor Training: The Return Of Grimey from Cellar Ridge on Vimeo.
More Trees for McMinnville
Local volunteer group beautifies entrance to city at the junction of 99W and 18
(Photo by Marcus Larson) Jared Sublet ties a guiding post to one of the dozens of cherry and oak trees planted Saturday at the junction of Highway 99W and Highway 18 in McMinnville by the volunteer group Trees for McMinnville. Oregon Arbor Week is being celebrated this week around the state.
Hours of budget hearings? Hey, it beats moving day
New N-R reporter settles in
(Don Iler/News-Register) There’s nothing like getting whisked straight into the grind of a job on the first day — or the first few minutes, for that matter.
Before I even got to spend time in HR filling out paperwork, sign the lease on my new house, I was sent to the windowless wood-paneled basement of the Yamhill County Courthouse, where the county commissioners meet.
County departments went through their budgets line by line — a thousand here, a million there — for hour after hour. I then rushed back to write up a story that came from those lines of budget. And that was before lunch.
A Hardy farewell
News-Register bids adieu to its county government reporter
(Ossie Bladine/News-Register) Today, the News-Register staff relunctantly says goodbye to county government reporter Nathalie Hardy, who has decided to step aside from life in the newsroom to spend more time with family and work on independent writing projects.
Hardy, a Newberg resident, first wrote for the paper in 2000 as a reporting intern. On May 6, 2008, she published her first of many Raising the Hardy Boys column for the N-R, a column that has garnered several awards in journalism competiitons. Hardy will continue writing the popular monthly column.
