Good morning Douglas County! Happy Tuesday! Here are today's updates live from the Roseburg Receiver Communications Center.

Today's Current Conditions

As of 6:30AM in Roseburg, Oregon

• Current Temp: 50° F
• Humidity: 92%
• Wind: 1 MPH SW
• Current Conditions: Cloudy
• Air Quality Index: 8
• Today's Forecast: High 63 | Low 49 | Scattered Showers
• Yesterday's Rain Levels (May 12th): 0.45
• May's Monthly Rainfall: 0.49 Inches

Roseburg Area Morning News

LESS THAN 4 PERCENT OF BALLOTS ARE IN AS ELECTION DEADLINE APPROACHES

KQEN News Radio

Less than 4 percent of local ballots have come in as the deadline approaches for the 2025 Douglas County May Special Districts Election.

County Clerk Daniel Loomis said 3.91 percent, or 5,607 ballots have been received. Loomis said that lags 3.20 percent behind the participation rate for the same point in the previous special districts election in 2023.

Registered voters who have not yet received their ballot should contact the clerk’s office weekdays between 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Voters can always use one of the 15 official Douglas County ballot drop sites to return ballots. Those using the Post Office should mail their ballots one week in advance of Election Day to give their ballot a better opportunity to arrive on time. Ballots must be cast by 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 20th.

Complete election information is available on the county’s election website: https://www.douglascountyor.gov/178/Elections

REP HOYLE ISSUES STATEMENT ON RELEASE OF EDAN ALEXANDER

KQEN News Radio

On Monday, 4th District Representative Val Hoyle issued a statement after the release of Edan Alexander, the last remaining living American hostage that was in Hamas captivity.

Hoyle said, “Edan Alexander has been freed from Hamas captivity and has finally come home to his family. His freedom is long overdue”.

Hoyle said, “This war must stop. Too many lives have been lost, families torn apart, and the entire region has been devastated”.

Hoyle concluded, “There must be an immediate ceasefire. All remaining hostages must be released, and we must pursue an end to the war that prevents more suffering in Gaza. Enough is enough.”

ELMERS KITCHEN BREAKFAST – BRUNCH – MIMOSAS TO OPEN JUNE 9TH

KQEN News Radio

Elmer’s Kitchen Breakfast – Brunch – Mimosas is scheduled to open in Roseburg on Monday, June 9th at its new location.

Elmer’s Vice President Jill Ramos told News Radio 93-9 FM and 1240 KQEN that the new restaurant will be open daily from 6:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Ramos said applications are now being accepted for line cooks, servers, hosts and bussers. Elmer’s expects to hire 35-40 people.

Ramos said applications can be submitted as follows:

• https://eatatelmers.com/careers/ and select the Roseburg location or
• Text 1AFX022 to 31063
• Scan the QR Code posted with this story at www.541radio.com

The new store is 4,950 square feet and will be at 3030 Northwest Aviation Drive in a building that was formerly home to Shari’s Cafe and Pies.

Elmer’s previously operated in Roseburg for 24 years before closing due to the franchise operator’s retirement and the redevelopment of the original property on Northwest Mulholland Drive. The new location will be company owned.

There are now 25 Elmer’s locations throughout Oregon, Washington, Idaho, California and Nevada.

SOUTH UMPQUA SCHOOL DISTRICT SEEKING BOARD MEMBER

KQEN News Radio

The South Umpqua School District is still seeking to fill one vacant position on its school board, and the deadline to apply is this Friday.

The person selected will serve in the Zone 3 Position 3 seat, through June 03, 2027. When the current term ends.

Candidates must be legally registered voters, have either a Canyonville or Myrtle Creek address and must have resided in the district for at least one year before the selection. Candidates must not be an employee of the district, including substitutes.

Interested citizens must submit a letter of interest for the position. The South Umpqua School District is expected to screen letters of interest at the board work session on May 21st.

Interested applicants should submit their letter to the South Umpqua School District, attention Tabitha Roberts, at 558 Southwest Chadwick Lane in Myrtle Creek, 97457. Letters can also be submitted by email: Tabitha.roberts@susd.k12.or.us.

For more information about the district, contact the Office of the Superintendent at 863-3115.

CITY BUILDINGS TO CLOSE FOR MEMORIAL DAY

KQEN News Radio

City of Roseburg buildings will be closed Monday, May 26th for Memorial Day.,

A city release said that means that Roseburg City Hall, the Public Safety Center, Roseburg Public Library and other city owned buildings will not be open to the public. Police and fire fighters will continue to provide public safety throughout the holiday.

Observed on the last Monday in May, Memorial Day honors everyone who died while serving in the U.S. military. The federal holiday originally known as Decoration Day began to be observed in springtime after the Civil War as a day to decorate the graves of fallen soldiers killed in that war. The holiday later became known as Memorial Day and is used to honor Americans who died in all wars.

Lobbies at city hall and the Public Safety Center, both on Southeast Douglas Avenue, are normally open weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. with the exception of the lunch hour which is from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.

K9’S UNLEASHED HAPPENING SUNDAY AT THE FAIRGROUNDS

KQEN News Radio

Friends of Umpqua Valley Police K9 programs will have Police K9’s Unleashed on Sunday.

The event will take place at the Douglas County Speedway, at the fairgrounds beginning at 2:00 p.m. Multi-agency teams will offer demonstrations with the K9s including pursuits, obstacles and more. Stuffed K9 plushies will be on sale along with new special edition t-shirts and sweatshirts.

It will be held rain or shine and is partially sponsored by the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians and Lotus Media. The family-friendly event is free to the public. Attendees are asked to leave their family pets at home.

For more information on the Friends of Umpqua Valley Police K9 Programs, go to: www.uvk9.org.

ROSEBURG SALVATION RECEIVES GRANTS FROM COBANK, DOUGLAS ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE

KQEN News Radio

The Salvation Army in Roseburg has announced that it has received $30,000 as part of CoBank’s “Sharing Success” matching grant program – $15,000 from CoBank and $15,000 from Douglas Electric Cooperative, including the nomination from the cooperative.

Captain Edith Dye-Mabie said the Roseburg Corps is blessed to receive much-needed funding from the grant. Dye-Mabie said the funds will be used for DEC member support.

Dye-Mabie said, “These funds help us keep families in their homes with the essential power services for healthy living”. Dye-Mabie said, “Partnerships such as this with CoBank and Douglas Electric help keep communities moving forward in trying times”.

DEC’s Chief Financial Officer Bill Reinhart said, “We are proud to continue our 15-year partnership with CoBank through the “Sharing Success” grant program, contributing a total of $235,000 to the Salvation Army to help our members with their power bills”. Reinhart said, “This year, we are pleased with the award of $15,000 from CoBank, matched by Douglas Electric Cooperative and its members with another $15,000, reaffirming our commitment to supporting our community in times of need”.

The grant letter noted, “CoBank – Rural America’s Cooperative Bank – is excited to partner with our customers to give back to the communities we serve”.

Douglas County Compensation Committee recommends salary increases for county officials

The News Review

Douglas County is currently undergoing the annual process of settling on a budget for the upcoming fiscal year, as the 2024-25 fiscal year is set to end on July 1.

As part of that process, the Douglas County Compensation Committee voted Thursday to recommend pay raises for elected officials for the 2025–26 fiscal year.

After some discussion, the committee settled on a recommendation of a 3% Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) increase for the sheriff’s, commissioner’s, assessor’s, clerk’s, surveyor’s and treasurer’s salaries. A COLA is a non-merit based wage increase, often implemented to offset the impacts of inflation and other factors impacting the general economy.

Compared to previous fiscal year budgets, these recommended wage increases are smaller and more uniform. For the 2023-24 budget, the Compensation Committee voted to increase the sheriff’s salary by 6%, the commissioner’s salaries by 6% and the assessor’s, clerk’s and surveyor’s salaries by 4% each. A 4% COLA for all staff employees was also approved by the Board of Commissioners.

According to Human Resources Director Michael Kurtz, the county looked at external comparators when determining salaries. In this case, those comparators included the salaries of similar positions in other counties across Oregon.

“We look at what the job market is offering for similar positions, what’s being paid,” Kurtz said. “We’re able to do salary surveys and find out what all counties are paying employees of a similar nature and then we can break that down by counties of similar size, similar budgets, so on and so forth.”

Kurtz said the goal is to be paying well enough that they retain qualified workers while avoiding being the highest or lowest paid counties in the state.

“When I first started, I would say we were in the lower end of the salary comparisons. What we found was departments were having a very difficult time hiring and retaining good employees,” Kurtz said. “In fact, what ended up happening in a lot of situations was we were hitting under-qualified or, in some cases, non-qualified individuals for positions, getting them trained up to where they qualified in our estimation...and then they would leave to get a higher paid job somewhere else.”

According to Compensation Committee Chair Tom Nelson, there were two potential options open to the committee when it came to recommending salary increases for the County Commissioners in particular. Those options were either the 3% COLA increase or setting the commissioner’s salaries at around 20% less than the sheriff, who is one of the highest paid officials in the county.

Nelson said the committee decided to keep the 3% COLA increases in order to reduce the overall increase in salary, keeping it lower than the alternative.

One reason for a lack of merit-based increases to wages is a desire within the county to neither increase nor decrease its services. According to Douglas County’s Chief Financial Officer Dan Wilson, the county’s budget overall is aiming to remain relatively the same as other years to match this desire.

“Generally speaking, this will be a status quo budget for the upcoming year, which means that we are maintaining, generally, our current service levels,” Chief Financial officer Dan Wilson said.

Wilson mentioned that other salaries within the public safety department are currently being negotiated, with any potential increases not being known at this time.

Roseburg Area Upcoming Events

Limited Time Events

• "Midwife a Life" + Add'l Exhibits @​ Umpqua Valley Arts | Every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday | March 21st - May 30th | 10 AM - 6 PM | Link
• Community Yoga Class @ Body Balance | Every week on Wednesday | March 20 - June 25th | Body Balance Yoga Center | 12 PM | Link

Monday, May 12th

• DJ Trivia Night @ Workman's Bar & Smokehouse | 7PM
• Open Mic Night @ Little Brothers Pub | 6 - 8 PM

Tuesday, May 13th

• Bingo @ Roseburg Elks Lodge #326 | 6:30 PM
• DJ Trivia @ Urban NY Pizza & Grill | 7 PM
• Free Line Dancing Lessons - Elements Lounge @ Seven Feathers Casino Resort | Every week on Tuesday | 7 - 9PM | Link
• Open Mic Night @ Kodiak Bar & Grill | Every week on Tuesday @ 6 - 8PM
• Live Music: Mark Malefyt @ Two Shy Brewing | 6 - 8 PM | Link
• "Midwife a Life" + Add'l Exhibits @​ Umpqua Valley Arts | Every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday | March 21st - May 30th | 10 AM - 6 PM | Link
• 2025 Music on the Half Shell Lineup Announcement - livestream | 10 - 10:30 PM | Link
• Karaoke Night at The Scoreboard | 9 - 11:30 PM | Link

Wednesday, May 14th

• DJ Trivia @ Backside Brewing Co. | 6 - 7:30 PM
• Karaoke/Open Mic Night @ Idle Hour Tavern | 9 PM - 12:30 AM
• Open Mic at Brix | Every Wednesday | 6 - 8 PM | Link
• Karaoke Night at Winston VFW | 5 - 9 PM | Link
• Karaoke Night at The Wild Rose Saloon | 7 - 10 PM | Link
• Trivia Night @​ Lookingglass Brewery | 6 - 9 PM
• Trivia Night @​ Little Brothers Pub | 6 PM
• Bingo @ Roseburg Senior Center | (Every Wed and Fri) - Doors Open at 5 PM, starts at 6:30PM. Food available. Ages 7+. $1 for non-members.
• Community Yoga Class @ Body Balance | Every week on Wednesday | March 20 - June 25th | Body Balance Yoga Center | 12 PM | Link
• Canyonville Farmers Market | 9:30 AM - 1:30 PM | Seven Feathers Casino Resort Parking Lot (May - October)
• Community Yoga Class @ Body Balance | Every week on Wednesday | March 20 - June 25th | Body Balance Yoga Center | 12 PM | Link
• All Abilities Karaoke at Workman's Bar & Smokehouse | 1:30 - 4 PM | Link

Thursday, May 15th

• DJ Trivia @ North Forty Beer Company | 7 - 8:30 PM
• Kick Up the Dust - Line Dancing Lessons @ Workman's Bar & Smokehouse | 7 - 8 PM
• Lookingglass Grange 927 Farmers Market | 2:30 - 5:30 PM | April - October
• DJ Bingo @ Brix Bar & Grill | 7 - 9PM | Link
• Celtic Jam Night @ Oran Mor | 5 - 8 PM | Link
• Draper Jam Night | 8 - 11:30 PM | Link
• Thirsty Thursday Cornhole Night @ Lookingglass Brewery | Every week on Thursday | 6 - 8 PM | Link
• Umpqua Celtic Jam - Oran Mor | 6 - 8 PM | Link
• Live Music: Ty Curtis Trio @​ The Rosebud Theatre | 6 - 9:30 PM | Link

Friday, May 16th

• Friday Pizzas! @ Reustle-Prayer Rock Vineyards | 12 - 4PM
• Karaoke Night @ Winchester Pub & Grill | 8 - 11 PM
• TGIF Wine & Pizza @ Abacela | 4 - 7 PM
• Sutherlin Farmers Market | 2 - 6 PM | April - October | 1305 W Central Ave
• Bingo @ Roseburg Senior Center | (Every Wed and Fri) - Doors Open at 5 PM, starts at 6:30PM. Food available. Ages 7+. $1 for non-members.
• Bullseyes & Bites @ The Blade Axe House | Every Friday | 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM | Link
• Walk-In Wine Tasting @ The Wine Destination | 4 - 7 PM | Link
• English/Scottish Country Dancing | 6:15 - 8:30 PM | Link
• Trevor Hanks & the Blackburn Rebels w/ Adam Gabriel & The Cavaliers @ The Rosebud Theatre | 7 - 10:30 PM | Link

Saturday, May 17th

• Umpqua Valley Farmers Market | 9AM - 1PM | Link
• Drain Farmers Market | 308 N 1st St in Drain @ 10AM - 2PM
• Myrtle Creek Outdoor Farmers and Craft Market | 10 AM - 2 PM | April - October | 106 S Main St (Elks Lodge Parking Lot)
• Melrose Farmers Market @ Oran Mor Meadery | 10 AM - 2 PM | May - October | 305 Melrose Rd
• Karaoke Night @​ Brix Bar & Grill | (Every Saturday) @ 7 - 10PM
• Karaoke Night @ Lookingglass Brewery | 6 - 8PM | Link
• Karaoke Night at Winston VFW | 5 - 9 PM | Link
• Karaoke Night - Shamrocks Cocktail Bar | 6 - 9 PM | Link
• Karaoke Night at Kodiak | 8 PM | Link
• Live Music: Bim Jeam & The Sadness @ North Forty Beer Company | 5 - 8 PM | Link
• All Ages: Punk/Indie/Emo & Pizza w/OLD CROSS (PDX) | 6 - 9 PM | Link
• Country Night - Backside Brewing Co. | 6 - 11 PM | Link
• Acoustic Blend LIVE at Two Shy Brewing - Roseburg | 6:30 - 8:30 PM | Link
• Anchored Down LIVE at The Wild Rose | 8 - 10:30 PM | Link
• Oakland City Wide Garage Sale
• 2nd Annual Fly-In Pig BBQ Competition | May 17 - 18th | Myrtle Creek Municipal Airport | Link
• Live Music: Katie Jane Band @​ The Rosebud Theatre | 6 - 9:30 PM | Link
• Live Music: Bad Reputation @​ Workman's Bar & Smokehouse | 8 PM

Sunday, May 18th

• Garden Valley Farmers Market | 11AM - 3PM
• Karaoke Night at The Wild Rose Saloon | 7 - 10 PM | Link
• Third Thursday BLUEGRASS Jam in Sutherlin (hosted by Oregon Bluegrass Association) | 1 - 4 PM | Link
• Angelic Noise LIVE at Oran Mor Artisan Meadery | 3 - 5 PM | Link
• Jonathan Foster LIVE at Spire Mountain Cellars | 5:30 - 8:30 PM | Link
• 2nd Annual Fly-In Pig BBQ Competition | May 17 - 18th | Myrtle Creek Municipal Airport | Link
• K9s Unleashed - FREE Event | Douglas County Speedway - Roseburg | Link

HAVE AN EVENT? TELL US AND WE WILL POST IT FOR FREE!

The Roseburg Receiver Updates

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That is the scoop for this Tuesday morning. Have a great day!

- The Roseburg Receiver Team