Brenda Autry Journalism Blog

In the early morning hours of Tuesday, Sept. 8, Idahna residents David Stevens and JoAnn Serdy were awoken by a pounding at their front door.  “The fire department was telling us we had to evacuate now,” Serdy said. “We had no time, so we just grabbed our medication and jumped in our car. By the time we reached the Detroit dam [just 15 minutes away] the fire was everywhere.” “It was like we were in the movie ‘Volcano,’” Stevens added. This scene was the terrifying reality for many Santiam Canyon residents who fled their homes, narrowly escaping the flames of the Beachie Creek Fire, which spread rapidly overnight. The evacuees, many of whom have lost their homes entirely, have sought shelter with friends, family or, like Serdy and Stevens, at the Linn County Evacuation Shelter set up at the Linn County Fairgrounds in Albany.  According to County Commissioner Will Tucker, the Linn County Evacuation Shelter is currently housing around 450 people and more than 1000 animals...

My heart sank as we reached the top of the path and gazed down into the valley at a pillowy white wall of clouds that threatened to ruin a moment I had awaited for years. I spent hours researching the perfect timing to avoid the calamity that lay before me. I sank to the ground among the llamas and other forlorn travelers to see if I could wait out my misfortune. As the sun began to peak over the mountains to the east, its rays cut small slits in the airy barricade allowing glimpses of deep green and earthy brown below. The crest of Huayna Picchu broke through and with each inch of dissipation my excitement rose to where it had been an hour earlier on the zig-zagging bus ride up the mountain. Suddenly, the sun broke free; flooding the valley with golden light and vanquishing the last remnants of cumulus shroud. I jumped to my feet, ran to the edge of the cliff, and finally drank in the sight I’d waited so long for -- Machu Picchu ! Machu Picchu The view was even more stunni...

Marc Rose is a full-time welding instructor and the department chair of the welding program at LBCC. Rose is an alumnus of the LB welding program. He lives in Lebanon with his wife, Kim, daughter Emma, 16, and son Luke, 14. This is his fifth year teaching full-time and he taught part-time for six years prior to that. The welding program has gone through a barrage of changes over the last few year. Just as things were beginning to settle down covid-19 hit and threw their program into disarray once again. Despite the challenges they've faced, the entire department has come together and found a way to teach hands-on skills online. Marc Rose How did you get started teaching? I wanted to teach right out of high school, but I wasn’t the most academic of students and I couldn’t see myself going to school for four more years. So, I kind of lost focus on that dream for a while. But about 11 or 12 years ago, Dean Dowless (a welding instructor at LB) contacted me about teachi...

I don’t know if it is the way the strangler fig trees and creeping lichens seem to devour the massive stone walls of Ta Prohm. The mystical pink blush in the carvings of Banteay Srei. Or the humbling feeling of standing in the shadow cast for centuries by the towering spires of Angkor Wat that makes me want to return more. Banteay Srei But whether it’s something I remember, or something I know I’ve yet to discover, few places in the world have left me longing to return as much as Angkor Wat. Hidden in the jungles of Cambodia for centuries before being rediscovered, Angkor Wat was built in the early 12th century as a Hindu temple dedicated to Vishnu, but was soon converted to a Buddhist temple. It served as the capital for the ancient Khmer people until the 15th century, and today is the largest religious monument on Earth, receiving millions of visitors every year. Angkor Archaeological Park , often mistakenly called the Angkor Wat Temples (Angkor Wat, translated “Templ...

Exercise is an important part of maintaining physical and mental health. With gyms being closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, many people are looking for a way to work out at home. Currently, Physiq Fitness in Albany is offering several of their fitness classes online. The classes include yoga, cardio dance, core, and some QFit team training classes. They are offered online through Physiq’s Facebook , Instagram , YouTube and Zoom links. You have to have a membership to access most of the workouts, so are they worth it? Physiq's Current online offerings. Image courtesy of Physiq Fitness. I tried a couple of their classes to find out. I really enjoyed the Cardio Dance class with Bethanie Gambardella. Cardio Dance, similar to Zumba, is a cardio class that incorporates choreographed dance moves to music. This type of workout works well online because it doesn’t require any equipment and you can do it in a relatively small space. This class is offered twice a week live on...

“Coming to the United States was hard. It shocked me,” said Subbappa Ribeiro, a yoga instructor at LBCC. “Before coming here I lived an isolated spiritual life. I think even if I had gone to a big city in India I would have been shocked.” Subbappa Ribeiro in his studio at LBCC Ribeiro is from Mysore, Kanataka in the southern part of India. He started practicing yoga in high school at age 16 and got serious about it a few years later when he met his teacher, B.K.S. Iyengar . He soon began dedicating more time to his yoga practice and moved into his teacher’s ashram where he spent 10 years of his life. “I started out working as the head of the kitchen. I ordered the groceries and things like that,” Ribeiro explains. “Then I started assisting my teacher [Iyengar] doing things like cleaning the studio. But this was just a couple hours a day.” “During my free time I studied, worked on my yoga practice and attended spiritual gatherings. I was searching for truth. I was learnin...

Every February, competitors from every corner of Oregon and every walk of life come to meet in the ring and battle for the title Oregon Golden Gloves Champion. For some, the road to this moment is long and paved with sacrifice. But still they come; with smiles on their faces and dreams in their hearts, hoping that at the end of the night they will don the blue and gold jacket that will brand them a champion forever. Golden Gloves Champions Past and Present. Photo courtesy of Kelvin Watkins Photography. Half an hour before the competition starts, the audience trickles in to fill hundreds of available seats in the large auditorium of the Salem Armory. The ring-side tables already hold a few of the more devoted boxing fans who are willing to pay a premium for the privilege of better proximity to the action. For now, the real action is behind the curtain on the stage that serves as a preparation area for tonight's fighters and their teams. Scattered across the dimly lit stage ...