YCN Watch

09/14/2026

Congratulations and thank you for your service to our communities!

🔥 Celebrating 130 Years of Service 🔥

Today, the Yamhill Fire Protection District proudly celebrated its 130th anniversary—an incredible milestone built upon generations of courage, commitment, and service to our community.

Past and present volunteers came together to reconnect, share memories, and enjoy a barbecue in recognition of the people who have helped shape our district throughout its long history. It was wonderful to see generations of volunteers gathered in one place, united by their shared dedication to protecting and serving the Yamhill community.

Several current volunteers were recognized for reaching important years-of-service milestones. Among them was Chris Featherston, who was honored for an outstanding 30 years of service to the district.

A very special recognition was presented to Bob Landauer, who has devoted an extraordinary 50 years of service to the Yamhill Fire Protection District. Five decades of volunteer service is a remarkable achievement and a powerful example of loyalty, leadership, and commitment to one’s community.

We are deeply grateful to Chris, Bob, and every past and present volunteer who has answered the call over the past 130 years. The Yamhill Fire Protection District’s history was built by individuals willing to give their time, skills, and hearts in service to others—and that tradition continues today.

Please join us in congratulating all those recognized and in thanking the generations of volunteers who have made 130 years of service possible! 🚒❤️

09/13/2026

Patchy fog throughout the region this morning

09/13/2026

🌅 YCN MORNING BRIEFING

Sunday, September 13, 2026

Yamhill County, Oregon

For Newberg today (Sunday, Sept. 13): expect a cool, mostly cloudy morning, with clouds and some sunshine later and a chance of a shower. It’ll top out around 66°F, with a low near 49°F tonight.

🚔 PUBLIC SAFETY

A relatively quiet start to the morning across Yamhill County. Continue to keep an eye on local law-enforcement, fire and medical activity as the day develops.

Safety reminder: If you encounter an emergency, call 911. YCOM also provides text-to-911 service in Yamhill County.

🔥 WILDFIRE & FIRE SAFETY

🔥 Yamhill County remains under a burn ban. Check the county burn line before any outdoor burning: 503-472-3344.

With wildfire conditions remaining a concern across Oregon, continue to:

* Keep ignition sources away from dry vegetation.
* Never leave outdoor fires unattended.
* Make sure vehicles and equipment aren’t dragging chains or creating sparks.
* Have an evacuation plan and emergency supplies ready.

Yamhill County maintains a dedicated wildfire information and resources page for current conditions.

🌫️ AIR QUALITY

Current reporting indicates good air quality for Yamhill County, though smoke conditions can change quickly with wildfire activity and wind direction.

If smoke moves into the valley, reduce strenuous outdoor activity and pay particular attention to children, older adults, pets and anyone with respiratory problems. Oregon DEQ notes that higher AQI values indicate increasing health concerns.

☀️ TODAY’S REMINDER

Stay alert. Stay hydrated. Give emergency crews room to work.

If you see emergency activity, don’t stop in the roadway or interfere with responders. Slow down, move over and let them do their job.

YCN Watch — Keeping Yamhill County informed.

09/12/2026

Fatal Crash – Highway 244 – Union County - 09/11/26
UNION COUNTY, Ore. (11 Sept. 2026) – On Wednesday, September 9, 2026, at approximately 1:04 p.m., Oregon State Police responded to a single-vehicle motorcycle crash on Highway 244 near milepost 37 in Union County.

The preliminary investigation indicated a gray BMW motorcycle operated by Marvin Joseph Mason, 84, of Kennewick, Washington, was traveling on Highway 244 near La Grande when it left the roadway for an unknown reason and crashed near the bank of the Grande Ronde River. Mason had been riding with another motorcyclist, Dean Allen Moore, 73, of Richland, Washington, who was operating a silver BMW motorcycle. At one point, Moore noticed Mason was no longer behind him, turned around to search, and eventually located Mason and the crashed motorcycle.

The operator of the gray BMW (Mason) was pronounced deceased at the scene.

The operator of the silver BMW (Moore) was reportedly not injured.

The highway not impacted during the on-scene investigation.

OSP was assisted by the Union County Sheriff’s Office and the Oregon Department of Transportation.

09/12/2026

Multi-Agency Operation Dismantles Major Illegal Ma*****na Network In Clackamas And Marion Counties (Photo) - 09/11/26

Salem, OR (11 Sept. 2026) – A three‑day collaborative drug enforcement operation culminated in the seizure of more than 110,000 illegal ma*****na plants and over 81,000 pounds of bulk ma*****na with an estimated value of $20 million.

Investigators from the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office Interagency Task Force, supported by the Clackamas County Public Safety Levy, and the Oregon State Police Drug Enforcement Section completed a three‑day operation to disrupt and dismantle a suspected drug trafficking organization responsible for several illegal ma*****na grows in Clackamas and Marion counties.

In response to community complaints, the Clackamas County task force and OSP launched separate investigations that led detectives to uncover several additional illegal ma*****na grows. Over the course of the investigations, detectives determined they were investigating the same suspects. They joined forces, ultimately serving search warrants at six locations across Clackamas and Marion counties.

During the service of search warrants, officers located and destroyed 110,437 illegal ma*****na plants and 81,460 pounds of bulk ma*****na. In addition, 86 fi****ms and $11,500 in U.S. currency were seized. Jaimee Virrueta‑Gomez, 35, from Ge**er, California, was arrested on charges of Unlawful Manufacture of a Ma*****na Item and Unlawful Possession of a Ma*****na Item. The investigation is ongoing, and additional charges will be referred to both the Marion and Clackamas County District Attorney’s Offices.

Responding officers found individuals living and working in dangerous conditions without adequate shelter, running water, plumbing, or electricity. Investigators are working to determine whether the workers came to the site through force, fraud, or coercion.

Law enforcement agencies requested on‑scene crisis response and victim support at multiple locations in both counties. Service providers included Safety Compass, the Anti‑Trafficking Project (AT:Project), a program of J Bar J, and the Cannabis Workers Resilience Partnership.

Victim advocates and service providers offered crisis intervention, safety planning, basic necessities such as food and water, emergency transportation to safety, and connections to emergency shelter and housing. Legal services referrals were also available. Safety Compass provided confidential advocacy at every location.

During this multi‑day operation, 55 workers were offered services and continued follow‑up support.

Several county and state agencies assisted in the investigation of environmental crimes related to water use, pesticide and fertilizer runoff, and unlawful solid waste disposal.

Additional assisting agencies included the Clackamas County District Attorney’s Office, Marion County District Attorney’s Office, the Westside Interagency Narcotics (WIN) team, the Rogue Area Drug Enforcement (RADE) team, the Douglas County Interagency Narcotics Team (DINT), the Medford Area Drug and Gang Enforcement Team (MADGE), Port of Portland Police, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

The Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office Interagency Task Force and the OSP Domestic Highway Enforcement team are multi‑jurisdictional narcotics task forces that identify, disrupt, and dismantle local, multi‑state, and international drug trafficking organizations using an intelligence‑driven, multi‑agency, prosecutor‑supported approach.

The Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office Interagency Task Force includes members from the Canby Police Department, Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office, Oregon State Police, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Oregon National Guard Counterdrug Task Force. The task force is supported by the Clackamas County Public Safety Levy.

The Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office Interagency Task Force and OSP’s Drug Enforcement Section are supported by the Oregon‑Idaho High‑Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA). The Oregon‑Idaho HIDTA program is an Office of National Drug Control Policy sponsored counterdrug grant program that coordinates with and provides funding resources to multi‑agency drug enforcement initiatives throughout the state.

Safety Compass, the Cannabis Workers Resilience Partnership, and the Anti‑Trafficking Project are funded in part by the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission Illegal Ma*****na Market Enforcement Grant Program.

09/12/2026

🚨 YCN MORNING BRIEFING

Saturday • September 12, 2026

Yamhill County Public Safety & Wildfire Safety

🌧️ WEATHER

A significant change from the heat is underway. Saturday brings a much cooler pattern with showers possible, with additional showers lingering into Sunday morning. The National Weather Service is also noting a 15–25% chance of thunderstorms in parts of western Oregon.

For the McMinnville/Yamhill Valley area, the forecast calls for cool, unsettled conditions, with Sunday remaining mostly cloudy and a chance of morning showers.

🔥 WILDFIRE & BURNING SAFETY

Yamhill County remains under a burn ban. Check the county burn line at 503-472-3344 before conducting any burning.

Even with cooler and wetter weather arriving, do not assume outdoor burning is permitted until the official restrictions are lifted.

🚒 PUBLIC SAFETY

No major countywide emergency notice stood out in the official Yamhill County sources checked this morning. YCOM continues to provide emergency communications for police, fire and medical incidents throughout the county.

🐾 YCN SAFETY REMINDER

Cooler weather doesn’t mean the hazards disappear. Watch for slick roads, reduced visibility, standing water and changing driving conditions as showers move through.

Stay safe, Yamhill County. Keep an eye on the sky, watch the roads, and remember: if it’s an emergency, call 911. 🚨

YCN Watch — keeping Yamhill County informed.

09/11/2026

25 YEARS LATER — THOSE WHO ANSWERED THE CALL

Twenty-five years ago, on a Tuesday morning that began like any other, America watched in disbelief as our world changed forever.

September 11, 2001.

For those old enough to remember, you may remember exactly where you were.

You may remember the television in the background. The phone calls. The silence that seemed to settle over the country. The uncertainty of not knowing what would happen next.

And for the firefighters, police officers, paramedics and other first responders who were called to the scene, there was no time to simply watch.

They went.

They ran toward the danger while millions of others were trying to understand what was happening.

Some climbed stairs knowing they might never come back down.

Some entered buildings others were desperately trying to escape.

Some stopped to help complete strangers.

And some never returned home.

2,977 people were killed that day.

Among them were firefighters, police officers, paramedics, emergency workers and other members of the response community who made the ultimate sacrifice while doing their jobs—and doing what they believed was right.

But September 11 did not end that morning.

For survivors, families and first responders, the story continued long after the smoke cleared.

It continued in hospital rooms.

It continued at funerals.

It continued in the years of grief and recovery.

And for many first responders, it continued through illnesses and health struggles connected to their time at Ground Zero.

Twenty-five years later, a new generation has grown up.

There are young firefighters today who weren’t alive on September 11, 2001.

There are police officers and paramedics serving their communities who know that day only through photographs, documentaries and the stories told by those who were there.

And there are children today who will learn about September 11 in school the same way previous generations learned about other defining moments in history.

To them, we have a responsibility.

Tell them.

Tell them about the people who were lost.

Tell them about the families who never got their loved ones back.

Tell them about the survivors.

And most importantly, tell them about the men and women who answered the call.

Because being a first responder has never been about knowing whether you will come home.

It is about answering when someone else needs help.

That spirit did not disappear on September 11.

It lives today in every firefighter who gets on a rig.

Every police officer who responds to a dangerous call.

Every paramedic who kneels beside a patient.

Every dispatcher who answers a desperate voice.

Every volunteer who leaves their family in the middle of the night because their community needs them.

Twenty-five years have passed.

But the lesson remains.

When others were running away from the danger, thousands of first responders ran toward it.

They didn’t do it because they weren’t afraid.

They did it because someone needed them.

That is what we remember.

Not just the buildings.

Not just the planes.

Not just the date.

The people.

The lives that were lost.

The lives that were changed.

And the heroes who answered the call.

To those who remember: never forget.

To those who don’t: learn.

And to the generations still to come:

Remember their names. Remember their sacrifice. Remember why they ran toward the danger.

🇺🇸 September 11, 2001 — September 11, 2026 🇺🇸

25 years later, we remember.

We honor.

09/11/2026

🌄 YCN Morning Briefing — Friday, September 11, 2026

Good morning, Yamhill County. 🇺🇸

Travel safely: Expect the usual Friday-morning traffic and give emergency responders plenty of room when you see lights and sirens.
Wildfire awareness: Oregon is continuing to experience hot, dry conditions, with elevated wildfire concerns.

🔥 Wildfire Safety

Even as we move toward fall, vegetation remains dry in many areas.

Never leave a campfire unattended.
Make sure recreational fires are completely extinguished.
Don’t park on dry grass.
Dispose of ci******es properly.
Check local restrictions before burning.

🌡️ Weather

Today’s conditions are expected to remain warm and dry across the region, so continue to stay hydrated and watch out for heat stress—especially for older adults, children, pets and anyone working outdoors.

❤️ YCN Reminder

Have a safe Friday, Yamhill County.
— YCN Watch

09/11/2026

THE EVE OF SEPTEMBER 11

Tomorrow marks 25 years since September 11, 2001.

Tonight, before the anniversaries, ceremonies, flags, and moments of silence begin, take a moment to remember the world as it was on the evening of September 10, 2001.

People went to work.
Families had dinner together.
Children went to bed.
Firefighters, police officers, EMTs, and countless others prepared for another ordinary day.

Nobody knew that the next morning would change the United States—and the lives of so many people around the world—forever.

September 11 is not simply a date in history. It is the memory of 2,977 innocent lives lost, the countless survivors who carried the scars forward, the first responders who answered the call, and the families who were left with an empty chair at the table.

It is also a reminder of the courage that emerged from an unimaginable day.

Tomorrow, we remember.

Tonight, we pause.

For those who never made it home.
For those who ran toward danger.
For those who survived.
For those who served in the years that followed.
And for the families who have spent 25 years missing someone they loved.

We remember. We honor. We will never forget.

-YCN Watch