Morning Lookout: LCC committee comes oh so close to approving budget proposal

Good morning, Lookout Eugene-Springfield,

The Lane Community College Budget Committee was this close to recommending a proposed budget to the board of education. But as Mike McInally reports, the committee didn’t get there and will take the budget up again next week.

In election news, it looks like the race for the East Lane seat on the Lane County Board of County Commissioners will come down to a runoff in November, as while Jack Pelroy leads, he has not exceeded 50 percent of the vote, which means he and Heather Buch will go at it again. Ben Botkin reports.

Ben also reports that the Oregon State Hospital is facing a wrongful death lawsuit after a patient died of a fentanyl overdose.

Oregon senior softball pitcher Lyndsey Grein was a big part of the Ducks’ success this season. But she missed the regional last weekend after swelling in her eye and a diagnosis of periorbital cellulitis. Tyson Alger has the story.

Have a great Memorial Day weekend. It’s one of my favorite weekends of the year, and Sunday has always been focused around auto racing: Monaco Grand Prix early morning, Indy 500 midday, Coca-Cola 600 in the evening. There’s no Monaco this year, and I’ll need dual screens to watch Indy and the Canadian GP, which overlap. Then at night, the Coke 600 will be a somber affair following the death of Kyle Busch. It won’t be the same, but it will still be the greatest day of racing.

Then Monday, we remember those who died serving our country. That day is for them.

Stories you might have missed Thursday …

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Oregon State Hospital sued for wrongful death in patient’s 2024 fentanyl overdose

By Ben Botkin

The mother of Roy Bennett Jr., a former Oregon State Hospital patient, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the psychiatric hospital. Bennett, 32, died of a fentanyl overdose in 2024 while in the hospital after a visitor gave it to him, the lawsuit says.