By summer’s end, Community Services Consortium should have two new tools to help struggling mid-valley renters stay in their homes or quickly find new housing after becoming homeless.

It was hot as a firecracker Thursday, but not hot enough to break a record.

The following events are taking place over the Independence Day holiday weekend:

Here is the schedule of closures for the Independence Day holiday weekend:

The annual benefit sale for the Vina Moses Center is scheduled for July 10 and 11 in the First United Methodist Church Community Building.

Six young adults have jobs clearing vegetation for the Benton County Natural Areas and Parks Department to restore the habitat of the Taylor’s Checkerspot Butterfly.

To keep students’ minds engaged this summer, Oregon State University is offering dozens of lively camps, residential camps and workshops in math, engineering, art, journalism, chemistry, physics, life science and ecology.

This log includes incidents in which there may have been a public disturbance or a risk to the public. Information comes from reports of the Corvallis Police Department, Benton County Sheriff’s Office and Oregon State Police. It does not include all calls for service. The status of incidents may change after further investigation. Locations are approximate. People arrested or suspected in crimes are considered innocent until proven otherwise.

The Gazette-Times seeks to correct all errors of fact in our newspaper. If you see something that needs clarification or correction, call the newsroom at 758-9525.

ALBANY — Detectives for the Linn County Sheriff’s Office raided a field of what they called illegal poppies, Sheriff Tim Mueller announced.

BAKER CITY — Three cows or three chicken nuggets? For Mike Corley, the choice was easy.

SALEM — Republicans are accusing Democratic Gov. Ted Kulongoski of using a delaying tactic to try to keep Oregon voters from having their say on income tax hikes just passed by the Legislature.

State and local agencies have one message: Have fun celebrating, but do so safely and legally.

A heat wave expected to bring some the warmest conditions so far this year has come to the Willamette Valley.

Over the course of the past 100 years, Oregon State University has provided numerous big stories for the Gazette-Times to cover. Narrowing the list to 10 wasn’t easy, and some accomplishments and stories could very easily have made the cut.

1855: For most of the year, until December, Asahel Bush II published his Oregon Statesman at a wooden frame building at Second Street and Adams Avenue.

As is the case with the top accomplishments by teams and individuals at Oregon State, the successes of teams and individuals in Benton County are just as impressive, and too numerous to appropriately highlight in a list of the top 10. While one Richey’s Market team that reached the American Legion World Series makes the list, two others also reached the series. Then think of the numerous high school state championship teams that could have made the list. Oh, and decathlete Dave Johnson spent a year at Crescent Valley as well and later won the silver medal in the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona.

Technological improvements, most significantly the rise of the personal computer, have brought sweeping and rapid developments to the Corvallis Gazette-Times since the mid-1980s.

The story goes that the Corvallis Gazette-Times was launched on a coin flip in 1909. To mark the run-up to our 100th birthday, we shared historic vignettes. Below are the links to the entire collection with the date that each vignette ran in the G-T and,in parentheses, the year of the historical selection and the headline that appeared with it:

A questionnaire has been posted online as part of an ongoing project to locate and map unused wells in Linn and Benton counties.

The Benton County Republicans are hosting a Fourth of July breakfast.

The following events are taking place this weekend:

Here is the schedule of closures for the Independence Day holiday weekend:

The Oregon State University Craft Center summer membership, classes and workshops are under way.

The Benton County Fairgrounds Office has moved into the red and white, two-story Carriage House in preparation for the fair and rodeo.

This log includes incidents in which there may have been a public disturbance or a risk to the public. Information comes from reports of the Corvallis Police Department, Benton County Sheriff’s Office and Oregon State Police. It does not include all calls for service. The status of incidents may change after further investigation. Locations are approximate. People arrested or suspected in crimes are considered innocent until proven otherwise.

SWEET HOME — Plastic wrap covers four piles of rubble on former mill property in Sweet Home. Nearby, a few ragged pieces of tape bearing the words “Danger: Asbestos” flutter in the wind.

ALBANY — Richard Robert Lee will remain on parole while his case is brought before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the federal court decided Monday.

CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan, July 2 — Thousands of U.S. Marines descended upon the volatile Helmand River valley in helicopters and armored convoys early Thursday morning, mounting an operation that represents the first large-scale test of the U.S. military’s new counter-insurgency strategy in Afghanistan.

SALEM — Oregon voters might be willing to support the state Legislature’s income tax increases if opponents succeed in forcing a statewide vote on them, Gov. Ted Kulongoski said Tuesday.

The Oregon Department of Forestry’s West Oregon District will enter fire season on Thursday. The district encompasses Benton, Lincoln and Polk counties along with the southwestern portion of Yamhill County.

ALBANY — The East Albany Lions Club’s annual Lumberjack Breakfast will take place Thursday through Sunday at Eleanor Hackleman Park, 654 Pine St. S.E.

Some of the major bills approved by the 2009 Oregon Legislature:

ALBANY - Oregon Attorney General John Kroger says he’s following a two-part strategy for fighting crime.

SALEM — Against a backdrop of the worst economy in decades, the Oregon Legislature patched a $4 billion deficit while raising taxes and fees to put thousands of people to work through public works projects.

Some of the major bills approved by the 2009 Oregon Legislature:

ADELPHI, Md. (AP) — Government experts called for sweeping safety restrictions Tuesday on the most widely used painkiller, including reducing the maximum dose of Tylenol and eliminating prescription drugs such as Vicodin and Percocet.

LOS ANGELES — Michael Jackson was so distraught over persistent insomnia in recent months that he pleaded for a powerful sedative despite warnings it could be harmful, says a nutritionist who was working with the singer as he prepared his comeback bid.

GRANTS PASS (AP) — A federal judge has struck down the Bush administration’s attempt to loosen a national forest planning rule that was the foundation of logging cutbacks to protect the northern spotted owl.

PHILOMATH — C.A. Campbell loves bringing his 1964 GTO ragtop to car shows, but he’s not after trophies, even though the muscle car is in primo condition.

Drivers in Monroe are getting a new bridge over Price Creek — or, at least, a bridge that is new to them. Benton County public works is using parts from another bridge taken from Linn County to build the structure, at considerable savings.

MONROE — The Monroe School District will have to operate on 12 percent less money during the 2009-10 school year, according to Superintendent Randy Crowson.

Today is “Giving Back Night” for the Corvallis Knights baseball team: All of the proceeds from walk-up ticket sales for tonight’s game will be divided among three charitable causes:

The 2008-09 year end program numbers for the Start Making A Reader Today (SMART) program are in. In the SMART Central Valley area — including Benton, Linn, Marion, and Polk Counties — here are the services provided:

A questionnaire has been posted online as part of an ongoing project to locate and map unused wells in Linn and Benton counties. Landowners who suspect that there may be unused wells on their property are asked to fill out the short 2009 Well Water Grant Questionnaire, available at http://www.co.benton.or.us/boc/water/index.php. Click on “Water Well Grant Questionnaire.”

Micah Lindvall, 20, of Philomath, pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted first-degree sex abuse as part of a negotiated plea on Monday in Benton County Circuit Court.

At least eight Corvallis cars were broken into late Wednesday night or early Thursday morning, according to Corvallis Police Department logs.

The 20th annual “Fabulous, Fantastic, AnyonenCannJoin” Fourth of July parade will assemble between Monroe and Jefferson on Eighth Street at 10 a.m. on Saturday and will start at about 10:30 a.m.

What should the community garden in Bruce Starker Arts Park be called?

Members of the Service Employees International Union local 49 have not yet reached an agreement with Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center and Samaritan Albany General Hospital after two months of negotiations.

Beginning Wednesday, Samaritan Evergreen Hospice will host a free grief support group. Led by a counselor or social worker, it will provide ongoing support for people who are mourning the loss of a loved one, regardless of how long ago the loss occurred. The group meets from 5:30 to 7 p.m. on the first Wednesday of the month, and from 1:30 to 3 p.m. the third Sunday of the month.

PORTLAND — Corvallis High School has been named “America’s Most Eco-Friendly School” in a competition sponsored by Wal-Mart, and was awarded a $20,000 grant to further its environmental efforts.

The annual ryegrass harvest in the mid-valley began in earnest about a week ago.

The staff of the Gazette-Times is hosting an open house Wednesday from 4 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at its offices at 600 S.W. Jefferson Ave. The event is in honor of the newspaper’s first 100 years as a thriving enterprise.

This log includes incidents in which there may have been a public disturbance or a risk to the public. Information comes from reports of the Corvallis Police Department, Benton County Sheriff’s Office and Oregon State Police at Oregon State University. It does not include all calls for service. The status of incidents may change after further investigation. Locations are approximate. People arrested or suspected in crimes are considered innocent until proven otherwise.