Douglas County commissioners say they may be close to a final agreement with the company that wants to produce electricity from the methane gas at the landfill.

Commissioner Doug Robertson met with Obama administration officials last weekend to tell them about the grim financial situation the counties are in.  He says it's tough to get past the health care issues in Washington right now.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has announced a crop of timber sales for Bureau of Land Management lands that will help keep Oregon mills open while the Obama administration works on a long-term forest management strategy.

The Douglas County Commissioners have appointed a new member to the planning commission after the death of Ed Stratton left a seat vacant.

At Wednesday's meeting of the Douglas County Commissioners, the budget was approved for the next fiscal year, and the video recording system will be replaced with an audio-only system of recording meetings.

County commissioners have extended a term sheet with a company that wants to harness the methane gas from the landfill and produce electricity, but they have run into a hang-up before they can actually sign a contract with the company.

The safety net funding expires in just over two years, and Robertson says the board is looking to move forward on issues of forest management, and stimulus money that appears to be heading to the BLM and Forest Service.

A group of community leaders gathered in the commissioner's meeting room to support those who were sworn in by County Clerk Barbara Nielsen.

County commissioners had a heated exchange Wednesday, over the resolution supporting Costco proposed by County Commissioner Marilyn Kittelman. The resolution was voted down 2-1.

Douglas County commissioners were hailing the US Senate vote that passed the Secure Rural Schools Act overwhelmingly, but that optimism was dampened Wednesday.

The Senate Finance Committee has included a multi-year extension of county payments in a tax extenders package bill. The legislation is likely to be brought to the senate floor on Thursday, and would reauthorize county payments funding through 2011, if it passes.

Oregon Senator Ron Wyden, (D-Oregon) says he is pushing forward to get the county payments bill authorized for another 4 years

The Douglas County Commissioners have approved the budget for the next fiscal year in a 2-1 split vote. The budget goes into effect on July 1st if the safety net is not approved at the last moments by Congress.

The planned approved by Douglas County Commissioners differs from the previous one, in that it would not have buoys out in the ocean, but would be attached to the jetty.