The holiday season is in full Santa mode, from events with Santa to holiday bazaars to the annual Shop with a Cop. But probably the most visible news story this week has been our look at Oregon Department of Transportations’ use of rock salt to reduce ice on interstates in Northeastern Oregon.

Reporter Dick Mason had a story on this with comments from Ken Patterson, manager of ODOT’s Region 5, which includes all of Eastern Oregon. While statistics are not available to indicate how the salt is affecting crashes, anecdotal information is proving promising.

“We have a lot less closures now due to ice and snow on the road,” ODOT spokesperson Tom Strandberg said, adding Interstate 84 still has many closures in winter due to high winds and truckers getting into accidents because they did not use chains.

Speaking on road closures, The Observer picked up a story from our sister paper, the East Oregonian, that took a close look at how often Interstate 84 closes during the winter in Eastern Oregon. Turns out, the number of closures is on a steep rise. The story has been popular online and is informative.

We have other stories coming soon out of ODOT data, including a piece on distracted driving crashes in Eastern Oregon.

On the sports side, an Enterprise High School football coach is in Boise, Idaho, undergoing treatment for a tumor on his pituitary gland that could cause vision loss and other maladies.

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