The Benton County Regional Traffic Team has been recognized at the state level for its work combating impaired driving, receiving a statewide award earlier this month from the organization that helped inspire the program in the first place.
The Oregon DUII Multi-Disciplinary Training Task Force presented the team with its “DUII Group/Organization Advocate of the Year” award on April 2 during the organization’s annual training conference in Bend.
The award recognizes a group or organization making a notable contribution to the local community or state in deterring DUII through leadership and advocacy for highway safety. The task force provides training and consultation to state, local, community and professional organizations involved with DUII training, enforcement, treatment and prevention.
The regional team is a collaborative effort involving the Philomath Police Department, Corvallis Police Department and Benton County Sheriff’s Office.
The Philomath News reported on the formation of the regional team in December as the agencies were wrapping up their “12 Days of Traffic Safety” campaign. At the time, officials noted that the idea for the regional team grew out of a presentation at an Oregon DUII Multidisciplinary Task Force conference — making the recognition from that same organization a full-circle moment for the program.
The team conducts high-visibility enforcement operations timed around events and holidays associated with increased alcohol consumption. Each operation follows a three-part structure of community engagement and public education, a pre-event briefing and saturation patrols. The agencies advertise enforcement operations in advance through social media, with the goal of deterring dangerous behavior before it happens rather than simply making arrests.
Since launching in late 2024, the team has conducted seven single-day or multi-day enforcement events with cumulative totals of 4,067 traffic stops, 931 traffic citations, 148 field sobriety tests and 80 DUII arrests.
To put those numbers in context, the team’s 2025 Halloween weekend operation alone — a two-day event mobilizing more than 40 officers — resulted in 446 traffic stops and 20 DUII arrests.
Regional partners, including the Albany Police Department and Oregon State Police, have joined various operations.
Sgt. Blake Bowers serves as PPD’s point person for the program with Deputy Colin Tominey coordinating for the sheriff’s office and Brittany Hughes for Corvallis Police. Philomath Police Chief Dave Gurski and Bowers attended the Bend conference and with several other members of the regional team accepted the award.
2. Funding request for fire training facility
U.S. Rep. Val Hoyle has submitted a request for $2 million in federal funding for a regional public safety training facility in Philomath as part of a package of 20 community project requests submitted to the U.S. House Appropriations Committee for Fiscal Year 2027.
The Marys Peak Regional Public Safety Training Facility project would direct funding to Philomath Fire and Rescue for property acquisition, site preparation and construction of a training facility for career and volunteer fire and rescue professionals.
Hoyle’s office noted the project is appropriate for federal investment given its focus on enhancing public safety services in a rural community with “high wildfire risk.”
The committee will now consider which of the submitted projects to include in future appropriations bills. Inclusion in Hoyle’s request list does not guarantee funding.
“Being chosen to move forward in the process is profoundly meaningful to us as an organization and a region,” Philomath Fire and Rescue Chief Chancy Ferguson said, adding that community support was a major factor with the funding request. “We were able to demonstrate that with this project through multiple letters of support. It really does go back to the community, not just us.”
The Philomath request was one of two Benton County projects in Hoyle’s submission. The other was a $1,434,490 request for Oregon State University to purchase and install equipment for an Oregon Fire Testing Facility in Corvallis.
Hoyle’s full list of 20 requests spans Oregon Fourth Congressional District and totals more than $31 million. Projects in other counties include hospital equipment replacement in Coos Bay, communications infrastructure upgrades in Curry County, an evacuation shelter and emergency operations center in Douglas County, airport improvements in Eugene and an emergency respite center in Springfield, among others.
(Photo by Richard Immel/USA Wrestling)
3. Hernandez earns wrestling bronze in Panama
Philomath eighth grader Olivia Hernandez added another international medal to her growing résumé, capturing a bronze medal at the 2026 U17 Pan American Championships on April 3 in Panama City, Panama.
Competing at 46 kilograms, Hernandez opened with a 12-0 victory over Ashly Choc Choc of Guatemala before dropping her semifinal match to Mexico’s Aleyvi Celis Vazquez by fall. She rebounded in the bronze medal bout, pinning Canada’s Talia Pavlic at 3:56 to secure third place.
Last month, Hernandez won the 46-kg weight class at the U17 Pan American Team Trials in North Liberty, Iowa, going unscored upon and defeating the nation’s top-ranked wrestler in the finals. This was her first international competition at the U17 level; she previously won back-to-back gold medals at the U15 Pan American Championships in 2024 and 2025.
Team USA had a dominant showing at the tournament overall, winning eight gold medals in the 10 women’s freestyle weight classes and finishing first in the team standings with 235 points, well ahead of runner-up Mexico’s 170. Hailey Delgado won the Golden Boot as the tournament’s most outstanding wrestler.
(Brad Fuqua is publisher/editor of the Philomath News. He can be reached at News@PhilomathNews.com).
