Lane County Mugshots ©

Eugene, Or. - On Tuesday, July 29, 2025, at 8 a.m., Oregon State Police responded to a three-vehicle fatal crash on Interstate 5 near milepost 186. The preliminary investigation indicated a white Dodge Caravan, operated by Kennith James Nelsen (56) of Coos Bay, was traveling southbound on I-5 when it attempted to turn into the emergency vehicle turnaround from the slow lane and struck the side of a gray Dodge Charger, operated by Timothy Brian Smith (59) of Springfield. The Charger attempted to avoid the crash by swerving towards the median. The Caravan impacted the Charger while it was in the emergency vehicle turnaround, sending the Charger into the northbound travel lanes of I-5, where it went beneath a white Kenworth dump truck, operated by Jaison William Karow (44) of Coos Bay, towing a loaded trailer. A passenger in the Dodge Charger, Kenneth Nicholas Thomas (61) of Springfield, was pronounced deceased at the scene. The operator of the Charger (Smith) was transported by ground a...

EUGENE, Ore. — Former child star Zachery Ty Bryan , famed for his role as Brad Taylor on the 1990s sitcom Home Improvement , continues to face mounting legal scrutiny following his November 29 arrest for violating probation terms tied to a prior domestic violence conviction.  The 44-year-old Eugene resident, who shares three young children with fiancée Johnnie Faye Cartwright , remains in custody at Lane County Community Corrections after denying the violation allegations during a December 3 arraignment. Meanwhile, Cartwright, 32, was released on December 3 under Pre-Trial Services' conditional contractual release, now with a GPS Smartphone app ( not an ankle monitor as previously reported ) as part of the Electronic Monitoring Program (EMP), according to jail and court records. Details on the conditions of her release or her access to their children, who were placed with a family member post-arrest, remain unavailable, though sources suggest they may be staying with Cartwright o...

EUGENE, Ore. — Mark D. Baker, 63, a member of the prominent Baker family that owned The Register-Guard newspaper for 91 years, was arrested* October 09, 2025**, following a confrontation over dog waste that allegedly escalated into assault and property damage. Police say the incident occurred while Baker was walking his dog near Churchill Estates at 1919 Bailey Hill Road . When two residents confronted him about failing to pick up after the animal defecated on the lawn of Churchill Estates, Baker allegedly became physical: punching one person and damaging property. Baker, whose family shaped Eugene’s media and civic landscape for nearly a century, was booked on three municipal charges: Assault, Criminal Mischief in the Second Degree, and Harassment (offensive physical contact). The Baker family’s legacy in Eugene dates to 1927, when Alton F. Baker Sr. purchased the Eugene Guard. In 1930 he merged it with the Eugene Register to form The Register-Guard, which the family owned and operate...