Oregon head football coach Dan Lanning has been a busy man.

But when you’re the man tasked with running one of the top college football programs in the country, burning jet fuel to shake hands and take photos is a big part of the gig. And Lanning was doing plenty of that last week.

A native of Kansas City, Mo., Lanning returned home last week on a two-day tear recruiting some of the top 2026 prospects in the country.

Lanning’s known stops included Lee’s Summit on Jan. 16, where the Tigers have 2027 interior line prospect Zach Harsha (6-5, 260) and 2028 tight end Max Trillo (6-4, 225).

He was even busier the following day. He had stops at Raymore-Peculiar, where he visited with and offered four-star uncommitted running back DeZephen Walker (6-0, 205) who is believed to be heavily considering Kansas and Nebraska.

He also headed to Illinois, where he swung by Lincoln-Way East to visit with quarterback Jonas Williams, who agreed with the Ducks on Aug. 3, 2024,

A trip to the Springfield, Mo. area was also on the docket, as Lanning traveled to Nixa High School to again meet with the country’s No. 1 2026 offensive lineman, Jackson Cantwell, on Jan. 16. The 6-8, 315 offensive tackle has offers from just about everyone in the country, though he has spoken highly of Lanning and his relationship with the Ducks coach – making Oregon one of the favorites for his services.

Cantwell was honored by the Kansas City Chiefs on Jan. 18 during their AFC Divisional playoff game against the Houston Texans after he was selected to represent the Chiefs at the ‘Nike Ones’ showcase during Super Bowl weekend in New Orleans.

Lanning concluded his trip with a little basketball in Hutchinson, Kan., where he watched Great Bend tight end Ian Premer (6-6, 215) – the top tight end in the 2026 class – take on Hutchinson. Premer, a three-sport star in football, basketball and baseball, impressed with 22 points in the game.

The Midwest swing adds to a busy month for Lanning, who also has been spotted with Utah No. 1 athlete Salasi Moa and recently secured a visit with top 2026 quarterback and Nashville native Jared Curtis.

Jake Cornett, Executive Director and CEO of the advocacy group Disability Rights Oregon, says he will forever be haunted by Ashlyn Maddox’s death during the 2021 Oregon heat wave.

The Portland woman, 36, was disabled and living in a group foster home. She was dropped off by a medical transport company, but the company didn’t make sure she made it safely into her air-conditioned home. She ended up wandering around for hours in the heat, and died only 50 feet from safety.

Cornett says, “These deaths are preventable with the right planning, the right strategy for mitigation, the right preparedness and a response plan that complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act and respects the needs of people with disabilities.”

Cornett spoke with “All Things Considered” host Geoff Norcross about Oregon’s ability to help people with disabilities during a natural disaster, such as the deadly wildfires burning in the Los Angeles area.

This conversation has been edited for clarity and length.

Geoff Norcross: If we were to transport those fires in Southern California here, would we see a similar catastrophe for people with disabilities?

Jake Cornett: Surely, we fear that the same disasters we’ve seen play out in the catastrophes in the lives of people with disabilities in LA would play out right here in Oregon as well. And I don’t think this is just a theoretical question. It’s only a matter of time before we have major wildfires along Highway 20, very close by in Portland and in other major cities throughout our state.

Norcross: What is the obligation of local governments to provide for people with disabilities when disaster strikes? I guess I’m asking if the Americans with Disabilities Act applies here.

Cornett: Absolutely. The Americans with Disabilities Act requires that cities, counties, the state and the federal government are taking into account what the needs are of people with disabilities, and providing accommodations for those needs when engaging in disaster planning.

Norcross: Getting information out to people quickly in a disaster is so critical, especially for something that’s as fast-moving as the LA wildfires. For people who are deaf or blind, can you talk about how that’s extra complicated?

Cornett: Absolutely. You know, emergency response notification systems that happen on your phone are a great tool if you have a phone, or if you have the technology to make your phone provide you the information you need. And that’s particularly important for folks who are blind.

I think about a blind person who may not have the same visual access to information as others. If police run around your neighborhood and put a notice on your door that says “get out of town, there’s an evacuation order, you’re under wildfire threat,” that notice on your door might not be enough because you can’t access that information.

And this is where cities, counties and the state really have an obligation to adjust to how they communicate so that it’s effective for all people with disabilities.

Norcross: And again, when you say obligation, you mean a legal obligation, not just because it’s the right thing to do.

Cornett: Absolutely. There’s a legal obligation to do that under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Norcross: Even if an evacuation order gets to affected people quickly, there’s this expectation that most people will get in their car and they will leave. How does that expectation leave people with disabilities in even greater danger?

Cornett: Yeah, that’s another huge issue for people with disabilities, especially when it happens quickly like the LA fires. People think evacuating is getting in the car, driving quickly away to safety.

But many people with disabilities don’t have access to a car, or they can’t physically drive a vehicle. They’re totally reliant on others to transport them to safety. So just providing that notice is not an adequate way to ensure that we are saving the lives of people with disabilities in the way it needs to be done.

Norcross: Is there an event here in Oregon that you can point to that shows us how situated we are to help people with disabilities when disaster strikes, good or bad?

Cornett: Here in Oregon, we’ve seen hundreds die or have serious injuries because of heat in the past few years. Climate change is real. We live in a warming environment, and it’s having a really disproportionate impact on seniors, on people with disabilities and people with underlying medical conditions.

And I’ll forever be haunted by a story of a 30-something year old woman who was dropped off by a medical transport company, but didn’t wait in their air-conditioned van to make sure that she got inside her home where there was air conditioning. Instead, they took off. She wandered around for hours before dying of heat, just 50 feet from her adult foster home.

These deaths are preventable with the right planning, the right strategy for mitigation, the right preparedness, and a response plan that complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act and respects the needs of people with disabilities.

On the heels of a milestone victory over Gonzaga on Thursday night, the Oregon State Beavers could not capture the same magic Saturday in San Francisco.

The road issues again reared their ugly head as OSU fell to USF 81-70, dropping the Beavs to 14-6 overall and 4-3 in conference play.

OSU have just one true road win this season, which came against Pacific on January 11. They are 1-4 in that category.

The biggest blows to the Beavers’ efforts came from beyond the arc. San Francisco made 13 of 22 three-point attempts, while OSU made just one on nine attempts. Malik Thomas was the game’s leading scorer with 24 points and four three-point makes.

Michael Rataj led the Beavs in scoring with 18 points, also grabbing six rebounds and two assists. As a team, the Beavs shot 44.4% on the night making 24 of 54 field goal attempts.

Oregon State will have several days off before hosting Pepperdine on Thursday, January 23.

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Why Oregon State’s 97-89 Win Over Gonzaga Meant So Much To Beaver Nation

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