Mental health center — One of the last resorts for mentally ill people in crisis in Eugene will be closed this month after a change in state health care policy took one-third of a shelter’s money. The Royal Avenue Program shelter, based in a former motel, offers beds and short-term care provided by caseworkers and counselors during mental health hospitalization. The shelter accommodated 19 people at a time, usually housing them for about a week while they moved into other treatment. Last year, the shelter served 369 people. Lane County public health spokesman Jason Davis says the expansion of the Oregon Health Plan means there are fewer indigent, uninsured mentally ill people who need short-term crisis housing. With fewer clients forecast to be in indigent programs, the state is reducing contracts with agencies.

Sunfish spotted — A 7-foot ocean sunfish rarely seen recently washed ashore on a beach at Cape Disappointment State Park near the mouth of the Columbia River. It was found dead on the beach at low tide Aug. 27 by children after a campfire program, said June Mohler, a biological technician from Troutdale working this summer as an interpretive assistant at the park. “It’s really an odd-looking fish,” she said Friday. It was taller — 82 inches from fin to fin — than its 70-inch length. Mohler estimated it weighed close to 300 pounds. There was no obvious cause of death. A few days later, it had washed back into the ocean, Mohler said.