Pearl Harbor… 70 years ago today
Margaret Thorngate remembers watching a car full of old men in a parade in her home town of Carpinteria, California when she was 8-years old. That was in 1931. Her mother told her the men were veterans of the Civil War… 70 years earlier. She remembers thinking at the time how long ago that was. While she wasn’t in Hawaii on December 7th, 1941, she was in Los Angeles with her aunt. After hearing about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor she remembers feeling fearful about a possible invasion of Southern California.
They hadn’t met yet, but her future husband was on a weekend pass from Fort Bragg. Fred Thorngate, a pre-war draftee, had just completed basic training. He remembers listening to the radio that Sunday and wondering – quote “where the hell is Pearl Harbor?”
He and millions of Americans soon found out. They also found out that they had suddenly been thrust into war.
Fred and Margaret would meet in Santa Barbara two years later… he a young artillery First Lieutenant, she a 19-year old volunteer, scanning the skies for possible enemy aircraft. The romance spawned on that California beach turned into wedding bells in August 1945… and still thrives 66 years later.
You can hear more of the Thorngates’ story this afternoon on KCST’s Our Town from four to six pm.
Oregon Prescription Drug Program
It isn’t every day that a state program can say it has saved people $30-million… but the Oregon Prescription Drug Program is doing just that. Five years ago today, the eligibility requirements for the program changed after a November vote, allowing any Oregon resident to receive the drug discount card good at most pharmacies. Missy Dolan, the program administrator, says before the ballot measure there were only about 5-thousand individual cardholders. Today, there are about 230-thousand.
Missy Dolan – “Prior to that, there were four or five restrictions. You know, age, a means test, a waiting period. It was really difficult to enroll. So, after Ballot Measure 44 passed, the floodgates opened, basically.”
Oregon residents can join the program at no cost… even if they already have insurance. You can learn more at www.opdp.org.
Local Gas Prices Dive
The average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline plummeted in the Florence area this past week… by 15-cents a gallon. The local average is $3.50. According to Triple-A the national average price fell by a penny this past week, it’s at $3.29. In Oregon, the average fell by six cents a gallon… it’s currently at $3.51 a gallon.
Contract pursued for new City Manager
The Florence City Council confirmed this week that they would like to promote from within. City Manager Bob Willoughby is leaving for a similar position in Silverton later this month. The successor plan specified that Assistant City Manager Jacque Betz would move up and fill that position. The council appointed a sub-committee including Mayor Phil Brubaker and Council President Nola Xavier to negotiate an employment contract with Betz. Negotiations are expected to be completed by the council’s December 19th goal setting session.
Taking a look at Coast Radio Sports…
Isaiah Holman-Gross had 13 points for the Sailors, but Mapleton fell to the Powers Cruisers 59-39 last night in Mapleton.