Now’s the time if you want to run…
Aspirants for local elected office can begin their efforts this week. The nominating process for getting your name on the November ballot for one of several open positions in city government began Monday. Two mayor’s seats and a total of five council positions between Florence and Dunes City will be available.
In Florence, Mayor Phil Brubaker is barred from running again because of Charter imposed term limits. Councilor Nola Xavier is, so far, the only candidate to publicly declare. That leaves the seat she currently holds as being available. The other council spot open in Florence is one now held by Paul Holman… he’s not made any public announcements as to his intentions.
In Dunes City, Rebecca Ruede has been mayor since being appointed to the post last year. She’s not yet announced whether or not she’ll be seeking election. There are three four-year council terms available. They’re currently held by Richard Kohler, Jaime Mills and Ed Scarberry.
Application packets with complete instructions on the filing process are available at both city halls. The process wraps up Thursday, August 16th. The election is November 6th.
Lincoln County Fugitive Arrested
A man wanted in connection with a Yachats assault last month was taken into custody yesterday by Lincoln County Sheriff’s Deputies. 25-year old Justin Wood was wanted in connection with the beating in Yachats, May 10th of a 46-year old man. He was also allegedly present at a Tenmile Creek home last Friday morning when police shot and killed another suspect in that beating.
18-year old Samuel Mullane died after confronting police with a rifle.
Woods was spotted by a Forest Service Employee on a remote logging road. He told police he had been lost in the woods since Friday. A third suspect in the beating, Matthew Hubeny, was arrested shortly after Friday’s incident.
Gas Prices Holding Steady… and high.
Industry analysts say West Coast drivers are finally getting relief from record high gas prices. But that doesn’t appear to be the case in Florence where the average price remains at $4.18 a gallon. Oregon’s average price dropped by 2 ½ cents a gallon this week to $4.23. Both are well above the national average price of $3.57… 6 ½ cents less than last week.
According to Triple-A, five states in the Pacific Region remain above the four dollar a gallon mark. Oregon is number four on the list behind Hawaii, Alaska and Washington. California is fifth. For the fourth week in a row South Carolina boasts the cheapest gas in the country at an average of $3.19.
Lane County Jail Releases Continue
A total of 59 inmates were released from the Lane County Jail earlier this week because of insufficient space. 38 of those were ‘pre-trial’ defendants who were ordered to return for their trial dates. 21, however, were inmates who had not yet completed their sentence.
Two of those had been convicted of driving under the influence and only served a fraction of their sentences. Sergeant Carrie Carver with the Sheriff’s Office says one had served only ten out of 60-days; while another had served just one day of a four month sentence. Carver says “capacity based releases” are made each week at the Lane County Jail because of funding restrictions. Decisions on which inmates to release take into account a defendant or offender’s danger to society.