More Early Outs at the Jail
In the last five weeks the Lane County Sheriff has issued nearly 500 “get out of jail free” cards. Not because he likes playing Monopoly, but because of budget constraints and staffing reductions that have reduced the county jail to only 152 beds out of an availability of more than 500.
Last week 79 prisoners were released early; 45 of those were ‘pre-trial’ detainees who had been arrested and charged, but had not yet faced a judge.
34 of them had been tried and convicted of various crimes, but released because officials were trying to make space for more serious offenders. One of those released early didn’t even have to spend a half-day in jail. A sheriff’s spokesperson said the prisoner, convicted of driving under the influence of intoxicants, was released the same day he appeared to begin his 25-day sentence.
Tide pools and ethnobotany
This week’s full moon also means some very low tides in the morning… and when that happens, it can provide a great chance to get out and explore tidepools. Cape Perpetua Visitor Center will be lending an extra hand or two this weekend says Director Lori Robertson
Lori Robertson – “We have three days with great low tides and so we’ll have field rangers out at the tide pools from nine o’clock to 11 o’clock, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. And they’re there to help people, you know, have a look into the tide pools.”
This will be the second time this summer when especially low tides will expose some of the residents in the rocky areas.
Lori Robertson – “Giant green anemones, and the sea stars and, of course all the seaweeds and the algaes that are out there. Sometimes you’re lucky and you’ll see some of the chitons, and sea slugs, also called nudibranchs.”
In addition to the tide pooling, Saturday afternoon at one will be the 2nd “EcoTrek” of the season, a ranger guided hike to the Giant Spruce Tree just east of the center. The talk on the trail will focus on ethnobotany… or how the native peoples of the Oregon Coast used the forest plants.
Osburn Norman leads Siuslaw Hall of Fame class
A former Arizona State basketball standout and a long time college assistant coach who has thus far helped guide 14 players into the WNBA is one of the eight individual inductees this weekend into the Siuslaw Athletic Hall of Fame. Stephanie Osburn Norman graduated from Siuslaw High School in 1984. She was the first ever Division I female scholarship winner from the school.
After her four years on the court at Arizona State she moved to courtside where she was an assistant at several schools including Oregon and Oregon State; Vanderbilt University. She is currently associate head coach at Louisville. She and seven other individuals, along with the 1966 State Championship Cross Country Team will be inducted into the Hall of Fame Saturday afternoon, 3:30 PM at the Florence Events Center.
Warming up…
Some of the warmest weather of the season is expected over much of Oregon this weekend with temperatures in the mid 80s possibly rising to the mid 90s in areas inland…
Along the coast temperatures could be in the high 70s on Saturday with some cooling by Sunday.