5 March 2013
Public Officials Honored
The Lane Council of Governments held their annual awards night last week in Eugene.
Jacque Betz – “Florence should be very honored because we actually had two distinguished people recognized.”
Florence City Manager Jacque Betz was able to catch former Mayor Phil Brubaker off guard and surprise him with the award for the agency’s best elected official of 2012.
Jacque Betz – “It was my pleasure to be able to present that to him for all of the work that he had done with the senior center and emergency preparedness and, also kind of led into our fire chief John Buchanan who received the outstanding public employee award so it was a very special night for Florence.”
Brubaker had been lured to the dinner by telling him he was there to help present an award to Siuslaw Valley Fire and Rescue Chief John Buchanan. He was recognized as the Public Employee of the Year.
Buchanan and Brubaker were both credited with advancing emergency preparedness efforts in the Florence Area.
Check Your Facts
Don’t believe everything you read on the internet. Social media, such as Facebook, can be very effective in spreading information.
Unfortunately it’s not always accurate.
A series of postings recently has been advising people to dial 112 in order to be connected directly with the dispatch center for local police.
That only works if you happen to be driving in the United Kingdom.
The emergency number in the United States has been… and will remain… 9-1-1. The National Emergency Number Association says the social media stories may look authentic… but they’re not. In fact, according to one rumor-busting website… Snopes-dot-com… it’s an old story that’s been circulating on the web in some fashion or another for nearly a dozen years.
Plover Protections Pending
Annual nesting protections for the endangered Western Snowy Plover will be going up in eight different sites up and down the Oregon Coast late next week.
Three of those locations are in the Florence area.
Ropes and signs will be erected around dry-sand nesting areas in the Siltcoos and Tahkenitch estuaries, as well as along a stretch of dry sand near Baker Beach north of Sutton Creek.
U.S. Forest Service Wildlife Biologist Cindy Burns has been studying and helping to protect the threatened species for nearly 20 years. She stresses the nesting sites are not beach closures, but they do restrict some activities such as kite-flying. The plovers view the kites as being predators and will actually abandon their nest in an attempt to draw the predator away, leaving the eggs unprotected.
Rotary launches new art event
If you’re going to have an affair… make it a special one. That’s what Paula Becker thinks. She’s a member of Florence Rotary and is one of the organizers for a new fund-raiser.
Paula Becker – “It’s called the Artful Affair, and it is this Sunday at Tavolo at Sandpines between four and seven PM.”
It will be an adjunct to the annual Rotary Scholarship Auction coming up March 16th… For more than 50 years that function has raised money for a variety of good things in the community. Becker says they have more than 50 pieces of two-and-three dimensional art that will be displayed in a gallery setting Sunday afternoon… all offered up for sale by silent auction.
Paula Becker – “We are starting a new fine arts scholarship with the money we raise at this auction specifically. Local students, probably high school students, can apply.”
The addition of the new art auction doesn’t leave a void at the regular Rotary Auction.
Paula Becker – “There will still be art. We have over 40 pieces that have been donated by local artists.”
There is no cost to attend the “Artful Affair”, but a ticket must be secured in advance. Becker says you can call her or contact any member of Florence Rotary.
