Gun Control Laws Unlikely This Year
The Oregon Legislature made national news last week with the introduction of what would have been the strongest, far reaching, and some said, unconstitutional gun control legislation. Fifth District Senator Arnie Roblan said he doesn’t expect HB-3200 to make it out of either chamber.
Arnie Roblan – “I don’t really think that there will be any changes to our gun bills this session, on either side. I’m on Judiciary, I know the people on House Judiciary. There will be people pushing and trying to get something done on this, but my feeling is that there really is no pathway for those bills to make it through both houses and the governor.”
Roblan didn’t talk about his stance on gun control, but noted that the larger issue with mass shootings lies with a variety of things.
Arnie Roblan – “I think there’s a lot of things that we as a community have to do to come together and make our kids and our schools safe. And one of those is having opportunity when we know that someone has a mental illness to help them get the help that they need. So yes, I think there are a lot of issues that need to happen. We have a big emphasis this session on mental illness and trying to get the resources necessary to help those people.”
The legislature is roughly 30 days into the regular session. They’re expected to be in Salem through late June.
Heceta PUD Hopefuls Face Delay
Potential candidates for the proposed Heceta Water People’s Utility District board of directors will have to wait a few days before they can file for election. Conversion of the water district to a PUD will be on the May 11th ballot along with selection of board members for the new agency. State law requires that those five directors each come from a different ward. Currently the five commissioners that make up the Heceta Water District Board are selected district-wide. Heceta manager Scott Meyer said they are working on dividing the proposed PUD into five wards of roughly equal population. He hopes to have that process completed by Tuesday.
Crab Pot Crash
On man received minor injuries and Highway 101 about 13-miles north of Florence was restricted to one-lane for about four hours after a truck overturned yesterday morning. A truck-semi-trailer combination carrying empty crab pots failed to negotiate the Rock Creek Curve at milepost 174 and overturned. 50-year old Nick Nichols, the driver, was transported to Peace Harbor Hospital where he was treated and released. He had been hauling the crab pots from Crescent City, California to Warrenton, Oregon on the north coast. Traffic was restricted for about four hours, then was closed for about an hour in mid afternoon while crews righted and removed the truck and trailer. Police say no citations were issued.
97J Still Discussing Superintendent Search
The Siuslaw School District Board of Directors will meet this evening in private, executive session, to “deliberate on the final candidates” for the superintendent position. Board Chair Paul Burns announced last week that they had come to a clear consensus on a final candidate. But, he declined to release the identity of that person until final negotiations were completed. He said they expected to make an announcement March 13th. Tonight’s session is at 6:30 at the district office.
