26 July 2013
Springfield Law Maker to Oversee Lane Economic Efforts
A former Springfield Mayor, current Legislator and longtime Springfield resident will head up Lane County’s economic development efforts.
John Lively was named Economic Development Specialist this week… a position that he has extensive background in.
Lively served ten years as Springfield Mayor in the 80s and has also held several other volunteer and paid positions aimed at increasing jobs and economic opportunities. In the past he’s worked on company recruitment, business development, fund raising, budget management and communication.
Earlier this year Lively began a legislative career, representing Oregon’s 12th House District in Salem.
Longtime Aquarium Resident Succumbs to Age
Staff and regular visitors to the Oregon Coast Aquarium are saying farewell this week to one of the original residents of the facility that opened in 1992.
Harbor Seals typically have a 20-year lifespan in the wild, but one that died earlier this week in Newport was 34-years old.
Ken Lytwyn, Curator of Marine Mammals at the Aquarium said she was – quote “a smart old girl”. He worked with the seal for nearly two decades. He said her bright white coat and bossy attitude made a splash with staff and visitors.
She was born at the Point Defiance Zoo in Tacoma in 1979. Biologists said the seal died of complications related to her age.
BLM Puts Oregon Timber Sales on Hold
Three Oregon timber sales have been postponed by a federal agency while it considers a federal court decision ordering it to sell more timber.
A timber industry group, the American Forest Resource Council sued the Bureau of Land Management last year seeking to increase timber sales saying the agency was not following the 1937 Oregon and California Railway Land Act. The group was successful but has had to return to court again this week after the BLM temporarily halted three timber sales… one each in Josephine, Douglas and Lane Counties. An agency spokesman says it needs time to figure out what to do next with the judge’s decision that the agency can no longer use a computer model to estimate how many threatened spotted owls are in the area.
Foam Fest Features Speaker Wave
An evening of foam… and music will help raise money for the Siuslaw Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation this evening in Florence. The locally based band Speaker Wave, a finalist in the Eugene Weekly’s “Next Big Thing” competition, will take the to the stage at the Bay Street Grille at eight pm this evening. Al Costa with the foundation says the money raised this evening will help pay for the semi-annual Siuslaw River Cleanup as well as other efforts to monitor and protect water quality on area beaches. In addition to Speaker Wave, Costa says the event will include the infamous “push-up battle”.
