18 November 2013
Court rejects Florence casino challenge
The Oregon Court of Appeals has affirmed the governor’s right to enter into tribal gambling compacts.
Four Florence property owners filed a lawsuit a decade ago claiming the Oregon Constitution prohibits casinos and the governor lacked the authority to sign a compact allowing the Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians to build its Three Rivers Casino & Hotel.
The Appeals Court opinion written by Judge Lynn Nakamoto supports a lower-court decision that the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act allows tribal casinos in states that allow other entities to operate games of chance.
She also wrote that the Legislature authorized the governor to enter into agreements that ensure Oregon does not infringe on tribal rights.
Kristian Roggendorf, the attorney for the property owners, says the case is not over.
Oregon Health Rollout Blows a Tire
With all the problems facing the rollout of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul, nowhere is the situation worse, or more surprising, than in Oregon.
It’s a progressive state that has enthusiastically embraced the federal law, but Oregon has so far failed to enroll a single person in coverage through the state’s insurance exchange.
Despite grand ambitions, an early start and millions of dollars from the federal government, Oregon’s online enrollment system still is not ready more than a month after it was supposed to go live. The state has resorted to hiring or reassigning 400 people to process insurance applications by hand.
The state has received about 18,000 paper applications, at 19 pages each, and is scrambling to manually file and clear them – a process that will take weeks.
Digital Divide Bridged
Elected officials in Florence will usher in the “electronic age” this evening during a special training session. A special city council work session is set for six pm for councilors to receive training on how to use digital tablets. The I-pads will replace the traditional binders filled with information printed on paper. City Manager Jacque Betz said the move will allow staff to prepare the meeting documents, then simply post them using a file-sharing service. It will dramatically reduce staff time needed to prepare documents, as well as save reams of paper each week.
Betz said councilors will also be instructed on the ethical use of the tablets and reminded that everything contained on them will become “public record”.
Following the work session, the council convene their regular meeting at seven.
Salvage Logging
A small forest road, southeast of Florence, will be closed weekdays through February or March as crews work on a small logging operation. Siuslaw National Forest timber program spokesman Eric Stolsig says the small “salvage” timber sale will clear trees on either side of Popo Road. All trees on either side of the roadway will be cleared in an effort to “get trees off steep cut banks before they can uproot and fall”. By doing so, Stolsig explained, it will “help keep roads open and clear after a major storm”.
Popo Road, also known as forest road 4830, is located east of Siltcoos Lake and accessed via Canary Road. The road will be open on weekends and overnights.
