5 May 2014
Rhody Showcase Set for Wednesday
It’s not a pageant. But, there is a certain level of competition in this year’s Rhody Festival Court Scholarship Showcase.
Wednesday evening, the ten members of the senior courts… five girls and for the first time, five boys… will be on stage to wrap up the first part of their “royal odyssey”.
Each of the ten has chosen a specific ‘cause’ or ‘platform’ that they have spoken about during public outings in the past few weeks.
That’s just one of the criteria that will be used to evaluate them Wednesday night as they compete to be named either Queen Rhododendra 107; or King of the Coast… the first.
Tickets for the showcase are ten dollars in advance at the Chamber Visitor Center… $15 at the door Wednesday evening.
The queen and king will reign over the 107th Festival that opens next week.
Ballots in the Mail
By now most of the registered voters in Oregon have received their ballots for the May 20th primary election. But, there still may be a few making their way through the postal system.
Elections officials say if you haven’t yet seen yours, you can go online to check your registration status.
Just over 200-thousand of the ballots were mailed out at the end of the day Thursday, with the majority showing up in mailboxes Friday or Saturday.
Lane County Clerk Cheryl Betschart says you can check the websit www.oregonvotes.gov to see if you are properly registered. If there’s an error, there’s still time, she says, to correct it and receive a ballot.
You can also check by phone… by calling Betschart’s office during regular business hours… between nine AM and noon; then one-to-four… Monday through Friday at 541-682-4328.
Dunes City Added to 142 Oregon Cities Delaying Medical Marijuana Dispensaries
Add Dunes City to the list of Oregon communities that have said “you’ll have to wait” to possible medical marijuana dispensaries.
Dunes City Councilors called a special session last week, just before the May First deadline, to enact a one-year moratorium on dispensaries.
Nearly six out of ten Oregon cities and 26 of the 36 Oregon Counties have adopted the temporary bans.
Medical Marijuana dispensaries had initially been give the go-ahead by the state to begin operating March 1st. Some of them are open, but many others have been put on hold as cities and counties try to sort out the differences in federal and state law; as well as zoning issues.
Florence City Council Faces Long List
There’s a long list of things “to do” this evening for Florence City Councilors… First up they’ll be introduced to a pair of new 9-1-1 Communications Officers at the Justice Center: Tyler Marler and Laura Olson.
They’ll hand out the fifth annual Greener Florence Awards… and one lucky person will be given one cubic yard of Florence’s own composted waste materials known as “Flo-Gro”.
Several capital items will be on the list of things to do, including approval of bid awards for new heat pumps at city hall; paving at the wastewater treatment plant; and a change to a contract for engineering of a new pump station.
Councilors will also hear an update on travel in Lane County and complete the annual evaluation and contract for municipal court judge Rick Brissendon.
The council meets at Florence City Hall, this evening at seven.
