13 June 2014
Open Burning To End For The Season
This is the final weekend until next fall for open burning in your backyard. Fire and air quality officials in Lane County say the last day to legally burn yard debris outside Florence is Sunday, June 15th.
Sally Markos with the Lane Regional Air Protection Agency says the small amount of precipitation that has fallen in the area over the past couple of days may help to dampen fire danger slightly, but the effect will be fleeting.
More dry and warm weather is forecast for next week and that promises to dry things out quickly.
Composting grass clippings and chipping small branches can be a good way to go, says Markos, who adds that larger debris can be disposed of at the Lane County Florence Transfer Site on Rhododendron Drive.
The City of Florence operates yard debris drop-offs on the third Saturday of each month at the north end of the airport on 27th street. The next one is just a week away, June 21st.
Markos says fines for burning after the deadline can range between 50 and 25-hundred-dollars, with the average fine being about 300.
Funding for SRO Sought
The City of Florence and the Siuslaw School District could be teaming up to fund a full time police officer that would spend his or her days at school.
The Florence City Council will take action Monday night on a request from interim police chief Lynn Lamm to begin the application process for a federal grant. It could end up paying about half the estimated $100-thousand annual cost for a full time School Resource Officer.
Kerri Blake, the Siuslaw Schools Finance Director, said conversations about a possible S-R-O began several months ago. She added the school district doesn’t know where their share of the money would come from, but is willing to try to find it.
Police officials did not return calls for information.
Oregon Divisional Chainsaw Championships
Forget about the salsa… the chips that are in abundance this weekend in Reedsport will be mostly cedar.
The 12th Annual Oregon Divisional Chainsaw Sculpting Championships got underway yesterday on the waterfront in Reedsport.
The carving continues through Sunday afternoon with daily “quick carve” events and auctions. The Reedsport-Winchester Bay Chamber of Commerce has organized a vendor fair offering various crafts and food.
The event draws several northwest based chainsaw carving artists… but also carvers from across the country and around the world.
Cleanup Set for Pioneer Cemetery
The final resting place for several area pioneers will be getting a cleanup tomorrow. Descendants of several North Fork Siuslaw pioneers will converge on the Haring Pioneer Cemetery, about five miles up North Fork Road to clear away the accumulation of weeds and blackberry vines that resemble a “jungle” according to LaVaugh Kemnow.
She and her cousin, Connie Haring, organized the hasty cleanup.
Kemnow says the cemetery was established by their great grandparents, Amos and Clara Haring in the late 1800s after two of their children died in separate mishaps.
Originally buried near the river, their remains were moved up hill several years later by Amos Haring to keep them away from winter flood waters.
Other family members and neighbors were laid to rest nearby over the years.
Kemnow said they’ll work with whoever shows up tomorrow… and added one thing would help finish off the effort: a nicely made new sign.
