16 June 2014
Plane Crash Claims one life… one person missing
Witnesses say they heard a loud “pop”, then watched as a small single-engine airplane fell from the sky yesterday morning; plummeting into the ocean near the Siuslaw River entrance.
Siuslaw Valley Fire and Rescue spokesman Sean Barrett said one person was confirmed dead and a search was under way for a second victim following the 9:45 AM crash.
Authorities have not released the identities of those involved
Barrett said the confirmed victim was found floating near the crash site, about 300-yards from the North Jetty.
Divers were on the scene all day yesterday searching the submerged wreckage for signs of the second person.
Wreckage from the plane was found washing up on the beach a mile north of the crash.
The Lane County Sheriff’s Office is coordinating the search. Officials with the National Transportation Safety Administration will be conducting the investigation.
Fire Destroys Home
An unoccupied home in the Florentine Estates neighborhood was completely destroyed and a neighboring residence sustained damage during an early morning fire last week.
Siuslaw Valley Fire and Rescue Chief Jim Langborg said neighbors of the home at 625 Glenbrook Circle called 9-1-1 at 2:35 Thursday morning to report flames coming from a large R-V garage at the home.
Firefighters attempted to attack the blaze directly, but were driven back when a portion of the roof fell, narrowly missing them. Langborg said the home was owned by Glen Howson and had been unoccupied for about two years. Howson, who lives in Arizona, reportedly had a caretaker making regular visits to the home.
Investigators say they’ve been unable to pinpoint the cause of the fire but have determined that it did start in the garage. The estimated loss is about $250-thousand to the home; the house next door sustained an estimated $30-thousand in damage.
Pot Dispensaries On Hold
The state says “go”, but many localities in Oregon are still saying “no” to medical marijuana dispensaries.
The Oregon Health Authority began issuing permits for the dispensaries earlier this year. Before most of them could open though, 26 of Oregon’s 36 counties and 140 cities passed ordinances putting them on hold for up to a year. That’s because localities want to review and possibly implement rules of their own governing the dispensaries.
Lane County is one of the ten counties in which they can operate, but Florence and Dunes City have put them on hold.
There is one medical marijuana dispensary operating in Western Lane County… Buds-4-U is located on Highway 126 just south of the core Mapleton business district in the former U.S. Forest Service Building.
City Council Handles Routine
Much of the work scheduled for Florence City Councilors this evening is pretty “cut and dried”. A lengthy consent agenda will be one of the first items for their consideration. Eight different items ranging from approval of minutes to contract awards for work already discussed and decided are on the list.
Two of the other three items on the agenda for individual discussion are related to the transition to interim City Manager Larry Patterson; giving him authority to sign agreements and checks on behalf of the city.
The City Council meets at seven this evening at City Hall.
>>>