Our Town – May 3rd 2016
There are 25 candidates seeking election to 13 different local government positions on the May 16th ballot. That’s the most choices Florence area voters have had in many years. In addition to that, Lane County residents are being asked whether or not they want to renew an additional property tax levy that has been generating an extra $5,000,000 a year to operate the jail and fund youth treatment services.
How do you get answers to your questions about the different candidates and the levy?
A voters guide published last week in the Siuslaw News has a lot of information, but sometimes you just need a little more information.
Sheriff Byron Trapp – Lane Community College Board – Siuslaw Public Library – Siuslaw School Board races
Hour One – Download –
Western Lane Ambulance – Siuslaw Valley Fire & Rescue Board races
Hour Two – Download
Port of Siuslaw Commission race
Hour Three – Download
That information was be featured Wednesday, May 3rd on a special live edition of Coast Radio’s Our Town, the monthly audio newsmagazine for Florence. Host Bob Sneddon will have a conversation with Lane County Sheriff Byron Trapp about the jail levy extension and what the money has been used for; and why more is needed. In addition to the Sheriff, 23 of the 25 candidates will voice their concerns, qualifications, and opinions over the course of three hours.
Our Town – May 4, 2016
Several candidates on the May 17th ballot in Lane County were featured on this month’s Our Town. The two candidates for Lane County District Attorney, Patty Perlow and challenger Clayton Tullos got the most time. They’re heard in the second hour.
The first hour, heard here, includes several conversations:
There are four candidates for the Lane County Justice of the Peace on the ballot, but one has dropped out. Florence resident Guy Rosinbaum said he was the first to file. He is also a member of the Siuslaw School Board and when others did join the race at the last minute, he opted to withdraw. But, it was too late to remove his name from the ballot. A second candidate is Joshua Rogers. He has not responded to repeated requests for information from more than one media outlet.
Rick Brissendon and Woody Woodbury are the two remaining candidates. Brissendon and Woodbury each visited with host Bob Sneddon.
One other election related item in this month’s Our Town was a conversation with Mapleton Schools Superintendent Jody O’Mara and school board vice-chair Mizu Burress about that district’s request for $4,000,000. If approved by voters, it would be paired with a matching Oregon Department of Education grant to make capital improvements to school facilities. The grant would give officials a total of $8,000,000 to spend. O’Mara will talk about what the district would use the money for, and why the money is needed.
Our Town conversations will also cover economic development in Florence with a couple of local entrepreneurs who are participating in “RAIN”, the Regional Accelerator and Innovation Network. Plus, the high school athletic director of the year in the 1A division, Aaron Longo, of Mapleton High School, will talk about winning that as well as the Athletic Directors Association of Oregon Leadership Award for 2015.
Perlow was the Chief Deputy DA for 6 1/2 years before ascending to the top spot last summer. She was appointed by Governor Kate Brown to be the new District Attorney after Alex Gardner stepped down. Tullos is an attorney from Eugene. He is currently in private practice, but has served in the Lane County DA’s office and in the Springfield Prosecutor’s office.
Our Town October 2015
Ok, so I’m a little late getting this up. The October 2015 program was a very special one. We started off with a conversation with Eugene writer, newspaper columnist, humorist and inspirational speaker Bob Welch. From there, we jumped off on a two-part conversation with Mike Stennett and Steve Templin with the Oregon Department of Transportation about a 3-year project to protect and restore the Siuslaw River Bridge. Part 1 and Part 2.
From there we talked with Caroline Cummins with the Regional Accelerator and Innovation Network, a government funded non-profit business development group. Cummins and Florence City Manager Erin Reynolds talked about the efforts of that group in support of business development in Florence.
Then Bill Miltonberger joined host Bob Sneddon in the studio. On the phone was Rick Dancer, former KEZI 9 News Anchor. The topic was what the healing process would be like following a school shooting. October 1st, seven students, one teacher and a shooter lost their lives at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg. Miltonberger and his wife Loretta lived through a similar situation in 1999 when their daughter, Theresa, was shot in the head during a shooting at Thurston High School. Two students died that day, and the shooter had killed his own parents at home the night before.
Dancer covered the story extensively and had some pointed comments about society, how the people in Thurston were able to move on, despite the efforts of television news to sensationalize every detail.
There are three parts to the conversation: 1, 2, and 3.
Our Town, 2 September 2015
We covered a lot of ground in the September 2nd edition of Our Town. It all started off right here!
Then we talked with Howie Cusack and Rachel Pearson with the Florence Music Festival coming up in January. for the past decade or so, it’s been the Florence Winter Folk Festival. It still features folk music, folk art, folk crafts and merchandise made by the folk who are selling it. But it also has a little bit more variety in the music department.
The Florence Area Humane Society relies each year on their Wine and Chocolate Gala to help them raise money. It’s coming up Saturday, October 3rd. Hear about it here!
Byron Trapp has spent virtually his entire law enforcement career in the tan and green of the Lane County Sheriff’s Office. He was appointed in April to fill the space left when former Sheriff Tom Turner took the Police Chief’s job in Florence.
We talked about Trapp’s background.
Then we talked about what he sees in the future.
The conversation then switched to the Boys and Girls Club of Western Lane County. Chuck Trent and Michael Pearson are two members of the board of directors. They, and many others, have been working very hard to turn the club’s finances around and restore credibility and financial stability.
Coast Radio’s Our Town can be heard on the first Wednesday of each month from 4 to 6 pm on KCST, FM 106.9. It then reairs the next morning and the following Sunday on KCFM, AM1250/FM 104.1/FM 1-03.2 from ten to noon.
Our Town 5 August 2015
The August 2015 edition of Our Town began with a conversation with Florence Relay for Life co-chair Nicole Hundley.
From there, we talked with David Wiegan, the executive director of Siuslaw Outreach Services. David also provided the musical transitions for the first half of the show!
The next two segments on Our Town included conversations with Habitat for Humanity director Kate McBroom-Redwine and neighborhood revitalization program manager Ken Gaylord. In the first segment they talked about the beginning of home number 27. In the next part, they talked about the “Brush with Kindness” program and fundraising.
Hour two of the August Our Town included segments with Althea Rizzo, the Geologic Hazards Program Coordinator with Oregon Emergency Management; Lane Count Emergency Manager Linda Cook; Florence Police Chief Tom Turner; and Megan Messmer with the City of Florence. Messmer also serves as the chair of the West Lane Emergency Operations Group.
A hint of what’s coming September 2nd!
Coast Radio’s Our Town can be heard on the first Wednesday of each month from 4 to 6 pm on KCST, FM 106.9. It then reairs the next morning and the following Sunday on KCFM, AM1250/FM 104.1/FM 1-03.2 from ten to noon.
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Our Town expands
Coast Radio’s award winning monthly public affairs program, Our Town,expanded its reach this month. The program has aired on KCST, 106.9 FM for more than two decades. Now, it will air twice more on KCFM. KCFM is a sister station to KCST and airs on three signals in the Florence and Mapleton areas: AM 1250; FM 104.1 and FM 103.1.
“The goal is to reach out to other listeners who can’t hear to the regular first Wednesday of each month broadcast” says Coast Radio general manager Jon Thompson. He added the locally owned and operated station is hoping to reach more people with the interesting stories and community information on the show.
Thompson was the show’s first host. It was originally called The Community Forum and he put it on the air not long after KCST began broadcasting in the fall on 1988.
Current host Bob Sneddon took over the show in 1998. Four years ago, it was expanded to include several topics each month and renamed Our Town.
The expanded offerings will include rebroadcast on KCFM the next morning, after the first Wednesday, beginning at 10:00 AM. The same show will then air, in its entirety, again the following Sunday, also at 10:00 AM.
July 2015 topics include helping families of stillborn children grieve; the Power of FlOreNcE; a legislative update; and details on the Oregon Coast Military Museum.
The July 1st show will feature interviews with the founder of Minutes of Gold, a non-profit organization aimed at helping grieving families with a stillborn child. Carol Slough started providing bereavement garments for babies born too soon in 1992. It’s now grown into a national program with dozens of volunteers providing the garments for nearly 300 hospitals around the country.
Coming up on the third Saturday in July, it will be the fourth annual Power of Florence. 15 year old Kaylee Graham organized the first Power of Florence in 2012. She’ll talk about what to expect later this month when hordes of people in Florence come out to do something for someone else.
Power of Florence, July 1, 2015
Sneddon will also speak with the central coast legislative delegation to Salem. State Representative Caddy McKeon and State Senator Arnie Roblan will discuss the nearly-ended session.
Rep. Caddy McKeown (D-Coos Bay), July 1, 2015
State Senator Arnie Roblan (D-Coos Bay), July 1, 2015
Oops! Somebody hung up the phone! State Senator Arnie Roblan (D-Coos Bay), July 1, 2015
An in depth interview with founders and drivers of the Oregon Coast Military Museum will also be featured. Tim Sapp, Wayne Sharpe, Cal Applebee, Sue Gilday, and Greg Frieze contributed to the conversation.
Oregon Coast Military Museum- intro – July 1, 2015
Oregon Coast Military Museum – History – July 1, 2015
Oregon Coast Military Museum – A dream takes shape – July 1, 2015
Oregon Coast Military Museum – A peek inside – July 1, 2015
Our Town on Coast Radio is sponsored by Andy Baber, Edward Jones Investments; The Archives, Photo Restoration Specialists; Holloway and Associates CPAs; Peace Health Peace Harbor Medical Center; Lane Community College in Florence and Siuslaw Public Library.
Video broadcasts of some segments of Our Town can be viewed on Charter Cable channel 191.
Our Town – 1 April 2015
KCST’s Our Town for April 1st covered a wide variety of things like education funding; school curriculum; changes at Lane Community College, economic development and plans to restore more open sand on the Oregon Dunes.
Coast Radio’s award winning public affairs program introduced the new director of Lane Community College’s Florence Center. Russ Pierson has been with Lane for 8 years, much of that in facilities management. But, he has a rich and varied background in education. Download
Joining the conversation was Carl Bauer, the Deputy Central Coast District Ranger for the Siuslaw National Forest. Bauer also serves as the lead supervisor for the Oregon Dunes National Recreation area. They are just now embarking on a process to collect information from residents and dunes users about the possibility of restoring more open sand on the Dunes NRA. Bauer and Recreational Planner Angie Morris talked about the process. Download
March 26th Florence Mayor Joe Henry hosted a summit meeting on economic development in the Florence area. He hosted more than 30 different community, government and business leaders to talk about their thoughts. Download
Results of the conversation will be formally presented to the Florence City Council later this morning, but during the program, Henry talked about some of the things that may come from the summit. Download
A renewed focus on science, technology, engineering and math has Siuslaw Middle School science teacher Andy Marohl excited about the future. He has students involved in things like Lego robotics and even has a group of students working on a remotely operated underwater vehicle. In an effort to expose the four disciplines; referred to as STEM; Marohl and other teachers will be hosting a STEM night for students and their families at the middle school April 23rd. Download
That’s it for the first hour of the April 1st Our Town…
After local and national news, Our Town host Bob Sneddon greeted Siuslaw Superintendent Ethel Angal and her business Manager Kari Blake to talk about school funding. They were joined by the Business Manager from Mapleton School District, Maria McEldowney. Download
Blake and McEldowney returned to their ledgers and Angal was then joined by Siuslaw Elementary Principal Mike Harkelrode. The two explained to Bob about the three years they’ve already invested in implementing the “Common Core” and “Smarter Balanced” standards. Angal says despite some concerns in other communities, it works well in Florence. She cited a program that took place that day at Siuslaw Elementary. Download
Angal and Mr. H. then talked about the move to full day kindergarten and the impacts that they say will have in coming years. Download
After the final break… Host Bob Sneddon introduced his final segment on the lost art of creating Artisinal Birkenstocks. Download
Previous Our Town Shows:
Our Town – 4 March 2015
Our Town Intro – Download
Our Town Opening Segment – Download
City Manager, Erin Reynolds – Download
Florence Mayor, Joe Henry pt 1 – Download
Florence Mayor, Joe Henry pt 2 – Download
Florence Mayor Joe Henry and the State of the City
Presented Thursday, 2/19/15 at the Florence Area Chamber of Commerce Noon Forum at Three Rivers Casino, World Market Buffet.
Our Town – Wednesday, December 3rd, 2014
Our Town Intro – Download
Featuring Peace Harbor Hospice Director Kathy Murphy and Clinic Director Debra Suggs talking about the upcoming Light up a Life celebration on December 13th.
Honor Flight – Download
Western Lane Ambulance Paramedic Darrek Mullens visits about the showing of the feature length documentary “Forgotten Heroes” about an Honor Flights trip to the National World War II Memorial in Washington DC.
Pathways pt 1 – Download
Pathways pt 2 – Download
Becky Goehring and Meg Spencer talk about a recent initiative funded by the Ford Family Foundation to help local residents shape their future.
PeaceHealth pt 1 – Download
PeaceHealth pt 2 – Download
Peace Harbor Medical Center CMO Rick Yecny, Foundation Director Michele Douglass, and community leader Kay King talk about the Leave a Legacy, Save a Life Emergency Department fundraising drive.
A. J. Brauer pt 1 – Download
A.J. Brauer pt 2 – Download
A.J. Brauer pt 3 – Download
Dr. A.J. Brauer is celebrating his 85th birthday this month and will also step down from 35+years on the board of directors for Oregon Pacific Bank. During his 56 years in Florence, Brauer has been actively involved in many activities.
Our Town – Wednesday, November 5th, 2014
Our Town Intro – Download
Les Miserables pt 1 – Download
Les Miserables pt 2 – Download
Lane Community College 50th Anniversary – Download
Kim Erickson – Download
Matt House / Dave Haberman – Download
Our Town – Wednesday, October 1st, 2014
Our Town – Hour 1 – Florence City Council Candidates – Download
Our Town – Hour 2 – Mayoral Candidates – Download
Our Town – Hour 3 – All Candidates – Download
Our Town – Wednesday, September 3rd, 2014
Joshua Greene
PeaceHealth #1
PeaceHealth #2
Our Town – Wednesday, August 6, 2014
Our Town – Wednesday, July 2nd 2014
Our Town – Wednesday, June 4th 2014
Our Town – Wednesday, May 7, 2014
