15 September 2014
Florence woman dies in Friday crash.
A Florence woman died Friday afternoon following a single vehicle crash on Highway 126.
87-year old Beverly Louise Calhoun was a passenger in a pickup driven by her son that left the highway and struck a tree. She had to be extricated before being airlifted to RiverBend in Springfield where she died.
64-year old William Calhoun of Bend was driving. He received minor injuries but declined transport to a hospital.
Traffic on 126 at Whittaker Creek was halted for about 40 minutes to allow the helicopter to land. During the holdup, a second crash occurred about a mile east of the first crash site when a car rear-ended a travel trailer, damaging both.
State Police say driver fatigue may be a contributing factor to the first crash, but the investigation is continuing.
Traffic was reduced to one-lane for several hours following the crash while officers investigated.
Quick Response Stifles Fire
A late evening brush fire Saturday night was quickly controlled by crews from Siuslaw Valley Fire and Rescue. The fire was in the block of brush and trees between Highway 101 and Oak Street in the 3800 block. It was called in just a few minutes before ten when a plume of smoke and flames shot high in the late night air.
Firefighters had it knocked down quickly, but remained on scene for a while to mop up.
No details have been released on the cause.
Oregon State Police are investigating another fatal crash that occurred very early this morning on Stage Coach Road just north of Highway 126 in the Camp Lane area.
The crash occurred either late last night or shortly after midnight. Few details have been released but police confirm it is a fatality.
Fatal Crash on Stagecoach Rd.
The Florence City Council will meet this evening at 5:30 for a private executive session to discuss possible contract negotiations with a new city manager. A half-dozen finalists for the job were in Florence over the weekend for individual interviews.
The council will also discuss a possible real estate transaction during the private session.
The public portion of the meeting convenes at seven with several items on the agenda.
One of those will be a public hearing on possible revisions to the parking code in Old Town Florence.
One goal would be to ease parking restrictions in order to make it easier for additional redevelopment in the Historic Old Town area.
Wild Coho Returns
Fishing for wild Coho Salmon got underway at daybreak this morning on several coastal streams including the Siuslaw and Umpqua Rivers.
Mike Gray, a fish biologist with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife says several coastal streams will not have a quota this year. One of those will be the Siuslaw.
Mike Gray – “The seasons will run from September 15th until November 30th in the basins with no quota.
Gray says the expected high returns, coupled with the added expense of providing staffing for ‘creel checks’ means anglers only need to be aware of bag limits… one wild Coho per day with a maximum of five per season.
This year will mark the first time in several years that sports fishermen on the Umpqua can catch and keep wild fish.
Mike Gray – “In the Umpqua, there is a quota of 2,000 fish.”
Gray said fisheries on Siltcoos, Tahkenitch and Tenmile Lakes will open on October First. There will be no quotas there either.
All seasons run through November 30th.
