4 November 2014
Today’s the Day for Voters and Candidates
It’s all come down to this… voters in Florence will finally learn whether or not they’ll be sharing the cost of street repairs with all people who buy fuel in Florence; who the Mayor will be; and which of six candidates will be representing them on the City Council.
We’ll find out if Democrat John Kitzhaber will win an unprecedented fourth term as Oregon Governor and if Jeff Merkley and Peter DeFazio will retain their seats in the U.S. Senate and House. Or, will Dennis Richardson pull off an upset; Monica Wehby put her medical career on hold; or Art Robinson engage in the science of politics.
It’s too late for the mail… if you’ve not yet returned your ballot you have until eight pm to either deliver it in person to the Elections Division in Eugene or drop it off at one of the nearly two-dozen ballot drop sites in the county… the closest one is here in Florence in front of the Justice Center.
Many of the ballots already returned have been counted with the results locked away. The first round of results will be released online at the Lane County Elections website at eight PM.
Ebola Preparations Explored in Our Town
Local health officials say it is more likely you’ll be exposed to influenza rather than Ebola, but that doesn’t mean they haven’t already thought through what they will do if faced with a patient that has possibly been exposed.
Those plans were put into action last week in Florence in one case that left the patient and his family upset; and medics and health officials saying things went well.
Dr. Mo Sabbah (suh-BAY) with Peace Harbor Medical Center recently returned from an infectious disease conference in Philadelphia. He’ll be on KCST’s Our Town tomorrow afternoon to talk about which infectious diseases residents should really be concerned about. Joining him will be Linda Sherwood, a Registered Nurse in charge of infection prevention at Peace Harbor.
The program, tomorrow afternoon from four to six, will also feature segments on the 50th anniversary of Lane Community College and the upcoming Last Resort Players production of Les Miserables.
Homeless Vets Subject of Forum
A four-speaker panel focusing on veterans in general and homeless veterans in particular will speak Wednesday morning during a monthly presentation by the Florence Area Community Coalition.
Two representatives from the Veteran’s Administration… Social Worker Mitch Trotter and Father Jonathan Landon… the VA Roseburg chaplain will be half of the panel at the Bromley Room at Siuslaw Public Library. That starts at nine AM.
Also scheduled to speak is Mathew Rosenbaum, a social worker with the Housing and Urban Development Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing System. Dan Rupe, another social worker, will join the panel as well.
The Florence Area Community Council is a consortium of non-profit and non-governmental agencies with a goal to improve the quality of life in Western Lane County.
New York Fugitive Arrested in Rural Lane County
An application for Social Security Benefits for a 72-year old fugitive from New York State led to the arrest in rural Lane County last week of John Franklin Forbis.
Forbis had been living under a pseudonym on Deadwood Creek Road for most of the last 20 years. Officials have not said just what that name was.
In 1992 Forbis was arrested in the Gallatin, New York area and charged in one of the largest ever marijuana smuggling cases in that state. 800 pounds of pot were found in large bales in a storage building on his property.
A judge imposed a $150-thousand bail… over the objections of prosecutors who wanted much more because they deemed Forbis to be a flight risk.
He was arrested without incident last week at his home on Deadwood Creek Road.
Ursine Conflicts on the Rise
Officials in Florence and Dunes City are saying there has been a marked increase in the number of bear conflicts over the past few weeks. Dunes City Administrator Fred Hilden says most of them in his area are related to garbage cans…
Fred Hilden – “Over the last four or five days probably ten to 20 occasions of bears turning over garbage cans and scavenging through the garbage and just generally making a big mess.”
Hilden says there are more and more cougar sightings, including one just outside Dunes City Hall over the weekend.
In Florence, Police Lt. John Pitcher said there haven’t been any cougar sightings reported, but several bears.
Hilden and Pitcher both say people need to use caution, keep their garbage cans locked up. Wildlife officials say once a bear becomes “habituated” to dining on human refuse there is no rehabilitating them. If there are too many conflicts, they’ll be forced to dispose of the bear.
Lost Mushroom Picker Found
A 53-year old woman from Alberta, Canada spent Saturday night in the cold and wet woods north of Florence. Searchers with the Lane County Sheriff’s Department found Pierette Roy in steep, heavily wooded terrain about a half mile from Washburne State Park at around Six AM Sunday. She was wet, cold and slightly hypothermic.
Roy and friend are on a cycling trip from Canada to Mexico. They stopped to camp at Washburne Saturday night and Roy opted to head into the forest for some mushroom picking about 5:30 PM… by 11 her friend had called authorities to report her missing.
