6 November 2014
Honoring Florence Vets…
Veterans of World War II will be the official Grand Marshalls of Tuesday’s Florence Veteran’s Day Parade, but veterans of all services and eras are invited to participate.
Florence will once again honor its vets with a parade beginning at the Florence Events Center, through Historic Old Town Florence and ending at the Veteran’s Memorial Park. It’s set for Tuesday, one PM.
There is no cost to participate, and you don’t have to be a Vet, but all participants are asked to complete an entry form available at the Chamber of Commerce website or the Visitor Center.
According to a posting on the Florence Veteran’s Day Parade Facebook page, the Eugene Highlanders will perform. The event wraps up with a brief ceremony at the memorial park on Bay street at the foot of Kingwood Street.
Average Gas Price Below Three Dollars
The average price for a gallon of regular gasoline in Florence dropped below the three dollar mark this week for the first time since January 2011. The local average is $2.92, the lowest recorded in Florence for nearly four years. That’s down 11 cents since last week.
Marie Dodds with Triple-A of Oregon says the statewide average this week fell nine cents this week, but is still above the three dollar mark at $3.12.
The national average price is at $2.97 a gallon, the lowest since mid-December 2010.
Triple-A says falling wholesale prices are responsible for most of the price free-fall.
Dodds also says she expects prices to fall another five to 15 cents a gallon before Thanksgiving.
Banner Bank on Expansion Kick
Banner Bank, in the process of acquiring Florence based Siuslaw Bank, is expanding even further.
The Walla Walla, Washington based institution is taking over Spokane-based American West Bank in a deal that will nearly double the number of branches and expand from three to five states.
The deal is reportedly valued at $702-million.
Both banks have branches in Oregon, Washington and Idaho; American West also has branches in Utah and California. Banner recently completed an acquisition of Nampa, Idaho based Home Federal Bank and is expected to complete the acquisition of Siuslaw Bank just after the first of the year.
Oregon Legislature “bucks” national trend
The balance of power in the Oregon House and Senate shifted ever so slightly with Tuesday’s election.
State Senator Arnie Roblan said Oregon definitely “bucked the trend” of a swing in state houses and governor’s mansions to the GOP.
Democrats widened their margin of majority in the Oregon House, gaining one more seat, giving them a 35-to-25 edge over Republicans.
In the Senate, where Dems held a 16-14 majority in the last session, they gained one more seat as well… they now have a 17-13 advantage.
The 2015 Legislative Session begins in February.
Write in results awaited in Dunes City
There was very little suspense in Dunes City during the count in this week’s election. Mayor Rebecca Ruede was running unopposed; she was overwhelmingly reelected.
But, there were only two candidates on the ballot for three open positions. Sheldon Meyer was elected to the post he was appointed to earlier this year and Duke Wells was reelected to his position.
The winner of the third spot is still up for grabs at this point as elections officials will be counting the 231 write-in votes. One former councilor, John Scott, had previously announced his intentions to run a “write-in” campaign. Officials say it could take several days to hand-tally those votes.