5 January 2015
It’s a tale of two meetings at Florence City Hall this evening.
First up, at seven, will be the final meeting under Mayor Nola Xavier and consisting of councilors Suzanne Roberts, Brian Jagoe, Joe Henry and Joshua Greene. They’ll convene, consider approval of minutes from December 1st and make any final comments before adjourning for the last time.
Following a brief reception, Joe Henry will move into the mayor’s seat and Susy Lacer, George Lyddon and Ron Preisler will join Joshua Greene on the dais for the swearing in of the new council.
The 2015 council will have plenty of business to take care of; most of it related to how they do that business.
They will hold a public hearing on the recruitment process for finding a permanent city manager. That process was put on hold in November after the previous council was unable to come to terms with their final selection.
Farr to deliver State of the County
The Lane County Board of Commissioners begins the new year in a rare evening session tonight at Harris Hall in Eugene. Pat Farr, current chair of the county board, will address residents on the state of Lane County in a ceremony that will begin at six.
Faye Stewart, Jay Bozievich and Sid Leiken were all re-elected to the County Commission in November; they’ll take their oaths of office.
Lane County Justice of the Peace Cindy Cable was also reelected. She and Assessor Michael Cowles will take their oaths.
STEP Steelhead Program Begins Today
The signature program of the Florence Salmon Trout Enhancement Program gets underway today. Members of the STEP group begin (began) assembling the weir that collects steelhead on their way upstream at Whittaker Creek, just above where it flows into the Siuslaw River.
Eggs and sperm from the returning fish are used to create broodstock for future releases.
Bell Hennig is the crew chief for the fish trap operations. He said volunteers will be at the trap every Tuesday and Thursday, with occasional Saturday trips through the season, depending on fish numbers and returns.
Navy Plans Massive Sonobuoy Deployment
The U.S. Navy could significantly increase the number of sonobuoys it plans to deploy off the Pacific Coast.
The floating, acoustic surveillance devices are used in anti-submarine warfare. The Oregonian is reporting a modified environmental assessment for Northwest training and testing was issued in which the Navy increased the number of planned devices from 20 to 720.
They would all be in areas at least 12-miles off the coast ranging from Alaska to Northern California.
The Navy acknowledges the increased deployment is likely to harm the already endangered leatherneck turtles. It is accepting public comment until February 2nd.
New Year DUII Increase
Oregon State Police troopers ticketed more drivers for driving under the influence on the state’s highways over the New Year’s Holiday period this year.
The increase was just over 27-percent.
This year’s tally between 6 pm New Year’s Eve through Midnight New Year’s Day was 37 cited drivers as compared to 29 last year.
Troopers also responded to 35 crashes during the same time period, two of them involving at least one fatality.
