Tuesday, February 10, 2015
Some damage, but area escapes relatively unscathed
The final storm in a five day series came down hard on the Florence area yesterday. Wind gusts in excess of 60 miles an hour were recorded in town and nearly two inches of rain fell.
Damage in some specific locations was severe, but overall the area came through relatively unscathed.
Central Lincoln PUD crews were able to restore power to nearly everyone effected locally. Spokesperson Chris Chandler said there were two area customers that had to wait until today because they received what she called a “double whammy”… two broken utility poles that needed to be replaced before they could get back online.
Florence Public Works Director Mike Miller said storm drains in the city functioned properly and were able to handle the deluge.
Crews spent the day cleaning up broken tree tops and other debris that had blown into streets.
There were reports of trees down in roads, across driveways and in some cases on buildings.
The area will get a respite beginning today as the forecast for the next several days is calling for sunshine and calm conditions.
Governor breaks silence
Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber is fighting back after a week of silence about influence-peddling allegations against his fiancée, Cylvia Hayes.
In a letter Monday to Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum, the Democratic governor maintains that he and Hayes have done nothing wrong and says “the Oregon media” has rushed to judgement.
He asked Rosenblum to conduct what he called a “factual review” of the allegations. The same allegations that Rosenblum last week called “very serious and troubling”.
The request is a change in course for Kitzhaber. He had insisted a state ethics commission could do an adequate investigation, and he repeatedly rejected calls to appoint a special prosecutor.
A series of newspaper reports since October have showed Hayes did paid consulting work for advocacy groups seeking to influence state government.
Revenue dept. working with tax preparers to stop fraud
The number of fraudulent tax returns filed with the Oregon Department of Revenue is on the rise. The department’s director, Jim Bucholz says they’re working hard to stop fraud where they find it. Many of the fraudulent returns detected so far this year have come through third party tax preparation software.
Ultimately, residents find out about a false return filed in their name when they submit a legitimate return and get a notice from the agency that they’ve already filed.
But, Bucholz added, many of the fake returns have been spotted by the department before that happens.
His department is working with Turbo-Tax developer Intuit to determine the impact so far on Oregon taxpayers. He said the company has set up a special hotline for its users.
Three Rivers Foundation hands out grants
Four Florence non-profits received grants totaling more than $18-thousand last week in the fourth round of awards from the Three Rivers Foundation.
The foundation is funded by profits from Three Rivers Casino. It passed out more than $100-thousand to 23 different recipients in Coos, Curry, Douglas, Lane and Lincoln Counties.
The largest local award went to Florence Habitat for Humanity. $10-thousand will be used to purchase a project trailer and additional tools to help with a home preservation program.
The Florence Senior Center will use $5,200 for a walk in cooler and expanded kitchen capacity. A $15-hundred grant will be used by the Florence Area Community Coalition for their annual volunteer recognition event April 15th.
Siuslaw School District Superintendent Ethel Angal picked up a $1,352 check that will be used by the Siuslaw Stream Teams that will be used to pay expenses of field trips.
Gas prices spike
Florence residents are paying, on average, nearly a quarter more per gallon of gas this week than last week.
The average cash price for a gallon of regular in town this week shot up from $1.86 to $2.10.
Some of the 24-cent per gallon increase can be attributed to a market adjustment locally. Last week’s average was considerably less than the statewide and national average prices.
Both of those increased by about 12-cents a gallon this week. The national average is at $2.19 a gallon… the Oregon average, as measured by Triple-A, is at $2.26.
That still makes Florence about the least expensive place on average to buy gas.
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