25 February 2015
Boys and Girls Club making headway
The Executive Director of the Boys and Girls Club will return to work next week. Jonathan Hicks was placed on paid administrative leave last week by the board of directors. They’re in the process of phasing out Hick’s involvement as they continue to sort through the clubs financial woes according to board spokesman Bob Forsythe.
Bob Forsythe– “It’s difficult for the board to work and have him come in for one day and try to work with the same people we’re trying to work with. So we just, we just moved him out of the picture so that we could get a better grasp of what is going on.”
Forsythe said the challenges came as the board is taking a more ‘hands on’ approach to day to day management. Hicks has been commuting from Central Oregon and working only one or two days a week.
Bob Forsythe – “You end up with employees that all of a sudden have multiple bosses and it was… we’re coordinating certain things and then he would run in and have a whole bunch of things that he wanted to get done and it would be, you know, he would have folks doing stuff. You know, so it was, it was just an uncoordinated effort.”
The board has been making strides in their efforts to restore the club’s financial viability, but Forsythe says they’re not done.
Bob Forsythe – “We got a lot of work left to do but we’re very very hopeful. We meet two or three times a week to try to get all of this put together. Last night’s meeting we all walked away going, oh, this… you know… feeling really good about what we’re doing and where we’re at.”
He and other board members are hopeful they can work out a financial restructuring while maintaining most of the services they’ve been able to provide in the past.
Coos Head Cleanup
A decade after taking possession of former military facility near the mouth of the Coos River, the Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians have managed to clean up most of the mess on the 43-acre parcel.
The land was first used as an army outpost 130 years ago. It’s seen service as a naval communications facility; Oregon Air National Guard has been there and the Coast Guard.
During that time, many portions of the land were contaminated.
Tribal efforts included cleaning up contaminated soil from gasoline and diesel tanks; demolishing asbestos laden concrete buildings; and taking care of hazardous PCBs and automotive solvents.
Tribal Council Chair Bob Garcia told the World Newspaper that cleanup has taken longer than what they expected. But he called the property “an incredibly beautiful place” that is now almost to the point where it has a clear slate for future development.
A master planning effort is still in process but the land could eventually have a community and convention gathering place, as well as various outdoor natural trails and even private tribal facilities.
Owyhee River Adventures
Take a rafting trip down southeast Oregon’s Owyhee River next week without leaving town.
Author Bonnie Olin began exploring the undeveloped stretches of the Owyhee 25 years ago with her “soon-to-be-husband” Mike Quigley. Those journeys, along with Quigley’s photos make up “The Owyhee River Journals”.
Olin will present her book, and the photos, Tuesday afternoon, one pm at Siuslaw Public Library.
She documented the couple’s several trips down the river which begins in Northern Nevada and flows through Idaho and Oregon until it meets the Snake River.
UO steps up vaccine efforts
The University of Oregon is moving a vaccination clinic to Matthew Knight Arena as it steps up a fight against a blood stream infection that can cause a form of meningitis, called meningococcemia. The University hopes to inoculate as many as 22-thousand students.
The disease is believed to be responsible for the death of one student last week and making three others seriously ill.
A school spokesman said many students had already received meningitis shots, but the strain currently on campus is different.
Gas prices jump again
The average cash price for a gallon of regular gasoline continued its ‘bounce’ back up this week, rising 13 cents a gallon to $2.42. That’s 56-cents higher than the lowest price of $1.86 recorded just three weeks ago.
By comparison, the statewide average in Oregon, as measured by Triple-A, increased ten cents a gallon in the past week. It now stands at $2.46. The national average price is $2.31; six cents higher than last week.
Much of the increase is blamed on refinery maintenance and volatile crude oil prices.
