Grzeskowiak officially starts July 1
Andy Gzreskowiak was formally endorsed last night as the new superintendent of Siuslaw schools. Following the school board meeting he expressed his appreciation… and acknowledged the example set by his immediate predecessor.
Andy Gzreskowiak – “I’m honored to be offered this opportunity; just hope to come close to keeping up with Ethel Angal’s great works.”
Angal told the board last night following the decision that she now feels comfortable leaving and she has great confidence in Gzreskowiak’s ability. Apparently many others feel the same way according to Mister G.
Andy Gzreskowiak – “The last couple of days there’s been a lot of positive notes from staff and the community and I think people are happy that I’m coming in because they know who I am. I’ve been around awhile.”
The transition won’t officially take place until July 1st, but Gzreskowiak and Angal will be working together to find his replacement: a new principal for the middle school.
Predicted storm causes little damage
There was little or no lasting damage reported from last night’s predicted hurricane force winds along the Central Oregon Coast.
Line crews with Central Lincoln PUD did respond to a flurry of localized outages in Western Lane and Douglas counties last night, but by midnight, according to Central Lincoln’s Twitter Feed, there were only 53 customers out of more than 38-thousand who were in the dark.
Operations Supervisor Gary Wenzel said by early this morning there were just a few customers out in the Stagecoach Road area east of Mapleton but crews attended to them quickly.
The highest wind reported in our area last night was 71-miles an hour at Sea Lion Caves.
March 24th Job Fair
Organizers are promising as many as 50 new jobs to be offered during a community job fair at Three Rivers Casino later this month. Pam Hickson is a recruitment specialist for the Confederated Tribes. She has drawn together more than two dozen businesses, government agencies and other “community partners” that will be on hand March 24th from ten to 5:30.
Pam Hickson – “A job fair is an opportunity for folks to visit with a number of businesses and community partners. Apply for jobs as well as learn about what those different businesses have to offer as far as jobs in our community.”
Hickson says participants will be able to connect directly with local employers. It will also feature on-hand assistance to job seekers through the Employment Department. There is no cost to attend.
Indian Creek Plan under scrutiny again
A second community meeting about a proposed plan that opponents say would restrict access to public lands in the Indian Creek Watershed north of Mapleton is set for this evening.
Representatives of the Siuslaw National Forest will be at the Mapleton School beginning at six pm to talk about the plan that covers more than 30-thousand acres.
It’s the second public meeting on the topic and, according to Forest Service representatives, is intended to address questions and concerns raised by members of the public in January.
A link to the proposed plan is available here.
Oregon may have dodged environmental bullet
Five years after a massive earthquake struck Japan and triggered a tsunami that is still washing debris onto the Oregon Coast, scientists are unsure whether or not the 200-plus non-native species that hitchhiked across the Pacific on that debris have gained a foothold.
There have been four separate findings of barred knifejaws, a fish native to Japan, and Mediterranean blue mussels have been found on tsunami debris everywhere.
Yet no populations are known to have established reproductive populations.
“Maybe we dodged the bullet”, said Oregon State scientist John Chapman, although, he added, “it’s still too early to tell”.
The magnitude-9 earthquake struck Japan March 11, 2011. It was the largest in that country’s history and generated a tsunami that had waves estimated at 133 feet. Debris from Japan is still washing ashore in the Northwest.
Nerd Squad to premeire Robot Apocalypse
A 30-minute film written, shot and edited by students at Siuslaw Middle School will be shown on the big screen at City Lights Cinemas next week.
“Robot Apocalypse” is a product of the after school “STEAM” program… students who are interested in science, technology, engineering, the arts and mechanics. The group of students are also known as the “Siuslaw Nerd Squad”.
“Robot Apocalypse” features the robots created by the Nerd Squad. It was filmed last spring and edited earlier this school year.
The showing at City Lights is likely to be a one-time showing only. The movie begins at 5:30 PM Monday and the admission charge of $3 goes directly to the Nerd Squad.
