The snow has cleared but roads remain slick
An early 2017 storm dumped snow on the western half of the state Wednesday, and more is expected… for Southern and Central Oregon, but here on the Coast we are looking at sunshine today. Despite the sun, icy roads remain in shaded areas causing two hour delays in the Siuslaw School District, Both the Mapleton and Reedsport School Districts canceled all classes today. The State of Oregon has closed offices once again in several counties including Douglas and Coos. The Florence L-Cog Senior and Disability Services office will open two hours late today, while Head Start of Lane County has closed all offices due to hazardous road conditions, in Florence Head Start will hold their afternoon class.
Locally up to six and eight inches of snow was reported yesterday in various area locations. From 2 to 5 inches was reported in the Eugene Springfield area. A national weather service spotter near Terrebonne reported a foot of new snow overnight, Bend had 8 inches overnight with snow continuing to fall. Bitterly cold temperatures will continue across the state with today’s highs forecasted to reach the upper 30’s, but overnight lows could return to the mid 20’s tonight on the coast.
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Pump prices continue to climb across the nation as drivers find themselves paying the highest prices for gasoline for this time of year in three years. For the week, the national average jumps six cents to $2.35 a gallon, while Oregon’s average climbs a nickel to $2.49. In Florence gas prices jumped eight cents a gallon to $2.30. Prices in the West remain the highest in the country with Hawaii paying the most at $3.02 a gallon, followed by California, Alaska, and Washington. Oregon comes in at ten this week. Industry analyst report retail fuel prices have been climbing, largely due to market reactions to last fall’s OPEC deal to cut oil production.
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The first session of a nine-week course that will certify you as a Master Recycler is next week in Florence. Over the next few weeks, Kelly Bell says you’ll learn all you want to know about recycling, reuse, and reducing waste.
212 – “Why certain things are recyclable in our community, why others aren’t. You might learn more about non-typical recycling and reuse options that you didn’t know about before.”
The goal, she says, is to make you a missionary.
213 – “Our hope is that you won’t keep that information to yourself, but that you’ll share it with your neighbors, you’ll share it with your family so that this information can spread further.”
This isn’t the first Master Recycler class offered by Lane County in the Florence area. Bell says all the previous ones have been very popular.
214 – “Registration is free and it’s first come, first served. So you can get an application at our website at Lane County dot org slash master recyclers.”
Completion of the course also includes certification that you’ve successfully mastered the Oregon State University Recycling 101 course.
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For the past three months the Siuslaw Public Library has quietly been offering a selection of online foreign language courses as just another library service.
215 – “It’s called Mango Languages, it has more than 60 different languages, including pirate. You just access it through the website, it is so cool.”
Library Director Meg Spencer says they’ll host an open house this Saturday to show off the courses and get people acquainted.
216 – “It’s from two to five pm. Each of the stations, so there is Japanese, French, Spanish, Italian, ASL and Pirate; they’ll have a matching food.”
She says she’s not certain what type of food would be paired with the “pirate” language, but she did rule out grog. The language program was funded by the Friends of the Public Library and it went ‘online’ in October of last year.
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