Fire claims life Friday night
A Vancouver, Washington woman died after a fire destroyed the travel trailer she had been living in Friday night south of Florence.
The fire was spotted by a neighbor at seven pm, Alan Montgomery told firefighters he saw flames coming from the roof of the trailer. He dashed across the street and broke out a window in an attempt to rescue the woman inside, but was driven back by the heat and flames. He then used a garden hose to protect the home at 5650 Alder Court, just off Clear Lake Road. Firefighters said Montgomery’s efforts were effective in preventing spread of the fire to the home.
They also said the woman inside had likely perished from smoke inhalation before the blaze was discovered.
The woman, whose identity has not yet been released, had been staying in the trailer in the driveway of her step-father. Police had responded to the address earlier in the week for a welfare check because it was feared she was suicidal. She barricaded herself inside and by Friday had removed the trailer’s batteries and propane tanks, locking themselves inside. Investigators confirmed that she had barricaded the doors and set the fire intentionally.
Henry to present State of the City
The City of Florence and the Florence Area Chamber of Commerce are teaming up this evening to help Mayor Joe Henry present the annual “State of the City” address.
Doors open at a special chamber “Business After Hours” at the Florence Events Center at 5:30 this evening. Henry is scheduled to begin his comments at six.
High power bills cause concern
Many area residents had a shock recently when they opened their electricity bills. Some are nearly double what they had been in previous months. Chris Chandler, the Public Affairs manager at Central Lincoln PUD said it can be very unpleasant.
Chris Chandler – “That’s never fun to have that kind of experience when you open up your electricity bill and all of a sudden, boom, wow, that’s uh, that’s pretty hefty.”
The weather in December was colder and there were other reasons for higher than usual consumption. People typically use more electricity during the Holidays… and the billing period was longer than usual. If you have a high bill, you can go online to investigate it.
Chris Chandler – “Go on to our website at CL PUD dot ORG and check on the ‘my meter’ option and then you can take a look and go back and look at your use over the last month or the last two months; and, it will show you what the temperature was that day.”
It’s easier if you have your electricity bill in hand when you log on for the first time. If you can’t do that, or if you just want to talk about how to pay off that balance, Chandler urges you to call a customer service representative at Central Lincoln. They can give you options and help explain the amount.
No changes expected in local school schedules
Oregon school districts won’t have to make up for all of the days lost due to the weather in the past two months. The Oregon State Board of Education decided last week to allow districts to write off up to 14 hours of state-required instructional time.
At Siuslaw and Mapleton schools the decision has no real impact… but could factor into things if there are additional “bad weather days” that lead to closures.
Superintendents at both districts said they have each lost two school days to weather this year; and both have adequate days on the schedule to meet the state-mandated minimums.
But, said Andy Grzeskowiak in Florence and Jodi O’Mara in Mapleton, the additional 14-hours could be utilized if they are forced to cancel any more school days this year. Both have said February can often bring additional cold weather and snowy conditions. School boards in both communities will wait until after March 1st to make any formal decisions on changing their instructional calendars… but if things hold as they are now, there should be no changes.
Port Commissioners discuss future of blue buildings
A walking tour of the facilities around the Port of Siuslaw’s Old Town Marina and Campground, along with the annual evaluation of the district manager will be two components of a Monday afternoon work session by elected officials.
Port of Siuslaw Commissioners will begin the afternoon at one pm in the Port’s conference room with a brief workshop on public procurement. Immediately after that they’ll take a tour of the Port’s 45-year old “blue storage buildings”. The buildings have been deteriorating for several years and Port Manager Steven Leskin is going to present a proposal on “decommissioning” them.
The manager’s annual evaluation will also be discussed during a private, executive session that same afternoon.