Highway facelift for Florence still a year away
The facelift for Highway 101 in the core downtown area; known as “re-vision Florence”; is moving forward with construction scheduled to begin a year from now. Florence City Manager Erin Reynolds says the Oregon Department of Transportation will likely pay about 35-percent of the nearly $10-million cost.
Erin Reynolds – “That will be the community asset that the community gains out of this. Thankfully, and we’re hoping of course they will be able to lower the actual cost to the city, but right now we’re looking at $6.2-million.”
Plans have been in place for some time for ODOT to replace curbs and gutters and repave Highway 101 between the bridge and 9th street; as well as Highway 126 between 101 and the city limits. That gave the city… and the Urban Renewal Agency… a chance to piggyback on the project and make improvements that will update the core downtown area and make it more attractive. Reynolds says cost estimates have been hard to pin down so far…
Erin Reynolds – “This is a very dynamic and a complex moving project and we definitely don’t have all the answers yet.”
One answer they do have: The project must be completed no later than September of 2018.
Mapleton wins third grant to help graduation rate
For the third year in a row, Mapleton School District is getting a Nike School Innovation Fund grant to help pay for staff training for the AVID program. That’s an acronym that stands for Advancement via Individual Determination. The program aims to improve graduation rates and prepare students for future success. Mapleton Superintendent Jodi O’Mara said this year’s award is nearly $12-thousand and it will train five additional staff members.
Jodi O’Mara – “For our students, it’s not just about going to college. It’s what’s out there and available when they graduate from high school. It could be a job, it could be an apprenticeship. But, if we don’t’ expose them to the opportunities that are out there then it lessens what they believe their opportunities are so we really want them to spread their wings and explore and it really has opened up their minds.”
Mapleton received $26-thousand two years ago and then $15-thousand last year to train staff members… O’Mara says it is making a difference.
Forecast prompts Cold Weather Shelter opening for third night
The Florence Cold Weather Shelter will be open for the third straight night tonight at the Presbyterian Church of the Siuslaw. Reverend Greg Wood says registration begins at five pm. The white flags denoting the shelter opening will be posted at several locations around the city. Free shuttles will run between 4:45 and six pm.
The shelter opened Wednesday and Thursday nights because of near-freezing temperatures.
The discovery that launched a thousand ships…
Forty years ago a group of scientists led by Oregon State Oceanographer Jack Corliss discovered a unique colony of sea creatures living in the depths of the Pacific Ocean in an area known as the Galapagos Rift.
It was a mystery how the creatures could survive because there was no obvious source of light or food. Yet, the clams, huge tube worns and other creatures were thriving.
The energy source that compelled them turned out to be hydrothermal vents… and that discovery in turn revolutionized marine studies.
That discovery in 1977 will be celebrated March 2nd and 3rd in Corvallis. Corliss, who has long since retired to Hungary, will be on hand for the event. Also on attending will be Robert Collier, a professor emeritus at OSU who was on that 1977 expedition. Collier said it changed oceanography and “spawned new fields of study”.