Thompson honored by broadcasters association
Coast Broadcasting owner and general manager Jon Thompson was recognized this week as the Oregon Association of Broadcasters Broadcaster of the Year for 2016. O-A-B President Keith Shipman said Thompson had been nominated before, but this year the vote was overwhelmingly in his favor.
Keith Shipman – “And I think that’s largely due to the fact that his peers recognized the great work he’s done in Florence for the past 30 years. He’s been a great broadcaster who runs great radio stations, but he’s also been intimately involved in the community.”
Shipman said Thompson recently completed his second two-year term on the association’s board of directors representing “small market broadcasters”. A responsibility he fulfilled exceptionally. This week’s award placed him solidly on a list of influential members of the electronic media in the state…past and present:
Keith Shipman – “Past recipients include Bill Schonely, you know Robert Dove who manages radio stations in Portland; Cambra Ward who has managed television stations and now radio stations in Eugene; Van Moe out on the coast, Lee Perkins over in Eastern Oregon and all points in between.”
The award was announced Tuesday during the Oregon Broadcasters Legislative Day at the State Capitol in Salem. Due to a very busy schedule, Thompson was not able to receive it in person… it was delivered to him in Florence Thursday afternoon.
Sex abuse charges
A 24-year old Florence man is facing four charges revolving around an illicit sexual relationship police say he had with a 15 year old girl. Matthew James Gordon was booked into the Lane County Jail Wednesday morning. He faces three felony charges, including online sexual corruption of a child; Encouraging child sex abuse 2nd degree; and third degree rape. The fourth charge, a misdemeanor, is sex abuse in the third degree.
Florence Police Commander John Pitcher said the arrest came following an investigation by local officers.
Cascadia “island” mapping
Comprehensive maps of the Oregon Coast showing where residents are likely to be cut off from the rest of Oregon and the world following a giant 9-point-oh Cascadia Subduction earthquake were released this week.
Althea Rizzo, the Geologic Hazards Program Coordinator for the Oregon Department of Geology, says the maps will be useful in planning preparedness efforts for what scientists have been saying for more than 15 years is an “eventuality, not a possibility”.
There are 44 different plates, each showing a detailed view of not only where people may be cut off from help, but also assembly areas, bridges and public facilities, as well as emergency aircraft landing zones.
The map is available at the Oregon Department of Geology website. There’s a direct link to it right now at www-kcst-dot-com.
Free fishing weekend
Anyone over the age of 14 who wants to go fishing, clamming, or crabbing in Oregon is required to have a license issued by the State of Oregon.
Usually…
This weekend is one of the exceptions. Oregonians won’t need a license, tag or endorsement to fish Saturday or Sunday.
Because of a law passed in 2015 Oregonians now have eight fee-free-days each year they can go after fish and shellfish.
One reason, according to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, is to expose more people to the sport of angling and create more fishermen… and women.
Mike Gauvin is the department’s recreational fishing manager. He said April 22nd is Earth Day, an appropriate day to encourage people to get outside in the “natural world”.
This weekend is in addition to the traditional free-fishing days the first weekend in June. The two other weekends are also on the list… Thanksgiving weekend and New Years.
Regular bag limits and all other regulations remain in effect.
Ghost Crabs on the Oregon Coast
Finding a white albino Dungeness crab off the Oregon Coast is a very rare thing… that’s why biologists say the discovery of two of them this year “adds another element of improbability”.
The first albino Dungeness was pulled up near Cascade Head in January by a commercial crabber.
Scott Groth is a shellfish biologist with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. He didn’t say where the second one came from, but he did say there are about 8-million crabs caught each year off Oregon. That makes the odds of landing a rare “ghost crab” at about four-million-to-one.
Both of the rare creatures are now on display… alive… at the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport.
