4th of July Fun
Weather forecasters say we can expect good weather conditions for the 4th of July and that means a likely strong showing for the annual fireworks put on by the Chamber of Commerce which promises to be 50% larger this year and the return of the barge for optimal viewing on the Siuslaw River, Executive Director of the Chamber Bettina Hannigan says that it is the participation of several entities in Florence that made the event possible. Support poured in from several businesses including the City of Florence to reinvigorate the annual festivities.
“Florence True Value, Lofy Construction, Shorewood Senior Living, Brisbane Enterprises, American Legion Post 59, Florence Band of Brothers, Hop Valley Brewing, and the Siuslaw News.” – Bettina Hannigan
The 4th of July celebration will culminate with the fireworks just after dusk tomorrow evening, but throughout the day around Florence there will be other events to help celebrate. The Florence Senior Center is holding their annual BBQ from 11-2 and all ages are welcome. The annual pie and watermelon eating contest will be held by Crossroads Assembly of God, and the Kiwanis will hold their annual duck race just off the boardwalk in Old Town at 1 pm.
Port to Look at Dredging Options
Extreme low tides last week caused some listing of the docks including Novelli’s Crab and Seafood at the port of Siuslaw prompting another look at the need to dredge parts of the river to protect boats and eliminate the possibility of damage to the docks. The port of Siuslaw is looking at the situation and is forwarding information to the board to look at what steps need to be taken. The process for cleaning silt and debris from the shores is a costly one and money will have to be allocated in order to initiate the project. Acting Port Manager Dina McClure says the board has been notified and asked to take a look at the situation so that a plan can be implemented to move forward. McClure says that there will be many conversations on how to address the situation. Repairing or replacing the docks could be a very costly venture versus the money that would be spent on dredging efforts.
Need to Know vs. Need to be Right
The struggle between the public and news agencies is one that arises from time to time especially when a tragic or dangerous situation comes to light that involves the overall public safety, as was the case in the June 24th incident on North Fork and Munsel Lake road. Often a percentage of the public will have more information available to them then news agencies are able to release which causes some frustration. Sgt. Carrie Carver with the Lane County Sheriff’s department says the reason for this is the need to be accurate in its own reporting.
“We want to be able to get as much information so our investigation is thorough and accurate.”
Carver says that in the case of the most recent incident there is a lot of investigatory work that needs to be done.
“It’s talking to people who were there, finding out who else was there who might have information to provide that would benefit the investigation and reaching out to those people, contacting those people and conducting those subsequent investigations.”
Carver says that the circumstance surrounding officer involved shooting and death of Cameron Ollman involved a lot of law enforcement personnel and covered a lot of geography as well. She could not be definitive, but she believed that some information would be available this week.
