Festival of Trees
According to organizers it was a great kickoff to a season of giving. This past weekend was the festival of trees at the Florence Event Center. The Festival of Trees supports the Oregon Coast Military Museum. On Saturday there was a preview of the trees and a sale of gifts and ornaments that was open to the public. According to Cindy Wobbe, the event co-organizer, there were over 800 people that walked through, many of whom purchased items for the holiday season. On Sunday it was a ticketed event with over 185 people in attendance. Specially decorated trees were auctioned off by Auctioneers Bob and Katie Sneddon. In total the two day event raised over $23,000 for the military museum. Wobbe thanks the community for a strong show of support for the museum and the military community in Florence.
Tree Lighting in Old Town
Several hundred people showed up on Bay street Saturday evening. It was about 5:30 when the interpretive center came alive with lights. Mayor Joe Henry began a 10 second countdown with help from the audience. The New 20 foot tree that came from Hillsboro, Oregon lit up to applause. There was a lacking of Christmas carols, but the spirit of Christmas was evident in the groups of people that hung around to view the decorative trees and shrubs.
Harassment in the Workplace
An Associate Professor of Law at the University of Oregon School of Law has been taking a look at the turning tide of sexual harassment in the work place. Elizabeth Tippet says some recent Supreme Court cases have actually allowed employers to duck responsibility in some situations.
“Courts are not so focused on punishment, and in a way that allows the employer to have their cake and eat it too because they can tell the victim that they did something but also keep the harasser on the payroll.”
Tippet says the fixes employers are using are superficial but the tide of publicly shaming employers is having a stronger impact. Because it is affect the company’s brand.
“So now, when employers stop to think about it, they have to worry about,’How is this decision going to look if this allegation later comes to light and will we be able to defend the decision that we made?’ And they have to think harder about it than they used to.”
She says that this is also making the offenders more accountable for their actions
“I think that’s good and I think a lot of the perpetual harassers that we’ve seen in the news are people who operated for many years without any accountability for the decisions they made and the effect that those decisions had on their victims.”
Tippet hopes that this will open up discussion and also be a spring board for more inclusion in the workplace
