First Citizen and Future First Citizen Nominees Announced
The nominations for Florence First Citizen and Florence Future First Citizen have been announced. The annual recognition for residents and students for their contributions to the community was released this morning. 3 members of the community were acknowledged in the category of First Citizen: Jean Murphey from Coast Insurance who was nominated by the Florence Kiwanis, Rachel Pearson, with the Friends of the Florence Event Center nominated by a local resident, and Sam Spayd who was nominated by the Florence Rotary Club. All three individuals have been recognized for their selfless contributions to Florence.
Future First Citizen nominees were Abby Coday. Abby is recognized for her work in academics, sports, and service to the community where she regularly tutors students in math, has worked with the Kiwanis Thanksgiving Dinner and the Elks Christmas dinner. Kyle King is recognized for his contributions in several areas including volunteering with 1st graders, creating a Kindness Club for Interact to teach and support others in learning kindness, Kyle is also a member of the KCST Viking Hour, is a three sport athlete, and a member of the Honor Society. Jared Brandt was best described by School Counselor, Steve Moser, as a student-athlete. Maintaining a 4.0 gpa and participating in football, basketball and baseball, Jared takes time to also participate as the Interact Community Service Chair representative and volunteer with Siuslaw Booster Club, Rotary Club and Relay for life. Kaylee Graham is the final nominee for Florence Future First citizen. Kaylee is the founder of the Power of Florence service day which was created when she was 11 years old. The organization has raised over $50,000 dollars and participates in a day of service where over 90 service projects are completed by volunteers and has contributed over 18,000 pounds of food for the Florence Food Share and the Humane Society. She is also a member of the Interact Club and maintains a high GPA at Siuslaw High School. The winners will be announced at the annual Chamber Business Awards. February 7th at the Florence Event Center.
Climate Change Disappears From Paperwork
The erasure of the term Climate Change from the Trump Administration will have far reaching side effects for efforts to curtail the issues facing the planet. So says Rick Spinrad chief scientist of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration by the Obama administration. He says language is important, and when certain phrases such as “climate change” are avoided or replaced with euphemisms, their meaning is compromised and devalued. Spinrad references a report released last week by the Environmental Data and Governance Initiative that found government agencies are systematically replacing “climate change” with vaguer terms such as “sustainability” on their websites.
“Many people, when they look at this issue, may think, ‘Oh, this is just semantics. You’re just changing climate change to sustainability.’ No, it’s deeper than that. It’s hiding information, it’s obscuring important decision aids for not just the government but also industry and the public at large.”
Spinrad says this shift could hurt Oregon, too. The state relies on the federal government’s abundant resources to help collect data for guidance. Without that data, Spinrad says Oregon oyster hatcheries, fishing communities and more will be severely damaged by acidification. So what can be done? He says informing the public is key, but the Trump administration is under no obligation to invest in climate-change research.
“That certainly is the prerogative of the administration, but it should be done in a way that clearly defines how the current body of research in that field will be connected to their policies.”
Officials in the Trump administration make the case that burdensome and, in many cases, environmental regulations are bad for business. Spinrad says there is an assumption that the environment and the economy are at odds.
Fuel Prices Continue to Rise
Robust demand for gasoline and rising crude oil prices are putting upward pressure on pump prices. For the week, the national average for regular unleaded jumps four cents to $2.53 a gallon while the Oregon average adds up one-and-a-half cents to $2.82. Here in Florence the prices remain steady at an Average $2.59 a gallon for regular.