OCHS Announces New Executive Director; Isthmus Slough Bridge to Close for the Weekend; Scotus Protest Rallies Planned

OCHS Announces New Executive Director

In just under two weeks the Oregon Coast Humane Society has filled two important posts that have been vacant.  Ochs announced last week the hiring of a shelter manager Marina Lewis from Texas. And yesterday OCHS board President Shauna Robbers told Coast radio news that they have found a new Part-tim Executive Director to handle day to day operations of the humane society including overseeing shelter and thrift store operations. Bob Murray.

“he’s got over 40 years of experience working in some large animal facilities as a facility manager, employee supervisor and has a masters degree in human therapy so he’s going to interface really well here.”

Murray will work Tuesday through Thursday each week for about 20 to 25 hours per week.  The OCHS new shelter manager Marina Lewis began her tenure on Saturday.

Isthmus Slough Bridge to Close for the Weekend

If you are heading south down 101 this weekend and your travels take you into Coos Bay motorists should be prepared for a detour.  The Isthmus Slough Bridge will be closed to motor traffic this weekend. The closure is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. on Friday, August 24, and will continue until 6 a.m. on Monday, August 27, weather permitting.  A nine-mile detour will be in place.  Motorists should look for detour signs and observe the speed limit along the route.  Pedestrian access across the bridge will be maintained, although delays may be necessary. Flaggers will provide assistance to pedestrians, including those with disabilities, crossing the bridge.  ODOT is coordinating with local emergency services to provide police, fire and ambulance coverage in the Eastside area.  The closure is to allow for replacement of the bridge’s steel deck grates, paint the ends of the drawbridge and replace the wooden sidewalks.

Scotus Protest Rallies Planned

Rallies in Oregon and nationwide are taking place on Sunday to protest President Donald Trump’s nominee for the U-S Supreme Court, Brett Kavanaugh. The protests coincide with Women’s Equality Day, which celebrates the 19th Amendment to the Constitution that gave women the right to vote. More than 150 “Unite for Justice” rallies are scheduled, including four in Oregon, and a main focus will be women’s reproductive rights. Maddie Gavel-Briggs is a leader of Our Indivisible Revolution Sherwood, the group sponsoring the rally. She worries that Kavanaugh could roll back those rights.

“To have this nominee at this time – someone who will, most assuredly, weigh in on Roe v. Wade and could set us back decades in women’s rights and opportunities to have a choice over their bodies and their futures – there’s so many things that are in jeopardy.”

This week, Kavanaugh told Maine Senator Susan Collins, a pro-choice Republican, that he believes the Roe versus Wade case is “settled law.” Other protests are planned for Bend, Coos Bay and Eugene, and in Vancouver, Washington.