Measure Could Help Affordable Housing Projects
The doorway to more affordable housing projects for Florence and other cities may be on the November ballot. Measure 102 would amend the state constitution so that bond funds raised by local governments could be used on private projects to build affordable housing. The measure gained bipartisan support in the Legislature and has the backing of both gubernatorial candidates. Statewide, Florence and the rest of the state faces a severe shortage of affordable housing units. Jon Bartholomew with A-A-R-P Oregon says the state needs to use every approach available to tackle this problem because it’s older Oregonians who suffer most.
“Older Oregonians are often on a fixed income. Unfortunately, many, many Oregonians are living off of Social Security alone, and when their rent increases, they can’t just go out and get a raise or find another job that pays better.”
Bartholomew says the measure would open up more options and lead to more creative solutions to the state’s housing crisis. Opponents say there aren’t enough safeguards in the measure to ensure it isn’t abused by public officials. Residents should be receiving ballots by early next week.
Okto-Fur-Fest
A new event has been introduced to take the place of the Octoberfest celebration. The Siuslaw news will host Okto-fur-fest at the Florence event center. The highlight of this event will be the annual wiener dog races along with a new race that will include all breeds under 15 pounds. The event will still feature traditional music, beer, wine, and brats. Dog race entries are 10 dollars and all proceeds go to the Friends of Florence Van Fans. There is a $2 entry for attendance to the event and an additional 5 dollars for premiere seating. The event is this Saturday from 11:30 until 3pm.
Great Shake Out
It is called the great shake out and it is happening next Thursday the 18th at 10:18 locally. The annual event is a practice for earthquake awareness and is a world-wide event. The possibility of a catastrophic cascadia event occurring along the Oregon coast is one reason for people to participate in the event. Event coordinators say that in such an emergency the best practice it to drop, cover and hold on. Already for this year’s event over 520 thousand Oregonians have registered to participate. Governor Brown has declared the 18th as Great shake out day. The website for registration is www.shakeout.org/oregon. It includes links and resources for earthquake preparedness.
