Escapee Arrested in Portland; Burn Ban Begins; Port Working Toward Budget Approval; EMAC Meets

Escapee Arrested in Portland

The youth that authorities believe may have jumped into the Siuslaw River to avoid capture two weeks ago has turned up in Portland.  Portland Police arrested 20 year old Brendon Hansen on Saturday for reckless driving, driving a stolen vehicle and for his outstanding warrant for his escape from Camp Florence.  He is being held in the Multnomah County Detention Center.  Hansen had walked away from Camp Florence facility in early June after only two weeks.  He had recently been transferred from the MacLaren Detention facility in Woodburn.  On the evening of June 1st, after telling staff he was going to check on the dogs he left Camp Florence and was later spotted on the Siuslaw River Bridge.  After threatening to jump authorities gave Hansen space, but he disappeared from the bridge.  Search crews, including the U.S. Coast Guard searched for Hansen, but he could not be located.

Burn Ban Begins

Today marks the official burn ban for Western Lane County.  Fire officials here had extended local open burning from June 1st to the 15th of the month, but had to close it early on the 14th due to extremely dry conditions and high winds in the area.  The Oregon Department of Forestry’s Christopher Cline says fire officials are “poised for a long and difficult fire season”  Lane County has already had a fire that burned 75 acres near Cottage Grove in early May.

Port Working Toward Budget Approval

This Wednesday the Port of Siuslaw Board of Commissioners will meet to finalize their budget for 2019/2020.  Part of the budget will include the deconstruction of the blue storage buildings and the addition of new, full service camp spaces as well as a maintenance building.  The Port is currently finishing up adding full service hook ups on C-row.  12 existing spaces and 4 new spaces will have full water, sewer and electric available.  Port reservations are consistently high during the summer season and the additional spaces will add to the ports revenue.

EMAC Meets

Florence’s Environmental Management Advisory Committee will hold its meeting tomorrow evening at 6 pm.  They will be presenting their 2019-2020 work plan for consideration.