OAC Appoints local Harlan Springer; Soroptomists Grant Deadline; Fuel Efficient Vehicles Fees Change; Cold Weather Shelters Receive Grants

Oregon Arts Commission Appoints local Harlan Springer;

Florence Public Arts Community Chair, Harlan Springer has been appointed to the Oregon Arts Commission.  A founding member and past president of the Florence Regional Arts Alliance was appointed by Oregon Governor Kate Brown earlier this autumn and will serve four years on the commission.  Springer is a retired corporate executive with extensive experience leading artistic and consumer products companies including Portal Publications, Numi Organic Tea and Boing Designs. Prior to that, Springer held senior management positions at Fortune 500 companies such as Procter and Gamble, Clorox and Unilever.

Springer also helped to found the Florence Regional Arts Alliance, which now has more than 175 members and sponsors, and operates a gallery where they conduct classes and workshops in all visual mediums, in addition to literary events.

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Florence Soroptomists grant deadline;

If you are a woman who is head of household and responsible for the finances of your home, and would like to return to school to advance your education the Florence Soroptomists will be awarding grants through the “Live Your Dreams” awards.  Annually the program gives out more than 2 million dollars in grants to women who need help in financing their education.  Grant money is generally a $3000.00 award and can be used to offset any costs associated with education including purchasing books, childcare and transportation.  The deadline for applying for this grant is today and information is available at liveyourdream.org.

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Fuel Efficient Vehicles Fees Change

If you own a fuel efficient vehicle or are thinking about purchasing one you need to know that beginning in January the fees associated with registering your vehicle will be increasing.  Legislation passed in Oregon in 2017 changes the way fuel efficient vehicles are charged.  New vehicle registrations are initially for four year the first time a vehicle is registered.  Vehicles that are enrolled in OReGO have the option of saving some money on initial registration fees, but then have to calculate their mileage and will be charged a per-mile fee.  Typically a four year registration of a vehicle that exceeds 40 MPG will pay $304 in registration fees and vehicles enrolled in OReGo will pay $172 and will then be charged a per mile fee which can be calculated at www.MYOReGO.org/calculator.  What this fee structure does is supplement the gas tax for vehicles that use less than non-fuel efficient vehicles.  There is also a fee scale for electric vehicles that have a substantial savings for owners upfront.  A fully electric vechicle not enrolled in OReGo will pay $612 dollars for their first 4 year registration versus $172 if enrolled.  The new fee scale goes into effect January 1^st.

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Cold Weather Shelters Receive Grants

Cold weather shelters in Lane County will receive part of a grant that has been provided by Oregon Housing and Community Services.  Organizations will receive a part of the 1.7 million dollar grant to help provide shelter in

cold weather.  Lane county has to share part of a $150,000 portion.  This is a one-time grant provided from a 5 million dollar allocation from the 2019 Oregon Legislative session.