Locals Peaceably Protest; Medical Director Retires; Graduation Format; Suspect Had Stay In Jail; New Coronavirus Numbers From OHA

Locals Peaceably Protest

While cities across the nation deal with violence and looting in a weekend of protests which included damaged buildings in Eugene, smaller cities and town like Florence were able to maintain civility and still get a message out.  Here peaceful protesters were visible on the corner of 101 and 126 on Saturday and Sunday with signs like Racism is Wrong and Justice for Floyd.  Over 20 people were out on Sunday receiving honks from supporters in vehicles driving by.  By Sunday afternoon in Eugene the violence and looting had been replaced by waves of peaceful protesters outside the federal courthouse.

Medical Director Retires

Chief Medical Director of Peace Harbor Hospital Ron Shearer retires today after 25 years of service.  There will be a drive by send off today at 1 pm.  Former patients, colleagues and the community are encouraged to decorate their cars and drive by the 380 building on the campus of Peace Harbor.  People are asked to enter the 9th street entrance and exit through the Rhododendron street side.  Those that wish to visit with Dr. Shearer can do so by parking in the visitor parking area.  Social distancing and safe social practices will be observed.

Graduation Format

This Friday evening the class of 2020 Siuslaw High School will have its moment as a new style graduation ceremony will take place.  According to the standards set forth by the governor’s executive order the amount of people that are allowed on campus at one time is 24.  Superintendent Andy Grzeskowiak says they have formatted the graduation so as not so go over that number.   Students with family members will come through as 3 individual groups at a time.

“Having those groups come through, plus our presenter, our couple of people staging outside, we will be right at 24.”

The entire graduation event is expected to take about 3 hours.  Valedictorians for the class of 2020 are Tiffany Hine, Elissa Hurley, Jared Northrup, and Hannah Rannow.  Also to be recognized will be outstanding senior girl, Nina Aaron and Outstanding Senior Boy, Jared Northrup.  The entire event will be broadcast on the radio at KCST with simulcast video through Facebook and the NFHS.

Suspect Had Stay In Jail

32 year old Gregory Cross of Florence, the suspect in the early Friday morning stabbing that resulted in the death of one person in Florence, reportedly had been release from the county jail on Thursday preceding the stabbing.  According to reports he had been booked into the jail on a parole violation.  Lane County Sheriff’s office has still not released the name of the victim.

New Coronavirus Numbers From OHA

The new numbers for coronavirus cases in Oregon is now at 4,243.  Additionally 2 more people have died from the virus according to the Oregon Health Authority.  Those 2 deaths were reported on Friday.  The 152nd death was a 62 year old Lane County man and a 93 year old Polk County woman.  Both had  underlying medical conditions.  The Lane County man actually died on May 4th but had not been attributed to the coronavirus at the time.  There are also a total of 73 cases in Lane County as of yesterday.  One of those cases is a presumptive case.