LCC Gearing Up For Fall
Lane Community College in Florence is looking at a late September virtual start to classes. The school’s dean of students, Russ Pierson says they have revamped many of the courses in order to allow for distance learning. LCC follows many of the guidelines put forth by the Oregon Department of education, but they also have a higher ed coordinating commission that does offer some options.
“We do have the latitude to offer certain classes or parts of classes in a revised in-person fashion particularly if they’re career technical education.”
Classes, such as welding and some science classes that have a clinical or hands on portion of the course will be offered, but students may have to do in-class studies in eugene as it the case with welding. Pierson says one of the most challenging aspect of distance learning is that many students, particularly older students, have not had the experience of working a lot with computers so the learning curve is a little sharper than that of younger students. He says LCC will also be offering chrome books to students that do not have access to a computer.
Death Toll Continues To Hit Elderly
The death toll in the coronavirus pandemic continues to grow among older residents of Oregon, yesterday the Oregon Health Authority reported 11 new deaths including a 105 year old Clackamas County woman whose death certificate listed COVID-19 as a significant contributing factor to death. The death toll in Oregon is now at 368. There were also 302 new confirmed cases in Oregon and 6 more in Lane County bringing that total to 597. 18 is still the number of cases locally. Multnomah, Washington and Marion Counties continue to be COVID hot spots in the state.
OHA: Childhood Vaccinations Falling Behind
The Oregon Health Authority is reporting that young children are falling behind in their childhood vaccinations, in part due to parent’s worries over contracting COVID-19 through doctors visits. With august being National Immunization Awareness Month the OHA is encouraging parents to be vigilant. They say it is important to contact your provider to ask about COVID-19 precautions.
Cinemas Closed Again
After a brief reopening, City Lights Cinemas has shut their doors. It is unclear at what point they may reopen. There has been no official statement regarding the move, but it is not believed to be related to any concerns over the Coronavirus.
Hannigan Gets New Title
The Florence Area Chamber of Commerce in a press release yesterday officially named Bettina Hannigan as the non-profit’s President and CEO a move that board chair Neil Ecker said was a result of the accomplishments and status of Hannigan’s work. The title is a move away from tradition “executive Director” titles that most often come with non-profit positions. Board member Russ Pierson is quoted as saying Hannigan’s ‘leadership through this unprecedented period of disruption’ has demonstrated how fortunate the chamber is to have her at the helm. Hannigan has served the chamber since 2016.
