Ballot Mailings
Beginning tomorrow Election Ballots should begin arriving in the mail. Lane County Clerk, Cheryl Betschart says ballots are being delivered today to the United States Post Office. It is important to properly fill out your ballot and sign it before returning it in the mail. Ballots can be rejected if not completed. In Lane County less than 1% of ballots are rejected and about 2% of ballots statewide were rejected during the 2016 election. Voters have 17 days to fill out, sign and return ballots.
“All ballots have to be received by an official drop site location no later than Election Day, November 3rd.”
Locally voters can drop their ballots at the Justice Center drop site located on Greenwood Street, or drop them in the mail. Betschart does say that a ballot will be reviewed by at least two people before being rejected and attempts will be made to contact the voter to try and resolve the issue.
COVID-19 in Florence
Another COVID-19 case has been identified for the Florence Area. In yesterday’s daily report from Lane County Public Health the 28th case was reported. There is no additional information on the new case and it is not known if it is part of the 3 cases reported over the weekend. Lane County Public Health liaison Jason Davis said he would notify the public if cases are determined to be part of a cluster. County wide there were 63 new cases reported yesterday and one new death. The most recent was a 91 year old woman from the Eugene/Springfield area who had not been hospitalized prior to her death. There are now 1,938 total cases reported for Lane County. Across the state there are now a total of 38,160 cases reported and 608 deaths total. There were 390 new cases yesterday. Nationwide reports are showing a 17% increase in cases since last week.
More Money For Business
The new round of relief money is being made available. Applications can be made at communitylendingworks.org. The money available is limited and is available for businesses even if they have received PPP or other assistance in the past.
Census Update
Today is the last day to be counted in Oregon. The Supreme Court shut down the Census continuance that was to go through the end of the month; according to the Governor’s office you have until 2:59 am to complete it. Census numbers are important for states in determining federal funding for a myriad of programs. If you have not filled out your census form you can go to 2020census.gov
Great Shakeout
Today is the Great Shakeout, a tsunami and earthquake readiness program but due to the coronavirus pandemic there are no local events or coordinated programs. The third Thursday of October is slated as the day to review plans and routes in case of a significant catastrophic event along the coast and is also recognized across the nation.
