Lane County to drop down to High Risk Friday.
Mother’s Day is one of the busiest dining out occasions in a normal year. With the drop tomorrow to High Risk area eateries will be able to reopen indoor dining rooms at 25% capacity to enjoy some of the Mother’s Day rush. With the open dining rooms will be allowed, along with continued outdoor dining and take out after Tuesday’s late announcement that no counties, including Lane, will be designated Extreme Risk. The re-designation will allow Gyms to operate at 25% occupancy, Coastal Fitness owner Jim Mitchell says this allows them to offer more….
“It allows us to expand our offerings to our customers. We’ve been having to have classes outside. If the weather was inclimate, we would have to cancel classes and now with this change we can have a little flexibility where we can have classes outside or inside.”
Mitchell said showers will now be available but the Saunas and drinking fountains are unavailable. The downgrade in risk also allows indoor full-contact sports with guidance requirements. With her declaration Tuesday, Governor Brown did say she didn’t think there would be a return to Extreme Risk during the remainder of the pandemic.
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Lane County reported 43 new Covid 19 cases yesterday with 21 hospitalized, 7 in ICU and three on ventilators. The January death of a 41 year old man has raised Lane County death toll to 145. The Oregon Health Authority reported 808 new confirmed and presumptive Covid 19 cases.
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Lane County is now offering daily Covid 19 vaccine clinics. The FDA has approved the two-dose Pfizer Vaccine for ages 16 and over. Both the two shot Moderna and the one shot Johnson and Johnson vaccines have been approved for 18 and older. All Lane County Public Health clinics this week are all being held in Eugene, but no appointment is needed. Today’s clinic is for the Moderna Vaccine from 4 to 8pm at the Lane Events Center. Friday’s Pfizer Vaccine Clinic is from noon to 6pm at Autzen Stadium. Both weekend clinics are at the Lane Event Center, Saturday’s Clinic is for either the Pfizer or Moderna shots between 9am and 3pm, while Sunday’s Clinic is for Moderna only from 1pm to 5pm. No appointments are need, nor is insurance, there is no cost for the Covid 19 vaccine. While you don’t need an appointment you can make one online at Lane County OR dot gov slash vax clinics
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Oregon is one of 48 states and Washington D.C. where prices are higher now than a week ago. With that the Oregon AAA says Retail gas prices are likely to shoot up this month as we see spikes in demand, especially approaching Memorial Day. Several West Coast states are already seeing pump prices rise faster than other parts of the country. For the week, the national average for regular climbs three cents to $2.91 a gallon. The Oregon average jumps six cents to $3.31. In Florence the average cash price for a gallon of regular gas is up six Cents this week to $3.23 a gallon.
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The Month of May is Wildfire Awareness month and after the devastating fires that hit several communities across Oregon the state of Oregon is aggressively getting the word out on fire prevention and especially creating defensible space around your home. Tony Miller is the Fire Marshall for Western Lane Fire and EMS, and says defensible space can be the difference between safety and tragedy
201: “We talk about zero to 5 feet and what you to try to do is you want to take that zero to 5 feet, you want to clean your gutters, you want to make sure there is no debris in them that flying embers could fall in and catch your house on fire.”
Miller also says non combustible building materials on the exterior of your house could help save your house such as concrete sidewalks or stone walkways. In addition distances from 5 to 30 feet should be kept well irrigated and free from dry dead plants. More ideas and information is available at svfr.org and fema.gov.
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Local builder, Brian Lacouture has thrown his name in the hat for Siuslaw School District board of directors. In addition to his local business, Lacouture also has two students enrolled in Siuslaw High School. he says that he has been watching things on the sidelines until he couldn’t anymore.
201: “I found myself in the position of ‘well I can’t gripe and complain about something that I am not willing to step up and help with’”
Lacouture is running for the 4th seat on the sisulaw School board. There are two contested seats with 5 candidates. John Barnett is running for position 2 and is unopposed.
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