Some Businesses Not Done With Masks; Century Link Outage; Military Museum Celebrates 4th; Celebrating Bottle Bill; Last Day to Nominate

Some Businesses Not Done With Masks

Beginning today fully vaccinated individuals will no longer be required to wear masks in most settings around Oregon.  Large grocery stores like Safeway and Fred Meyer released information saying that while they will not be checking vaccination status upon entry, people that are unvaccinated, including their employees will still be required to wear them.  Businesses can still require masks even though the state restrictions have expired.  Health officials do warn though that the lingering results of the pandemic are far from over.  The Oregon Health Authority reported 230 new cases of the coronavirus yesterday and have confirmed 7 new deaths.  Lane County continues to have positive cases and reported 25 yesterday.  Florence area cases remains at 260. And the percentage of eligible individuals that have been vaccinated remains at 69.4.  according to the OHA website there are still just over 19,000 first dose vaccinations needed to reach the 70% mark.

Century Link Outage

Century Link Customers south of the Siuslaw River Bridge are experiencing outages to phone and internet services as technicians work to repair lines that were damaged.  It is not sure who or how the damages occurred at this point, but Lumen Technologies is working to repair cut lines and lines that were apparently effected by a fire.  Kerry Zimmer, Senior Communications Manager told Coast Radio news that the outage will not be completely repaired for some time.  They had hoped to have all their services back on line last night, but some lines according to Zimmer are older and are taking longer to repair.

Military Museum Celebrates 4th

As state regulations ease up, The Oregon Coast Military Museum will once again be hosting its annual 4th of July Celebration and barbecue. Military vehicles and booths will be on display outside and there will be a special admission price of $1.00 to tour the Main Exhibit Hall. Booths from local veteran organizations include The American Legion and Auxiliary, Daughters of the American Revolution, Disabled American Veterans, Oregon Central Coast Military Vehicle Group and Veterans of Foreign Wars. The celebration and barbecue begin at noon on the 4th at 2145 Kingwood Street near the airport. Doors close at 4 pm.

Celebrating Bottle Bill

In 1971 Oregon enacted a historic bill—The Oregon Bottle Bill—legislation that required certain bottles to be returnable with a minimum refund value. From July 7-11 the state will celebrate 50 years of this iconic bill with a Hidden Bottle Hunt. Treasure hunters will be searching for one of six commemorative, golden bottles hidden in six different locations across the state. Florence is part of zone 2, which runs along the south coast from Lincoln County to Curry.  The golden bottles are not redeemable for cash, but rather those individuals who do find one will receive a $500 donation to the charity of their choice.  Originally, the iconic bill served as a litter control measure and reduced the percentage of bottles in the garbage from 40% in 1973 to 6 percent by 1979.

Last Day to Nominate

Today is the final day to nominate individuals and businesses for the annual Siuslaw Awards.  The date for the awards has been changed to July 22 at Three Rivers Casino.