Numbers Continue Surge
Lane County continues to have high numbers of new covid-19 cases as they added another 118 to the list. There were however no new cases reported for the Florence area. The State reported 1382 new cases. What is causing concern aside from the volume of new infections is the effect it is having on the hospitals across the state there were 35 more beds taken up with coronavirus cases than the previous day totaling 457 cases. There is also a difficulty with staffing across hospitals around the state forcing some individuals to be transported to other states. Fatigue, low numbers of available staff and COVID-19 concerns among unvaccinated health care workers are all contributing to the shortage in staff.
Chamber Cancels After Hours
The Florence Area Chamber of commerce sent out a late notice yesterday afternoon announcing that they would be cancelling their first Business After Hours since the beginning of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Banner Bank was scheduled to host the event last night. The Chamber email cited a recent positive COVID-19 test for the reason for the cancellation.
Code Enforcement Issue
The City of Florence Code enforcement has put out notice regarding the use of storage containers on property within the city limits. The use of these metal shipping containers is becoming more prevalent and Dan Frazier, Code Enforcement officer for the city says there are only two instances that these containers can be on property. One is for temporary office space during construction and the other for education, non-profit, and government agencies. In order to place a unit on property individuals must go before the city Planning Commission as a public hearing. Frazier says the approval process takes about 45 days.
Murder Suspect First Day in Oregon Courts
The suspect in a murder case in Coos County is scheduled to have his first court appearance today in Oregon. Oen Nicholson was extradited from Wisconsin and has been held in Coos County after allegedly shooting his father, running down two individuals in the parking lot of a casino and shooting another individual in the parking lot of a nearby marijuana store. Three individuals were killed on June 18th and the suspect eluded police down 101 through Florence and into Noti before forcing a woman to drive him to Wisconsin. The fourth victim, 73 year old Linda Oyster died on July 9th from injuries sustained in the attack.
