COVID Surge Continues
The three day weekend total of COVID-19 cases continues to be a cause of concern for the state as well as health care professionals. Hospital beds are continuing to fill up with patients as some hospitals now are choosing to put off elective surgeries in order to focus coronovirsus. There are 752 individuals now hospitalized with COVID patients and 206 are in intensive care. In Lane County there are 74 hospitalized, 44 are Lane County residents. There have also been 14 new deaths reported as cases surge. Over the weekend the Oregon Health Authority reported 4,396 new cases for the state and 567 cases for Lane County. Florence is still seeing the effect with 15 new cases reported bringing the all time total to 378. Health officials are saying that the 4th wave of the virus is predominantly the Delta Variant. Vaccination Clinics are planned for the Florence and Mapleton Area this week. Mapleton will hold a clinic from 10 until noon on Thursday at the Mapleton High School and Florence will hold one on Saturday from 1 – 3 pm at the Siuslaw Middle School.
Special School Board Meeting
The Siuslaw School Board has voted to hold a special meeting on September 1st for the exclusive purpose of hearing public comment. According to school board president Bob Sneddon there has been a lot of discussion in the community about the upcoming school year as it pertains to the wearing of masks, a mandate that has come down from the State of Oregon. The special meeting will be held at the Siuslaw Middle School common area and there will be no action items on the agenda, only time for public comment. Comments will be limited to 3 minutes. The meeting will begin at 6:30.
Enforcement Operation Results
The City of Florence has issued the results of their Pedestrian Enforcement Operation from July 31st. during the 2 hour enforcement there were 13 stops and 10 infractions cited. The operation was primarily educational to inform drives of the proper procedures when pedestrians are crossing the streets. Crosswalks are defined as any intersection, marked or not. Vehicles are required to stop and remain stopped until pedestrians have cleared the lane the driver is driving in as well as the adjacent lane. The same is true for signaled intersections. Vehicles turning must wait until the pedestrian has cleared the lane and 6 feet of the adjacent lane. The Florence Police Department initiates these types of operations several times a year.
DUII Enforcement Planned
The Florence police department will also be holding a DUII High Visibility Enforcement beginning on Friday September 3rd through Monday September 6th for the Labor Day weekend. The patrols will be increased during this period for the purposes of maintaining safety on the streets and is intended to deter people from driving while impaired. The extra patrols are funded by Oregon Impact.