City Seeks to Fill Vacancies
The City of Florence is still recruiting for two available seats. The city’s planning commission is made up of seven member, five of which need to reside within the city limits. The current open position is for one of those seats. The commission reviews and makes recommendations on the comprehensive plan, subdivision and zoning ordinances as well as other planning ruled and regulations. Commission meetings are held on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month. The other seat is on the Florence Urban Renewal Agency. FURA is a nine member agency and is made up of city residents and five at large members. The seat available is for an at large candidate. FURA generally meets once a month and works to implement and fund projects such as the ReVision Florence Streetscape project. Applications for both seats will end on Monday, November 29th and can be found at ci.florence.or.us.
Oregon Ranks High for Slow Spread of COVID
Coronavirus cases are spreading more slowly in Oregon than 37 other states according to recent numbers from John Hopkins University. Numbers of new cases have been steadily falling across the state and in Lane County the new case count dropped by about 18% from the previous week. In the most recent numbers from the Oregon Health Authority, which are the weekend totals, Lane County reported a total of 145 new cases over the 3 day period. Florence cases are 9 more than Friday’s numbers and account for 777 all-time. Breakthrough cases are currently around the 25% mark. The OHA is reporting that 1 in 4 cases are individuals that have been fully vaccinated. That number has continued to grow over the past several months.
Holiday Travel
Over the next several days Oregonians can expect the roadways to be busy as more than 650,000 are planning a thanksgiving holiday trip. Those numbers according to AAA Oregon. The increase is almost pre-pandemic numbers according to the report released yesterday. One of the issues that could hamper travelers is snow. According to the Oregon Department of Transportation snowy roads may cause traffic delays due to a shortage of staff to run plows. ODOT is also reminding individuals that Eugene traffic on Saturday will likely be heavy with the Oregon/Oregon State football game.
OSP Fatal Crash Report
The Oregon state police released details of a fatal crash on highway 101 near Waldport on Sunday. Police say that 59 year old Michael Noel of Waldport crossed over the centerline in his Toyota Corolla and crashed head-on with a Mercedes GLK SUV operated by 54 year old Lorrie Ann Owens also of Waldport. Owens and her passenger 78 year old Norma Parry had to be extricated, but survived, Noel was pronounced deceased at the scene. Highway 101 had to be closed for approximately 5 hours during the investigation and cleanup.
Car Closes SOS Building
An automobile accident has forced the temporary closing of Siuslaw Outreach Services. SOS will be closed to in office services through the end of the week after a car drove into the building and ended up in the reception area of the facility. No one was injured in the accident, but structural damage will have to be assessed and repairs made. Bob Teter, executive director for SOS says they will be able to continue domestic and sexual violence assistance through their crisis line at 541-997-2816.
Middle School Threat
A note left in the Siuslaw Middle School bathroom yesterday indicated a threat and Florence Police were called to investigate the situation. Due to the incident students were asked not to bring backpacks to school today. The school is asking parents if their child has any information regarding the note to contact Florence Police.
