Florence Police Arrest Two in Robbery
The Florence Police has made an arrest of two robbery suspects in connection with the December 9th armed robbery at the 7-11 store on 9th street and Highway 101. Florence police discovered a trailer associated with the persons they believed were responsible off of highway 126 near spruce street. The occupants had to be coerced out of the trailer, but eventually exited safely. Taken into custody were 43 year old Jason E. Boggs and 36 year old April E. Summer. Boggs was charged with Robbery 1, Felon in possession of a firearm and possession of a stolen vehicle. He was transported to the Lane County Jail. Summer was arrested for possession of a stolen vehicle, cited and released. Their vehicle was a u-haul truck that was a month overdue on a rental and had all its decals removed and the trailer had been reported stolen from the Eugene area.
Crash Claimed Life of Mapleton Man
The early morning crash that closed Highway 126 at milepost 29 on Tuesday has resulted in the death of a Mapleton Man. Oregon State police reported that 62 year old Alfred Santos of Eugene was operating a Dodge caravan when he collided head-on with a Toyota Camry driven by Zakkary McCann of Mapleton. McCann Suffered fatal injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene. McCann’s passenger, 25 year old Kussaundra Stevenson of Mapleton received minor injuries. Santos was transported to the hospital with serious injuries.
Sonic Boom to Blame
A small earthquake in the pacific Ocean caused a stir on social media Tuesday afternoon in Florence when people began to ask if anyone felt a shaking or heard a loud noise believing that it was associated with a quake reported out at sea in the same place a swarm of dozens of quakes were reported last week. But it turns out that it was just a coincidence, one that involved a training exercise involving a pilot with the Oregon Air National Guard. Several booms were heard north of Florence and as far north as Neskowin. A group of 4 f-15 eagles were on an exercise practicing air combat maneuvers when one of the pilots went supersonic and the blast from the boom was aimed at the coast.
COVID-19 Cases
It is almost a daily occurrence as Lane County Public Health reports another 6 cases of COVID-19 for the Florence zip code. The total for Florence all-time is 846. LCPH also reported 68 new cases for the county. Statewide there were 907 new cases reported as well as 39 new deaths associated with the coronavirus. At the same time the Oregon Health Authority has reported that the state has exceeded the 3 million mark for persons having at least one dose of the vaccine. 3,002,602 individuals have been at least partially vaccinated. The state continues to report high numbers of vaccinations with a 7 day daily average of more than 21,000 shots. The new Omicron variant of the virus has been found in Oregon and health officials are learning that it may be a more virulent form of the virus, but seems to be less harmful than the Delta Variant which is the most prominent variant currently in the state.
