Siuslaw High School Threat – Not Credible
Yesterday afternoon Florence police Dispatch received a threatening call from someone stating that they were walking toward Siuslaw High School with an explosive device. The individual was heavily accented and gave a description of the school that did not match any facility at the school. School Superintendent Andy Grzeskowiak said Florence Police made an initial assessment of the situation and determined it was a low probability that the threat was credible.
“The call received at Florence dispatch was a vague description of a black satchel containing a potential device outside a room number that we don’t have at the high school.”
Police did however search the campus and did not find any black bags or satchels matching the callers description. Grzekowiak said the call did not come from inside the school.
“The police were fairly confident from their preliminary assessment that it’s not even from the area and they’re fairly confident that the call was actually from overseas.”
Grzeskowiak said it appears to have been tied to recent “swatting” events in other communities that are aimed at generating a police response and potentially puts unsuspecting occupants of the target building at risk.
DeFazio Positive for COVID
After the announcement that congresswoman Nancy Pelosi tested positive for COVID-19, 4th district representative Peter DeFazio released a statement saying that he had tested positive for COVID. DeFazio says he was fully vaccinated and thankfully is experiencing mild symptoms. He says he is feeling a little fatigued and had mild cold-like symptoms. He added a comment encouraging everyone to get vaccinated.
COVID-19 Updates
Florence has experienced another positive case of COVID-19 (1508). This as Lane County adds another 26 cases yesterday. Cases continue to be fairly minimal for Lane County as numbers climb again around the state. the state reported 446 new cases yesterday and 57 new deaths. Hospitalizations have moved back below the 100 mark with 84 individuals still in Oregon hospitals. 19 individuals are in ICU beds.
Distracted Driving Awareness
The Oregon Department of transportation is supporting Distracted Driving Awareness month and asking everyone to Park their phones for the Month of April. Over a 5 year period there were 1,920 crashes and 20 fatalities in Oregon caused by cell phone use while driving. Other accidents involving non-cell phone distracted driving increase that number to 158 fatalities and more than 23,000 injuries. Distracted Driving Program manager Kelli Kapri says there is nothing more important than to pay attention when behind the wheel. Distracted driving can be as simple as thinking about something other than driving. A first offense, without a crash involved can be a $1,000 fine.
