Arbor Day Celebration
Saturday, April 30th the City of Florence’s EMAC committee will be holding an Arbor Day celebration in Old Town Park. The event will be from 10 am until 1:45 pm it will feature Oregon State University Forester Lauren Grand and Lane County Master Gardener Tom Bettman as speakers. Grand is an Assistant Professor of Practice at OSU. Grand conducts training courses for small scale forest owners as well as training sessions on fire and drought-stressed forests. She also specializes in habitat conservations for amphibians and bees. There will also be prizes awarded along with a peace tree dedication at 2 pm at the Florence Area Chamber of Commerce.
Public Works Saving Money
It has been a little over a year since the City of Florence installed some energy saving lights at the Public Works facility and according to a report issued by the city the lights have generated more than $2500.00 in savings as well as offsetting 900 pounds of carbon. The system is completely off-grid and operated with both a wind turbine and a solar panel to charge the batteries. Public Works Director Mike Miller says since the facilities inception the city has strived to bring in sustainable and alternate designs to demonstrate to the community the possibilities of lessening the carbon footprint.
Tax Day
Tax filing day is April 18th this year and if you haven’t made arrangement to file you are not alone. A report recently released list Oregon as 8th among states with the most procrastinators for filing. And out of the top ranked cities for procrastinators Portland ranks 5th overall. For Oregonians filing this year, many can expect a refund due to a kicker that was enacted after the state collected more taxes than anticipated in 2020. If you anticipate not completing your filing by the deadline you can still file for an extension.
COVID-19 Update
Another rise in COVID-19 cases is bringing up the daily average of cases after several weeks on continual decreases. Oregon reported 540 new cases in yesterday evening’s report from the Oregon Health Authority. Hospitalizations also increased to 96 with 15 patients in ICU. Lane County reported 38 new cases and there was one new case for the 97439 zip code (1509). The 7 day average new case count for Lane County is 26. And there are 11 individuals listed in Lane County hospitals.
