Hunger Woes Continue
Hunger continues to be an issue in west Lane County and specifically in the Siuslaw region as the lasting effects of the pandemic affects jobs, cost of goods and availability. Colin Morgan with the Florence Food Share says the typical number of families that are taking advantage of the food pantry is increasing.
“Typically a March for us will have about 500 services or so, we saw 778 services. So we’re seeing an increase in the amount of folks coming in and of those services a lot of those services are families.”
The Florence Food Share has also been impacted by the pandemic. Last year the annual peanut butter drive that normally produces several thousand pound of peanut butter was cancelled. Morgan says they are working on seeing that return.
“We’re working right now with Johnston Motors to see if we can make that happen this year, it had been cancelled due to covid.”
Another event that had been cancelled due to COVID is the annual Letter Carriers Drive. That has been rescheduled for May 14th. Morgan and Patrick Lewis with the U.S.P.S. will be a guest on May’s Our Town.
COVID-19 Update
COVID-19 is not going anywhere. Numbers for the virus continue to climb even though reporting of cases has changed. Health Authorities across the state and across the nation say that between pandemic fatigue and at home testing the number of reported daily cases is likely below the actual numbers of cases. People are urged to continue to be vigilant as summer approaches and large gatherings begin to take place. Recent case numbers for west Lane County show a steady increase with 74 new cases yesterday and the Oregon Health Authority reported 1,137 new cases. Test positivity rate is increasing. It has gone from below 2.5% to 8.1% which is one of the reasons that health authorities believe the number of cases is greater than the reports. There were no new cases reported for Florence yesterday.
Rural Mowing Begins
Lane County is preparing for mowing in rural areas along roadways. The end of April and beginning of May mowers will be out on the rural roads around the county. Chad McBride, the Lane County Vegetation supervisor, says the mowing helps reduce fire danger and ensures that drivers have a clear line of sight on county Roads. McBride is asking that political and other signs be removed from the right of way, or else they may be removed by crews. Rocks and derelict fencing is also an issue that mowers face that can slow down work and damage equipment. McBride says passing mowers on the left is permitted when safe to do so, but oncoming traffic takes precedence.
Wind Energy
Two areas off the Oregon Coast are being targeted to host offshore wind farms as the Biden administration seeks to ramp up renewable energy production. The sites are about 12 nautical miles offshore Coos Bay and Brookings. This is the first big regulatory step toward bringing an offshore wind project to the Oregon Coast. Late last year, the Department of the Interior said that the Oregon Coast was being targeted by the agency for offshore wind energy production as it has some of the best wind resources in the country. The potential wind farm locations are part of President Joe Biden’s plan to deploy 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030, generating enough electricity to power more than 10 million homes.