Retirees Honored
8 retirees accounting for a total of 149 years of experience in the Siuslaw School District were honored last week during an “all staff” gathering at Hans Peterson Field. The longest amount of service was Ward Large who retires with an official 35 years on the janitorial staff. Large, worked at 4 different facilities and started part time at Siuslaw in 1982, transitioning to full time 5 years later. Other lengthy careers coming to an end: High School art teacher Kim Pickell (pih-KELL) with 32 years. Elementary and Middle School teacher Cindy Ramsey with 30 and Rachelle (ruh-SHELL) Campbell with 25 years. The other 28 years of experience were divided between Gay Davidson, Peggy Arnhold, Carol Cohen and Janet Mitchell.
Free Boat Inspections
The Lane County Sheriff’s Office is once again partnering with Bi-Mart to offer free boat inspections. Aimed at keeping boaters safe when they’re on the water the inspections will be held at Bi-Mart locations county wide over the next three weekend. The Florence Bi-Mart will host inspections Sunday, June 5th from ten AM to one PM.
Charging Infrastructure Improved
If you own or are considering buying an electric vehicle, but were concerned about the ability to travel, the Oregon Department of Transportation is working with companies to upgrade the charging station infrastructure in Oregon. ODOT has just completed phase one of critical upgrades to make charging your vehicle through a network of Oregon charging stations that include Highway 101, interstate 5 and interstate 84. The West Coast Electric Highway will allow for more stations and more vehicles per station to charge and will include access to more types of vehicles including e-bikes. Phase 2 begins this summer and will increase the charging abilities even further and convert 11 stations to “superstations” with even faster charging speeds. Phase 3, beginning in the fall, will create 3 new stations for a total of 47 in Oregon. The State has committed to spend 100 million dollars over the next 5 years to expand charging capabilities.
COVID-19 Cases
17 COVID-19 cases have been added to the total number of cases for the Florence area (1624). Yesterday’s update from the Oregon Health Authority is the first such update since May 18th. Lane County cases increased by 144. There were 1,864 new cases statewide and hospitalizations increases to 295 patients.
