Youth to Learn Police Procedure
The youth of Florence will have an opportunity to see what a career in law enforcement would look like. The city of Florence is holding a Youth Police Academy for ages 13-17. Students will have the opportunity to learn how entities like the Florence Police department as well as other state and local agencies across Lane County operate. They will receive basic training in police procedures, operations, criminal investigations, first aid and more. There will also be demonstrations with SWAT, Fire Department, Coast Guard and emergency vehicle operations. Deadline for applications is this Friday at 4pm.
COVID-19 Update
New cases of COVID-19 remain high across the state. there were 1835 new cases reported yesterday with the daily case rate averaging 1549. The state is averaging about 100 more cases a day than the previous week. Hospitals around the state continue to be inundated with patients though the current number of beds being used by COVID-19 patients has dropped below 300 at 295. Vaccination rates have dropped way off too. There are just over 45% of Oregonians that have been completely vaccinated and boosted, a rate that has seen little movement since about February. 84% have had at least one dose. Lane County has just over 143,000 fully vaccinated and boosted individuals.
Gas Prices Continue to Surge
Marie Dodds with AAA Oregon says we can expect to see gas prices surge even more in the coming weeks with crude oil prices nearing $120 a barrel. That is more than double the price from a year ago. AAA says demand has not decreased as people are looking to get out after more than two years of a pandemic. Oregon’s price for a gallon of regular gas is averaging $5.46 a gallon a record high for the state. Dodds says new records are being set almost daily. The average price for a gallon of regular gas in Florence is $5.33, 13 cents under the state average.
Bird Quarantine Lifted
The U.S. Department of Agriculture approved a request by the Oregon Department of Agriculture to lift a quarantine on poultry after a case of the Avian Flu was detected. The quarantine was set on May 17 after a backyard flock was shown to have the highly contagious and deadly disease. The ODA is asking individuals that have backyard birds to keep a close watch on their flock and to keep poultry away from wild birds, especially waterfowl. According to the ODA the risk of transmission to humans is low.
