Siuslaw Awards
Last night at Three Rivers Casino and Resort the Siuslaw Awards were announced. The First Citizen Award went to Kay King for her work in the community. She joined Siuslaw Graduate Ava Glowacki as the Future First Citizen. Other winners last night were Jo Beaudreu for the Distinguished Service Award, Grocery Outlet for the Excellence in Customer Service. The Bold New Business Award went to the Laughing Crab Gallery, SandMaster Park received the Innovation is Everything award and the Oregon Coast Humane Society was given the Profound Difference award. Lofy Construction received the Hearts on their Sleeve Award and the evening ended with the presentation of the Stu Johnston Business of the Year Award, given to CROW. Melanie Heard is CROW’s Executive Director.
“This award really doesn’t belong to crow, it belongs to ou r children, and the families, and community, and our audience members and our amazing donors, our sponsors and the people who know the arts really matters”
Orca Trapped in Crabbing Gear
A dead orca off the coast of Oregon near Newport is again raising concerns for the species as it was discovered entangled with crabbing gear around its tail. ODFW’s Caren Braby says it is not known if the gear is responsible for the death or the whale died first before becoming entangled, but it is not the first time that this has happened. She said that fishermen were able to retrieve the pots and that there were no defining marks and no identity of the owner which is illegal in Oregon. She added that the sport-type crab pot was relatively un-fouled suggesting it was recently deployed. The ODFW has a marine life entanglement webpage dedicated to information on the agency’s efforts to reduce entanglements.
City Council Meeting
The City of Florence council will convene on Monday with several items on the agenda including a resolution to consider approving a 250,000 grant from the Oregon Department of Administrative services for the construction of an Emergency Fuel Station. The station will allow the city and its partnering agencies access to fuel services in the event of an emergency or disaster situation but would also be utilized during “blue sky” days. The facility would store up to 40,000 gallons of unleaded fuel and up to 40,000 gallons of diesel. The council will also consider approval of a resolution to accept a grant from the US Department of Agriculture in the amount of $50,000 for the purchase of patrol cars. The meeting agenda is available at ci.florence.or.us.
Fourth Vaccine Coming
A fourth vaccine has been approved for use in fighting COVID-19. The US Food and Drug Administration approved the Novavax, two dose vaccine for use in ages 18 and up. Dr. Paul Cieslak with the OHA says this vaccine uses a more traditional approach to technology. It will have to meet some other criteria before it is available for use in Oregon including a review by the Western States Scientific Safety Review Work Group.