Register to Vote
Ballots for the November 8th general election will be mailed next Thursday. Lane County Clerk Dena Dawson is encouraging voters to ensure that they get theirs by making certain they are registered to vote. If you are not registered, or you have moved, you can register online at Oregon votes dot gov. You can also verify your current registration status at the same website. You must be registered to vote no later than October 18th. Once you get your ballot, you can mark it and return it using regular mail, no stamp is needed. Or you can take it to the local drop box outside the Florence Justice Center on 9th Street. Ballots are due back by November 8th and if you mail it, it must be postmarked no later than that date.
Candidate Jerry Rust
Former long-time County Commissioner for Lane County Jerry Rust says he would like to represent the 9th district seat in the Oregon legislature. Rust says there is so much that needs to be done from health care to homelessness and Affordable housing.
“the lack of affordable housing, I hear it everywhere I go now, there’s a real demand for that and we haven’t learned how to do that yet and I’d like to put my 2 cents in.”
Rust says an average price of homes of $300,000 is too much for many families and would like to see all the concerned parties involved come together to hash out solutions. He also says he is tired of the partisan politics and that in his 20 years as a county commissioner he learned the importance of working together. Rust will face current representative Boomer Wright in the November election.
Gas Prices
Marie Dodds with AAA Oregon says the price of gasoline is finally settling down on the west coast. She says that refineries are finally coming back online that had been shut down for maintenance. That, she says, has eased the pressure on supply, but crude prices are still on the rise and unstable. While the situation is getting better the price of a gallon of regular gas still increased by 6 cents in Oregon this past week. Oregon’s increase was lower than the nations increase coming it at the 41st state after being the 5th largest increase the week prior. Florence’s average price for a gallon of regular gas is at $5.33 a gallon.
Air Quality
Air quality continues to be less than favorable along the Oregon Coast, but conditions should return to normal soon. The Lane Regional Air Protection Agency will lift the alert this evening at 6pm. The Air Quality index currently has Florence in the 40-50 range which is considered good.