Old Town Break-in
Brazen thieves hit a local business in Old Town on late Saturday night or early Sunday morning. When Tracy Foster arrived to work Sunday morning to open her mother-in-law’s shop Books and Bears in Old Town she knew right away there was a problem.
“There was a big paver stone that they had thrown through the window. It damaged our counter, it hit a lot of stuff but they ended up taking just the cash register.”
Foster said sometime after closing Saturday someone had broken the window and taken the cash register. An empty cash register because Foster says they always take the cash out of the til at closing time. She says one of the nice features of working at Books and Bears is the view out the front window. Unfortunately, that’s going to change.
“We had been reluctant to put bars on our windows. Our neighbors, they had to put up after they had a break-in about a year ago.”
Foster said police have accessed security videos from surrounding businesses and are investigating.
Green Building
Oregon is high on the list of states focused on sustainable building practices, according to a new report. The state comes in at number ten in U-S Green Building Council’s ranking released today (Tuesday). The ranking is based on the construction of LEED-certified buildings, a widely used system that rates environmentally friendly practices. In 2022, Oregon added more than six million square feet of LEED certified space. The Pacific regional director for the U-S Green Building Council, Stephanie Gabriel, says the next step for the state is to expand this type of construction outside of major cities.
“Bringing green buildings to more rural environments or small towns outside of Portland metro area and Salem – the larger cities of Oregon. So really making sure that we’re addressing green building throughout the state.”
Gabriel says the Inflation Reduction Act signed by President Biden last year will bring federal funding to states with green building initiatives, which could increase the pace toward more sustainable construction.
Mapleton School Board
The Mapleton School board has a scheduled meeting tomorrow evening. On the agenda once again will be the Mapleton Pool. The board is still looking at ways that the facility can be salvaged. It has been closed for some time and repairs are needed, but the funds have not been there. The board will also discuss its goals for the school year and will give a superintendent evaluation. The board will convene at 6:30 Wednesday at the school.
Crab Delay
The delay of commercial crabbing along the Oregon Coast has caused some vendors to purchase crab as far away as the northern coast of Washington. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has been monitoring the male crab population and has determined that the crab has not developed enough meat for harvest. That has pushed back the season until February 1st. this will likely put a dampening on the almost 100 million dollar crab industry. The two month late start will hopefully be enough for the crab to mature. Recreational crabbing on Oregon’s southern coast from Bandon to the California border has been closed due to demoic acid levels being too high for consumption.