Mask Mandate Ends; Shots Fired; Budget Meeting: Siuslaw School Board; New Farmers Market Location

Mask Mandate Ends

The Mask Mandate for hospital settings ended today and hospitals are now at liberty to drop the masks.  Joe Waltasi with PeaceHealth had initially said that they had not decided whether or not to drop the masks in their hospitals, but on Saturday he confirmed that it would be an optional thing for caregivers.  Waltasi said that there would be some exceptions, particularly for high risk patients that may be going through dialysis or infusion patients.  The decision was made after several weeks of decreased spread of COVID-19 and waning flu numbers.

Shots Fired

Shots Fired was the call early Saturday morning that sent Lane County Sheriff’s deputies and Oregon State police to the Sutton Lake area.  Western Lane Fire and EMS also responded at the request of Lane County.  The Call went out at 8:39 in the morning and a person was in custody within an hour with no one reportedly being shot.  No further details were released from Lane County.

Budget Meeting: Siuslaw School Board

An orientation on Oregon’s school funding and accounting will be presented Wednesday afternoon.  to the Siuslaw School Board and Budget Committee members this week.  It’s not an official Budget Committee meeting, but more of an introduction and refresher for School Board members and Budget Committee members.  A quorum of both bodies may be present at the meeting.  It’s at 4:00 at the school district office.  A meeting notice posted on the District website last week said no decisions will be made during the session.  97-J Business Manager Cece Howell (see-see) will present the next year’s proposed budget Wednesday, April 12th at six PM at Siuslaw Middle School.

New Farmers Market Location

This year the Florence Farmer’s market will have a new location.  Beginning May 23rd the port boardwalk will be the new Tuesday setting for the popular market that features locally grown and produced foods as well as some crafts.  Market Manager Lia Rousset says they are very excited about the new location.  There will also be cooking demonstrations as part of the PeaceHealth ProduceRX Program.  The market will run through the summer into early fall.