Hoyle Visits Coast
4th District Congresswoman Val Hoyle was in Florence yesterday. She stopped in to Coast Radio to talk about some of the concerns that are facing the district and some of the hopes for economic opportunity. She says she is continuing to work for the construction of a new facility at Coos Bay that will attract 8000 jobs and reinvigorate the economy. The plan is to build a shipping container facility to serve the west coast and cut down on the congestion in other ports. Currently a facility in Canada is getting a significant amount of Americas business on the west coast.
“Right now in Canada, in Prince Rupert Sound, they’ve just invested 2 billion dollars in their port on the west coast and 70% of those containers are coming to the U.S..”
The Port of Coos Bay initially made a grant request for $500 million dollars but missed out on the first round of funding. Hoyle said the grant application lacked a key ingredient to make the grade, a show of support from the state. That changed for the second round of applications.
“(the) state putting up the $40 million dollars it puts us in a significantly better position to receive the $500 million in the second round grant application.”
The $40 million the state allocated will be in part to provide dredging of the bay. Hoyle also spoke on housing, broadband and wild fires. She is part of the July edition of Our Town.
Boys and Girls Club to Benefit From Target Stores Program
The Boys and Girls Club of Western Lane County has partnered with Target Stores as part of a nationwide campaign to help raise funds for the club. Now through September 30th you can vote for the Boys and Girls Club through the Target Circle Program. Every vote counts towards how much money will be doled out to Boys and Girls Clubs across the nation. Information about the Target Circle can be found at target.com/circle, click on the Community Support Votes and create a free account. The Boys and Girls Club of Western Lane County assists youth through k-12 in the Florence area.
Tax Talk Reprisal with County Commissioners
According to Bettina Hannigan, president and CEO of the Florence Area Chamber of Commerce, the Lane County Board of Commissioners has raised to controversial issue of taking room tax money generated in the county to build a stadium in the Eugene/Springfield area. Hannigan says loose figures would take about 20 million dollars in revenue generated in Western Lane County over the next 20 years for a facility she says would not benefit Florence in the least. The proposed facility would house the Eugene Emeralds and also provide a place for other events of a sporting nature.
Highway 126 Accident
The Highway 126 corridor from Florence to Eugene continues to be one of the most dangerous stretches of road in the state. Last evening a crash at milepost 30 near Walton closed down the highway for several hours causing long delays and detours. No details have been released yet on the crash itself.
