2023-07-21
S.O.S. gets infusion of funding to aid the homeless.
On her first day in office earlier this year, Governor Tina Kotek signed three executive orders declaring an emergency to fight homelessness. One component of those orders included cash for counties in Oregon who are dealing with the issue. (All in-1) “ The Governor allocated $200-million for this “All In” project, she calls it All In Against Homelessness.” Bob Teter, the executive director of S.O.S. in Florence was on the committee in Lane County that wrote up an application for funding. Teter says Lane County got $18-million. One reason he wanted to be involved was so that the Florence area wouldn’t be left out. (All In-2) “Our Agency was awarded just about $800-thousand.” That money will go to a variety of programs that will not only help people get back into housing, but to help find ways to prevent lower income residents from losing their existing homes.
Florence based Oregon Pacific Bank reported their second quarter financial results yesterday. Overall, core earnings remained strong, but the bank experienced some “margin compression” due to rising costs and a slight reduction in deposits. The bank also gained regulatory approval to convert a loan production office in Portland to a full-service branch. CEO Ron Green said the conversion “further demonstrates the bank’s commitment to growing the Portland Market.” In addition to the head office in Florence, OPB has branches in Coos Bay, Roseburg, Medford and Eugene as well as the new branch in Portland.
An organized effort in opposition to building a new baseball stadium in Eugene is stepping up its efforts. Florence Area Chamber of Commerce CEO Bettina Hannigan says the opposition is called “Taxpayers for Transparency”. The name describes the groups opposition well. (Ems-1) “The Ems stadium is over a hundred million dollar project. So far, all of the money that’s going to pay for it is primarily coming from taxpayer dollars and it’s being built on taxpayer owned land.” There are some serious questions being raised. (Ems-0) “That organization has put out some fabulous data about why the Ems stadium should not be paid with, with taxpayer dollars.” That information is available at the website 100millionstadium.com. She urges residents to check that information out and if you would like to participate, the website gives suggestions as to how they can do so.
Fire crews made “significant progress” Wednesday and Thursday on a 100 acre blaze in steep and densely forested ground 7 miles southwest of Veneta. ODF reported a fireline had been dug around the entire perimeter and crews shifted from containment to mop-up mode, spending the day yesterday expanding that perimeter and removing hazard trees.
