Despain Visits Florence
The Republican candidate for the district 4 congressional seat was in Florence on Saturday to knock on doors and to speak with constituents. Monique DeSpain says she is a candidate that will stick up for Oregon and specifically Oregon law. A retired colonel in the US Air force and a practicing attorney she says she is an advocate for all Oregonians regardless of political affiliation and despite negative commercials depicting her as someone who wants a national ban on abortion, she says she is not that candidate.
“Oregon law is settled on it, right now, pro-choice, and I am running for a representative office. I will fight to protect Oregon’s laws from the federal government.”
She spoke about her views on border security, human trafficking and the practice of releasing criminals before their sentence is fully carried out. She was also very vocal about how government is handling the forests and the growing dangers of wildfires in the state. Despain will be a guest on Our Town in October.
DEV-NW Grant
Five organizations in Oregon will receive funds for projects that make their communities more age-friendly. A-A-R-P Oregon has selected the quick-action projects from applications to the national Community Challenge grant program. One state grantee is DevNW, which provides financial resources and affordable housing. The organization will get 77-hundred dollars to build a community garden at one of its properties in Corvallis. Director of Housing Operations Leah Cooper says the group will build the garden with the community’s older population in mind.
“We plan to make garden beds that are more geared towards the older adults that live in the building. So they’ll be up off the ground, they stand three feet high.”
Cooper says the proposal came from conversations between staff and tenants, based on what they needed. Since 2017, A-A-R-P Oregon has chosen organizations in the state for funding. It’s selected 35 projects and distributed nearly 430 thousand dollars to those projects in the state. In June, the national A-A-R-P organization chose seven projects in Oregon for Community Challenge grant funding. DevNW is also looking to expand its affordable housing model with another complex here in Florence, but that funding has not yet materialized.
Parade Marshals
The Veterans Parade of Florence, Inc has announced their grand marshal for this year’s parade. The group has selected two individuals to represent the armed forces, the city’s community development director Wendy Farley-Campbell and Coast Radio’s Wayne Sharpe . Farley-Campbell is a U.S. Navy veteran who served in Kuwait and Afghanistan. Sharpe is a former U.S. Marine and hails from a long line of family member who have served in the armed forces. Cal Applebee, president of the Veterans Parade of Florence, Inc, says both individuals fit the mold of a “Legacy of Loyalty and Service”. There is a brand new website that people can visit at florenceveteransparate.org. it gives details on the parade and how people can register to participate.
