STEP Working on High School Hatchery
STEP the Salmon, Trout enhancement Program announced that a partnership with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and Siuslaw High School will produce a hatchery. Randy Brummett says the program is intended to educate students on the workings of a hatchery, while providing another resource for lakes and streams in the Florence Area. The facility is being housed in an old unused building at the high school.
“What we’ve done so far is taken this old building, it was all dry rot and full of the old evaporated air conditioning system. We had to rebuild the upper third of the building. It needed a new roof, it was full of dryrot, we had to reinforce the walls so they were up to code.”
Brummett said that ODFW had supplied a lot of the machinery and equipment needed to start the hatchery, but the buildout was funded by primarily by grants. Amy Tregoning is the faculty member that is working with the students as they develop the hatchery.
“It’s a science elective. But they’ve been learning about it since first grade, they get excited about it. Middle school I use to teach Stream Team there, Kat Grove does it now. And we used to work in the streams all the time, then I got to the high school and the kids said well we don’t get to do anything past 8th grade. So, well, let’s do it!”
They hope to be up and running in fall, if not by the time school starts, then shortly afterward. Brummett says they are still about $8,000 dollars short of completing the renovations and hope to secure some local support from the community. Brummett and Tregoning are guest on the August edition of Our Town.
Tsunami Advisory
An 8.8 Earthquake off the coast of Russia yesterday afternoon brought out a Tsunami warning for portions of Alaska and Hawaii and a Tsunami Watch for Washington and the Oregon coast. The watch was downgraded to an advisory by 8pm with the possibility of 2 foot waves hitting the Oregon Coast in Seaside and Newport. The effect was predicted to take place around 11:45 PM last night. No damages were reported as a result of the quake. There were also no inundation as a result of increased wave heights.
New Speed LImits
Drivers in Florence will notice new speed limits on Kingwood Street starting Thursday, July 31st. The posted speed between 35th Street and 400 feet north of Airport Way will drop from 40 to 35 miles per hour. Meanwhile, the stretch between Airport Road and 10th Street will see a slight increase, from 25 to 30 miles per hour. According to Florence Public Works Director Mike Miller, the changes follow an ODOT speed zone investigation and reflect traffic patterns, roadway conditions, and statutory requirements. Signs marking the changes will be installed this week.
