Leg session wrapping up; council to ponder Senior Center site; Maple Street closed and one number to access County services

Lawmakers wrapping up legislative efforts…

A Coos Bay lawmaker says one of the most significant accomplishments achieved during this session of the Oregon Legislature was the approval of two areas off the Oregon Coast that will serve as the state’s first-ever Marine Reserves.
200 – “Our coastal caucus worked very hard this session and I think you’ll see a lot of stuff on helping us with the coast. The hard-fought compromise that was worked out on reserves, I think, was a really good thing for the coast.”

Representative Arnie Roblan said in addition to marine reserves, additional funding for transportation issues on the central and south coast will aid residents here. He’s also proud of the fact that lawmakers took steps to ensure that alternative sources of energy will get a fair shake in the future.
201 – “That kind of green industry whether that’s wave industry, whether that’s wind, whether that’s… those things… in our state, trying to develop a new industrial base in our state.”

Roblan said there most likely will be another special ‘annual’ session of a limited duration in February. At that time he expects lawmakers to produce a formal proposal for Oregon Voters to consider making the switch from biennial meetings of the legislature to sessions each year.

The Florence City Council will look at several variations on possible plans for low-income housing on the site of the current Senior Booster Center tonight. A new senior center is set to break ground four blocks away and that would leave the land along Airport Road as possibly surplus. In March the city held informal discussions with Habitat for Humanity on a possible land-swap for a portion of that site. The eastern end of the Booster Center site has been suggested as a location for future Habitat homes. Architect Paul Jensen came up with four alternative ‘visions’ for the entire parcel for the council to consider. They’ll look at those tonight and possibly make a decision on how best to use the property.

Traffic around the Siuslaw Public Library is going to be disrupted again tomorrow while construction crews have Maple Street between eighth and ninth blocked. The work is part of the library expansion. Workers will be making a water line connection in the street beginning about 7:30 AM and should be done by five pm tomorrow.

Western Lane County residents now have one single number to call when they want access county services. It’s a local number, so no long-distance charges apply. 997-5182 will get Florence, Dunes City and Mapleton area residents in touch with anyone from the Board of County Commissioners to the Sheriff’s office and even public works and social services. That number again, 997-5182.

TAKING A LOOK INTO COAST RADIO SPORTS:

American Legion Baseball:

The Eugene Challengers scored twice in the bottom of the ninth inning Saturday night to come back for a 6-5 win over the Three Rivers Sandblasters at North Eugene High School. The ‘Blasters had taken the lead in the seventh on a two run Drew Rainwater homerun. Brady Kilpatrick earned the win for the Challengers… their second straight over Three Rivers; Trevor Roberts got the loss. It was a relatively error-free game with both teams committing only three between them… the Challengers with two, Sandblasters with one. It’s back to the Zone-Three diamond at home this evening in Florence for Three Rivers… they’ll host Salem’s Post 9 at five PM.

Northwest League Baseball:

The losing streak went to four… the Eugene Emeralds fell Friday night to the Yakima Bears, 3-6, before coming alive Saturday night to break that streak with a 9-1 win over the Bears. The Ems came home to Civic Stadium yesterday afternoon where they beat the Everett Aqua Sox 5-4 in the first game of a six-game home series against the Sox.