Coast Radio News

Congressional Town Halls bring overflow crowds…

He’s already been greeted by contentious crowds, but Fourth District Congressman Peter DeFazio has not lost control of town hall meetings around Southwest Oregon in the way that other members of congress have in their home districts. He has had to deal with what he calls misinformation and call for quiet on several occasions. And he’s dealt with the crowds. in Grants Pass yesterday, more than 300 people showed up for a meeting in a space that would accommodate just half that many. It appeared that the Springfield Democrat would be facing the same situation in Cottage Grove. That is until he opted to ‘take it outside’ and move the meeting into the parking lot.
210 – “Many Oregonians want to talk about health care, but obviously there are other federal issues of concern. In response to record demand for my town halls we’ve changed the venue for three of the events where we could obtain larger rooms where we can expect larger crowds.”

One of those locations… this evening in North Bend where the Town Hall has been moved from city hall to the North Bend Community Center on Broadway. Meeting locations for Town Halls in Eugene and Roseburg next week have also been moved. DeFazio will be in Florence this weekend for a dedication ceremony at the Port of Siuslaw but will not be holding a town hall meeting.

With less than half of last year’s tenth graders at Siuslaw High School meeting the state and federal standards in math testing, administrators say they’re going to be making changes.
211 – “We need to compact the curriculum so that we get those skills down at lower grade levels so that when we reach that testing level at grade ten, we’ve got that covered.”

Superintendent Jeff Davis says the lower test scores at higher grade levels are because skills on the test don’t match up with those taught in younger grades.
212 -- “It’s not just the matter of High School addressing the issue of curriculum alignment we need to address it K-12 so that we can move those important skills down the grade levels.”

By ‘aligning’ curriculum; making sure those skills being taught are consistent; test scores will increase he says and students will be better prepared when they complete school

The Tenth Florence Relay for Life will officially start at noon tomorrow and already organizers are well on their way to success. This year there are 25 teams of walkers signed up… five more than last year. They held their ‘bank night’ earlier this week. That’s where teams turn in the money they’ve raised in advance of the Relay. Pam Hickson said they’re more than halfway to their $75-thousand goal with $41-thousand ‘in the bank’. Teams agree to keep at least one team member on the one-third mile track at Miller Park during the 24-hour event. All money raised goes to the American Cancer Society which in turn divides it between research and patient assistance, services and advocacy.

TAKING A LOOK INTO COAST RADIO SPORTS:

Northwest League Baseball:

Chadd Hartman hit a three run homer to right field with two outs in the sixth inning to help the Eugene Emeralds recover from a 3-nothing deficit on the way to an 8-5 victory over the Vancouver Canadians yesterday. The win was the second straight for the Ems, but they still reside in the cellar of the West Division of the Northwest League at 23-and-29… 10 ½ games behind the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes. Eugene and Vancouver meet for their third and final game this evening before the Ems head home for an extended home stay… they’ll open up a five game stand at Civic Stadium tomorrow against the Yakima Bears.

MLB:
Pinch-hitter Ken Griffey Jr. lined a single off the right-field wall with two outs in the bottom of the 14th to give the Seattle Mariners a 1-0 victory over the Chicago White Sox last night. That ended the longest scoreless game in the Mariners' 33-year history. After the second seventh-inning stretch of the night, Adrian Beltre singled with one out in the 14th. Tony Pena struck out
Russell Branyan but walked Jack Hannahan. He was playing because shortstop Jack Wilson strained his hamstring in the fifth inning. Griffey rekindled his Seattle magic of the 1990s by lining a 1-2 pitch into the corner. Seattle won the series 2-1. The Mariners will open a four-game set at home against the New York Yankees tonight at 7:10.