Lane County Sheriff seeking higher office; Roseburg woman dies in early morning crash Tuesday; Gas prices react negatively to positve economic news.

Sheriff in running for Federal post…

Lane County Sheriff Russ Burger was elected to his second term last year and says he’s happy with the job. But, what he’s calling a “great opportunity” has drawn his attention. Burger is in the running to be the next U.S. Marshall for Oregon. The post is currently held by Dennis Merrill. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley have formed a 13-member committee to review applicants for the post as well as that of the vacant U.S. Attorney’s office for Oregon. The Senators will submit a list of nominees for both positions to the White House by August 15th. Burger joined the Lane County Sheriff’s office in 2003, was first elected to the top post a year later and was re-elected in 2008. Prior to returning to Lane County he served nine years with the Oregon State Police and the same amount of time with the San Benardino County Sheriff’s Department in California.

An early morning crash east of Reedsport yesterday killed a 20-year old Roseburg woman and injured her 22-month old son. An unloaded log truck driven by 26-year old Matthew Dale Fjeld of Coquille was eastbound near Loon Lake on Highway 38 at approximately two-AM. Fjeld told police he saw oncoming headlights in his lane and tried to get out of the way. He was unable to avoid the collision. Sarina Noelle Chavarria died at the scene. Her son, in a car seat in the right rear of the car suffered minor injuries.

Longer waits now will mean faster work overall as construction crews focus on building new retaining walls below the roadway at milepost 19 on Highway 126 near the Peterson Tunnel.
205 – “The ultimate outcome of course is going to be a much stronger roadbed. The retaining walls are being built in this location to shore up the roadbed so it won’t slide away.”

Rick Little with the Oregon Department of Transportation says crews will be restricting traffic to one lane only through the areas over three of the next four weekends. By focusing on the work they’ll be able to complete the task and allow full traffic to resume more quickly. The one-lane restrictions will take place this coming weekend, then the final two weekends of this month. The work is part of an $11.2-million project to repave and improve more than 19 miles of Highway 126 flanking Mapleton.

Good news in the economy translated to not so good news at the gas pumps this week. Marie Dodds with Triple-A of Oregon says the national average for a gallon of regular unleaded jumped by six cents this week to $2.56… while the statewide average went up three cents to $2.69. Locally, the increase was six cents a gallon and drivers in Florence pay on average $2.58. That’s still considerably lower than in other communities around the state. In Portland the average price is $2.69; Eugene is at $2.68 and in Medford the average for a gallon of regular stands at $2.74.

The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration has decided to move its West Coast operations base to Newport. The Oregon port was chosen over the current location in Seattle, along with two other Washington State locations. Four research ships and up to two visiting vessels will be based at the port beginning in 2011 along with about 175 employees including 110 officers and crewmembers. The two U-S Senators from Washington state say they’ll appeal the decision.

TAKING A LOOK INTO COAST RADIO SPORTS:

Youth Baseball:

The kids from the coast did it again. The South Coast 14-under Babe Ruth Allstar team came out on top in the second day of northwest regional play in Moscow Idaho last night. Ryan Smith of Florence went four-for-five at the plate as the Coasters defeated Latah County, Idaho 12-4. Jake Thompson, also of Florence, threw three innings of hitless ball and gave South Coast a 10-1 lead before retiring. The Allstars have a break today before resuming action tomorrow.

Northwest League Baseball:

The losing streak has stretched to five. The Eugene Emeralds gave up four runs last night in the top of the ninth inning, ultimately losing 5-3 to the Tri-City Dust Devils at Civic Stadium. Nick Greenwood, at 3-and-oh, will get the start for Eugene tonight when the two teams meet again. Greenwood leads the Northwest League with a 1.85 Earned Run Average.