Lane County Jail early releases fewer prisoners; Dungeness Crab fat and healthy; Snowy Plover counts up; and Flo City Council plans for 2010

Additional jail beds reduce early releases at Lane County Jail

There’s been a significant reduction in the number of early releases from the Lane County Jail over the last three months, but there’s still an average of nearly a dozen bad guys being put back on the street each day because of a lack of space. Captain Doug Hooley with the Lane County Sheriff’s Department says the worst of the worst are, however, staying in jail. The Sheriff closed the “North Annex”, a pair of 42-bed medium security dormitories at the jail, in May 2008 due to a lack of funding, then reopened it August 1st of this year when Lane County Commissioners allocated federal timber payments for public safety. Since then, there’s been an average of 11 early releases each day, 22-percent fewer than last year in the same time frame. The most important news, says Hooley, is in the releases that have not been made. He said there have been no violent offenders; no Measure 11 defendants; and only 25 “high risk” prisoners released. That’s compared with a total of 270 of detainees fitting the same descriptions that were released between August and November of 2008. It’s not all good news. Hooley says Lane County is still short hundreds of jail beds because of funding constraints.

Population numbers for the threatened Snowy Plover are looking up. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife on Thursday released results of their annual survey of the bird and it shows there were just over 200 counted this year, the most since 1990 when the tally began. Biologist Dave Lauten (Law-ton) says restoring the bare sand habitat that the birds need for nesting; as well as killing foxes, ravens and deer mice that eat the eggs appears to be helping. The surveys also found 236 nests this year, another high. But, ,he adds, the survival rate for fledglings was down. Just 106 chicks – 33 percent of those hatched – lived to leave the nest and fly.

Oregon’s sustainable seafood harvest, the Dungeness Crab, is set to begin December First and officials say it will most likely be on schedule as there are plenty of them. Test pots measured by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife showed healthy… and plump… populations. But, that only applies to the Oregon Coast. Similar samples taken off California have shown poor results so far and a delay in the season opener there is possible. Nick Furman with the Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission said last year’s catch was well above average.

The Florence City Council will meet in a special mid-afternoon session Monday at the Florence Events Center to discuss their 2010 goals. The public can attend the three o’clock session.

TAKING A LOOK INTO COAST RADIO SPORTS:

Prep Football:

The opening round of the OSAA 4A football playoffs get underway for the Siuslaw Vikings tonight in Scappoose at seven o’clock. Airtime for the pregame show on Coast Radio Sports will be at 6:40.

College Football:

Oregon State will host the Washington Huskies tomorrow at 12:30. The pregame show on KCFM begins at 11:30. Oregon and Arizona State will square off at Autzen Stadium at 7:20 with the pregame on KCST at six.

College Basketball:

The second season under head coach Craig Robinson gets underway for the Oregon State Beavers tonight as they open up the Dual in the Desert, a four-team tournament in Lubbock, Texas. The Beavers face Texas A&M Corpus Christi at six; South Dakota tomorrow, also at six; then wrap up Sunday against Texas Tech at 12:30. All games will air on KCFM 104.1. // The Oregon Men open things up tonight at Mac Court in the BTI Tipoff against Winston-Salem State. Tomorrow it’s UC Davis at 1:30 and then Sunday Colorado State at 3:30. Saturday and Sunday’s games will air on Coast Radio Sports. // The women also take the court this weekend… Oregon State will host Cal-Poly tonight in Corvallis. The Oregon women will host Eastern Washington Monday.