Heavy winds to greet the new year; don't drink and drive tonight; and top story from 2009... school finance.

Wind, rain and heavy surf to mark the end of 2009

Strong winds, a bit of rain and possible coastal flooding aren’t the way that most people think of celebrating the new year. But, those things are entirely possible tonight. The National Weather Service has issued a High Wind Warning through early this evening for winds possibly gusting to as high as 65 miles an hour along exposed headlands and open beaches. Sustained winds of 35 to 45 miles an hour are probable. A strong warm front is expected to move north across the region today, and following close on its heels will be strong southerly winds. The main impact of the storm is expected to be centered on the Florence area and forecasters say there is a possibility of downed trees and power lines. Coupled with the winds, there’s also an increasing threat of coastal flooding through Saturday. A combination of high tides due to the full moon, winds from the south, a heavy swell from the west, heavy surf , and storm runoff could lead to high water in low lying areas.

Thinking of going out and having a good time to celebrate the new year tonight? If that good time involves ‘adult beverages’ Florence Police Chief Maury Sanders has a suggestion: if you drink, don’t drive.
210 – “Well, you could be arrested, prosecuted. You could end up having to serve time in jail. Pay fines, have your insurance go up because it counts against your driving record. There’s a whole lot of things that could happen, all of them are bad.”

There will be a heavier than usual police presence on area streets and roads tonight as well as tomorrow afternoon during the Rose Bowl.

One of the top stories of 2009 related to school finance. The year started off with Siuslaw School District dealing with a mid-year cutback because of reduced state funding. The board chair at the time, Paul Burns, talked about the aftermath of a budget slashing session that took place in mid January.
200 – “You know any time that you lose 14 people directly out of the classrooms and one administrator at the middle school it’s definitely going to affect the kids.”

And that was already the second round of cuts in that school year and followed a 2008failure at the polls of a special operating levy. Officials mounted another campaign that asked tax payers for less money than before… that passed in May and former superintendent George Winterscheid said they would make do with what voters gave them.
202 – “even though we have a $1.7 million deficit and you know one point, say 1.32 million doesn’t meet that, oh my goodness, this puts the district on such a better sound financial footing.”

Now officials are concerned about another possible mid-year cut. Oregon voters will decide two initiatives next month that, if they fail, would mean the loss of up to $720-million from the state’s general fund… more than half of that would come from education.

Here is the latest Oregon news from The Associated Press

HILLSBORO, Ore. (AP) - A 25-year-old former medical assistant
has pleaded guilty to poisoning her 2-month-old daughter in an
attempt to get the attention of the girl's father. Sara Rose
Dillard of Beaverton appeared in Washington County Circuit Court
yesterday and admitted giving the child a high dose of morphine in
June. Dillard was sentenced to seven years in prison.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - A Gresham-area man whose 5-month-old son
died in August has filed a $5 million lawsuit against the maker of
hammock-like baby beds. Jonathan Kuzma filed the lawsuit Tuesday in
Multnomah County Circuit Court, saying the bed from Amby Baby USA
of Minneapolis was defective and dangerous, leading to the
suffocation death of his son, Matteo.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Oregonian president Patrick Stickel has
retired from the newspaper where he spent much of his life. The
Oregonian says the 59-year-old Stickel retired Wednesday. Stickel
was named president of the newspaper in 1993. He briefly took on
the title of interim publisher of the Oregonian when his father,
88-year-old Fred Stickel, retired in September.


MEDFORD - More than $100,000 worth of jewelry and other items
were stolen from a Medford pawnshop Wednesday morning. Medford
police say an alarm notified the owner of Medford Pawn about 1:30
a.m. When police arrived about 150 rings had been taken from the
jewelry case. No arrests were made.

CORVALLIS - Two Corvallis men have been arrested and accused of
stealing about $4,000 worth of equipment from the Oregon State
University rowing team. Police say 19-year-old Robert Lee Griffin
and 18-year-old Johnathan Dakota Appelt were arrested Tuesday. The
accused of stealing computerized training devices and a digital
camera among other items. The two men are not OSU students. The
stolen items were recovered.

PORTLAND - A Multnomah County corrections deputy has been
sentenced to two years probation after Tasering a man at a strip
club a block down from the Sheriff's office in June. Steven Douglas
Cowles says a man was threatening a stripper who he has known for a
long time. As part of his probation, the 45-year-old Cowles has
agreed to enroll in an alcohol evaluation program and not drink or
visit bars. Cowles was drinking when he used his own stun gun in
the incident.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Nike co-founder and Chairman Phil Knight
placed about $1.32 billion worth of his shares in the company in
three trusts, according to a filing with the Securities and
Exchange Commission on Wednesday. Such trusts are commonly used for
estate planning.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Oregon police officers will soon be able
to pull over motorists for talking on hand-held cell phones. The
new law passed by the 2009 Oregon Legislature takes effect New
Year's Day. It exempts motorists who are on their hand-held cell
phones if using one is necessary for the person's job.

GRESHAM, Ore. (AP) - A 44-year-old woman pleaded not guilty to
accusations she stole purses and wallets during parent-teacher
conferences at two Gresham elementary schools. Kamila Joy Rhodes
faces charges or burglary, theft, identity theft and possession of
heroin.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - A Portland man just earned more than
$98,000 during a five-day run on "Jeopardy!" Stephen Weingarten
tells The Oregonian that he and his wife plan to use the money to
get out of debt and start a nest egg for their newborn daughter.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

TAKING A LOOK INTO COAST RADIO SPORTS:

Prep Wrestling:
The Siuslaw Vikings brought home the third place trophy from Tuesday’s Myrtle Point Invitational. The Vikings had three individual champions and two more in the top three of their weight classes. At 112 pounds Jacob Graber defeated his teammate, Blake Huff in the championship for a Siuslaw one-two finish; Jason Graber won two matches by fall in less than a minute and then claimed first place at 130 by decision; Nick Ough (OW) followed a similar path to the 140-pound title; and at 215 Sonny Tupua lost his first match by decision but went on to win four straight to claim third place. Siuslaw is back in action Saturday at the Reedsport Invitational.

On the Schedule today…
The Pac-10 basketball schedule gets underway for the men with the Oregon Ducks in Pullman against Washington State at 3:30. The pregame show on KCST is at 3:00. Oregon State is in Seattle for a 7:00 game this evening against the Washington Huskies. The pregame on KCFM is at 6:30.

Rose Bowl..
The Oregon coaches and players met the media yesterday in the obligatory press conference before tomorrow’s Rose Bowl. Head Coach Chip Kelly ran it down for the Ducks and said all the things a coach is supposed to say.
220 – “We’re excited to be here, we’re getting within 48-hours of game time. For our team we’re really starting to get dialed in for a focus standpoint. We’ve kept the same schedule, our players are excited to play in this game to represent the state of Oregon and really to represent the Pac-10 against an outstanding Ohio State team. We’re looking forward to the challenge, we expect a heck of a game we have a tremendous respect for Coach Tressel and his team, all you have to do is watch them on film and understand what a great football program they are. I think it’s going to be a heck of a game.”

Kickoff for tomorrow’s Rose Bowl will be at 2:10. The pregame show on KCST is set for one.