Coast Radio News

Wet weather won’t dampen Rhody spirit…

Despite threats of rain tonight and early tomorrow… and showers to follow… the 103rd Annual Rhododendron Festival is shaping up. Tonight’s dress rehearsal of the Scholarship Pageant will give a sneak peak at some of the ‘on-stage’ activities set for tomorrow night. The Rhododendron Show and Shine car show promises to delight lovers of classic automobiles and some changes have been made to ease access to the show. Many of those same cars and trucks are expected to participate in the annual KCST Classic Car Cruise on Saturday evening. The Davis Carnival is set up by the boardwalk in Historic Old Town Florence marking 61st consecutive appearance in Florence. The second annual non-profit family fair will set up at the Grocery Outlet Saturday between ten and four. The Florence Elks will be featuring their barbecue chicken, pie sale and Sunday Morning breakfast. Along the way there will be the Rhododendron Society flower show, an arts and crafts show, a gun show and even a murder mystery. Everything wraps up with the Grand Floral Parade at noon on Sunday. This year’s Grand Marshall is 2009 “Ms. Tall International” Holly Jennings from Portland. At 6’4” in bare feet, she comes by her title naturally. Jennings will be joined by the Jr. Parade Grand Marshall, 12-year old Taylor Graham of Florence.

The race isn’t over… with 99-percent of the expected vote counted there’s still a narrow margin between incumbent State School Superintendent Susan Castillo and her challenger Ron Maurer. Tuesday night it appeared that Castillo may have prevailed in her bid for a third term, but final counts have proven inconclusive. As of last night Castillo had 50.3 percent of the vote, Maurer 49.7. If the margin should narrow to within one-fifth of one percent an automatic re-count would be ordered at state expense. It’s possible that write-in ballots could leave neither candidate with a clear majority… if so, both candidates would run off in the non partisan race in November.

Voters in Lane County approved three measures to amend the “Home Rule Charter” in Tuesday’s election. One of those amendments creates a voluntary citizen ‘Charter Review Committee’ tasked with meeting every ten years to recommend possible revisions. The other two provisions add requirements for candidates and elections in keeping with state law.

It’s one of the longest running continual events at the Rhododendron Festival, the Saturday Junior Parade. It was originated by members of the Booster Club, then run for many years by the Moose Lodge. For the past 25-years it’s been organized by firefighters. Fire Marshall Sean Barrett says they’re getting ready.
210 – “The actual parade starts at noon at Miller Park. Like I say everybody gets there at 11-11:30. Get ‘em staged out there so we know how to get ‘em into the parade. The parade route runs on Oak Street North to the High School.”

The parade connects well with the next event as explained by Kiwanian Karla Pike.
211 – “The Kiwanis Kids Games will be taking place immediately following the Junior Parade. We have several new games, free snacks and everybody wins a prize.”

Both events are free and organizers say they will take place rain or shine.

Here is the latest Oregon news from The Associated Press

ROSEBURG, Ore. (AP) - A missing Reedsport man has been found
dead.
Douglas County sheriff's deputies said divers found the body of
Raymond Glover with his SUV in the lower Smith River.
Deputies say a family friend found debris Wednesday afternoon
indicating a car drove off the road by the river.
Deputies say there are no signs of foul play, and the death is
being investigated as an accident.

ASTORIA, Ore. (AP) - The Coast Guard says a barge that had been
drifting loose in the ocean near the mouth of the Columbia River is
back under control. The tug Miki Hana was able to hook back up with
the barge late last night about 10 miles west of Astoria. The
330-foot barge last evening snapped its tow cable in 20-foot seas.

ROSEBURG, Ore. (AP) - A Roseburg woman has sued a restaurant
linked to a salmonella outbreak. The lawsuit filed yesterday in
Douglas County says Melissa Surmon suffered severe abdominal pain
and spent four days in the hospital last month after eating a
take-out order from the Los Dos Amigos restaurant in Roseburg.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Six people have been indicted on charges
involving an alleged mortgage fraud scheme while working for the
Lighthouse Financial Group in the Portland area. Federal
prosecutors say the four men and two women conspired to commit
fraud with various mortgage loans from early 2006 through mid-2007.
All but one appeared in federal court yesterday to plead not
guilty.

MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) - Two southern Oregon men have received
lifetime suspensions of their hunting privileges after pleading
guilty to hunting bears with dogs or bait. Oregon is one of 30
states in the Wildlife Violator Compact, in which they honor each
other's hunting and angling suspensions. That means the two hunters
will be banned from hunting in much of the West, Midwest and South.

PASCO, Wash. (AP) - Northwest cherry growers expect a smaller
crop this year than the 2009 record but with a longer harvest
period, which should extend sales. Growers from Oregon, Washington,
Idaho, Montana and Utah said at meeting of the 5-State Cherry
Commission yesterday that they estimate the 2010 crop at about
153,000 tons. Last year's crop was more than 195,000 tons.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Winds gusting to more than 60 miles per
hour in a harsh May storm are blamed for knocking out power to more
than 45,000 Oregon customers yesterday. Pacific Power says the
utility's most significant outage affected about 37,500 customers
in the Albany-Corvallis area. Most had power restored in about an
hour. Meanwhile, Portland General Electric says more than 8,000
customers were without power at one point.

PENDLETON, Ore. (AP) - The Umatilla County sheriff's office says
a pregnant woman whose body was found in an Eastern Oregon creek
near Pendleton has been identified as 24-year-old Shelby Joanne
Weigel. District Attorney Dean Gushwa says an autopsy showed the
woman was three months pregnant when she died. Her body was found
last weekend in McKay Creek's North Fork. The sheriff's office and
other agencies are investigating.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Beaverton police have arrested a Navy
recruiter accused of sending inappropriate text messages to a high
school girl. Phillip Marcel Chartier was charged with luring a
minor and booked into the Washington County Jail. The 17-year-old
girl told a Sunset High School counselor that she wanted to join
the Navy and had been in contact with Chartier. She said Chartier
sent some sexually explicit text messages Monday.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

TAKING A LOOK INTO COAST RADIO SPORTS:
College Baseball:
Rain claimed the day in the mid Willamette valley yesterday, forcing cancellation of a scheduled non-league game between Oregon State and Seattle… the game will not be made up.

Rhody Run:
Final preparations are underway for this Saturday’s Five and Ten K Rhody Run. Pre-registration is already closed, but race-day signups will begin at seven AM Saturday at the Florence Events Center. This is the second year for the current course. Both five and ten k runners will head through Historic Old Town Florence, under the bridge and to Rhododendron Drive. Both courses end at the FEC. Both races begin at Nine A.M.