Lane County to hear testimony on budget…
The Lane County Board of Commissioners will meet today in Eugene to hear testimony on the proposed budget for the coming year. They’re already very familiar with the document as the five commissioners also serve on the budget committee which recommended approval in May. Despite facing a ten-percent reduction in revenues from the current year, the budget does include an increase in some services. Four full-time equivalent positions are slated for addition to the Sheriff’s Traffic Safety Team and an animal behavioral specialist is included for the county’s Animal Services department. Additional funding has also been included for human services. The public hearing begins at 9:30 at Harris Hall in Eugene. Local residents can watch it live online at the County’s website, or they can interact and possibly testify on the budget at the Florence Justice Center using an audio-video link.
Federal wilderness designation for about 30-thousand acres of Siuslaw National Forestland southeast of Florence around the Devil’s Staircase has passed out of committee and is headed to the floor of the U.S. Senate. Oregon’s two U.S. Senators, Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden issued a joint statement yesterday praising approval of the measure that also includes an expansion of the Oregon Caves National Monument. The Devil’s Staircase legislation would protect roughly 14 miles of Wasson and Franklin Creeks, which flow into the Umpqua River and is aimed at preserving native coho and chinool salmon, trout and steelhead runs as well as the habitat for black bear, elk and river otter. Wyden chairs the senate subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests which has primary jurisdiction over wilderness designations. The bill was approved by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee earlier this week.
A Eugene woman was seriously injured and Highway 126 was closed for a while for the second straight day yesterday afternoon following a car crash just West of Veneta. 26-year old Jeanna Hunt-Rattenborg was driving at approximately 50-miles an hour according to police when her car rear-ended a stopped vehicle. Hunt-Rattenborg was trapped in the vehicle and had to be extricated by emergency personnel. No other injuries were reported, the highway was closed for about 30-minutes.
The president of Siuslaw Bank has been elected to a leadership position with the Independent Community Bankers of America. Lonnie Iholts, of Florence, will serve on the board of directors for the ICBA, an industry group that serves as a voice for community banks. In addition to providing input on the group’s national policy positions and programs, Iholts will serve as a liaison between independent community banks in Oregon and ICBA staff and leadership in Washington D.C.
Pump prices are showing modest gains in most markets, but no dramatic increases have been noted this week by Triple-A. The national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline rose four cents in the past week to $2.73 while Oregon’s statewide average went up one cent and stands at $2.88. In Florence, the average price remained at $2.81 for the fourth straight week. The average in Eugene and Springfield increased two cents this week and is at $2.90 a gallon.
Here is the latest Oregon news from The Associated Press
SPRINGFIELD, Ore. (AP) - Investigators have positively
identified a human jawbone found by fishermen along the McKenzie
River as that of a kayaker who capsized in 2003. The Oregonian
reports that Lane County Sheriff's office investigators and the
state Medical Examiner's office matched the jawbone with the dental
records of Sashidharan P. Chirukandoth, who capsized in rapids in
December 2003. No other remains have been found.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - A Portland resident fined $148 by police
for giving a friend a ride on the back of his bicycle has won a
brief court battle by proving that his bike rack was sturdy enough
to transport his 128-pound female friend. The Oregonian reports
that 43-year-old Kenneth Southerland was surprised when a Portland
police officer fined him back in February. But yesterday, with the
help of an attorney, the fine was eliminated.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - A 16-year-old has been charged with
killing another Portland teenager who was returning home from a
visit with his dying mother. Authorities said yesterday that Billy
A. Moore died Monday evening at his home in a North Portland
housing project. Police expect to release the alleged shooter's
name today.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - The Portland Trail Blazers have a lot more
issues to deal with, other than who to take with the 22nd pick in
the upcoming NBA draft. The disarray is centered around Kevin
Pritchard, who's considered one of the NBA's best GMs after
transforming the once-struggling team to one of the league's most
promising in just a few years. But, for reasons that aren't clear,
Pritchard has fallen out of favor with billionaire owner Paul
Allen, who has reportedly hired a headhunter to find a new GM.
ASHLAND, Ore. (AP) - A tree that stood on the downtown plaza in
Ashland for more than a century is now standing at a city agency --
as a table. Ashland officials decided the ancient tree had grown so
frail it had to come down because it was a hazard. But a local
woodworker was able to salvage some of it and make into a table for
the Ashland Community Development Department. The tree belonged to
a species native to China, and is popularly known as the "tree of
heaven."
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Portland psychiatrist Dr. Stuart Weisberg
plans to open a house in the Sellwood neighborhood where the
terminally ill can kill themselves under Oregon's Death with
Dignity Law. Weisberg tells KGW-TV he felt compelled to act after
watching a TV interview with Dr. Jack Kevorkian, who pioneered
assisted suicide. State officials say 59 people used the law last
year to end their lives.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
TAKING A LOOK INTO COAST RADIO SPORTS:
American Legion Baseball:
A total of 59 runs were scored in yesterday’s double header between the Three Rivers Sandblasters and Salem’s Withnell Dodgers… unfortunately for the ‘Blasters, 47 of them were scored by the Dodgers as they swept Three Rivers 22-8 and 25-4 yesterday in Florence. The Sand Blasters are back on the diamond this afternoon for a non-league matchup against the North-Coos Waterfront at three.
Northwest League Baseball:
A four-run seventh inning catapulted the Tri-City Dust Devils to their fourth straight victory… and the Eugene Emeralds to their second straight loss… a 6-5 come-from-behind decision in Pasco, Washington last night. Eugene reliever and home-town product Matt Irsfield put in a long one-third of an inning in the seventh, giving up four runs, all earned, on five hits for the loss. The two teams meet tonight for game three of the five game series.
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