Jensen named as First Citizen - sleet in the valley, wind at the coast - gas goes up.

First Citizen also long-time resident

Florence Area native Fred Jensen will be honored Friday night as the First Citizen for 2011. Jensen, who grew up on the Siuslaw River, was an active member of the business community for many years before retiring. He was nominated for the award by Del Phelps who said Jensen’s community service began at Florence High School where he was president of the National Honor Society… but that was just the beginning.
210 – “Most importantly, was service to the museum for many many years, president for three years. And still, comes into the museum three or four days a week and does all the little things that need to be done around there to make it a very nice and wonderful and pleasant place to come.”

Jensen has served on the museum’s board of directors since 1989. He’s also responsible for many of the black and white historical photos of the area that grace the museum and many other homes and businesses in Florence. He’ll be honored Friday evening during the Florence Area Chamber of Commerce Siuslaw Awards Dinner. Four others were nominated for the award this year, Art Koning, Michael Cooper, Steve Olienyk and Wendy Wells.

$2-million in left over federal stimulus money will be put to use to create about 20 near-term jobs that, according to Governor John Kitzhaber, will create some potential long-term benefits for the state. Kitzhaber released a list of actions yesterday aimed at creating jobs in the areas of energy efficiency, biomass and manufacturing. He directed the Department of Energy to use the $2-million to conduct energy audits on as many as 500 school buildings in the state. That, he hopes, will lay the groundwork for meeting one of his campaign goals: weatherizing public school buildings.

Snow and freezing rain in the lower Willamette Valley turned to sleet in many areas this morning, disrupting travel in portions of northwest Oregon and the Portland area. Some schools let out early yesterday because of snow accumulation and Interstate 84 near Cascade Locks was closed for a time early this morning. The central coast was spared the icy conditions but did receive some high winds overnight. A high wind of 40-miles was noted locally with the highest gust recorded at Sea Lion Caves was 64 miles an hour. Forecasters say winds will begin subsiding through the day. Snow is expected to continue accumulating in the central and northern Cascades.

The average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline in the Florence area broke through the three dollar mark this week, it’s at $3.03… that’s up four cents since last week. The national average, as measured by Triple-A is up a penny-and-a-half at $3.09 while Oregon’s average price went up nearly three cents and is now at $3.17. Triple A reports that analysts say 2011 could shape up to be a year similar to 2008 as far as gas prices go. That’s when prices soared above four-dollars a gallon.

Here is the latest Oregon news from The Associated Press

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) - A 58-year-old Good Samaritan who helped
police catch a car prowler in Eugene collapsed and died while
walking back to his office.
Brad Killian's wife Deborah told The Register-Guard there were
no warning signs, and while it appeared he died of a heart attack
the official cause has not yet been determined.
Killian was a former police officer who worked as an addictions
counselor. He called police Friday when he saw a man trying to
break into cars. Killian followed the man until police arrived and
arrested the 22-year-old suspect.
Killian collapsed minutes later and could not be revived.
---

BOISE, Idaho (AP) - Officials in Ontario, Ore., say a Fruitland,
Idaho, man whose body was found in the parking lot of an Oregon
truck dealership died of exposure. The Idaho Statesman reports an
autopsy performed on 27-year-old Israel Zuniga Jr. determined that
Zuniga died of exposure and no foul play was involved. Zuniga's
body was found under a semi truck Jan. 3.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - A prosecutor in the murder trial of a
Corbett woman accused of killing her husband and burning his
remains has told jurors that burned bone fragments found on the
couple's property have been verified as belonging to Jerry Stomps.
But a defense lawyer for Hazelynn Stomps told the panel yesterday
that the prosecution can't prove its case because, in Randall
Vogt's words, "the evidence simply isn't there." The trial will
continue today in Multnomah County Circuit Court.

SALEM, Ore. (AP) - A Marion County sheriff's deputy is being
praised for grabbing a suicidal man and refusing to let go, even
when the two of them tumbled into the chilly Santiam River.
Sheriff's officials say had Deputy Jason Bernards let go, the man
likely would have been swept into deeper water to his death. Deputy
Brian Dunkin managed to pull the two to safety.

GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) - PacifiCorp has formally complained it
was not properly consulted by federal agencies before they cut
flows that affect power production by Klamath River dams. It's the
first test of the landmark agreement to remove dams from the river.

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) - Two men have been sentenced in Eugene for
separate rapes in Lane County with one thing in common - the
teenage victims had been drinking. The Register-Guard reports
22-year-old Cuahutomoc Rojas was sentenced to more than six years
in prison, and 27-year-old Kalei Aloha Morris was sentenced to 10
years.

OREGON CITY, Ore. (AP) - Clackamas County commissioners are
considering banning booing, clapping, and carrying signs at
commission meetings. Chairwoman Lynn Peterson says the goal of the
draft policy is to make meetings safe, secure and friendly to all.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Government prosecutors have defended U.S.
Attorney General Eric Holder's comments in the case of a teenager
accused of trying to detonate a bomb at a Portland holiday
tree-lighting. Defense lawyers want the federal judge in the case
of Mohamed Mohamud to order Holder to quit making what they term
inappropriate pretrial comments.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

TAKING A LOOK INTO COAST RADIO SPORTS:

Siuslaw Wrestling coach Neil Wartnik said every match was hotly contested, but Viking Grapplers were able to only win four of 11 matches last night, losing a dual meet against Brookings-Harbor 42-19. The loss puts Siuslaw at one-and-one in league duals. Individual winners last night… Taylor Porter at 130 pounds, Neil Larson at 160, Zack Ough at 189 and Aaron T’eo at 289. The Vikings are getting ready for the second annual Nick Lutz Invitational this Saturday. Between 15 and 20 teams will spend the day on the mats at Siuslaw High School.

On the prep court last night, for the girls… the Siuslaw Vikings added their third straight victory to the string, opening Far West League play with a 48-39 win over the Douglas Trojans in Winston. Nikki Parry had a career high 17 points for the Vikings, Kasey Strenke 13 and Leigh Aurich added a dozen. In the Sunset league, Reedsport fell to Gold Beach 34 – 14; and in the Mountain West it was Mohawk over Mapleton 77 – 33.

For the boys, the Vikings opened up Far West play last night as well, losing on the road to Douglas 50 – 36. Gold Beach beat Reedsport 50 – 34. In the Mountain West, Micah Espinosa had a game high 34 points, but the Mapleton Sailors fell to Mohawk, 80 – 55.