Water Quality Hearing drowned by overflow crowd
Public testimony on a proposed Lane County overlay zone aimed at protecting water quality will have to wait until next month. More than 450 people crowded into the Public Service Building in Eugene Tuesday evening to address a joint hearing of the Lane County Board of Commissioners and Planning Commission. The hearing never got off the ground however, as the room was overcrowded and the public address system was inadequate. Commission Vice-Chair Rob Handy tried to call the meeting to order, but after about 30-minutes the combined panels agreed to postpone the hearing for two weeks and reconvene at Springfield High School where they could accommodate a much larger crowd. At issue is a set of proposals that Lane County staffers have been working on quietly for several months. The aim is to protect water quality, but opponents say it would severely limit private property rights near bodies of water; prohibiting new buildings in many areas and restricting vegetation management… even mowing of lawns… within 100 feet of streams and rivers. The rules would not apply to incorporated areas. The hearing will be Tuesday, November Ninth in Springfield.
Election and postal officials are saying if you’re a traditionalist and want to use the U.S. Mail to return your ballot for next week’s election, you better do it by tomorrow. Ballots are due back no later than eight pm Tuesday, November Second. Postmarks don’t count, it must physically be returned by the deadline. There are several drop boxes around the county for voters convenience. One in Florence is in front of the Justice Center on Greenwood Street just off Ninth. Lane County Clerk Cheryl Betschart says there are some common errors that could spoil your ballot. She says be sure to sign the return identification envelope… and for households with more than one ballot, make sure you have the correct envelope.
This is the time of year that you’ll find bats just about any where you look… on decorations, pumpkins, costumes, cards, even all those trick-or-treaters that may be coming to your door on Sunday evening. Andrea Hanson with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife says there are plenty of the only flying mammal in Oregon as well. Hanson says Oregon’s bats eat only insects, they hang upside down because it gives them an ideal position to take off. They can fly 20 to 30 miles an hour and can cover up to 100 miles in a night and a baby bat is called a pup. Oregon has 15 varieties of bats and Hanson has developed a one-page sheet with plenty of bat information and tips… it’s available on the agency’s website.
Another thing that’s prevalent this time of year… Halloween costumes. Many of them are supposed to be scary, but there’s one group out there that says some of them are unintentionally so. The Environmental Working Group, an organization that tracks hazardous chemicals, says recent tests have found heavy metals and other toxins in some brands of face paint, spray on hair color and even masks. Pediatrician Marny Turnvil says she’s not surprised. There are more than 80-thousand chemicals approved for use in consumer goods… and with little safety testing she says children are at greater risk today than in the past.
215 – “They are starting their lives with a bigger body burden of chemicals to begin with because we have exponentially increased the number of chemicals in our society overy ten years since 1940.”
Turnvil urges parents to do some online research before buying and using many of the products available. Or, better yet, she says… get creative and make the kids’ costumes this week at home.
(courtesy Oregon News Service)
Here is the latest Oregon news from The Associated Press
LOWELL, Ore. (AP) - A 54-year-old Springfield mushroom picker
found dead after three days of exposure in the Willamette National
Forest apparently tried to build a shelter and start a fire. Lane
County Search and Rescue Coordinator John Miller said yesterday
that searchers who found Dodie Throssel's body on Tuesday also
found a couple of pieces of bark propped haphazardly in an apparent
makeshift shelter. She'd tried to light a fire nearby.
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) - Elected officials in Lane County won't be
getting any pay raises this year or next. County commissioners
voted yesterday against recommended raises and froze salaries until
2012. Commissioner Bill Fleenor said he couldn't increase pay for
elected officials at the same time the county is cutting jobs and
services.
ROSEBURG, Ore. (AP) - The Douglas County sheriff's office says a
young woman called for help after accidentally shooting her fiance
in the leg while they were deer hunting. Sheriff's officials say
20-year-old Kristina Shockley of Rainier told a 911 dispatcher she
shot a deer while hunting yesterday with 33-year-old Robert
Service, also of Rainier. The deer survived. The weapon
accidentally discharged before she could shoot the animal again.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - The Republican Party of Oregon has filed
an election law complaint after the mother of a Portland-area
kindergarten student said she found a flier from a teachers' union
supporting the Democratic candidate for governor in her child's
folder. The woman turned the flier over to the Oregon GOP, which
filed a complaint with the secretary of state's office.
TOLEDO, Wash. (AP) - It wasn't very big, but the National
Weather Service says it was indeed a tornado that touched down near
the southwest Washington town of Toledo. KOMO-TV says Weather
Service investigators yesterday surveyed the damage in the town 70
miles north of Portland. They say the tornado was just 5 yards wide
and had a maximum wind speed of 65 mph.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Although snow is already falling on Oregon
ski resorts and mountain highways, state officials say drivers
still could be stopped for using studded tires before Nov. 1.
Drivers found using studded tires outside the approved period --
generally Nov. 1 to March 31 -- face a minimum $190 fine. Oregon
drivers are allowed to use chains in the meantime or other types of
traction tires.
SANDY, Ore. (AP) - A gravestone missing from a cemetery in the
town of Sandy has turned up in the police property room of nearby
Gresham. On Tuesday, Sandy police asked for help in finding a
headstone missing from a grave in Cliffside Cemetery. Yesterday
they announced that Gresham police realized the headstone was in
that department's property room. Gresham police found it Oct. 9 at
an intersection and tried unsuccessfully to learn where it
belonged.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
TAKING A LOOK INTO COAST RADIO SPORTS:
Prep Volleyball:
Mountain West League champions Mapleton will host Triangle Lake in a league playoff match this evening. Win or lose, both teams will play again Saturday in Junction City… if the Sailors win tonight, they’ll be competing for the top two seeds in the OSAA playoffs… the loser this evening will be competing for the third and final spot on Saturday.
The Mazama Vikings and Henley Hornets will playoff this evening in Klamath Falls to determine who will be the second place seed out of the Skyline League. The loser will be the number three seed and will travel to Florence Saturday afternoon for a 3:00 match against the Siuslaw Vikings.
Cross Country:
The number one ranked Siuslaw Viking boys and girls will compete this afternoon at Tugman State Park in Lakeside… it’s the Far West League District Meet. The top two teams, plus individual runners in the top ten will advance to the state meet next week at Lane Community College in Eugene.
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