Florence Parks Plan hearing set

Parks Plan Face Lift goes to council

The Florence City Council will hear comments Monday night on what’s being called a major face lift to the city’s parks master plan. After a lengthy process that involved several work sessions earlier this year, as well as hearings at the Planning Commission, the plan will make it’s way to the final decision making body, but not until after they hear from the public. The hearing is set for seven pm Monday at City Hall. Written comments can be submitted at any time before then. The plan is available on the city’s website. Florence Senior Planner Wendy Farley says it identifies some priorities for the future. She says residents want to see more walking trails, a dog park and open spaces. Other important findings that came out of the process include the importance of providing parks programming, upgrades to existing facilities and creating additional funding for parks.

Two of the most important events for Florence Food Share are happening this weekend. First up, beginning this evening, the annual Empty Bowls fund-raiser. More than one-thousand hand-crafted bowls, created by local artists and students will be up for sale. Each bowl comes with a coupon good for a cup of soup at any one of about a dozen participating restaurants. That’s from 5:30 to seven at the Florence Events Center this evening, then again tomorrow from ten until two. That event is expected to generate several thousand dollars in cash for the local food box pantry, while a two-weekend event that begins tomorrow will hopefully bring in as much as 12-thousand pounds of non-perishable food. The Cans for Carriers will have a slightly different look. Postal customers are still being asked to place canned food or other non-perishables out next to their mail boxes tomorrow and next Saturday. Instead of the carriers picking it up however, a cadre of local volunteers will be shadowing them and taking the food directly to Food Share.

Tuesday will be the 69th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Backers of the Oregon Coast Military Heritage Museum will observe the day with a ‘remembrance’ at Three Rivers Casino and Hotel.
217 – “Well we’re going to have a variety of displays, some of them directly tied to the Pearl Harbor attack or the Day of Infamy as referenced in FDR’s speech of back then.”

Museum board member Cal Applebee says the displays will include a typical living room setup from the early 40s, military vehicles and memorabilia and even a display by tribal members showing wartime contributions made by Native Americans. In addition to the displays there will be some very rare images on display.
218 – “Folks will be able to view some of the slides that were found on a brownie camera a few years ago that have been unseen slides by the public. Some pretty stark images.”

That’s at Three Rivers Casino, Sunday from ten until five… there’s no cost to get in.

The Lane Memorial Blood Bank makes regular visits to Florence with a specially equipped motorhome that has four couches and a cooler. It’s the Blood Mobile and it comes to the coast at least every other month. The next visit is about a week away.
215 – “That’s going to be Monday, December 13th. If you’re interested to come and donate you can call Lane Memorial Blood Bank at 541-484-9111.”

Community Affairs Coordinator Chelsie Wong says it’s always a big thing when the bloodmobile comes to the coast.
216 – “Florence is one of our strongest donation communities so we routinely send our maximum number of staff out so we can process the donor flows because there are a lot of loyal donors in Florence.”

It sets up at the Florence Elks Lodge from ten to five the second Monday of every other month… the next one again is December 13th. You can also call Merna Lockhart at 997-2531 to make an appointment.


Here is the latest Oregon news from The Associated Press

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - A Circuit Court judge in Portland has
denied bail for a man accused of killing his wife and dumping her
body in woods east of the city. Brian Cole has been jailed since he
was arrested July 1 at his home in Sagle, Idaho. His wife, Heather
Mallory, had not been seen since March 8, 2008, when investigators
say she had an argument with Cole at their Portland apartment. Her
skeletal remains were found last June. A trial is now set for
March.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Portland police say a suspicious death
reported early yesterday is being investigated as a homicide. The
victim has been identified as 32-year-old Randy Lee Willard. Lt.
Kelli Sheffer says the Multnomah County medical examiner's office
plans an autopsy today. The body was found after a neighbor
reported hearing loud noises.

HILLSBORO, Ore. (AP) - Police in the Portland suburb of
Hillsboro are trying to determine why four 17-year-old high school
students who know each other became ill. Lt. Mike Rouches says
police suspect the four male Liberty High School students may have
taken some type of drug. Rouches says one student did say he took
brown pills but the teens are not commenting beyond that. The
Oregonian says police found no drugs in a search of the school.

BEND, Ore. (AP) - A month after Election Day, Bend businessman
Scott Ramsay has been declared the winner of a City Council seat --
by just three votes. After more than 30,000 ballots were recounted
by hand, Ramsay's victory margin over fellow businessman Chuck
Arnold grew by just one vote. KTVZ says the final tally was 10,503
votes to 10,500.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Layoffs by three unrelated Oregon
employers will hit more than 200 real estate agents, biotech
workers and manufactured home fabricators. Liberty Homes is
shutting down its plant in Sheridan; ZipRealty is ending its
operations in Oregon; bioMerieux is closing its Wilsonville
facility.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Oregon regulators are endorsing Portland
General Electric's plan to close its coal-fired power plant at
Boardman by Dec. 31, 2020. They decided yesterday that the
guaranteed early closure date justifies a smaller investment in new
pollution controls between now and then.

PENDLETON, Ore. (AP) - The Oregon Department of Justice will
remain in charge of the Umatilla County district attorney's office
during an investigation into alleged misconduct by DA Dean Gushwa.
The state attorney general's office has accused Gushwa of
intimidating and threatening two women he supervised into having
sexual relations with him.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Less travel could mean more Christmas tree
sales for Oregon growers as families stay home to celebrate the
holiday. Oregon's largest Christmas tree producer is Holiday Tree
Farms of Corvallis, where manager Dave Silen says a shift toward
more family gatherings this year could help sales.


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



TAKING A LOOK INTO COAST RADIO SPORTS:

Marcus Denton scored 19 points and number 9 Missouri held on to beat Oregon 83-80 last night in a Big-12/Pac-Ten Hardwood Series game. The Tigers nearly blew their 20-point halftime lead. E.J. Singler had a career high 19 points for Oregon… 17 of those in the second half. Oregon also had 15 point games from Jay-R Strowbridge, Joevan Catron and Freshman Jonathon Lloyd.

The Oregon Men will be back on the court Sunday afternoon in Eugene against Portland State at three… airtime on KCST is at 2:30. Oregon State will be in Boulder Colorado against the Buffaloes tomorrow evening at seven. The airtime on KCFM is set for 6:30. Prep basketball today and tomorrow has the Mapleton Sailors at the Crow Invitational.

Game time temperatures are expected to be in the mid-40s with mostly cloudy skies in Corvallis for the 114th Football Civil War. A national audience will be focused on the BCS number two Ducks who will be playing for the right to be in the national championship. The Beavers need one more win to extend their season with a possible bowl game. Game time is at 12:30… you can hear the game on both KCST and KCFM with airtime at 11:30.