Lane County comes up short again - Dunes City reconsidering septic - Car seat safety

Lane County hit with last minute revenue drop

Lane County Commissioners are scrambling this week to find a way to deal with a last minute budget shortfall. The 2011-12 budget was already bare-bones, with service reductions and employee concessions required to make it balance. Then, at the last minute the Bureau of Land Management informed the county they would be receiving $1.2-million less in the coming year than initially planned. West Lane Commissioner Jay Bozievich said the BLM gave no explanation as to why the shortfall. Lane County is seeking help from Oregon’s Congressional Delegation, but with the financial climate in Washington D.C. right now, that’s not likely to yield satisfactory results. Bozievich said the funding reductions came in the federal “Secure Rural Schools” funding, money that was to have been phased out over the next five years. The initial schedule showed the county was to receive 85% of the 2007 level of funding, or $6.1-million dollars. Instead, the BLM informed them last week that they would only be receiving $4.9-million. Bozievich will be in Florence next Tuesday for a pair of “community conversations” with residents to get input on what to do about the shortfall.

Dunes City Councilors will hear the first reading tonight of a pair of ordinances, either one of which would undo considerable work on the part of previous officials and volunteers. The small incorporated city, nestled between Siltcoos and Woahink Lakes south of Florence approved an ordinance last year that included tight controls on maintenance and monitoring of septic systems. There’s been a change on the council in the past year though and some of the new members are outspoken opponents of the previous action. Duke Wells is one of those, he says Lane County already has sufficient regulations governing septics and the city has no need to add another layer of expense and regulation to property owners. The two ordinances being considered this evening are similar. One submitted by the city’s ordinance review committee would repeal the current ordinance, but keep many of the controls. The second, submitted by Wells, would repeal the ordinance completely, leaving regulation of septic systems to Lane County.

You’ll see them in many cars… child safety seats. Aimed at preventing injury to infants and children in the event of a car crash. But, says Western Lane Ambulance Paramedic Al Kreitz, most of the time they’re not installed properly.
Kreitz – “Over 90-percent of car seats have at least one issue. That’s according to AXE Oregon.”

Western Lane medics, along with firefighters from Siuslaw Valley Fire and Rescue have been specially trained in how to install the seats properly. They’ll holding a special car seat safety clinic Saturday.
Kreitz – “Our goal obviously is to reduce injuries and death and teach people how to install car seats correctly so they can avoid those pitfalls.”

The car seat safety clinic will be at Fred Meyer, this Saturday from ten to three… it’s one of dozens of volunteer events being held around the community as part of the Power of Florence.

Here is the latest Oregon news from The Associated Press

HILLSBORO, Ore. (AP) - An Aloha, Ore., couple have been
sentenced to 42 years each for sexual abuse of the woman's
6-year-old daughter and 14-year-old disabled son as the adults
produced child pornography. Washington County Circuit Judge Kirsten
Thompson sentenced the 35-year-old woman and 43-year-old man
yesterday to the maximum time allowed under their plea agreements.

YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) - An Oregon man has filed suit in federal
court against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Yakima, Wash., alleging
he was abused as a 17-year-old by a former Catholic deacon who
later became an Episcopal priest in Mexico. The lawsuit filed in
Yakima contends that Aaron Ramirez plied the plaintiff with alcohol
in 1999 and sexually abused him. The lawsuit seeks at least
$75,000.

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) - Sharing alcohol with minors could be more
costly in Lane County, where commissioners have approved changes to
the county's year-old "social host" ordinance. The Register Guard
reports those who host or allow any gathering where people younger
than 21 drink or use illegal drugs can be fined as much as $1,000.
They also can be held liable for the cost of law enforcement.

GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) - A federal judge has dismissed some of
the claims in a lawsuit brought by a Medford school bus driver
fired for refusing to take a Confederate battle flag off his pickup
while on school property. But Ken Webber's central claim that he
should get his job back because the firing violated his First
Amendment right to free speech is going forward in U.S. District
Court.

SALEM, Ore. (AP) - An Oregon death row inmate who wants to waive
his appeals heads back to court today. A Marion County judge is
holding a status conference on the request by inmate Gary Haugen,
who has been convicted twice of brutal murders. The judge had
scheduled Haugen's execution for next month. It was canceled after
the state Supreme Court ruled that Haugen should be more thoroughly
evaluated to determine whether he is competent to waive his
appeals.

HILLSBORO, Ore. (AP) - An Aloha, Ore., couple have been
sentenced to 42 years each for sexual abuse of the woman's
6-year-old daughter and 14-year-old disabled son as the adults
produced child pornography. Washington County Circuit Judge Kirsten
Thompson sentenced the 35-year-old woman and 43-year-old man
yesterday to the maximum time allowed under their plea agreements.

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) - Sharing alcohol with minors could be more
costly in Lane County, where commissioners have approved changes to
the county's year-old "social host" ordinance. The Register Guard
reports those who host or allow any gathering where people younger
than 21 drink or use illegal drugs can be fined as much as $1,000.
They also can be held liable for the cost of law enforcement.

SEATTLE (AP) - An underperforming offense, mixed with dominating
pitching, has left the Seattle Mariners at the All-Star break with
a surprising record, along with a tinge of missed opportunity. It's
created a murky definition for the 43-48 Mariners. As the second
half begins tonight at home against American League West-leading
Texas, Seattle faces a balance between taking advantage of its
pitching staff and attempting to be a contender, or continuing its
youth movement toward 2012.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Oregon crops hurt by troubles in real
estate are recovering but are still worth far less than before the
Great Recession. New state figures show greenhouse and nursery
products remain the state's most valuable sector. They brought in
$667 million last year. But, the department says, the sector was
worth more than $1 billion in 2007. Grass seed used to be the
second-most valuable crop, but now it ranks 6th. Another notable
change: Cherries replaced pears in the top ten.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - A study for the Oregon wine industry finds
its economic impact has nearly doubled since 2005 and now stands at
$2.7 billion. The study released today finds that Oregon's 419
wineries and 849 vineyards accounted for over 13,000 jobs in 2010
with wages of $382 million. Oregon wineries produced 1.7 million
cases of wine valued at $252 million, with about half of that being
sold out of state.

SALEM, Ore. (AP) - A 7-year-old Salem boy is in a Portland
hospital with injuries suffered in a dirt bike accident. Marion
County deputies say he was riding on his grandparents' property
yesterday afternoon and swerved onto a road into the path of a
pickup truck. His injuries are described as serious. He was wearing
a helmet.

SALEM, Ore. (AP) - The Oregon Government Ethics Commission has
voted to reprimand three investment officers at the Oregon State
Treasury. The Oregonian newspaper reports a majority of the
commission members agreed there were violations of state ethics law
involving travel expenses and reimbursements while the officers
were overseeing Wall Street money managers who invest public
pension money.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - The Portland Police Review Board says an
officer followed policy and had reason to use deadly force when he
fatally shot a man in March at Hoyt Arboretum. Jason Walters had
responded to a report of a disturbance. He shot Jack Dale Collins
when he emerged from a restroom holding a knife, refused to drop it
and moved toward the officer. A grand jury previously cleared the
officer of criminal wrongdoing.


PRINEVILLE, Ore. (AP) - Come Monday, the Ochoco National Forest
of central Oregon will have a new forest supervisor. Kate Klein is
moving from the Umatilla National Forest office in Pendleton, where
she has been the operations staff officer since 2009. Klein has
worked for the Forest Service for 31 years.

TUKWILA, Wash. (AP) - Nate Jaqua and Fredy Montero scored in the
first half, and Lamar Neagle added an insurance goal in the second,
giving the Seattle Sounders a 3-1 victory over the Los Angeles
Galaxy in a U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal game last night. Adam
Cristman scored for the MLS-leading Galaxy, eliminated in the
quarterfinals by Seattle for the second season in a row.

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



Taking a look at Coast Radio Sports…

The Eugene Emeralds were held to only five hits, and suffered their first shutout loss of the season, falling 4-nothing on the road last night to the Tri-City Dust Devils. Devil’s pitcher Christian Bergman set the tone by striking out the first three batters and the Ems seemed to never recover, scattering five hits over nine innings in the loss. The two teams are on the diamond again this evening in Pasco, Washington for game two of the five game series.

The Three Rivers Sandblasters picked up a pair of non-league wins yesterday with a sweep of the Single-A Salem Senators in Stayton, winning game one 11-nothing, the nightcap 14-9. Jimmy Mack was 3-4 with three runs and three stolen bases in the opener. Nic Canaday was 4-5 with 2 doubles and 3 RBI in the nightcap.

Two teams in American Legion Zone 3, including the Sandblasters were stripped of their league wins this week because of inadvertent roster errors. The Sandblasters were found to have been playing with an ineligible player and forfeited six games. The other team, the Post 9 Highwaymen out of Salem, were found to have too many players on their roster. They’ve not only been stripped of their wins, have been disqualified from post-season play. The Sandblasters will be eligible to play in the playoffs. Both teams will continue to play their schedule.

For Florence and the Central Oregon Coast…

The forecast is silent regarding rain… just says to expect mostly skies today with a high near 61 degrees… and a south wind eight to ten miles an hour becoming west.
More cloudy skies overnight, a low around 51 and a west wind six to nine miles an hour becoming calm overnight.
Partly sunny and 63 for a high tomorrow…

For the weekend… showers likely Saturday morning, then mostly cloudy skies, partly sunny Sunday and Monday.

The marine forecast shows a south marine wind five to ten knots gusting to 15… then becoming southwest this afternoon. Low tide… 7:18 this morning, a minus 1.3. High tide at 1:49 this afternoon.