Sheriff patrols… and jail beds… cut
Lane County Sheriff Tom Turner announced layoffs and jail bed closures yesterday that will cut the jail capacity by 20-percent, and eliminate 24 hour patrols. He was facing a need to immediately trim $3.2-million dollars from his department budget for the coming year. Turner is closing 84 jail beds and laying off employees in 52 positions. Most of those jobs were in the jail, but others were in the patrol division. The move will prevent him from staffing around-the-clock patrol coverage, but will also, says Turner, make his agency unable to respond to “any but the most serious property and financial crimes”. More crime victims will be in the position of ‘self-reporting’; filling out a form and mailing it to the Sheriff’s Office; rather than handing it directly to a responding Deputy. Turner said deputies still be able respond to emergency calls, but the reductions will likely increase the amount of time it takes. Turner’s announcement came in response to the budget approved last month by the Lane County Commission.
A July 8th deadline for comment on a controversial U.S. Forest Service plan that would likely limit access to off-road vehicle trails on the northern portion of the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area has been extended for two weeks. That gives opponents more time for riders to let Siuslaw National Forest Supervisor Jerry Ingersoll know what they think about a plan that would close 64 of 103 miles through the sand. “Save the Riders Dunes” is a group of ATV and off-road riders circulating a petition asking Ingersoll to forego the closures. Already, says spokesperson Barb Rowland, they’ve collected at least 35-hundred signatures and the extra two weeks will allow push that number higher.
Rowland – “We’re asking to keep all 103 miles open, of trails. In return they are trying to give us 287 acres of open dunes. But that open dune is totally covered with beach grass and trees, and also scotch broom.”
The “Designated Routes Program”, says Forest Service officials, will help them manage the recreation area. Rowland says it will decrease rider safety and might harm the coastal economy.
Author, filmmaker and musician James Twyman will appear in concert next week at the Florence Events Center. Based in Southern Oregon, Twyman has been called the “peace troubadour” because of his message of peace through music and prayer. Twyman has performed at the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C., the Pentagon and the United Nations. The concert will benefit the newly formed Homeless Coalition in Florence. The group hopes to expand a day-center providing services to area homeless residents. Tickets are $25 for general admission; $50 for reserved seating that also includes a VIP reception. Tickets can be purchased at the FEC Box Office.
Here is the latest Oregon news from The Associated Press
COQUILLE, Ore. (AP) - The mother of an Oregon teen found slain
11 years ago has testified that the last time she saw her daughter,
the 15-year-old said she was going to take her mom's advice and
spend less time with her boyfriend. That boyfriend, now-29-year-old
Nicholas McGuffin, is on trial for first-degree murder in Leah
Freeman's death. Police had investigated McGuffin, but no charges
were filed until last year when a grand jury considering new
evidence
WARM SPRINGS, Ore. (AP) - A fast-moving wildfire that raced
across about 3 square miles of a central Oregon Indian reservation
has burned two homes - one of them vacant - threatened dozens of
others and prompted the evacuation of two neighborhoods. Fire
information officer Juanita Majel says the Upper Dry Creek fire
broke out yesterday afternoon at a subdivision of the same name
located northwest of the town of Warm Springs on the Warm Springs
Reservation. The cause is not yet known.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
is positively giddy about the volume of returning Chinook salmon to
the Sandy River this summer. The department reports the salmon
returns are good and the fishing conditions excellent. There are
approximately 6,000 Chinook salmon expected to return to the river
basin this year, and 4,000 of those are hatchery fish.
MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) - Oregon State Police say an elderly Port
Townsend, Wash., woman has died of injuries suffered in a
single-car rollover accident on Interstate 5 in southern Oregon.
Both 79-year-old Christine Holme and her 80-year-old husband Daniel
Holme were pulled from the wreckage yesterday by firefighters and
taken to Rogue Valley Medical Center, where she died after arrival.
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) - Jered Weaver pitched a six-hitter for his
11th victory, and fellow All-Star selection Howie Kendrick extended
his hitting streak to 16 games with a run-scoring double in the Los
Angeles Angels' 11th win in 14 games, 5-1 over the Seattle Mariners
last night. Weaver tuned up for a possible start in the All-Star
game with his eighth career complete game and his fifth consecutive
win.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - A federal bankruptcy judge in Portland has
approved plans for the Chapter 11 reorganization of Jesuit priests
in the Northwest. The Oregonian reports that paves the way for more
than 500 creditors to begin receiving payments this summer for past
sex abuse by Jesuit clergy. The Society of Jesus Oregon Province
oversees Catholic priests in Oregon, Washington, Montana, Idaho and
Alaska.
FOREST GROVE, Ore. (AP) - A mobile home park resident in a
Portland-area suburb set out to mow the grass last night and wound
up clipping a natural gas line - prompting a temporary evacuation
of 10 homes. The gas line was originally capped off and sticking up just a
few inches above the ground, but grass and weeds had hidden it from
view at the Rose Grove Mobile Home Park.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - A former manager of a bank in Bend has
struck a plea deal with the U.S. Attorney's Office and admitted he
funneled money out of customers' accounts to pay personal expenses.
The deal given 32-year-old Shawn Jewett of Medford includes eight
months in prison for a theft charge. Jewett took $91,000 out of
U.S. Bank customers' bank accounts between May 2008 and November
2009.
Taking a look at Coast Radio Sports…
Reedsport golfer Monica Vaughn hung on to win the 14th Oregon Junior Stroke Play Championship yesterday in Woodburn with a two-over-par 74 in the final round. That gave her an even-par over the 54 hole, three day tournament and secured her spot on the Junior America’s Cup team that will compete later this month.
Eugene Right Fielder Lee Orr homered for the third time in four games last night, lifting the Emeralds to a 6-3 win at home to open a five game series against the Yakima Bears. Orr’s 3-RBI home run in the bottom of the 2nd inning gave the Ems the lead for good, then he accounted for the final run of the game in the sixth after a lead-off double, advancing to third on a sacrifice and scoring on a wild pitch. The Emeralds and the Bears continue their series through the weekend at PK Park.
It’s a busy weekend for the Three Rivers Sandblasters who will play five games in three days… two of them are this evening in Corvallis, with game one of the double header against Richey’s Market airing on Coast Radio Sports at 3:45. A makeup game tomorrow afternoon against Withnell in Florence will also air on KCST at 2:45. Another double header, this one a non-league matchup against North Eugene, is set for Florence on Sunday afternoon at three. The pregame show here on Coast Radio Sports starts at 2:45.
For Florence and the Central Oregon Coast…
The forecast is showing a chance of drizzle this morning, along with mostly cloudy skies and gradual clearing through the day… mostly sunny by this afternoon with a high near 62 and a north northeast wind ten to 17 miles an hour gusting to 25.
Breezy conditions lasting into tonight, along with increasing clouds and some patchy fog late tonight… and an overnight low around 46.
For the weekend… mostly cloudy Saturday morning, with gradual clearing… then a chance of morning showers and cloudy skies on Sunday. Weekend highs near 63, lows in the upper 40s.
Mostly cloudy with a chance of morning drizzle on Monday and Tuesday, a chance of showers on Wednesday.
Small craft advisories will fly this afternoon and through late tonight for north marine winds 15 to 20 knots gusting to 25 knots. High tide… 7:05 this morning… low tide at 12:56 this afternoon.
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