24 January 2013
Jail Tax Levy to be Considered
Lane County Commissioners will discuss next week whether or not to ask voter approval for a special tax levy to fund public safety. West Lane Commissioner Jay Bozievich said first they’ll hear the results of a community survey.
Jay Bozievich – “If we get back a report from our consultant that says you’re going to go down in flames no matter what level and no matter what service you’re supporting; people just are not going to pass any new taxes at this time; there’s no point in putting something on the ballot just to be oh-for-15 when we’re already oh-for-14.”
Despite appearances to the contrary there are other options to be considered… but there appears to me one major expectation.
Jay Bozievich – “Place a serial levy on the May ballot. That’s probably the one action that people are most anticipating that we’re going to do.”
Testifying at one of the hearings is not the only way to be heard.
Jay Bozievich – “We’re actually accepting comments right now by e-mail. I believe it’s just public comment at Lane County dot org. And you can also just, you know, phone the county commissioners’ offices and leave us a voice mail if you want.”
Both, though, will be at the County Courthouse in Eugene… Tuesday at 5:30, then Wednesday morning at 9 AM.
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Tsunami Dock Takes a Side Trip
Officials at the Hatfield Marine Science Center had to reconfigure their plans yesterday for the planned delivery of a large piece of Japanese tsunami debris. Last summer a huge piece of a dock from the March 2011 disaster washed up on a Lincoln County beach. The state paid a contractor to dispose of it; but the City of Newport along with the Hatfield Center planned to use a large chunk as the centerpiece for a memorial display. That 118-thousand pound chunk was scheduled to be delivered yesterday…
Mark Farley – “What happened when it got here is that with the configuration of our parking lot and the plot of ground that it was going to go on, the crane couldn’t reach there because the thing was so heavy.”
Visitor Center manager Mark Farley said the dock will be stored at the International Port across the bay where it will be cut down.
The planned display will serve not only as a memorial, but also as a conversation starter about marine debris. Farley said recent storms have brought more to shore recently.
Mark Farley – “Some of that is just standard winter storm debris and some of it will be Japanese tsunami debris. And it’s kind of the nature of it; you just kind of have to investigate a little bit and take a look and see what it looks like.”
He didn’t say how long it would take before the memorial would be completed.
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Kids Koncerts Kick Off Winter Folk
The public portion of the Winter Folk Festival begins tomorrow with individual performances scheduled at several different venues around the community. But, today about 900 students from up and down the coast are participating in two concerts at the Florence Events Center. The “Kids Koncerts” as they’re called have become a major focus of the annual festival and over the past decade. Organizers say more than six-thousand kids have been exposed to historic folk music education and world renowned performers. This year the programs feature an anti-smoking curriculum centered around a song written by Barry McGuire called “Mr. Hakk N. Koff”. Today’s performances… not open to the public.
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