Siuslaw Broadband Plans Expansion
At Monday evening’s City Council meeting in Florence, the Mayor and council voted unanimously to move forward with providing a right of way for Siuslaw broadband to move forward with a pilot project that will begin a change in how Florence residents will access the internet. The vote is a step in the right direction Neil Ecker broke it down to what it actually means:
“Means that we now have an agreement with the city that gives us the ability to use the right of way infrastructure to put in the advanced communications systems and stuff that we want to do. We still need the standard permitting and all the other stuff that goes along with the construction process.”
Ecker says that they have worked hard to be able to bring in the next generation of service to Florence:
“There is a challenge in rural areas to get current technology out there. The more densely populated areas are the targets for the big corporations for build out first.”
Siuslaw Broadband is branding this new venture as HYAK. A name, they believe, will be synonymous with quality internet service.
Peanut Butter Drive
The Fourth annual Johnston Motor Company- Ford- Peanut Butter Drive is under way. People are encouraged to drop off peanut Butter to Johnston Motor Company and that in turn will benefit the Florence Food Share. Norma Barton, Executive Director of the food share says that peanut butter is a great protein to go along with some of the locally sourced items…
210: We have fresh produce that comes from our 16 thousand square foot organic garden. Pretty m uch any kind of produce you can think of we grow back there. We harvested over 10 thousand pounds of food in 2016…
Barton says that over the 3 years she has been here the need has been increasing…especially among seniors…
212: 30% of our clientele are folks over the age of 55, and their on a fixed income and generally they have to choose between eating or paying their utility bill or getting much needed medication.
Another disturbing trend Barton noted is that requests for food from the Latino population has dropped significantly. She attributes it to the change in national policies toward Latinos. Barton would like to get the word out that none of the information collected is used to target the immigrant population.
Florence #2 on USA Today 10 Best List
The numbers are in and Florence has been designated as the number 2 on the list of small towns under 10,000 people. The USA Today’s 10best dot com editors and a panel of travel experts had narrowed down the choices from 50 to come up with the best of the best. Bettina Hannigan, Executive Director for the Florence Area Chamber of Commerce said it was excited to be nominated and delighted to be the only Oregon Town in the top ten. This is just another in a list of accolades Florence has received. Last year Florence was named Expedia’s Most Beautiful Town, Reader’s Choice for Best Coastal Getaway from the Oregonian/Oregon Live, and Reader’s Digest said that a visit to Florence was “the best vacation ever!”
Hannigan says this gives us some serious bragging rights when encouraging people to vacation here, and for businesses who are looking to relocate here.
Gas Prices Steady
Gas Prices start out a slight bit lower for the month of May for Oregon. Down a half cent for the state at and average 2.76 a gallon. Accoding to Marie dodds with AAA. The national average dipped 3 cents to 2.38 a gallon, while Florence held steady at 2.51. Prices are generally lower than they were a month ago, Dodds says demand has decreased and a high inventory is responsible.
