25 January 2013
Winter Folk Festival…
A variety of folk music styles ranging from Russian to American Roots and a combination of Zydeco and Chicago Blues will grace the stage this weekend during the Winter Folk Festival. The doors open tomorrow morning on a vendor fair that will feature hand made items; traditional crafts, art and food and even a pie-baking contest. The music will run almost continually on stage through day, culminating in a headliner concert tomorrow night that will feature former New Christy Minstrel Barry McGuire and John York… York was a member of the Byrds and played bass for the Mamas and Papas. Both wrote and performed several familiar recordings of the era. Their show called “Tripping the 60s” will highlight many stories ‘behind the music’.
The festival continues Sunday and wraps up at 3:30 with a Hootenanny featuring classic ‘sing along songs’ of the 60s as performed by Peter Paul and Mary and the Kingston Trio.
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Pay Hike Recommendation Causes Stir
A proposed pay hike for two top Lane County administrators has drawn fire aimed at the Lane County Board of Commissioners. The board hasn’t even heard the recommendations yet… they were developed by the County’s human resources department which says county administrator Liane Richardson should get a 15.3 percent pay hike to make her wage competitive with similar regional government positions. Richardson already received a three-percent bump following her annual evaluation last month. The full package proposed by the H-R department would raise her current pay of $152-thousand to more than $175-thousand. Stephen Dingle, the county’s top attorney is recommended for a similar increase to just over $166-thousand. The board of commissioners will discuss the raises Tuesday. That’s the same day they will open a hearing on a possible tax levy to fund jail operations. West Lane Commissioner Jay Bozievich told the Register Guard that nothing has been decided yet and several factors will be considered when looking at the proposed increases… including the overall financial health of the county.
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Small Ports Seeking Help
Fourth District Congressman Peter DeFazio will convene a meeting of federal, state and local officials next week to talk about what he’s calling a “dearth” of dredging at small coastal ports. The senior member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee asked the head of the Portland office of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Colonel John Eisenhauer, to meet with officials in an effort to find a “long-term” solution to ensure that small ports get dredging. Port of Siuslaw Manager Bob Forsythe will attend the meeting Wednesday afternoon in Brookings.
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Earthquake Cluster Felt in Waldport
A small cluster of modest earthquakes was recorded off the central Oregon coast this week. The largest was a magnitude 3.4 that a handful of people in the Waldport area reported feeling about 8 PM last night. The quakes… others of which registered a 3.0 and 2.6, were centered about 30-miles west of that community. Randy Baldwin with the U.S. Geological Survey said small quakes in the area would not be expected to cause any damage on land and they are quite common.
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