Herbicide to be used in Clear Lake Watershed; Storms roll across Oregon; What’s the Buzz?

Coast Radio News
Local News

6 September 2013

Herbicide to be Used in Clear Lake Watershed

An effort to prevent herbicide application on timberland adjacent to Clear Lake has failed.

Heceta Water District President Bob Hursh said the agency was prepared to assist a property owner with up to $40-thousand to pay the increased cost of manual brush removal on 40-acres of recently logged land that drains into the sole water source for Heceta.

Hursh said the actual cost difference between manually applying the herbicide… basically a commercial strength of the weed and brush killer Roundup… and the hand-removal was far in excess of the amount authorized by the water district commission in a special meeting Tuesday.

The meeting, with an overflow crowd concerned about the impacts of the spraying on water quality, was called in order to further negotiations between the district and the property owners.

Ultimately it was to no avail as the cost for manually removing brush around newly planted trees every year for five years would have been prohibitively expensive according to Hursh.

He complimented the property owners, Howard and Lisa Charnock, for paying the cost difference between aerial spraying and manual application… as well as for considering the district’s request.

Ultimately, though, Hursh said state and federal regulations governing logging and reforestation practices take precedence over water quality protections.

QCCF Spelling Bee

People at Quality Child Care of Florence are buzzing about a fund-raiser they’re holding in two weeks at Three Rivers Casino.

It’s an old fashioned spelling bee with a twist.

It’s a team challenge.

Participants in groups of four will each have 30-seconds to hear a word and come up with the correct spelling.  Play will continue until there is only one team remaining.

Doors open at 3 o’clock Sunday, September 22nd with the spelling commencing at four.

Entry is only $5 per person… more information can be had by calling QCCF.

Storms Roll Across Oregon

A late summer storm that brought heavy rain, hail and winds gusting to 70-miles an hour to parts of Oregon caused the partial collapse of a vacant building in Portland and diverted airline flights.  One flight from Atlanta to Portland was forced to detour briefly to Seattle before arriving in the Rose City late last night.

The storm travelled from south to north across the state, delivering strong winds and quarter sized hail to the Sisters area.  An inch-and-a-half of rain was recorded at one location near Eugene; and hail the size of golf balls was recorded in the far southeast portion of the state.

Officials in Washington State said a motorcyclist was struck by lightning on Interstate Five north of Vancouver.

No severe damage or flooding was reported.