9 July 2014
Fire Crews Very Active Over Long Weekend
Special events, restaurants and retailers weren’t the only ones busy over the long Fourth of July weekend.
Emergency services had a lot of action as well.
Between Thursday morning and Monday evening they were called 13 times. Six were for motor vehicle crashes, two more for ATV accidents, one non specified medical assist and four fire calls.
One was a false alarm, but two of the blazes were structure fires. The most damaging was Monday evening at 1550 Airport Road. It reportedly started in the back bedroom of an apartment near an unattended candle. The estimated damage to the building was $50-thousand.
The other structure fire happened Saturday at a home on Siano Loop. It was confined to the outside of the building and started when smoking material was disposed of in a container too close to the building.
The third fire occurred Saturday evening when an apparent cooking fire at a homeless camp spread to a 40-foot-by-40-foot area of brush just off Highway 126 near Munsel Creek.
North Florence Rezone Approved
Florence City Councilors heard only from the applicants, then moved quickly Monday night to approve a recommendation by the Planning Commission. It will change the zoning designation for a 14 ½ acre parcel north of Munsel Lake Road from Service Industrial to manufactured housing.
There is opposition to the proposal. In written testimony, nearby resident Claudia Garner said the zoning designation asked for was inappropriate and did not match the Comprehensive Plan.
Garner also referred to a lein of nearly three-quarters-of-a-million-dollars on the property for street and utility payments. She said she hoped the rezone request would be handled without bias and not because it could help the city recover that money.
Glen Seifert, the property owner, and Del Phelps want to place as many as 130 manufactured homes on the property.
The zoning is not final.
The zoning and Comprehensive Plan change would become effective August 6th only if there are no appeals to the state.
Shared Medical Appointments at Peace Health
Access to a different way of dealing with the effects of diabetes will become available for Florence area residents later this month.
There has been a trend in treatment circles to offer “shared medical appointments” where as many as ten patients suffering from the same conditions meet with physicians together.
PeaceHealth will have two physicians on hand with diabetes patients, discussing treatment, control and how to avoid complications.
They are currently seeking patients to participate. For more information, speak to your primary care physician or call PeaceHealth Chronic Care.
Gas Prices up locally, down nationally
The national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline went down by two cents in the past week. In Oregon, the average price held steady at $3.98 a gallon.
Locally, the price inched up by three cents and this week is at $3.90.
The national average of $3.65 by be down slightly from last week, but is still at the highest level for this time of year since 2008 according to Triple-A. A year ago at this time, the average was $3.47.
Analysts say continued violence in Iraq has led to some uncertainty, but continued strong oil production in the southern part of that country has remained unaffected.
