24 September 2014
Get Ready For Winter Storms
We said farewell to summer and hello to fall this week; that means coastal residents should think about getting ready for stormy weather. In fact, the season’s first storm slipped through the area last night, pointing out the importance of being ready. There was plenty of rain, but little wind, and electric crews were able to get a full night’s sleep.
But that may not be the case next time.
Gary Nieborsky is the Distribution, Engineering and Operations Manager at Central Lincoln PUD. He says they’ve been busy preparing for the winter season and customers should do the same by prepping their emergency supplies.
Gary Nieborsky – “The biggest thing is be prepared, have a flashlight or two or three; have a supply of water if you’re on a well. Be prepared for three days if necessary. This is the time of year that our customers need to be prepared.”
A lot of attention is placed on getting ready for a possible earthquake and tsunami. But the real truth is; we are far more likely to have a large-scale wind storm that could knock power out for several days. That’s a very real reason for residents to prepare now for the coming months.
City begins online payment service
Florence residents who get their water from the city now have an option to pay their bills online. City Finance Director Erin Reynolds says they’ve been offering the digital option since August.
Erin Reynolds – “We’ve seen a lot of people starting to use it. We have about ten percent of our customers or about 400 signed up on line billing right now.”
There is no additional cost to utility customers using the online or pay-by-phone options. The city is also offering a complete “paperless” billing process with statements being delivered by email, rather than by traditional mail. Reynolds says the digital options are ultimately money-saving for the city and can also help reduce delinquency.
Register to vote… now
If you were on social media yesterday, you may have noticed a little extra buzz about people registering to vote.
Yesterday was National Voter Registration Day and Oregon Secretary of State Kate Brown was making the electronic rounds urging voters… particularly younger ones… to make sure they were registered.
“Your vote is your voice” said Brown, who added “every voice matters”. Brown urged students, newscasters, lawmakers and others to pose for a photo with a poster that says “I’m registered to vote, are you?” That photo, she said, should then be posted on social media.
Even though the National Voter Registration Day was yesterday potential voters still have three weeks to register if they want to vote in the November General Election.
You can do that online by going to OregonVotes-dot-gov and click on “My Vote”… or simply walk into any DMV office and pick up a voter registration form.
Gas prices continue to fall
The average cash price of regular gasoline in Florence continued its free fall this week, dropping another seven cents a gallon. That’s on top of the ten cents it has fallen since Labor Day.
This morning’s average price in Florence is at $3.67. That’s seven cents a gallon less than the Oregon average price as measured by Triple A.
But, it’s also 33-cents a gallon higher than the national average price. Oregon’s average price is the fourth highest in the nation according to Triple-A.
