7 May 2015
Rhody Showcase Presents 108th Royalty
It will be a “special K” kind of Rhododendron Festival next week. Queen Kennedy Roylance and King Keoni Castro were selected last night from among nine Siuslaw High School seniors to reign over the 108th festival.
Queen Kennedy performed a dance that combined classical elements of ballet with some modern dance sprinkled in. She also presented a platform speech about bullying.
King Keoni spoke about how families are not bound by blood, but rather by the love they show one another. The four Princes performed a dance to Bobby Darin’s Mack the Knife as their combined talent.
Prince Joseph Dotson and Princess Courtney King were first runners-up.
Fourth Grade Junior Princess Alize (AL-ih-zay) Castellanos received special recognition for logging more pin sales than any of the other 13 court members.
The 108th Rhododendron Festival gets under way next week. It wraps up Sunday, May 17th with the Grand Floral Parade.
Pool reopening efforts under way
The most recent effort to revive and reopen a public swimming pool in Mapleton is under way. After operating for 25 years, the pool was closed five years ago because of insufficient operating funds. Lauren Hesse is one of the driving forces behind the effort, she says the group, known as SWIM for Siuslaw Wellness in Mapleton, has taken a realistic approach.
Lauren Hesse – “We actually asked our mechanical engineer, should we just dump this? I mean, should it just get filled up with sand and forget it? And he said absolutely not. You couldn’t build a building like that for less than two-million right now; probably way more than that. So 600-thousand? Wow, we’ve got a deal here.”
Hesse says they estimate they’ll need about $600-thousand to reopen. But, she adds, only about one-tenth of that needs to be raised locally. The rest would come from outside grant funding sources that they’ve already targeted. But, she says, after five years of vacancy… they’ll need to work quickly.
Lauren Hesse — “We have a three to five year window to show some significant progress in getting this money and getting grants. If it’s not going to be used this way, they either need to just take care of the building or use it; and why not use it? So, we need to make this effort work.”
SWIM will hold another organizational meeting, seeking volunteers, Tuesday from 5:30 to seven PM at the Mapleton Grange.
Gas goes up
The average cash price for a gallon of regular unleaded shot up 15 cents a gallon this week in Florence. It’s now at 2.84.
But, local drivers are still paying on average about a dollar a gallon less than at this time last year.
Oregon’s average price also went up significantly. According to Triple-A of Oregon it increased 14 cents; it stands at $2.97. The national average also rose, but not as much. It’s at $2.63 a gallon.
Marie Dodds with Triple-A says gas prices normally increase in the spring due to seasonal maintenance, rising demand and a switch to more expensive summer blends which are required in many areas to limit emissions in warmer temperatures.
Third trimester property taxes due
The final of three payments for your local property taxes are due next week. Lane County Assessor Mike Cowles says if you’re mailing that last payment, it must be post marked no later than May 15th or you could be charged a late fee and interest on the unpaid balance.
Cowles says you can also make your payment over the counter at the county’s Public Service Building in Eugene.
The most efficient, and easiest method, could by paying online. Cowles said the assessment and taxation website has individual account information. Taxpayers can view any tax balance, make a payment, find current and prior year tax statements and review your appraisal information.
Lane County only gets to keep about one-eighth of your property taxes. The department of Assessment and Taxation collects on behalf of 83 separate taxing districts, including cities, schools, fire districts, urban renewal districts and more.
