Corrected Business Awards Nominees released
Two omissions from the original list of nominees for the annual Siuslaw Business Awards have been added. Nancy Pearson, the events coordinator with the Florence Area Chamber of Commerce apologized for the errors and said the Boys and Girls Club of Western Lane County was mistakenly left off the list of nominees for Non-Profit Achievement. Also, she added, Banner Bank had been left off the list of nominees for Customer Service.
Banner Bank is one of four entities with more than one nomination… they were also included in the Community Caring division.
City Lights Cinemas picked up double nominations… in the Business of the Year and Community Caring category and Lofy Construction and Design was also nominated for the Business of the Year… as well as Excellence in Customer Service. The fourth double-up was Lovejoy’s Restaurant and Tea Room in the Customer Service and Curb Appeal categories.
Tickets for the Siuslaw Awards on February 8th are $35 each and can be purchased in advance at the Chamber Visitor Center.
Community Caring
Banner Bank
City Lights Cinemas
Laurel Bay Gardens
Curb Appeal
America’s Mattress
Korando Dental Group
Lovejoy’s Restaurant & Tea Room
Old Town Barbershop
Excellence In Customer Service
Banner Bank
City of Florence – Planning, Building & Code Enforcement Department
Funky Monkey
Hoagland Properties (The River House Inn and Old Town Inn)
Lofy Construction & Design
Lovejoy’s Restaurant & Tea Room
Polished Boutique & Salon
Innovation In Business
Friends of the Florence Events Center
RAIN Organization (Regional Accelerator & Innovation Network)
Non-Profit Achievement
Boys & Girls Club of Western Lane County
C.R.O.W. (Children’s Repertory of Oregon Workshops)
Friends of the Florence Events Center
Oregon Coast Military Museum
Rotary Club of Florence
Siuslaw Watershed Council
“Stu Johnson” Business of the Year
City Lights Cinemas
Lofy Construction & Design
Terrace Homes
Sneaker wave warnings urged
One moment, Jayson Thomas was on the beach with his 3-year old son, the next they were gone. Swept away by a “sneaker wave” as his wife looked on.
Those two deaths Sunday afternoon near Port Orford are just the latest caused by sneaker waves. A leading expert says they are a “particular threat” in the Pacific Northwest.
Tuba Ozkan-Haller of Oregon State University says there needs to be greater awareness to prevent future tragedies.
She is currently in the middle of a three-year study working to devise an early warning system for sneaker waves.
Ozkan-Haller told the Register Guard that sneaker waves can be generated thousands of miles away and are almost impossible to detect.
What can be detected however, are a combination of conditions that can be ideal for sneaker waves. She says she hopes the National Weather Service will be able to issue warnings, based on some of the guidelines she is working on developing.
Landslide hazards increased
A flood watch for most of western and northwestern Oregon is in effect through today because of heavy rains. The Oregon Department of Geology is adding another advisory… be alert for landslide hazards.
Ali Ryan Hansen, the department’s communications director says there are a variety of locations that could be dangerous… and at increased risk of landslides and debris flows in the coming days.
Those locations include roadways in many areas, particularly in canyon bottoms, at the base of steep hillsides and where road cuts have been made through hillsides.
Hansen says past events are also a very good indicator. Places where slides and debris flows have occurred in the past are also a serious risk.
The department has an interactive on-line map available that shows previous landslides. That’s available at www-dot-OregonGeology-dot-org-slash-SLIDO.
State of the Port
Port of Siuslaw President Ron Caputo will deliver the “State of the Port” address Wednesday night during the regular monthly meeting of the Port Commission.
Ron Caputo – “The State of the Port is a very short statement of how I feel the port is doing. As far as I can tell the Port’s doing very well.”
Caputo says many of the Port of Siuslaw successes in the past year came following the hiring of Stephen Leskin early last year as the manager. Some of the things he implemented have had a positive impact.
Ron Caputo – “The Wind Fest was very good. There’s a few things he did that were kind of stand out and I’m going to mention some of them.”
The Port of Siuslaw Commission meets in the Port’s Conference Room at the RV Park and Marina at seven this evening.
Gas prices hold locally
Retail gas prices are holding fairly steady in most areas of the country. Some markets have seen some lower prices this week according to Triple-A, but not in Oregon.
The local average cash price held steady this week at $2.44 a gallon. Oregon’s average price also held steady, but it’s a bit higher at $2.56.
The national average price dipped three cents a gallon this week to $2.34 according to Marie Dodds with Triple-A. She expects prices to resume their upward climb in coming weeks as seasonal refinery maintenance begins.
Even though prices in 2017 are expected to remain higher than last year they will still be relatively cheap compared to prices a decade ago when drivers paid well over a dollar a gallon more on average for gas. Dodds says OPEC oil production agreements will also limit supply and keep pressure on prices remaining higher than last year.
