More wind and rain on the way
Forecasters say a developing storm over the eastern Pacific will swing inland toward the Pacific Northwest late tonight, possibly raking the Oregon Coast from the south to the north with gusty winds and rain.
Wind gusts nearing 60 miles an hour are expected tomorrow along the coast as officials at the National Weather Service have placed a high wind watch in effect through Friday afternoon. The Willamette Valley could see wind gusts of 30 to 40 miles an hour Friday afternoon and into early evening. As much as two inches of rain could fall in the area through late Friday night.
Cooler temperatures and showers following the storm will bring snow levels in the Cascades down to around three-thousand feet. Travelers through mountain passes could see snow-covered roads with around five to ten inches of snow at pass levels through the weekend.
LCC President brings planning background
Lane Community College is getting a new president at the end of this academic year. Dr. Margaret Hamilton will take over from Mary Spilde who is retiring after 15 years of leading Lane.
Hamilton is currently the Vice President of Academic Affairs at Camden County College in Blackwood, New Jersey. She is also in charge of planning. She’ll bring the skills she has honed in 28 years at Camden County and apply them at Lane… something she says is important as secondary education continues to deal with funding challenges.
Margaret Hamilton – “What’s a budget manager and CFO to do? You get creative and start saying, well that was the way it was then. This is the way it is now. And that’s why I think one of the things that I’m going to bring to Lane and I’m going to work on from the beginning is partnerships.”
Hamilton said the former model of a three-legged funding stool made up of local taxes, state funding and student based tuition has shifted too much of the burden onto students.
She will be moving to Eugene in June.
Walk in wait times available online
Patients headed to the PeaceHealth Walk-in Clinic will have a better idea of how long they might have to wait to see a care provider under a new program recently introduced.
Nena Harvey is the director of PeaceHealth Medical Group operations. She said they “heard loud and clear” during a town hall meeting in December that wait times at the walk-in clinic were a – quote – “pain point” for patients.
Clinic staff will update the wait time display at least once per hour. Patients can access it a variety of ways online. It’s at the PeaceHealth Medical Group Florence web page, at the “We Care” page and the walk in clinic page.
You’ll still need to check in physically at the clinic, but Harvey says the wait-time display can help community members make “informed decisions” about when to come in for care.
DeFazio seeks to free up Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund
Fourth District Oregon Congressman Peter DeFazio has launched another effort to “unlock” the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund, allowing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to use the money to accomplish its mission of providing safe and navigable ports.
The fund was created in 1986 when congress imposed a tax on the value of imported cargo. That money has been paid by shippers, with the cost being passed on to consumers for 30-years. Meanwhile, says DeFazio, little of it has been authorized for use. Instead, he says, it’s being used to “hide the size of the budget deficit”. There is approximately $9-billion already collected, sitting idle in the U.S. Treasury. Over the next ten years that surplus could grow to more than $17-billion, he added, unless congress takes action to allow the Corps to dredge, repair and maintain ports. That in turn would create good paying jobs and help coastal economies. He and Pennsylvania Republican Representative Mike Kelly have introduced a bi-partisan bill that would accomplish that.
Celebrating Siuslaw Vision 2025
An organization with the aim of bringing positive changes to the community over the next decade will provide a look at their progress April 20th in what backers of Siuslaw Vision 2025 are calling a “celebration”.
Colleen Keane with the community group Vision Keepers said the group is working on “multiple fronts”. During the April 20th event at Lane Community College in Florence they’ll talk about the Community Health Improvement Plan; Workforce Development; a new Community Paramedic Program; ReVision Florence and the latest in education.
The celebration will be presented in conjunction with the Florence Area Chamber of Commerce ‘after hours’ from 5:30 to 7:00 Thursday, April 20th at LCC.
