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New Banners Welcome Visitors to Oregon Coast’s Florence

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New Banners Welcome Visitors to Oregon Coast’s Florence


New Banners Welcome Visitors to Oregon Coast’s Florence

Published 05/15/23 at 6:22 AM
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff

(Florence, Oregon) – The next time you’re meandering into the central Oregon coast town of Florence, you’re going to want to look up. Florence is – in the truest sense – letting its banners fly. It has hoisted high some new means of greeting visitors and residents alike.

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Designed by local artist and chamber official Mitzi Hathaway, the banners are part of a beautification process of Highway 101 that began a couple of years ago.

Florence Area Chamber of Commerce president/CEO Bettina Hannigan said these are in harmony with the 140 flower baskets that adorn Old Town and Highway 101, from the bridge to Highway 126.

“But the banner project goes farther, all the way up to Fred Meyer,” Hannigan said. “It’s also a way to bring a little joy, celebrate optimism and good will, give all drivers and pedestrians a positive impression of our community, and remind people of our biggest celebration of the year. And all of that helps commerce in our area.”

Hathaway’s main gig is the Chamber’s director of tourism development and Rhododendron Festival coordinator. She created two different versions of the colorful banners, which were then arranged for printing by Stephanie Cunningham, owner of the Sign Stop in Florence.

From there, Bernie Cunningham of The Copier Doctor teamed up with city crews to hang 12 large banners touting the Rhody Fest and 30 smaller versions. They now brighten the skyline along Highway 101 as well as the entrance to Three Rivers Casino Resort.

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The colors and design are fab, but behind it all is a serious brand of promotion: to help engage visitors. Tourism in the central Oregon coast burgh is a $200 million influx into the area’s economy, employing about 1400 of the 5100 local workers.

For more information on the 116th Annual Florence Rhododendron Festival, contact Hannigan at 541-997-3128.

Oregon Coast Hotels for this event – South Coast Hotels – Where to eat – Maps – Virtual Tours

All photos below Oregon Coast Beach Connection


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Oregon

Bazzana, Macias lead No. 15 national seed Oregon State over UC Irvine 5-3 at Corvallis Regional

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Bazzana, Macias lead No. 15 national seed Oregon State over UC Irvine 5-3 at Corvallis Regional


CORVALLIS, Ore. — Travis Bazzana hit a two-run home run, Dallas Macias singled in a pair and No. 15 national seed Oregon State defeated UC Irvine 5-3 on Saturday night at the Corvallis Regional.

UC Irvine (44-13) will play Tulane (36-25) in an elimination game on Sunday. Oregon State (44-14) will play the winner in the nightcap. If the Beavers lose, a rematch will be played on Monday to decide the championship with a berth in the super regionals on the line.

Oregon State took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning after Elijah Hainline singled up the middle with one out and Bazzana sent a two-out, full-count pitch over the fence down the right-field line.

The Anteaters got a run back in the top of the fifth inning on back-to-back two-out doubles by No. 9 hitter Jo Oyama and Woody Hadeen.

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The Beavers answered with two runs in their half of the fifth to push their lead to 4-1. Macias’ two-out single plated Hainline and Mason Guerra, who led off the inning with singles.

Oregon State scored its final run on a double play in the seventh.

UC Irvine scored twice in the eighth on Caden Kendle’s RBI double and Anthony Martinez’s sacrifice fly.

Jacob Kmatz (7-2) surrendered just one run in a seven-inning start to pick up the win. He gave up three hits and a walk while striking out nine.

Trevor Hansen (6-4) took the loss after allowing four runs on eight hits and a walk in 5 2/3 innings. He struck out eight.

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Oregon State is aiming for its ninth regional championship. The Beavers have won three College World Series in seven appearances, posting championships in 2006-07 and 2018.

UC Irvine made CWS appearances in 2007 and 2014. The Anteaters won back-to-back championships in 1973-74 at the Division II level.



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Live updates: Oregon baseball takes on Santa Barbara in NCAA Tournament regional matchup

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Live updates: Oregon baseball takes on Santa Barbara in NCAA Tournament regional matchup


Fresh off an extra innings win over San Diego in their Santa Barbara Regional opener of the NCAA Tournament, the Oregon baseball team will play the host Gauchos Saturday night at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium.

The Ducks (38-18, 19-11 Pac-12) have played Santa Barbara already this season, suffering a series loss, two games to one, back in March at PK Park. Santa Barbara’s coach, Andrew Checketts, is a former Oregon assistant and pitching coach from 2008-10 and graduated from West Linn High School in 1994.

“You look back and run through scouting reports on what they pitched to you in the past and what their pitchers did,” Oregon outfielder Bryce Boettcher said. “But it’s later in the season and it’s obviously a new series, so you definitely learn from it, but we’ve got to come out hot this weekend.”

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Follow along for updates as the Ducks take on the Gauchos.

Who are the announcers for Oregon baseball’s regional game against Santa Barbara?

  • Broadcast team: Mark Neely and Greg Swindell

How to watch Oregon baseball vs. Santa Barbara in Saturday regional matchup

First pitch is set for 7 p.m. Saturday in Santa Barbara.

The game will can be streamed on ESPN+.

Alec Dietz covers University of Oregon football, volleyball, women’s basketball and baseball for The Register-Guard. You may reach him at adietz@registerguard.com and you can follow him on X @AlecDietz.





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Oregon school officials search for solutions to funding crisis

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Oregon school officials search for solutions to funding crisis


A Medford School District building in downtown on March 1, 2024.

Erik Neumann / JPR

School districts throughout Oregon are facing massive budget shortfalls, leading to big cuts.

School districts have blamed these shortfalls on declining enrollment, inflation, the end of emergency COVID money for schools, increasing special education enrollment and inadequate state funding.

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Superintendents for four school districts — Salem-Keizer, Portland, Bend-La Pine and Medford — recently released a video asking the state to reconsider its funding formula.

Speaking on JPR’s Jefferson Exchange on Wednesday, Bend-La Pine Superintendent Steve Cook acknowledged that the district has given much-needed cost of living adjustments to staff.

But he said the way that school districts calculate costs is different from how the state makes those funding calculations.

“It isn’t necessarily that we’re saying ‘fix the problem that we’ve created.’ We’re saying we want to draw attention to the fact that right now, there are decisions being made without all of the accurate and exact funding conversations being talked about,” he said.

Oregon’s 2 largest school districts are nearing the end of a fraught budget season

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For example, Cook and Medford Superintendent Bret Champion said the state does not adequately consider cost of living adjustments or how expensive it is to live in Oregon in its funding.

“It isn’t necessarily that the entire formula is broken. There’s some tweaks that we believe that can be made. And we believe that coming into the conversation with an open mindset about the true costs and what it takes to live here [is important,]” Cook said.

Bend-La Pine is cutting $21 million from its budget over the next two years, including about 60 positions this year, which Cook said will be accomplished through attrition, resignations and retirements.

In 2023, the state legislature allocated $10.2 billion in school funding for the biennium, the most ever.

But according to the Oregon Department of Education’s Quality Education Commission, the state has consistently failed to give enough funding for schools to provide a quality education.

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Medford School District approves budget cuts amid $15 million shortfall

The Medford School District is also facing a $15 million budget shortfall over the next two years.

Their budget for the upcoming school year cuts over 32 positions, and Champion said the budget for the following school year will be even worse.

“The school year after that, we’re done with the easier cuts. It’s going to be a dramatic change in service levels if we end up having to cut another $7.5 million in the next school year,” he said.

In addition, the Ashland School District will lay off about 19 staff at the end of this school year.

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