Paul Linnman was a 23-year-old TV reporter in 1970 when he was sent to Florence to report on the explosion of a dead beached whale in Florence. The documentary “Oh Whale,” will be shown this weekend, Nov. 14-15, at City Lights Cinema as part of the 56th anniversary celebration of that famous, perhaps infamous day.

The Florence Police Department tracked down two children with the help of one of the city’s Flock cameras, the department said in a press release on Monday, October 5.

Area voters will decide in November whether to renew an expiring levy for ambulance services from the Western Lane Ambulance District.

If the levy passes, the cost to taxpayers would remain the same, at $45 per year for each $100,000 of assessed property value.

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CoastBusters Walk for Breast Cancer will be in Florence on October 3, 2026, at the Siuslaw Middle School.

After taking a year off in 2025 to mourn the loss of their co-founder and regroup, this year’s events will be held in memory of Sonia Graham, who co-founded the organization with Jeanette Campagna to support area breast cancer patients and their families.

Participants can register on the CoastBusters’ website.

Businesses, sponsors, volunteers and community partners are also invited to participate, as CoastBusters gears up for what it expects to be its biggest year since its start in 2021. Since then, the group has staged walk-a-thons and other events to help patients and their families along the central coast, raising almost $150,000.

Donations can be made online to support those in Lincoln County and in Lane County. People preferring to write a check may mail it to CoastBusters, P.O. Box 1804, Newport, Ore. 97365. Anyone who donates will get a receipt for their tax-deductible contributions.

A red SUV crashed into the Travelodge on Route 101 on Saturday evening, August 29, injuring a woman inside the motel, according to a press release from the Florence Police Department.

The initial investigation of the scene, combined with eyewitness statements, indicates that the driver left the Circle K at a high speed, crossed 101, crashed through the Edward Jones Investment building before crashing into the Travelodge, trapping a woman inside. Western Lane Fire and EMS Authority extracted the woman from the room and both the victim and driver were transported to Peace Harbor Hospital.

The crash remains under investigation and felony charges against the driver are pending, according to the press release.

Read the full press release…

The Siuslaw National Forest is raising the fire danger level from moderate to high, effective August 13, 2026, they announced in a press release.

“Local firefighters have already detected and contained several small fires on the Forest this year,” said Anne Trapanese, Deputy Fire Staff Officer-Fuels with Northwest Oregon Interagency Fire Management. “With the hot and dry conditions in western Oregon, we want to urge the public to remain vigilant in preventing human-caused wildfires and follow all fire restrictions,” Trapanese said in the press release.

Read the full release…

Be prepared for road construction starting Monday on Rhododendron Drive, from 9th Street to Wild Winds Street.

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Warm temperatures and poor air quality are in the forecast for all of Lane County including the coast.

In Florence and Mapleton, the library is a cooling center. The DHS office in Florence is as well.

Read the story to get the full list.

The Siuslaw National Forest has proposed fee increases to nearly two dozen recreation sites in the national forest area. Click to see the full list of sites, and the proposed fee changes.

The public is invited to comment, and the Forest Service has extended the comment period through September 18. See the press release for how to submit your comments by mail, email or online.

When a picture is worth a thousand words.