The recent winter storms cost the city about $30,000 for overtime pay, sand, rock salt and fuel. The city spread more than 500 tons of sand on city streets. 

Tesoro plans to shut down it’s March Point refinery for maintenance for several weeks starting in mid-January.

This week’s Police Blotter is a bit shorter than usual. Possibly, some would-be criminals were having the same difficulties getting around town as the rest of us.

This week we find five Northwest authors on the Northwest Bestsellers list. Four of their books have been here for quite awhile, but one new book has appeared. Oregon author Jane Kirkpatrick's Aurora tells the story of the Oregon's Old Aurora Colony and their heritage. Also on this week's bestseller list are: Ivan Doig's The Eleventh Man, Garth Stein's The Art of Racing in the Rain, Christopher Paolini's Brisingr and Sherman Alexie's The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian.

Chamber of Commerce director Mitch Everton says the state of city streets in recent days “affords an excellent opportunity for civic leadership to review both existing procedures and resources.”

The last couple of days may not have been sunny and warm, but it provided a break in the snow. Now, the break’s over. The snow is turning to rain and the icy roads will become slushy.