Curry County highlights aquatic safety program; board approves SkillBridge internship on consent agenda

Luke Alcorn, Curry County’s aquatic safety officer, told the Board of Commissioners on March 5 in Port Orford that the county-run aquatic safety program educated about 8,000 people in 2024, expanded youth classes and junior lifeguard sessions, and relied heavily on interagency grants and local partners.

Alcorn summarized the program’s mission as outreach, education, visitor services and response for shorelines and waterways and said the program currently has one full-time aquatic safety officer. “Our goal [is] to provide an exemplary public service to ultimately reduce injury and or death along our waterways and shorelines,” Alcorn said. He listed collaborative partners including the Oregon State Marine Board, the National Weather Service, Oregon State Parks, the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Coast Guard and local public-safety agencies, and cited grant support from the Humboldt Area Foundation, Wild Rivers…