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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 28, 2015)
COUPONS INSIDE www.shoppelocal.biz SATURDAY WWW.THESIUSLAWNEWS.COM SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF FLORENCE • DUNES CITY • WESTLAKE • MAPLETON • SWISSHOME • DEADWOOD • YACHATS AND ALL POINTS BETWEEN Y T H E A R • I S S U E N O . 17 FEBRUARY 28 • 2015 $1.00 SOMETHING North Florence prepares for herbicide spray FISHY Possible water contamination a concern for residents STEP INVOLVES LCC E NGLISH LANGUAGE FOREIGN STUDENTS IN FISH HATCHERY PROGRAM B Y C HANTELLE M EYER Siuslaw News COURTESY PHOTOS Lane Community College students contemplate the steelhead they are about to capture for live spawning with the help of Salmon and Trout Enhancement Program members last Saturday at the Whittaker Creek steelhead trap near Mapleton. B Y J ACK D AVIS Siuslaw News C ome to America and hug a live steel- head. Maybe not the greatest market- ing line of the 21st century, but there were no complaints from Lane Community College (LCC) instructor Kate Gessert’s Advanced Reading and Writing for English Language Learners (ELL) class. On Saturday, Feb. 21, members of Gessert’s class did exactly that when they drove from Eugene to the Whittaker Creek steelhead trap, outside of Mapleton. There they met with Salmon and Trout Enhancement Program (STEP) education liaison Jim Grano and other STEP members to help catch steelhead for live spawning. Unlike salmon that die after spawning, steelhead, which are sea run rainbow trout, return to the ocean after spawning and often repeat the cycle for several years. Home countries represented by the ELL students include Guatemala, Iran, Japan, Madagascar, Mexico and Spain. “This is a night school class,” Grano said. “They are all adults and generally working jobs or attending LCC or the University of Oregon. One woman from Guatemala is an archeologist.” Gessert has a unique teaching style. She has her students read and write about Oregon’s natu- ral resources such as salmon, steelhead and forests. The optional field trip is part of her inno- vative approach to teaching English. “The environments in the places these stu- dents have immigrated from are often very dif- ferent from Oregon,” she said. “I think as they learn more about this place, they’ll feel more at home here, and they’ll take good care of the environment. Reading and watching videos are fine ways to learn, but best of all is being at beautiful Whittaker Creek and holding a steel- head. It brings what they’re learning alive.” See STEP 7A Howard and Lisa Charnock own more than 70 acres on a hill above Collard Lake. They logged the land in 2013 and soon after took measures to ensure that invasive weed species do not propagate on the cleared land. This involved spraying salmonberry, blackberry and Scotch broom with glyphosate salts. Meanwhile, north Florence residents who live in the neighborhood are concerned about pesticide seepage into Collard Lake, part of the Clear Lake watershed, which is part of Heceta Water People’s Utility District (PUD). Now, the Charnocks are preparing to spray again as early as March 4. “There is a wide range of herbicides to choose from,” said Howard Charnock. “We really looked at two things when we made our selection. First, what happens after we apply it? Does it break down? Secondly, where does it go? We were con- cerned about transport. The two we’ve picked, glyphosate in the past and triclopyr this time, have extremely low toxicity. Triclopyr is not as bound to the soil. It was recommended by … an agricultural forensic expert.” According to the National Pesticide Information Center, triclopyr is a mildly toxic herbicide used to control woody and herbaceous weeds. It has a rel- atively short half-life in soil and water and breaks down with exposure to light. The company the Charnocks hired is On Track Spray Services, based in Corvallis. “We’re out there to kill Scotch broom,” said operator Malon Grimes. The sprayers will protect the 20-foot buffers of two small streams on the property and avoid spray- ing within 100 feet of Collard Lake. Grimes said, “We use low-pressure backpacks with larger drops to prevent overspray.” They only spray on days with ideal weather con- ditions, such as when winds are less than 10 mph. They also spray facing away from streams to avoid spray drift. “We try to do everything by the rules that gov- ern our business, area and state,” Grimes said. “We understand that people have concerns and we do our best to handle them.” Charnock said, “We’ve tried to work with (area) people and use the most benign stuff we can.” Residents plan to discuss the herbicide spray today, Feb. 28, from 3 to 4 p.m., at a community meeting in the Bromley Room at the Siuslaw Public Library, 1460 Ninth St. in Florence. See SPRAY 7A OLD TOWN INN RANKED NO. 11 IN NATION TripAdvisor’s 2015 Travelers’ Choice Survey praised Florence hotel for quality service B Y C HANTELLE M EYER Siuslaw News National interest is focus- ing on Old Town Inn in Florence with the recent reveal of TripAdvisor’s 2015 Travelers’ Choice Survey, which named Old Town Inn one of the top 25 bargain hotels in the United States. Old Town Inn ranked No. 11 nationally, but was ranked No. 1 in guest satisfaction in Florence. INSIDE S AT U R D AY Ambulance Angling Classifieds Community In Brief A2 B1 B7 A5 A9 Obituaries A2 Opinion A4 SideShow B6 Sports B Word/Street A8 Loretta Hoagland, co- owner of Hoagland Properties and Old Town Inn, said, “We got a review on TripAdvisor that was one of the best we’ve gotten on any of our hotels. Someone who really knew the hospitality business just raved about staying at Old Town Inn. The Old Town Inn is just a little, plain roadside hotel. It shows you how much caring for people means.” Housekeepers are reward- ed every time the word “clean” appears on a guest comment card. Management will not release a room for use until it has been thor- oughly inspected, even to the extent of staff getting down on their hands and knees with a flashlight to check under beds and chairs, and behind dressers and armoires. At a luncheon held for Old Town Inn staff at Driftwood Shores’ Surfside Restaurant, Hoagland Properties’ chief operating officer Craig Sanders said, “TripAdvisor doesn’t happen without the customer service, clean rooms, good attitude and overall guest experience. You guys have just pulled out all the stops and done an amaz- ing job. Our mission state- ment is to exceed customer expectations with a spotless, reasonably priced, well- appointed room and excep- tional customer service. You guys epitomize that.” “TripAdvisor is sending a photo crew out on Sunday. I don’t know what they expect, as we really are just a very small hotel. We don’t have swimming pools or fitness centers. That’s what’s so amazing. It’s just guest satis- faction,” Loretta said. See HOTEL 7A SPORTS — B Your Weather T ODAY S UNDAY M ONDAY T UESDAY Sunny Mostly sunny 55 42 Cloudy Partly sunny 53 38 55 34 52 40 PHOTO BY CHANTELLE MEYER/SIUSLAW NEWS Old Town Inn employees were honored Thursday with a luncheon at the Surfside Restaurant for their work in elevating the hotel to No. 11 in the nation. CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK 125