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APRIL
18
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2015
$1.00
Rotary
auction
exceeds
$100K
From
sheriff
to chief
Tom Turner signs
contract for Florence
Chief of Police
Late donations help
club surpass goal
B Y C HANTELLE M EYER
Siuslaw News
Wednesday was a good day for
Lane County Sheriff Tom Turner,
who officially signed the contract
for
Florence
police chief. He
begins his new
role May 1 and
will swear in to
office the fol-
lowing Monday
at the Florence
City Council
meeting.
Tom Turner
Turner, 54,
had been working with city staff to
settle last-minute details, including
an extensive background check,
before signing.
“It was great to see this long
process come to fruition,” Turner
said. “It was wonderful. I’m over-
joyed.”
As police chief, Turner will work
closely with the city’s management
team and City Manager Erin
Reynolds.
“I am so excited to start working
with Tom and to have him as a part
of our management team,” Reynolds
said.
The police chief is responsible for
managing the Florence Police
Department (FPD) operations at the
Florence Justice Center. This
includes law enforcement, West
Lane County 911 Public Safety
Answering Point Communications
Center and the 18-cell municipal
jail.
Turner will work with the lieu-
tenant, sergeants, patrol officers,
corrections officer, detective, com-
munications supervisor, communi-
cations officers, executive assistant
and the reserve and auxiliary officer
volunteers that make up the FPD.
Reynolds said, “I feel confident in
Tom’s ability to hit the ground run-
ning to help address the current and
future challenges and opportunities
of our police department.”
She referenced Turner’s law
enforcement background as a county
and city officer.
“He brings to Florence the proven
ability to communicate well with the
public in matters of public safety
and concern,” she said.
See
CHIEF 9A
B Y J ACK D AVIS
Siuslaw News
PHOTOS BY JACK DAVIS/SIUSLAW NEWS
Gina Halpin’s fourth-grade class awaits the arrival of their fellow students to share their knowledge
of the Lewis and Clark expedition. Below, Ian Young shows his edible display of Fort Clatsop.
CLASSROOM
EXPEDITION
Siuslaw fourth-graders discover Lewis and Clark
B Y J ACK D AVIS
Siuslaw News
H
istory came alive for 32 of Gina Halpin’s
fourth-grade students, as they took on the
Common Core
project of the
Lewis and Clark expedition.
Each student chose one
of nine expedition projects,
including Fort Clatsop (the
fort Lewis and Clark built
at the mouth of the
Columbia River), President
Thomas Jefferson,
Sacagawea and even
Seaman, the dog that
accompanied the expedi-
tion.
The project was sched-
uled to last five weeks, but
was so popular that it
stretched to 12 weeks, cul-
minating in an afternoon
presentation to the other
elementary school grades earlier this month.
“Students had to create timelines, taking events and
putting them into sequential order; do background
research on the person or animal they picked; create a
tri-fold display and develop a personal narrative to
present to the class,” Halpin said.
One Common Core feature was to compare the dif-
ferences and similarities between the students’ lives
today and the person or animal they were studying in
the early 1800s.
Students split into teams
to discuss how they would
overcome the obstacles that
the Lewis and Clark expedi-
tion faced.
Then they had to research
to see if they were correct.
“Common Core requires
more writing than Oregon
Assessment of Skills and
Knowledge (OAKS),”
Halpin said. “If you can
explain something, rather
than just click on an answer
and maybe get lucky, it
helps with verbal skills,
vocabulary and writing
skills. Any child that can
actually lay it out in their
own handwriting ... has a deeper understanding of
what they are studying.”
See
SCHOOL 9A
NIKE AWARDS MAPLETON HIGH $25K GRANT
Funds support college
prep training
B Y J ACK D AVIS
Siuslaw News
Mapleton High School Principal
Brenda Moyer was recently informed
that the Nike School Innovation Fund
had approved a $25,877 grant to allow
eight of Mapleton’s nine high school
INSIDE
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Courts
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In Brief
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SideShow
Sports
teachers to attend the Advancement
Via Individual Determination (AVID)
training session in Denver, Co., July
23 to 25.
Nike made AVID grants available to
up to 50 Oregon schools.
“I don’t know how many high
schools applied,” Moyer said, “but we
were thrilled to be selected.”
The ninth teacher won’t be left
behind. Moyer said the district would
use federal Title funds made available
Your
A8
A2
A4
B4
B
Rotarians apparently don’t like to
come up short.
After raising more than $94,000
last month from the annual Rotary
Auction, the Florence club received
a few last-minute donations that
pushed the final fundraising amount
beyond its 2015 goal of $100,000.
According to Rotary Auction co-
chairs Kevin McMullen and Bobbie
Brubaker, four donors gave an addi-
tional $7,500, which brought the
final total, after expenses, to more
than $101,000.
“This is the largest auction to
date for our club,” McMullen said.
“It’s amazing how supportive the
community is, and we thank each
and every one of them for their
continued support.”
The funds help pay for local stu-
dent scholarships and to support
other community projects.
through the Elementary and Second-
ary Education Act to cover the costs.
“It is a very intense three-day con-
ference with big sessions and breakout
sessions,” Moyer said. “Our math
teachers will be in different sessions
than our language arts instructors.
They do curriculum focus. To be able
to meet up with other teachers from
across the country within the same
curriculum is energizing. The net-
working is unbelievable.”
AVID is a one-time training pro-
gram. When new teachers are hired, if
the district can’t afford to send them to
training, they are trained in house.
“AVID is designed to promote stu-
dents who are at a higher risk for not
going to college — to give those stu-
dents the support and instruction they
need to get to college,” Moyer
explained.
Weather
T ODAY
S UNDAY
M ONDAY
T UESDAY
Clouds
& Sun
60
45
Sunny
Partly
Sunny
62
48
Mostly
Sunny
58
47
63
46
SPORTS — B
See
MAPLETON 9A
Port fills
vacancy
David Huntington
to finish Fleenor’s
remaining term
B Y J ACK D AVIS
Siuslaw News
During the April 15 board meet-
ing, Port of Siuslaw commissioners
voted David Huntington to fill the
remaining two months of commis-
sion position No. 4, which became
vacant when Bill Fleenor submitted
his resignation last month.
Fleenor cited potential business
conflict of interest as the reason for
his resignation. Huntington had pre-
viously indicated he would be run-
ning for position No. 4 when
Fleenor’s term expired at the end of
June. He is the only candidate who
filed for the seat.
“He’s young, vibrant and ener-
getic, and I think he will be good for
the port,” commission President Ron
Caputo said.
In other business, commissioners
continued to discuss proposed rate
increases for the port’s marina and
campground.
“We have an increase in electricity
and water. We have to make a change
in these rates,” said Commissioner
Nancy Rickard. “There were six or
seven years when there were absolute-
ly no increases at all. We have to do
something to get some income.”
See
PORT 9A
CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK
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