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ROCK AROUND THE COURT TONIGHT
B Y C HANTELLE M EYER
Siuslaw News
Students in the Senior and Junior
Rhododendron Courts welcome the
public to the Rhododendron Court
Scholarship Showcase at Florence
Events Center (FEC) tonight, May 6,
at 6:30 p.m.
For some students, being in the
Rhododendron Court is something
they have wanted for a long time.
stro,
Dotson, Keoni Ca
Princes Joseph
s
fe
rif
G
d Jonathan
Trey Cornish an
Princesses Kenn
edy Roylance, Tr
ista Lane,
Courtney King,
Bailey Wells and
Natalie Madden
Senior Court
Princess Ariana Galvan Mendez,
Mapleton Elementary third grader,
OPB
to close
Safeway
branch
said, “I always wanted to be a Rhody
princess my whole life.”
Fifth-grade Princess Elizabeth Perez,
Siuslaw Elementary, said, “I know that
B Y C HANTELLE M EYER
Siuslaw News
Siuslaw News
Classifieds
B8
Library Tidings A5
Obituaries
A6
Opinion
A4
PHOTOS BY RYAN CRONK & JACK DAVIS/SIUSLAW NEWS
LIVE GREEN
M
ore than two dozen vendors filled the Florence Events Center last Saturday, sharing
environmentally friendly products, advice and ideas with hundreds of visitors during
the sixth annual Florence Green Fair. New to this year’s event was the Kids Zone, fea-
turing interactive craft projects and a planting station just for youth. Rhody Court roy-
alty helped out with the event, and JR Beaver from the U.S. Forest Service made a special guest
appearance. More photos will soon be posted online at www.TheSiuslawNews.com.
The City of Florence could have
its first operational medical marijua-
na facility as early as May 12.
At the Planning Commission’s
recent meeting, commissioners
approved a conditional use permit for
Buds4U to operate a medical mari-
juana facility at 1480 Rhododendron
Drive. Buds4U also operates at
10692 Highway 126 Suite No. 2 in
Mapleton.
According to Oregon Health
Authority (OHA), “A medical mari-
juana dispensary is a facility, regis-
tered by OHA, that is allowed to
receive marijuana or immature mari-
juana plants and transfer that mari-
juana to a patient or a patient’s care-
giver with an Oregon Medical
Marijuana Program card.”
City staff and the Planning
Commission defined several condi-
tions for Buds4U’s Florence permit.
Dustin Foskett, who applied for
Buds4U, responded to each condi-
tion, including agreeing to the plant-
ing of trees and shrubs, the addition
of a curb and defining the driveway
and parking.
Buds4U is only waiting on a per-
mit from OHA to begin dispensing
on or after Tuesday, May 12.
Foskett, who describes himself as
a “local boy,” also addressed the
Planning Commission and the audi-
ence with an opening statement.
“I felt that as a local boy I should
address the public, the local commu-
nity, with any concerns,” he said.
“It is the position of Buds4U that
the business of the medical marijuana
facility is providing multiple social
benefits to the local community,” he
said. “These benefits have to do with,
but are not limited to, safeguarding
minors from acquiring marijuana ille-
gally, providing medical alternatives
to our community and contributing to
the end of marijuana prohibition.”
BANK 9A
Police
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INSIDE
W E D N E S D AY
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COURT 9A
Buds4U to open
city’s first medical
marijuana dispensary
B Y J ACK D AVIS
See
See
Marijuana
business
expands to
Florence
F LORENCE G REEN F AIR
Main branch to extend
hours, add Saturday
banking to compensate
Florence-area customers of
Oregon Pacific Bank (OPB) recently
received letters announcing the
pending closure of the bank’s
Safeway branch, at 700 Highway
101, on July 31.
On Saturday, Aug. 1, the main
OPB branch, at 1355 Highway 101,
will begin Saturday banking from 9
a.m. to 1 p.m. and will extend week-
day business hours to 6 p.m.,
Monday through Friday.
The Safeway branch has been in
operation since June 1, 1995.
“We have been monitoring activi-
ties in the Safeway branch for better
than two years,” OPB President Ron
Green said. “What drove this deci-
sion was technology.”
According to Green, online bank-
ing, mobile banking and ATM
machines are how many people now
get their account information and
services from banks. He said this has
driven the number of transactions
down at the Safeway branch.
“Virtually 100 percent of all new
account, lending and wealth manage-
ment services are administered from
our Florence branch,” Green said.
In addition, the bank’s lease was
expiring and Safeway wanted OPB
to sign another 10-year lease.
“Given that this is a duplication of
services we offer right down the
street, we felt that it wasn’t cost effec-
tive for the bank,” Green explained.
“We look at our clients, our staff, our
shareholders and our community and
we make business decisions based on
what the impact is on all four.
“Clearly, when we are paying to
operate a branch that is essentially
doing the same thing a few blocks
down the street; that was redundancy
we needed to eliminate.”
the Rhody Junior Court is a very impor-
tant group in the community. I hope to
help the community, just like the
princesses have done in the past.”
There are many reasons to join the
court, and students had to apply and
explain why they should be chosen.
“I want to be a princess because I
like being nice and helping people,”
said Siuslaw Elementary first-grade
Princess Olivia Moore.
“It would be something that I could be
proud of,” said Siuslaw Elementary sec-
ond-grade Princess Adelaide Ficcadenti.
“Also, princesses make people smile. I
love making people smile.”
Weather
T ODAY
T HURSDAY
F RIDAY
S ATURDAY
Cloudy
Partly
Sunny
59
45
Partly
Sunny
62
46
Mostly
Sunny
63
48
56
43
Sports—B
BUDS 9A
CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK
COURTESY PHOT
OS
2015 Rhododendron
Scholarship Showcase
presented at FEC