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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (May 13, 2015)
THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM ❘ / SIUSLAWNEWS ❘ @ THESIUSLAWNEWS WEDNESDAY EDITION DUNES TRIATHLON ❘ MAY 13, 2015 ❘ $1.00 Old Town gallery expands COAST LIFE — B SPORTS — C SERVING WESTERN LANE COUNTY SINCE 1890 FLORENCE, OREGON E LECTION Part II of II focuses on candidates for local emergency services, Port of Siuslaw Ambulance, fire districts face contested races B Y C HANTELLE M EYER Siuslaw News PHOTO BY NED HICKSON/SIUSLAW NEWS READY TO ROCK Members of the 2015 Rhododendron Court and Florence City Council welcome the community to the 108th annual Rhododendron Festival, set to “Rock ‘n’ Rhody” this weekend, May 15-17. Returning events include the Davis Shows Northwest Carnival (above), which opens this afternoon, the Junior Parade at noon on Saturday, and the annual Grand Floral Parade at noon on Sunday. Look for a special Rhododendron Festival program in today’s paper for more festival details. See Siuslaw News INSIDE Instead of the nearly 200 Stellar sea lions normally seen in and around Sea Lion Caves, about 10 miles north of Florence, only one young mother and her pup recently occupied the central island. The female gave birth on Mother’s Day, but without the aid that sea lions often receive from other females because she has a large orange fishing “flasher” Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . Coast Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . In Brief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Library Tidings . . . . . . . . . . . C6 B A7 A5 B Y J ACK D AVIS Siuslaw News PHOTO BY CHANTELLE MEYER/SIUSLAW NEWS hanging from the corner of her mouth. “Sea lions are intelligent,” said Sea Lion Caves General Manager Duane “Boomer” Wright. “They see that flasher and they’re skit- tish.” The sea lion was wrapped in fishing line and had ingested a salmon fishing hook. The pup appeared to be smaller than the average sea lion baby. According to Wright, Stellar sea lions usually give birth to 30- to 40-pound pups. This one looked Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Police . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Weather Data . . . . . . . . . . . ELECTION 6A Positions on port, water districts up for vote SEA LION MOTHER, PUP SUBJECT OF WORRY B Y C HANTELLE M EYER The May 19 Special Election is now less than one week away, and Florence yards and busi- nesses have started sporting candidate signs. Western Lane Ambulance District (WLAD) has an interesting candidate race ahead, as there are four candidates for two open director posi- tions. WLAD director position 2 only has one can- didate, incumbent Richard E. Childs, who is a retired special agent with Naval Criminal Investigative Service. WLAD director position 1 has three candi- dates, incumbent Karl Enlund, Brian Jagoe and Cindy A. Russell. Enlund is retired and previously worked with Oregon State Police, Johnston Motors, Gary Foglio Trucking and R & R King Logging. He joined the WLAD budget committee in 2006 and has served on the board of directors since 2008. Jagoe is a senior captain with Siuslaw Valley Fire and Rescue (SVFR) and a principal broker at TR Hunter Real Estate. He has also served in the U.S. Navy and was a Florence City Councilor from 2011 to 2014. Russell is a registered nurse in the emergency department at PeaceHealth Peace Harbor Medical Center. She also is president of the Lady Elks and chairperson of the Rhododendron Quilt Guild. A4 A2 C A2 as small as 15 pounds and possi- bly premature. “Usually, the other mothers help nurse and care for pups,” he said. But the flasher and hard to reach surface kept the other females away. Alone on the island, the risk was high that the pup could fall off the rock and into the surf. It disappeared during the day on Monday. Wright contacted Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport for assistance, but they were THIS WEEK ’ S unable to help. They would have had to enter the cave from the ocean and face hard-to-navigate waters. Wright hopes the hook will wear a hole large enough so that it will fall out and the sea lion will be able to disentangle herself. Until then, Sea Lions Caves staff will continue to monitor the situation. Visitors to the caves, 91560 Highway 101, will still be able to see Stellar and California sea lions on the lookouts around the caves. TODAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY 58 47 60 49 59 48 59 47 WEATHER Full Forecast, A3 Three candidates are running for two open seats on the Port of Siuslaw Commission this election. Position 2 has two candidates, current commissioner Nancy Rickard and challenger Bill Reagan. Rickard was elected to the board in 2013 to fill the remaining two years of Joshua Greene's term. In addition to having served two years as a port commissioner, Rickard was a Siuslaw School District board member for 14 years. Reagan, a retired truck driver, listed no prior governmental experience. Fishing guide David Huntington is running for re-election to position 4. Huntington was selected by the board to fill the position vacated by Bill Fleenor who resigned in March, citing a potential business conflict of interest. Chuck Gesik and Debby Todd are running unopposed for re-election to the Heceta Water District Board of Directors. Gesik and Todd are seeking positions 4 and 3, respectively. Position 5, currently held by Robert Hursh, has no candi- date running. Mapleton Water District has three current board members running unopposed for re-elec- tion. Larry Baxter is running for re-election to position 4. Marilyn Fox is seeking re-election to position 3, and Frank Wilson is again running for position 5. S IUSLAW N EWS 125 TH Y EAR ❘ I SSUE N O . 38 C OPYRIGHT 2015 CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK Race for local boards heats up