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WEDNESDAY EDITION
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TRIATHLON
❘ MAY 13, 2015 ❘ $1.00
Old Town
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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 . . . . . . . . . . .
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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.
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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
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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