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WEDNESDAY EDITION
❘ SEPTEMBER 23, 2015 ❘ $1.00
Vikings
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Book Festival
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ooks.org
SERVING WESTERN LANE COUNTY SINCE 1890
FLORENCE, OREGON
“Our city can grow, and can grow economically. We’re just getting started.” —J OE H ENRY , F LORENCE M AYOR
City begins work
to attract developers
to Florence area
B Y C HANTELLE M EYER
Siuslaw News
Florence Mayor Joe Henry is
excited for the city’s prospects in the
coming years.
In an interview at Florence City
Hall on Sept. 14, Henry and City
Manager Erin Reynolds spoke about
current trends in economic develop-
ment and what they mean for
Florence.
“When I was elected, there were
two or three main things that I
wanted to see happen in the city,”
Henry said. “One of which was
street maintenance, and our parks,
but just as important was economic
Police
sponsor
prescription
take-back
development.”
He and the other four members of
the city council have worked with
city staff to create an atmosphere for
change — for the better.
“People say that economic devel-
opment should be the mayor and city
council’s No. 1 priority. It is,”
Reynolds emphasized. “Everything
we do touches on economic develop-
ment. We’re taking an even more
intentional focus on it.”
“We’ve kind of been in hibernation
for a number of years and not really
been looking forward to growth,”
Henry said.
Since January, the city council has
worked toward many of their goals.
They created the Economic
Development Committee to focus
attention on projects, funding and a
direction for the city.
The seven members of the com-
mittee bring their various back-
B Y J ACK D AVIS
Siuslaw News
F
lorence Regional Arts Alliance
(FRAA) unveiled the first of what
the group hopes to be many public
art pieces on Friday, Sept. 19. The piece
sits on a landscaped section of Port of
Siuslaw property at the corner of Bay and
Nopal streets in Old Town.
Siuslaw News
INSIDE
The Siuslaw Valley may not have a per-
manent prescription drop-off center any-
more, but the Florence Police Department
(FPD) is working with other officials to
bring National Prescription Drug Take-
Back to the area on Saturday, Sept. 26,
from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at Bi-Mart, 4310
Highway 101.
FPD Chief Tom Turner said the
Florence event is being put on by the Lane
County Sheriff’s Office, the Drug
Enforcement Administration (DEA) and
the FPD.
“We’re going to have a table out in the
parking lot at Bi-Mart where people can
drop off prescriptions,” Turner said.
This is the DEA’s 10th National
Prescription Drug Take-Back event since
2010.
According to the DEA, sites will be set
up throughout communities nationwide so
local residents can return their unwanted,
unneeded or expired prescription drugs
for safe disposal.
The National Prescription Drug Take-
Back helps people remove medicines,
which are “highly susceptible to diver-
sion, misuse and abuse,” the DEA said.
This is a reminder that flushing medi-
cines down the toilet or throwing them
away untreated pose potential safety and
health hazards.
“Prescription drug abuse is a huge
problem and this is a great opportunity for
folks around the country to help reduce
the threat,” said Chuck Rosenberg, DEA
acting administrator. “Please clean out
your medicine cabinet and make your
home safe from drug theft and abuse.”
He added that prescription drug abuse
in the United States is at an alarming rate,
as are the number of accidental poison-
ings and overdoses due to these drugs —
and that those who abuse prescription
drugs obtain them from family, friends
and medicine cabinets.
In the previous nine Take-Back events
from 2010 to 2014 nationwide, 4,823,251
pounds of prescription drugs were collect-
ed.
To find additional Take-Back sites, go
online to www.dea.gov.
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Weather Data . . . . . . . . . . . A2
CITY 9A
Artist Kat Cunningham’s
tiled column pays tribute
to area’s diversity
B Y C HANTELLE M EYER
B8
A5
A2
A4
See
THE ART OF FLORENCE
Drop off expired medicine
Saturday at Bi-Mart
Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Library Tidings . . . . . . . . . . .
Obituaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
grounds in real-estate, mayorship,
manufacturing and managing, direct-
ing and creating businesses to bring a
high level of energy to their projects.
Henry also praised the hiring of
Reynolds as city manager.
“Erin is very in tune with what the
council wants. She is aggressive,
even more than I am, about econom-
ic development,” he said.
See
ART 9A
PHOTOS BY JACK DAVIS/SIUSLAW NEWS
Kat Cunningham, above, stands beside
her completed three-sided, hand-painted
tile column, which was unveiled Friday,
Sept. 18, as the first piece of public art
sponsored by Florence Regional Arts
Alliance. The piece sits on the corner of
Bay and Nopal streets in Old Town, near
the Port of Siuslaw boardwalk.
THIS WEEK ’ S
TODAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
66 51
67 55
66 52
65 51
WEATHER
Full Forecast, A3
S IUSLAW N EWS
125 TH Y EAR ❘ I SSUE N O . 76
C OPYRIGHT 2015
CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ON THE RISE