10 A
SIUSLAW NEWS ❚ WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2016
2015 YEAR IN REVIEW continued
Review
from 9A
MAY
Oregon Pacific Bank
to close Safeway branch
Florence-area customers of
Oregon Pacific Bank (OPB)
recently received letters
announcing the pending clo-
sure of the OPB Safeway
branch on July 31.
On Saturday, Aug. 1, the
main branch, located at 1355
Highway 101, will begin
Saturday banking and will
extend weekday business
hours to 6 p.m., Monday
through Friday.
The Safeway branch, at 700
Highway 101, has operated
since June 1, 1995.
According to OPB President
Ron Green, online banking,
mobile banking and ATM
machines are how many peo-
ple now get their account
information and services from
banks. He said this has driven
the number of transactions
down at the Safeway branch.
Rhody rocks!
After a weekend with more
than 25,000 people in atten-
dance, the 108th annual
Rhododendron Festival in
Florence has come to a close.
People flocked to Old Town
and the Port of Siuslaw to
attend the festival’s events.
The Grand Floral Parade
had 80 entries, many featuring
rhododendron flowers and the
festival’s theme, “Let’s Rock
’n’ Rhody.” Parade Grand
Marshal was Amy Clawson,
local country singer.
Results are tallied
Many new faces will occupy
local boards and commissions
after Lane County announced
Tuesday evening the results of
the May 19 Special Election.
Lane County has 206,370
registered voters, but only
about 35 percent cast ballots,
with 71,717 received by the 8
p.m. deadline on Tuesday.
The big news is that the
Lane County Vehicle
Registration Fee did not pass.
Despite support from Lane
County Commissioner Jay
Bozievich, Florence City
Council and other county
cities, Measure 20-231 failed
with 46,925 votes against, or
66 percent. Only 23,855 voters
were for the fee, or 34 percent.
The mandatory fee would
have put money into county
and city roads now that rev-
enue sources to maintain and
build roadways have dried up.
JUNE
Recreational marijuana
use legal next month
Wednesday, July 1, marks
the first day for the legal use
of recreational marijuana in
Oregon.
Florence Police Department
Lt. John Pitcher said, “Now
the possession of marijuana
will no longer be a crime, as
long as people abide by the
new law. ... I’m not expecting
any trouble.”
He also reminded the public
that driving under the influ-
ence of marijuana is illegal. An
important part of the law is
that people can use marijuana
recreationally, but only in pri-
vate.
Fire strikes local
storage facility
Siuslaw Valley Fire and
Rescue (SVFR) received its
first call about a fire at 4044
Highway 101 at 6:30 a.m. on
Tuesday. The first responders
were on the scene at Pacific
Pines RV Park and Storage,
owned by Brian and Linda
Stent, within five minutes.
“The call came in as a pick-
up fire in a storage unit,” said
Fire Marshal Sean Barrett.
Three units were involved in
the fire at first.
“Fire was coming out and
doors were missing on all
three units with heavy fire,
heavy heat,” Barrett said.
Acknowledging the size of
the fire and the nature of the
row of attached units, SVFR
called outside emergency
groups for assistance. Barrett
estimates that 25 to 30 people
responded. No one was hurt,
but damages to the structure
and content were later estimat-
ed to be more than $5 million.
Emergency department
expansion breaks ground
PeaceHealth Peace Harbor
Medical Center officially
began a new 4,700-square-foot
addition to its Emergency
Department
(ED) on
Friday as Dr.
A.J. Brauer
turned over the
first shovel-
full.
Kay King,
volunteer direc-
tor for Leave a
Legacy, Save a
Life Emergency
Department
Fundraising Drive, and other
community members also par-
ticipated in the ceremony.
The new ED will include
nine private rooms, two dedi-
cated triage rooms, two large
trauma rooms, a private con-
sultation room and a separate
waiting area. The expanded
ED is projected to meet the
needs of the community
through 2030.
PeaceHealth’s $5 million
campaign was the largest
fundraising effort in the history
of Florence.
JULY
Family takes over ABC
Preschool
The Alice Brauer Christian
(ABC) Preschool, located in
the New Life Lutheran Church
at 2100 Spruce St., will reopen
Aug. 3.
Stacie Navarro and her
daughter Meggan Haflett will
operate the preschool, which
will have an initial capacity of
20 children from 3 to 6 years
old. Haflett and one aid will be
in charge of the classroom and
Navarro will act as a consult-
ant.
Navarro was the director
when Boys and Girls Club of
Western Lane County operated
the facility, which closed earli-
er this year due to budget cuts.
Teen Center to reopen
this fall
The newly painted and
remodeled Boys and Girls
Club of Western Lane County
Teen Center, at 1601 15th St.,
will reopen in September. The
opening is set to coincide with
the start of the 2015-16 school
year.
The center will be open to
all members in grades seven
through 12.
The remodel is not the only
improvement afoot. Three spe-
cific programs adopted from
the Boys and Girls Club of
America curriculum specifical-
ly designed to help increase
student graduation rates have
been added to the club’s after-
school agenda.
Return of the Chief
Siuslaw Valley Fire and
Rescue (SVFR) Chief Jim
Langborg returned to his posi-
tion Wednesday after the five
members of the board of direc-
tors rescinded its ruling to
relieve him of his duties last
week.
“I am ready to get back to
work and serve our firefighters
and citizens,”
Langborg said in a
statement released
after Tuesday’s rul-
ing. “SVFR has
gone through a
tough week but I
take great comfort
in knowing that
the men and
women of this
Fire District are
highly dedicated professionals
who share my passion for
serving this community.”
The SVFR board held a spe-
cial meeting Tuesday night in
response to the ruling to dis-
miss Langborg that was made
at their regular meeting on
July 15. Director Lori Gates
made a motion to rescind her
former motion that terminated
the contract with Langborg.
“I had conversations with
community members and fire
district members contrary to
what I had previously been
told,” Gates said.
grant from the Oregon Parks
and Recreation Local
Government Grant Program.
The grant will allow Lane
County to rehabilitate and
reopen the 4.5-acre camp-
ground and day use area locat-
ed along Knowles Creek.
According to Lane County,
reopening the campground has
been a priority of area resi-
dents since the closure, when a
group called “Save Archie”
was formed to promote
reopening the site.
The USFS closed the camp-
ground because it was deemed
too expensive to renovate and
maintain.
Lane County has been in
negotiations with the forest
service to take over the camp-
ground since it closed three
years ago.
AUGUST
Rhody breaks ground
Florence Mayor Joe Henry
and other city officials began
the North Rhododendron Drive
Paving Improvement at a cere-
mony Aug. 5.
Construction will begin
Aug. 21, between the entrance
to Greentrees Village and
Wildwinds, and will include a
one-day road closure. Work
includes a grind/inlay of a
two-inch thick hot mix asphalt
cement (HMAC) roadway sur-
face along Rhododendron
Drive from Ninth to
Wildwinds streets.
Henry said he was excited
to start on the project.
“Not only are we breaking
ground today, it’s ground-
breaking,” he said.
able to hire an executive direc-
tor,” Trent said.
SEPTEMBER
Defusing the situation
Doors open at new
full-day kindergarten
For the very first time, the
five-room modular full-day
kindergarten building and an
estimated 100
kindergarten stu-
dents will share a
common experi-
ence — the first
day of school.
Students, par-
ents, staff,
administrators
and board mem-
bers celebrated
the upcoming
occasion with
an Aug. 27 ribbon-cutting,
officiated over by Florence
Area Chamber of Commerce
Ambassadors, and a barbecue
held at the new school build-
ing, located on the west end of
the Siuslaw Elementary School
north parking lot.
The ceremony and food
were the culmination of a day
in which parents and prospec-
tive students toured the facili-
ties, met teachers and adminis-
trators and determined which
classes were best suited for
their children.
When a cleanup crew work-
ing across the parking lot from
Dunes City Hall recently dis-
covered two World War II era
practice bombs, concerns were
justifiably
raised over what
else might be
lurking beneath
the dirt pile.
According to
Dunes City
Mayor Rebecca
Ruede, the two
practice bombs
were initially mis-
taken for 60-mil-
limeter mortar
rounds, as they were similar in
appearance, during the Aug. 19
cleanup.
On Sept. 3, the Eugene
Bomb Squad and a bomb dis-
posal unit from the Portland
Air National Guard descended
on Dunes City to clear the area
of any additional munitions.
Fortunately, none were found.
“It’s not often that we call
out the National Guard,”
Ruede said.
See
REVIEW 11A
Club announces new
director
Boys and Girls Club of
Western Lane County voted
retired business executive
Chuck Trent, 63, as acting
executive director during its
July 30 meeting. Trent will
serve without pay in order to
help the club continue to stabi-
lize financially.
He has made a one-year
commitment to serve as direc-
tor.
“Hopefully, by that time we
will be far enough along in
bringing the club back to sta-
bility that we would then be
Archie Knowles saved
The Archie Knowles
Campground, located four
miles east of Mapleton on
Highway 126 and closed by
the U.S. Forest Service
(USFS) in 2012, will reopen
under the jurisdiction of Lane
County, thanks to an $84,976
Liing Life to the Fullest & Feeling Younger Longer
(541) 997-6111
375 9th St
Florence, OR 97439
www.spruce-point.com
Tuesday 1/5
Cheryl Jordan
Dixie Buss
Florence
Florence
Bella’s Salon
Rite Aid
Wednesday 1/6
Lili Hillis
Nora Lupton
Florence
Florence
Safeway
Morgan’s Country Kitchen
Thursday 1/7
Christine Warye
Raymond Bray
Florence
Florence
Safeway
Safeway
Friday 1/8
Bobbi Brubaker
Lois Warde
Florence
Florence
Cheveux Spa
Safeway
Saturday 1/9
Donna Graves
Sharon Price
Florence
Florence
Safeway
Abby’s Pizza
Sunday 1/10
Diane Erwin
Bonnie Kramer
Florence
Florence
Three Rivers Casino Resort
Safeway
Monday 1/11
Linda McPerdran
Raymond Bray
Florence
Florence
Safeway
Safeway
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