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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 13, 2016)
SIUSLAW NEWS ❚ WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2016 11 A 2015 YEAR IN REVIEW continued Review from 10A Renovation to help bridge span years Construction signs are now up in Old Town — “Bridge Work Ahead” — following the start of a major renovation project by Oregon Department of Transportation on the Siuslaw River Bridge this week, and Bay Street is where it will all begin. For the next five to six months, the small ODOT park- ing lot next to the river under the bridge will be closed and there will be some one-lane closures intermittently — but businesses on Bay Street will suffer only minor incon- venience. Crews should be out of Bay Street by the Rhododendron Festival in May. The Art of Florence Florence Regional Arts Alliance (FRAA) unveiled the first of what the group hopes to be many public art pieces on 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. Artist Kat Cunningham hand-painted the three-sided, tiled column that represents three of the most well-known features of Florence: the Port of Siuslaw, the Siuslaw River and the dunes. It took her about two months to complete. In total, $7,500 was raised to fund the project. Friday after- noon, the artistic labor of love was unveiled to an appreciative crowd that included port and city officials and many mem- bers of the Florence artistic community. Port manager resigns Port of Siuslaw Manager Bob Forsythe submitted his resignation letter Sept. 23 to port board President Ron Caputo. Forsythe, 65, has been port manager since March 2012. At the time he accepted the posi- tion, he agreed to serve as manager for three to five years. When Forsythe took over the management of the port, he and the board developed a list of 41 goals to accomplish. “We have accomplished 37 of them,” Forsythe said. OCTOBER Case closed for Justice of the Peace Local officials spoke Wednesday afternoon at a retirement party for Cindy Cable, now Cindy Forsythe, who retired as Lane County Justice of the Peace after nearly 25 years. “With my retirement, I am retiring my name ‘Cable’ and I’ll be ‘Forsythe’ from now on,” Forsythe said. In her term of service in the Lane County Justice Court, she counts more than 600 small claims, 1,200 weddings, 6,000 civil cases and 86,000 criminal and traffic cases. “And I have a million mem- ories,” Forsythe said. Lane County Commissioner Jay Bozievich said Forsythe was instrumental in keeping a justice court in Lane County. “We made sure, because of her advocacy, that this was the only Justice Court to remain open,” Bozievich said. #IamUCC Lane Community College (LCC) Florence joined other community colleges around the nation in a solidarity effort Thursday at 11 a.m. to memo- rialize last week’s tragic shoot- ing at Umpqua Community College (UCC) in Roseburg. More than 1,130 community colleges participated in the minute-long moment of silence. According to LCC Let Paul show you a new car or truck. Stop by today! Florence Interim Director Russ Pierson, LCC and UCC have a strong relationship and are sis- ter colleges. “I have felt here in Florence that there is a similar size and spirit to our two communities,” Pierson said. Hilden retires, councilor steps in Dunes City administrator Fred Hilden has retired from his position after two years on the job. Hilden, 65, was pro- moted to city administrator in August 2013 after serving as city recorder since April 2010. City councilor Jamie Mills was appointed to assume the role of interim administrator. According to Mills, Hilden, who turned 65 in May, had been talking about retirement for several months. She is uncertain whether or not this will be a permanent move for her. SOS burns mortgage Fortunately for Siuslaw Outreach Services (SOS), Lane County lifted its burn ban in time for the non- profit organiza- tion to hold a “Burn the Mortgage” party on Oct. 28. The third annual SOS Soiree was held Oct. 4 at Homegrown Public House and attracted more than 60 participants. A total of $26,353 was raised, covering the mortgage balance of approximately $23,400. The original mortgage was dated March 14, 1994, and was for $153,000. SOS Executive Director David Wiegan said SOS is “now debt free.” NOVEMBER Protecting a park Lane County Parks (LCP) is working on a draft of its Master Plan Update, which indicates the proposed sale of Ocean Woods Park, a 40-acre undeveloped county park with- in the City of Florence’s urban growth boundary. More than 70 area residents attended a meeting at the Florence Elks Lodge on Wednesday to discuss the park. A petition against Ocean Woods’ sale already has more than 300 signatures. Many of the properties near Heceta South and Idylwood subdivisions border or have views of the park, located at the end of Heceta Park Way from the north and Saltaire Street from the south. The park provides seasonal birdwatching opportunities and chances to glimpse bears, eagles, deer and other wildlife. The meeting provided back- ground information on the his- tory of Ocean Woods Park — which has belonged to Lane County since 1940 — as well as on legal issues tied to past attempts to sell the property. B&G Club stunned by major gift Approximately three weeks ago, John and Patricia Hardison walked through the doors of the Boys and Girls Club of Western Lane County and introduced themselves to club executive director Chuck Trent. Trent was up front in admit- ting that if the club were to close, the Boys and Girls Club of America would never char- ter another club in the Florence area. John Hardison then told Trent that he had some good news and some bad news for the club. “The good news,” Trent said, “was that John was going to give the club some money. The bad news was that the club wouldn’t get it until he died. You see, John has incurable cancer and told me, ‘My time is limited.’” Trent and the other club board members had been saddled with the Herculean task of digging the club out of a financial hole that had been years in the making. The Hardisons gave the club $182,000 in cash, and an addi- tional $17,000 from an auto- motive transaction to fund scholarships. Applebee to retire from chamber Florence Area Chamber of Commerce announced that Executive Director Cal Applebee will retire in February after nearly five years. Applebee, 64, moved with his wife to Florence in 2005. Applebee first joined the chamber in 2009, after he left the title and escrow industry and started doing business development. He soon joined the board of directors, and, in 2011, became executive direc- tor of the chamber. Besides working with cham- ber functions, Applebee and fellow military vehicle enthusi- ast Tim Sapp started the Veterans Day Parade. They were also integral in starting the momentum of the Oregon A LICE B RAUER C HRISTIAN P RESCHOOL 2150 Hwy. 101 • Florence (541) 997-3475 • 1-800-348-3475 Coast Military Museum, which opened this year. While he has been executive director, the chamber has near- ly doubled its business mem- bership and increased the num- ber of events it sponsors for the City of Florence and its constituents. “The primary purpose of the facility is for seniors in our community, but it can be uti- lized by people of all ages.” Once the restriction lifts, the center can rent space out to local groups for meetings and events, in addition to their reg- ular programming. 2 dead after dispute Storm toll continues An early morning shooting that police are calling a mur- der-suicide left two brothers dead Sunday on Hemlock Street in Florence. “It is the first murder inside the city limits in 23 years,” Florence Police Chief Tom Turner said. The police department received a call at about 2:39 a.m. on Nov. 15 reporting a shooting in the 400 block of Hemlock Street. According to the police, Gary Circle, 51, of Dexter, Ore., went to his brother’s resi- dence on Saturday at about 10:30 p.m. During this visit, the two men engaged in a dis- pute, allegedly over property. Around 2:30 a.m., Gary Circle left the residence and got into his truck parked out- side when his brother, Joseph Circle, 55, of Florence, came out of the home and shot him. Joseph Circle then went back into the residence and shot himself. After a full week of heavy rains and high winds, the waters continue to rise in the Florence and Mapleton areas. Statewide, the storm caused Gov. Kate Brown to declare a state of emergency in 13 counties, including Lane, Lincoln, Linn and Benton. Locally, the Siuslaw River flooded areas from Cushman to the Port of Siuslaw. Highway 126 at Cushman was closed for several hours due to high water. Siuslaw National Forest closed South Jetty Road, start- ing at parking lot No. 5, about five miles from the Highway 101 intersection south of Florence, due to erosion. Ten Mile Road, north of Florence off Highway 101, was also closed due to a landslide and trees blocking the roadway. On Friday, the U.S. Coast Guard closed all river entrances, including the Siuslaw River, indefinitely due to severe conditions and debris in the water. Many state parks were also closed due to high surf and storm debris. Bells will ring The Salvation Army will soon bring holiday cheer to locations in Florence, starting Thanksgiving Day. Geraldine Lucio and Old Town Barbershop hosted the Salvation Army’s Kettle Kick-off Thursday. Florence Mayor Joe Henry, Florence Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Cal Applebee and Grocery Outlet owner Woody Woodbury joined local pilot Sam Spayd in supporting the effort to raise money for west- ern Lane County. Six locations in Florence will have kettles daily from Thursday, Nov. 26, to Christmas Eve, Dec. 24, including Fred Meyer, BiMart, Grocery Outlet, Safeway and Old Town Barbershop on Bay Street. Salvation Army volunteer coordinator Janet Snow and director of planned giving Bill Olson are working to get addi- tional volunteers in the Florence area. Their Red Kettle Campaign goal is to raise $10,000 in the area. DECEMBER Simplify your financial life. Let’s talk. SEE’S CANDY FUNDRAISER! Sweets for your Sweetheart Just in time for Valentine’s Day! Please stop by, call or email to pre-order your candy and help with our Graduation fundraiser! Alice Brauer Christian Preschool Meggan Haslett, Director, 541-603-1562 abchristianprek@gmail.com • 21st and Spruce Street COME SEE US AT PARK PLACE! Andy Baber, AAMS® Financial Advisor . 1010 Highway 101 Florence, OR 97439 541-997-8755 www.edwardjones.com your source for natural medicine 1845 Highway 126, Suite H Dr. Mark Immel, Naturopathic Physician Patricia Immel, Lic. Acupuncturist & Herbalist 541-902-8860 Member SIPC www.TheWellspringClinic.com Dawn of a new age for Senior Center Florence Senior Center will be able to host events for a larger age range starting Monday, Dec. 14, when the 60-and- above age restric- tions are lifted. The City of Florence received a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) to con- struct the Senior Center on city property at 1570 Kingwood St. It was completed in 2010. The CDBG included restric- tions that limited the use of the facility to seniors 60 years or older, as defined by the state and federal governments. According to the grant con- tract, the restrictions would end after five years. The agreement now reads, Mercer Lake slide kills 1 Continuing heavy rains satu- rated the landscape this week and caused two landslides in the Florence area, including one at Mercer Lake and Santa roads that destroyed homes and left one woman dead. On Friday, Dec. 18, Siuslaw Valley Fire and Rescue (SVFR) responded to a land- slide at 3:15 a.m. on Mercer Lake Road near milepost 1.4 at Santa Road. On arrival, SVFR crews found a large landslide that had caused significant damage to two residential structures. The landslide pushed dirt, trees and other debris into both buildings. One of the structures was occupied by two adults and two dogs. Delores Miller, 70, and one of the dogs were killed. Her husband, who was also in the residence, suffered minor injuries and was able to call 911. The other dog was unharmed. The other structure was unoccupied. Mapleton schools consider state grant A newly passed state Senate Bill may allow the Mapleton School District to take advan- tage of a 2-1 matching fund grant offered through the Oregon Department of Education to pay for long over- due facility maintenance and upgrades. The school district could be eligible for up to $4 million in state grant funds, but in order to take advantage of the grant, the dis- trict must have voters approve a bond measure to cover one-third of the cost, up to $2 million. That would give the school district up to $6 mil- lion for badly needed improve- ments. The last time the Mapleton School District passed a bond measure was more than 50 years ago when the school complex was built. ❖