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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 13, 2016)
THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM ❘ / SIUSLAWNEWS ❘ @ SIUSLAWNEWS SATURDAY EDITION ❘ FEBRUARY 13, 2016 ❘ $1.00 VIKINGS FIGHT HARD SPORTS — B 126TH YEAR ❘ ISSUE NO. 13 FEB. 14 SERVING WESTERN LANE COUNTY SINCE 1890 FLORENCE, OREGON ODOT Bridge work to delay AND THE S ILVER S CREEN traffic Construction crews to set new rails as part of protection project B Y C HANTELLE M EYER Siuslaw News COURTESY PHOTOS Celebrity photographs taken by Richard LaFond (above with his wife, Alice) are on display at the Siuslaw Public Library. Artist Richard LaFond debuts striking portraits at Florence library B Y C HANTELLE M EYER Siuslaw News eal Rock artist Richard LaFond captured some of the most versatile and famous celebrities of the screen as a photographer in the 1960s, but not before capturing the heart of his wife Alice, who togeth- er are celebrating 53 years of mar- riage tomorrow, Feb. 14. “We married on Valentine’s Day, 1963,” Alice said. S The two met in Hollywood, where Alice had traveled to find work. She moved in with two friends, who happened to know Richard. “He came in, this skinny kid on a motorcycle, and sat in our kitchen,” Alice remembered. “He offered to show me around Hollywood.” Within 18 months, the two were married. Siuslaw Public Library, 1460 Ninth St. in Florence, is displaying 40 of Richard’s black-and-white photographs through mid-March. A year ago, the couple showed Richard’s floral photography and Alice’s 2-dimensional art at the library. Mary Colgan-Bennetts, library circulation supervisor, said, “As they were talking, they gave me their history, and I said it sounded like a great show.” She worked with the LaFonds to bring some of Richard’s most famous work to Florence. “They were anxious to do the show. He’s getting older, and they want to get his stuff out there,” Colgan-Bennetts said. Richard worked on the “Steve Allen Show,” taking photos of the guest celebrities for publicity. He used a Hasselblad camera to take still photos, often while the film cameras were rolling. “They were true candid shots,” Alice said. “Richard was the only one who took them.” See PHOTOS 6A Mapleton schools receive $4M state grant for improvements Like Siuslaw, district must pass matching school bond measure to access funds B Y J ACK D AVIS Siuslaw News INSIDE During the Feb. 10 Mapleton School Board meeting, discussion centered around how best to utilize a potential $4 million state grant to complete much- needed repairs and improve- Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Coastal Events . . . . . . . . . . Courts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ments to the district’s aging school buildings. Curt Wilson, a representa- tive from the Eugene firm PIVOT Architecture, out- lined the next steps in prepar- ing to place a $4 million to $5 million school improve- ment bond measure on the May ballot. B9 A8 A2 A4 Three community meet- ings in Mapleton, Deadwood and Swisshome are sched- uled over the next two weeks to present ideas and receive input from the community. The Mapleton meeting is Thursday, Feb. 18, at Mapleton High School; Deadwood is Tuesday, Feb. Religion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A5 SideShow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B8 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B Word on the Street . . . . . . . B2 THIS WEEK ’ S 23, at Deadwood Community Center; and Swisshome is Thursday, Feb. 25, at the Swisshome Church. All three meetings will begin with a 6 p.m. open house, followed by a community meeting from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. According to Wilson, PIVOT will give a presenta- tion on proposed work, which includes preserving the buildings’ history. District Business Manager Maria McEldowney will explain the bond process and how the state matching funds program works. See TODAY SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY 53 50 55 50 60 47 58 50 WEATHER Full Forecast, A3 Oregon Department of Transporta- tion (ODOT) and its contractor, Hamilton Construction Co., are working hard to complete the Siuslaw Bridge Protection Project, which is slated to be finished in February 2019. According to ODOT public infor- mation officers, the current construc- tion goal is to complete the spans over Bay Street by the end of April. This will allow the opening of both lanes of traffic in time for spring vis- itors and Rhododendron Festival traf- fic in May. Mike Stennett, assistant project manager, reported Friday that there will be traffic delays on the bridge from Tuesday, Feb. 16, to Thursday, Feb. 18. “Highway 101 single-lane closures with flagger control will be required starting early morning Tuesday through Thursday for setting new bridge rail on the southeast side,” Stennett said. He said crews will be working on the City of Florence side of the bridge as well as the south end. The single-lane closures will be controlled by flaggers. This allows the contractor to transfer materials and complete the rail work. A pilot vehicle may also be used. “Delays may be up to 20 minutes, but will usually be of a shorter dura- tion,” Stennett said. ODOT is applying a zinc coating to protect and extend the life of the Siuslaw River Bridge. The project includes replacing bridge rail, mak- ing ADA sidewalk improvements at each end of the bridge and earth- quake upgrades. According to ODOT, business access will be maintained at all times. Traffic for pedestrians and vehicles on Bay Street will continue to be controlled by signs. Hamilton Construction is working on multiple spans of the nine spans of the north end of the bridge. Each span takes about two to three months to complete. Each span requires the building of a containment structure, concrete and rebar repair, checking that the steel in the bridge is electri- cally continuous, sandblasting the concrete, applying a zinc coating to the concrete and installing electrical hardware to create an electrical cur- rent that activates the coating. According to ODOT, Old Town residents and businesses near the bridge are enduring the zinc coating application over the next couple of weeks. SCHOOL 6A S IUSLAW N EWS 2 S ECTIONS ❘ 24 P AGES C OPYRIGHT 2016 See BRIDGE 6A CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK Leonard Nimoy & Carol Burnett