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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (March 30, 2016)
THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM ❘ / SIUSLAWNEWS ❘ @ SIUSLAWNEWS WEDNESDAY EDITION Spring sports preview READ ACROSS AMERICA SCHOOL ZONE SPORTS — B 126TH YEAR ❘ ISSUE NO. 26 ❘ MARCH 30, 2016 ❘ $1.00 SERVING WESTERN LANE COUNTY SINCE 1890 FLORENCE, OREGON HOSPITAL EXPANSION Peace Harbor’s $5M project stays on budget and on time for September completion B Y J ACK D AVIS Siuslaw News eaceHealth Peace Harbor Medical Center staff gave a tour of the newly completed phase-one section of the hospital’s new 5,000-square-foot emergency department last Friday to Rotary Club of Florence members. P PHOTOS BY JACK DAVIS/SIUSLAW NEWS Concerns rise over land reassessment The department began accepting patients on Monday. Paving for the new ambulance bay is scheduled to be fin- ished this Friday, April 1. Peace Harbor Medical Center Chief Executive Officer Rick Yecny said, “We are on budget at this point in time. We still have the remodel of the back half to go, but we spent 70 percent of the budget so far and we are on budget.” The $5 million campaign was the largest fundraising effort in the history of Florence. The new emer- Above, Nena Harvey, gency department includes director of PeaceHealth nine private rooms, two Medical Group dedicated triage rooms, two Operations, and Peace large trauma rooms, a pri- Harbor Medical Center vate consultation room and Chief Executive Officer a separate waiting area. The Rick Yecny stand outside expanded area is expected the entrance to the new to meet the needs of the Emergency Department. community through 2030. With the completion of The entrance to the phase one, the depart- emergency department is ment began receiving patients on Monday. Tours now directly off the main hospital entrance. of the facility were given More than 300 tons of March 25, including a concrete and 17,750 bricks look at the new nurses’ were used in the project. station (far left). EGG - CELLENT SURPRISE Additional 832 properties are now required to pay for wildfire protection B Y C HANTELLE M EYER Siuslaw News Oregon Department of Forestry Western Lane District held an informa- tional meeting before a town hall with Sen. Arnie Roblan and Rep. Caddy McKeown on March 28 to “put out fires” about new forest patrol assessments for hundreds of properties from Dunes City to Heceta Beach, north of Florence. According to District Forester Link Smith, each district reassesses land desig- nations every 10 years. This year, Wildland Fire Supervisor Tom Soward evaluated the Western Lane District from the ocean to 15 miles inland and discov- ered that 832 properties would now fall under forest patrol assessment. According to ODF, these properties should have been paying for wildfire pro- tection for the past 10 years, even if they are in the “urban interface” classification, meaning homes mixed with wildlands. “People say ‘I don’t own forestland,’” Smith said. “They are picturing the forestland out here in the coastal area being mostly Douglas firs. That’s a forest, but forestland by definition is anything that can carry fire.” Soward said, “It wasn’t a subjective selection. ... It’s based on criteria that’s writ- ten into law. If the law says there is a risk, we need to assess that to provide protection.” More than 45 people attended the meeting at Siuslaw Valley Fire and Rescue’s main station. Several speakers expressed frustration of finding out about the assessment through a letter and with- out further information. See LAND 10A Police chief updates council on crime stats B Y C HANTELLE M EYER Siuslaw News INSIDE Florence Police Chief Tom Turner recently presented local crime and public safety statistics to the Florence City Council. At the council meeting on March 21, he said that despite Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Library Tidings . . . . . . . . . . . Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Police . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B6 A5 A4 A2 social media making incidents public quickly — and some- times blowing things out of proportion — Florence is still a safe place to live. Concerns for public safety arose after an assault occurred in Florence earlier this year. A group of citizens formed Old Town East Neighborhood School Zone . . . . . . . . . Inside Scoreboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . B2 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B Weather Data . . . . . . . . . . . A2 Watch to discuss issues of safety. “I’m not trying to underes- timate crime in our city,” Turner said to the councilors. “Overall, we live in a safe community and we will try and continue to keep it even safer.” According to Turner, his THIS WEEK ’ S department receives around 300 police response calls a month. In comparison, Siuslaw Valley Fire and Rescue receives 20 emergency calls and Western Lane Ambulance District receives 160 emergency calls. See COUNCIL 10A TODAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY 65 44 65 45 62 47 56 43 WEATHER Full Forecast, A3 JACK DAVIS/SIUSLAW NEWS T he rain held off just long enough for hundreds of local children to participate in the annual Florence Community Easter Egg Hunt at Miller Park March 26. The Siuslaw High School Interact Club organized the event with help from the Rotary Club of Florence. More than 4,000 candy-filled plastic eggs were gathered up by eager hunters, ages 1 to 10. S IUSLAW N EWS 2 S ECTIONS ❘ 20 P AGES C OPYRIGHT 2016 CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT PHASE ONE OPENS
