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BUSINESS
PROFILE
SPORTS — B
SPECIAL PUBLICATION INSIDE
126TH YEAR ❘ ISSUE NO. 27
SERVING WESTERN LANE COUNTY SINCE 1890
FLORENCE, OREGON
Mike Bones, casino greeter since 2004,
to be honored at retirement party
the casino’s director of con-
sumer marketing, the party is
expected to have up to 500
attendees and will include a
comedy roast.
Bones’ bigger-than-life, smil-
ing, open-armed figure in a suit
coat and trademark shorts has
adorned billboards around the
area for years.
“We are very happy for
him,” Three Rivers Casino
Resort General Manager Mike
B Y J ACK D AVIS
Siuslaw News
F
lorence native Mike
Bones, the gregarious,
shorts-wearing persona
of Three Rivers Casino Resort
since its first day of operation,
retired Friday at age 69.
The casino is planning a by-
invitation-only gala retirement
party for Bones tomorrow.
According to Rich Colton,
Rose said. “He has been with
us since we opened the tent in
2004. He has been almost a
day-one team member. We
interviewed him and wanted to
hire him the first day we
opened the tent, and he has
been with us ever since.”
Bones’ first contact with the
casino was as a Florence Area
Chamber of Commerce ambas-
sador, when the ambassadors
offered to escort people through
the new tent facility.
“We went to the casino, in
2004, before they opened,”
Bones said. “They asked us to
direct people around. Of course
I knew everybody and I was
busy talking with everyone.
Mike Rose came up to me and
asked if I wanted a job. I asked
him if I could wear short pants.
He said yes.
“I’ve been at the casino for
12 years now. I didn’t really
have an official title to begin
with. I was just the face of the
casino. They put me up on all
the billboards and advertise-
ments. It worked out well,” he
added.
See
BONES 11A
Mike Bones
JACK DAVIS/SIUSLAW NEWS
BRIDGE CONSTRUCTION
Recycling the rails
Siuslaw River Bridge
rails to be donated to Florence,
BRING for repurposing
Mapleton
seeks $4M
school bond
Community meetings
scheduled in April
B Y J ACK D AVIS
Siuslaw News
Mapleton School District will seek
voter approval of a $4 million bond
measure for building improvements to
the high school and elementary school
buildings on the May 17 primary ballot.
The district has received a $4 million
matching state grant for improvements,
but it will only receive the money if the
bond measure passes. The district may
also be eligible for a seismic improve-
ment grant of up to $1.5 million per
building.
Of the total $8 million in improve-
ment money, $7.5 million would be
spent on facility upgrades and $500,000
would be set aside for items that need to
be purchased, like new school buses to
meet 2017 emission standards.
See
SCHOOL 11A
Western Lane
Ambulance
approves
strategic plan
B Y C HANTELLE M EYER
Siuslaw News
CHANTELLE MEYER/SIUSLAW NEWS
ODOT and Hamilton Construction are replacing the Siuslaw River Bridge’s original historic railings with new, safer railings. BRING
Recycling in Eugene will sell some of the old rails for decorative use. Below, BRING uses segments from the Isaac Lee Patterson Bridge
in Gold Beach in its “Garden of Earthly Delights.”
B Y C HANTELLE M EYER
Siuslaw News
A
s part of the Siuslaw River
Bridge Restoration Project,
Oregon Department of
Transportation (ODOT) and its con-
tractor Hamilton Construction are
donating the bridge’s old rails, which
are being replaced with new rails of
a similar design.
“Hamilton Construction put
together this recycling project with
BRING,” said Angela Beers Seydel,
ODOT information officer. “We all
wondered how we can best preserve
the historic bridge and its pieces.”
The goal is for the rails to be
enjoyed and re-used for decorative
purposes, and for none of them to be
crushed or destroyed.
Seydel said that about half of the
total 2,720 feet of bridge rails will go
to regional governments. The City of
Florence is receiving 800 lineal feet
of the railing. Coos Bay and North
Bend will also receive some to use
for beautification purposes.
The rest of the rails will be sold
through Eugene-based nonprofit
BRING Recycling, which will use
the money for its operational costs
and goal of reducing waste and pro-
moting sustainability.
See
Western Lane Ambulance
District approved its strategic plan
for the next three to five years at its
board meeting on March 24.
The document was created after
Emergency Services Consulting
International held meetings with
internal and external stakeholders
to create a plan to keep the district
moving forward and thriving.
“I feel confident this will give us
a roadmap for the next three to five
years,” said district Interim
Director Brian Burright.
He presented the completed
strategic plan to the board for
approval. The final plan will be
available online for the public at
www.westernlaneambulance.com.
See
BRIDGE 11A
INSIDE
COURTESY PHOTO
Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B7
Coast Central . . . . . . . . Inside
Coastal Events . . . . . . . . . . A10
Obituaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A3
Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A4
Religion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A5
Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B
Word on the Street . . . . . . . A8
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60 42
60 49
54 43
58 45
WEATHER
Full Forecast, A3
S IUSLAW N EWS
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PLAN 11A
CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK
‘FACE OF CASINO’ RETIRES