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SATURDAY EDITION
‘Positively
Florence’
NEW ATHLETIC
DIRECTOR NAMED
SPORTS — B
126TH YEAR ❘ ISSUE NO. 57
INSIDE — A3
SERVING WESTERN LANE COUNTY SINCE 1890
FLORENCE, OREGON
CITY MARIJUANA TAX HEADS TO VOTERS
Florence City Council places
ordinance on November ballot
B Y C HANTELLE M EYER
Siuslaw News
Florence City Council
approved Resolution No. 16,
Series 16, to allow voters in
❘ JULY 16, 2016 ❘ $1.00
the Nov. 8 election to decide
whether or not Florence can
tax recreational marijuana at
the allowable state limit, cur-
rently set at 3 percent. The
council also updated the city’s
recreational marijuana code at
Monday’s meeting.
The State of Oregon is cur-
rently collecting a temporary
25 percent tax on recreational
marijuana sales in Oregon.
According to the city staff
report, the state collected
$6.84 million in these taxes
from Jan. 1 to April 20.
Marijuana products can
only be taxed at the retail
point of sale. Medical mari-
juana is not taxed.
Starting Jan. 1, 2017, the
state will begin to implement
a more permanent tax rate of
17 percent for recreational
marijuana. Voters will decide
if cities can add an additional
3 percent tax at the local level.
City
Attorney
Ross
Williamson addressed the
council on July 11.
“This is great. It’s been two
years since Measure 91, and
we’re still talking about mari-
juana,” Williamson said.
See
TAX 7A
Real Food
co-op
to close
Final member vote
for dissolution to be
announced Tuesday
B Y J ACK D AVIS
Siuslaw News
NED HICKSON/SIUSLAW NEWS
Culture P
Canoe
articipants in the Confederated Tribes of Coos,
Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians’ “Culture
Canoe Camp” arrive at the Port of Siuslaw boat
ramp Thursday in the Journey Canoe “Lottie,” after
completing a 14-mile trek along the Siuslaw River that
began in Mapleton. For the complete story and more
photos, view today’s Sports section.
City honors Coast Guard ‘Good Samaritan’
POLICE
Man arrested, guns recovered
in True Value burglary
Dana Gagliardi
helped rescue 2 boys
from dangerous surf
B Y R YAN C RONK
C HANTELLE M EYER
B Y C HANTELLE M EYER
AND
Siuslaw News
Siuslaw News
lorence City Council and Mayor
Joe Henry honored two men
Monday night for the May 28
rescue of two boys from dangerous surf
near the Siuslaw River North Jetty.
U.S. Coast Guard Station Siuslaw
River Fireman Dana Gagliardi
received the city’s Good Samaritan
Award and medal of honor. Angelo
Santiago of Springfield will also be
honored by the city.
On May 28, two young boys playing
in the ocean were swept out by the
tide. Fellow beachgoers Gagliardi,
who was off duty, and Santiago heard
Florence police arrested a local
man this week and recovered all
nine guns that were stolen in the
June 30 burglary at True Value
Hardware.
Jose Luis Villa, 25, of Florence
was arrested July 12 at a local res-
idence after police reviewed secu-
rity footage from the burglary and
received information from several
anonymous tips.
Villa was charged with burglary,
theft and criminal mischief and
was taken to Florence City Jail.
INSIDE
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Auto Care . . . . . . . . . . . . A10
Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B9
Coastal Events . . . . . . . . . . . A9
Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A4
After recent closures due to a
lack of patrons and volunteers,
Real Food Co-op has
announced that it will perma-
nently close, pending next
week’s outcome of a resolution
approval by its members.
A special board meeting to
announce the vote tally of the
board of director’s resolution to
close the organic food store is
planned for Tuesday, July 19, at
6:30 p.m. at the co-op, 1379 B
Rhododendron Drive.
During a special meeting
July 8, the board voted to adopt
a resolution to approve dissolu-
tion and to submit it to the co-
op’s members. According to
Oregon Revised Statutes
(ORS), the voluntary dissolu-
tion of a co-operative requires a
two-thirds majority vote from
members to approve it.
Members vote by either regular
mail or email. ORS does not
allow members to vote for disso-
lution during a board meeting.
The co-op recently closed for a
week due to a lack of patrons,
volunteer cashiers and cash flow.
According to general manager
Karen Hazelwood, the co-op
worked hard to revamp its image
by remodeling the inside of the
store, bringing in new product
lines and applying for a liquor
license. But, in the end, there was
not enough community support to
keep the doors open.
The co-op has already begun
selling off its merchandise, fix-
tures, refrigerator and freezer in
order to vacate the property by
the end of July. A final cleanup of
the building and sale of remaining
items will be July 23 at 10 a.m.
CHANTELLE MEYER/SIUSLAW NEWS
Mayor Joe Henry, Coast Guard Fireman Dana Gagliardi, Florence Police
Commander John Pitcher and Coast Guard Senior Chief Tim Tregoning
gather at City Hall Monday to honor Gagliardi for his heroic deed.
calls from the boys’ families and swam
after them. The men succeeded in res-
cuing the two boys and stood by until
emergency medical service personnel
arrived.
“We have a very special, one-of-a-
kind first for our city, the presentation
Religion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A5
SideShow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B8
Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B
Word on the Street . . . . . . . A6
THIS WEEK ’ S
of the Good Samaritan Award,” Henry
said. “Two beachgoers risked their
own lives to save these boys and were
successful in reuniting them with their
families.”
See
HONOR 7A
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WEATHER
Full Forecast, A3
Commander John Pitcher said
that one anonymous call in par-
ticular helped
police locate
the suspect.
Florence
Public Informa-
tion
Officer
Megan Messmer
said, “Thank
Jose Villa
you to the com-
munity members who assisted in
providing information in this
case.”
According to Pitcher, all the
stolen merchandise was found,
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ARREST 7A
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