SIUSLAW NEWS ❚ SATURDAY, JULY 23, 2016
VFW
AWARDS INDIVIDUALS FOR SERVICES TO REGION
Local agencies honored at July
Florence City Council meeting
B Y C HANTELLE M EYER
Siuslaw News
Grimshaw
Post
3232
Veterans of Foreign Wars
(VFW) honored individuals
from Siuslaw Valley Fire and
Rescue, Oregon State Police
and Western Lane Ambulance
District at the July 11 Florence
City Council meeting.
Mayor Joe Henry opened the
meeting and invited VFW
Commander Paul Gargis to the
front of the council chamber.
“Paul has a number of folks
he’d like to recognize tonight,”
Henry said.
Gargis named Captain
Elizabeth Iabichello, a volunteer
with Siuslaw Valley Fire and
Rescue, Firefighter of the Year.
Fire Chief Jim Langborg and
Fire Marshal Sean Barrett pre-
sented her with the award.
Langborg said, “Captain Liz
is one of our big hitters in our
fire district. She is constantly
working — about 90 percent of
her time is spent in public serv-
ice.”
He said Iabichello is a prime
example for new firefighters
and helps make the entire
department better. She also
works part-time at Western
Lane Ambulance and with the
hospital.
“She does a wonderful job for
us. When we had this opportuni-
ty to recognize her, we thought
it was great,” Langborg said.
“Liz, thank you for everything
you do.”
Barrett said, “She’s one of my
best friends. She just dedicates
her life. It’s incredible, and she
cares. She really loves doing it.”
Gargis gave her the award
“for firefighter leadership and
on behalf of a grateful commu-
nity and the VFW of Florence.”
Gargis then welcomed
Oregon State Police Sgt. Chris
Ashenfelter to the front to pres-
ent the Law Enforcement Award
to Todd Cutsforth, a fish and
wildlife trooper for the Florence
area.
Ashenfelter said Cutsforth
has been the state police’s pri-
mary patrol in western Lane
County.
“Todd covers all the crashes,
goes to the domestic distur-
bances that are out in the county
and backs up the city in some
instances — he’s doing a lot of
things that are really above and
beyond what his job calls for,”
Ashenfelter said. “He’s per-
forming those jobs and going
PHOTOS BY CHANTELLE MEYER/SIUSLAW NEWS
6 A
Elizabeth Iabichello (right), SVFR
Firefighter of the Year
out of his way to make sure the
citizens of Florence and western
Lane County are taken care of.”
Gargis presented Cutsforth
with a plaque of recognition and
thanked him for his service.
The VFW’s final award went
to Western Lane Ambulance
District’s Darrek Mullins for the
Emergency Medical Technician
of the Year.
Western Lane’s emergency
medicine specialist, Matthew
Danigelis, said he has worked
with Mullins since 2003.
“Darrek wears many hats,”
Danigelis said. “He has dedicat-
ed an extraordinary amount of
his time to public service,
whether that’s being part of his
drum and bugle corps, being on
Todd Cutsforth (right), OSP
Law Enforcement Officer of the Year
the Lane County medical board,
volunteering for Camp Agapé or
donating time at the Eugene
Mission, Darrek is very dedicat-
ed to the community.”
Mullins also participates in
the South Willamette Valley
Honor Flight for veterans.
“He’s very privileged to
receive this award and we’re
honored to have him work with
us,” Danigelis said.
Gargis shook Mullins’ hand
and thanked him for his service
to veterans and the community.
At the end of the presenta-
tion, Henry congratulated
Iabichello, Cutsforth and
Mullins.
“On behalf of the city, I’d
also like to say thank you to the
Darrek Mullins (right), WLAD
EMT of the year
VFW, Paul and your volunteers
for your service and everything
you do for the community,”
Henry said.
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CROW seeks artists
Children’s Repertory of
Oregon Workshops (CROW)
is seeking artists to paint and
decorate 16-inch wooden
crows that will adorn the walls
of the new CROW Center for
the Performing Arts, 3120
Highway 101 in Florence.
Finished crows will be sold
or auctioned at CROW’s
Grand Opening Celebration in
September. Money raised will
be utilized for finalizing build-
College
from 1A
Stiles added, “And we are
not getting what we need
from the state.”
She said LCC Florence
Center is doing very well and
had praise for the center’s
Interim Director Russ
Pierson.
“Russ is doing a very good
job,” she said. “He is very
caring and his staff loves
him.”
She added that if people
wanted to help LCC, they
should talk to their state
representatives about better
funding for community col-
leges.
Districts
from 1A
Langborg added, “One
benefit for us is by having
a slight increase in calls, it
gives us the opportunity to
have more firefighters
experience more calls. As
you know, the more experi-
ence they have, the more
efficient they can be.”
Siuslaw Valley’s board
gave Langborg the direc-
tion to proceed at its meet-
ing on July 20. Mapleton
Rural Fire District’s board
is expected to approve the
agreement later this month.
Attorneys for both dis-
tricts reviewed and
approved the policy.
“Once Mapleton’s board
directs their chief to sign it,
you can expect an imple-
mentation period where we
can train our folks together
with our dispatch center ... to
make sure we are tapped out
at the appropriate time,”
Langborg said.
The automatic aid agree-
ment should be fully func-
tional in December and
January.
“My philosophy is, if peo-
ple need help, we want to be
there,” Langborg said.
“When you need help, you
need it quick, and we always
want to make it a priority to
serve and protect our dis-
trict.”
45%
ing renovations and providing
arts programs for local youth.
Artists are asked to be cre-
ative and have fun. Crows
must be completed and
returned by Wednesday, Aug.
31.
Anyone interested in paint-
ing or decorating a crow can
contact
CROW
Artistic
Director Melanie Heard at
crowtheatrekids@yahoo.com
or go to www.crowkids.com.
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COMING UP ON WEDNESDAY JULY 27: DISTRACTED DRIVING | IT CAN WAIT
Phone Conversations
S
ometimes, the statistics say it all. According to a AAA study, drivers
talking on cell phones are four times more likely to be involved in
a vehicle crash than drivers who are not distracted.
A University of Utah study
showed that talking on a cell
phone has a greater effect on
reaction time than having a
blood alcohol level of the
legal limit of .08.
But why is talking on your
phone while driving such a
dangerous activity? The
answer is a complicated one
comprised of issues both psy-
chological and physical.
THE DANGERS
Two types of cell phone
behavior typically lead to
unsafe driving conditions,
and it may surprise you which
one can have a greater impact
on your driving.
These classifications of cell
phone usage are:
• Handling the phone,
which includes dialing,
answering, text messaging
and using it for GPS naviga-
tion. If your hands are on
your phone, it means they
aren’t on the wheel.
• Conversations, which can
be just as dangerous, as stud-
ies have shown your mental
commitment to a phone call
is demanding, even if you
may not realize it.
EMOTIONAL
ENGAGEMENT
The National Safety
Council reports that in simu-
© FOTOLIA
lated driving tests, drivers
who were asked to carry on a
cell phone conversation were
so distracted that they went
unaware of some traffic sig-
nals.
The study compared phone
conversations to other related
activities such as listening to
audio books and news radio,
stating that these types of
activities are less emotionally
engaging, hence safer to do
while driving.
The more emotionally
engaged the subject, the
study found, the less atten-
tive he or she was to safety
signals.
Digging a little deeper, the
results were unaffected by
whether the subject manually
held the phone or if the
mechanism was hands free.
This means that even if
you’re following the law by
using a hands-free device,
you may still find yourself in
a situation where you’re
unable to react quickly
enough to a dangerous situa-
tion.
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•Drop Box Service
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Recycle Drop Off:
Cell phones may be taken to
Siuslaw Public Library
541-997-8233 • 85040 Hwy. 101 S., Florence, OR 97439