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SATURDAY EDITION
SETTING
THE PACE
❘ AUGUST 27, 2016 ❘ $1.00
Youth program
receives donation
INSIDE — A3
SPORTS — B
126TH YEAR ❘ ISSUE NO. 69
SERVING WESTERN LANE COUNTY SINCE 1890
FLORENCE, OREGON
DEATH INVESTIGATION
POLICE
Lake Oswego man drowns in Siltcoos Lake
Business
Center arson
linked to
‘smoking box’
Emergency responders recover 78-year-old
man’s body early Friday morning
B Y C HANTELLE M EYER
Siuslaw News
Emergency response teams from
the U.S. Coast Guard, Siuslaw Valley
Fire and Rescue, Lane County
Sheriff’s Office and Western Lane
Ambulance assisted in the search for
a missing man who disappeared
under water Thursday after jumping
off a boat into Siltcoos Lake.
Dispatch received a call for assis-
tance at 6:18 p.m. Aug. 25 after
Robert Cook, a 78-year-old Lake
Oswego resident, did not resurface
upon entering the lake.
Cook was visiting with friends
on a private boat anchored on the
lake when he dove into the water.
According to witnesses, Cook
surfaced briefly but was unable to
make it back to the boat before
going under the water.
The boat’s other occupants then
entered the water in an attempt to
find him, but murky water condi-
tions hampered their efforts.
“We responded to a search for the
missing swimmer until dark,” said
Fire Marshal Sean Barrett.
The search focused on the water.
Siuslaw Valley Fire and Rescue
brought its search and rescue boat,
Lane County Sheriff’s Office
Search and Rescue Dive Team
responded and U.S. Coast Guard
Station Siuslaw River brought its
25-foot small response boat.
See
DEATH 7A
Evidence reveals
Tuesday’s incidents are
related, officials say
THE SIUSLAW SEVEN
B Y C HANTELLE M EYER
Siuslaw News
JACK DAVIS/SIUSLAW NEWS
S
even new instructors have joined the Siuslaw School District staff for the 2016-17 school year:
(from left) Carrie McNeill, first grade; Anna Moser, high school physical education and health;
Charnae Decker, sixth-grade math; Max Perry, high school freshman future success and English;
McKenzie Perry, returning to sixth-grade science; Allyson Bitner, elementary school counselor; and
Stephanie Rogers, alternative education coordinator and alternative education biology and science.
Students return to school after Labor Day weekend, beginning Sept. 6.
SCHOOL DISTRICT FOOD PROGRAM A HIT
First year of Siuslaw’s self-operated
food service successful on all levels
B Y J ACK D AVIS
Siuslaw News
INSIDE
Siuslaw School District Food
Service Manager Dave Bitner
recently reported on the successful
results of the district’s first year of
self-operated food service.
“This last year was very challeng-
ing, educating and sometimes frus-
trating, but overall, very rewarding
for me personally,” said Bitner, who
was hired last year to head up the
district’s new program.
According to Bitner, during the
2015-16 school year, the district
served 35,898 breakfasts, 113,854
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A8
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lunches and 21,301 suppers.
“One of our biggest fears as we
became self-operating was can we
do it and make it financially
viable?” Bitner said during the Aug.
17 school board meeting.
He added, “Many school districts
have not been successful when they
became self-operational. We found
that was because they didn’t change
their purchasing ways. They contin-
ued to buy heat-and-serve products,
just as their contract management
firm did, but they lacked the econo-
my of scale to get the same prices.
We realized that and we didn’t make
that same mistake.”
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Word on the Street . . . . . . . A6
Instead of heat-and-serve, Bitner’s
“We source everything as local
focus was on fresh, healthy, tasty
as possible,” Bitner said. “We
and local food. The program also
believe in supporting local farmers
does as much “from scratch” cook-
as much as we can. Over half of
ing as possible.
the funds we get from the federal
Bitner said the goal of the pro-
government are now going to the
gram was to break even by the end
fresh produce program.”
of the school
year. The dis-
“Over half of the funds we get from
trict finished
the school year
the federal government are now going
with a $3,924
to the fresh produce program.”
surplus.
—DAVE BITNER, FOOD SERVICE MANAGER
“We are not a
for-profit food
service operation,” Bitner said.
In addition to fresh produce,
“Any money we do make allows us
Bitner told the board he purchased
to increase the quality of ingredients local beef and chicken that are free
we are using.”
of hormones and antibiotics.
Last year the district served 9,000
pounds of fresh produce.
See FOOD 7A
THIS WEEK ’ S
TODAY
SUNDAY
MONDAY
TUESDAY
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67 52
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64 52
WEATHER
Full Forecast, A3
New evidence has linked two fire-
related incidents on 12th Street that
occurred within hours from each other
on Tuesday, Florence Police said.
The first involved an arson at the
Florence Business Center, 1525 12th
St., which was extinguished by the
building’s sprinkler system. The second
involved a suspicious container found
outside the Florence Elks Lodge, just
down the street from the center, and
required assistance from Eugene Police
Department’s Bomb Squad.
Emergency
responders
from
Florence Police Department and
Siuslaw Valley Fire and Rescue were
sent to 12th Street around 1:50 p.m.
after receiving a call about a “smoking
box” that was found outside the Elks
Lodge, 1686 12th St., near a backdoor.
Police described the suspicious
object as a metal box with a concrete
walking stone placed on top. There was
a large amount of smoke coming from
the box when first reported and smoke
continued issuing from the box for sev-
eral hours after.
Officials requested that people inside
the Elks Lodge vacate the building dur-
ing the investigation.
The Bomb Squad responded later that
afternoon.
“They used their X-ray machine and
robot to make the object safe,” Florence
Police Commander John Pitcher said.
It was determined that there was no
explosive device contained within the
metal box.
See
ARSON 7A
Yachats faces
water shortage
City asks residents
to conserve usage
B Y C HANTELLE M EYER
Siuslaw News
YACHATS — The City of Yachats
reported that it is facing a raw water
supply shortage and, effective imme-
diately, must enter Phase I water con-
servation and curtailment until fur-
ther notice.
“Thank you for your assistance in
helping conserve our water during
this long, dry summer,” Yachats City
Administrator Joan Davies said.
To best conserve water, the city
requests that residents comply to a
conservation plan.
Under the Phase I curtailment, the
watering of lawns, gardens and land-
scaping is restricted to alternative
days. Specifically, houses with an
S IUSLAW N EWS
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See
WATER 7A
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