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WEDNESDAY EDITION
Be Ready Disaster
Preparedness Expo
COAST
CENTRAL
A&E — INSIDE
SPECIAL PUBLICATION INSIDE
126TH YEAR ❘ ISSUE NO. 87
❘ NOVEMBER 2, 2016 ❘ $1.00
SERVING WESTERN LANE COUNTY SINCE 1890
FLORENCE, OREGON
HALLOWEEN 2016
BE W I T C HI N G H OU R
Chief Tipler
retires after
35 years
COURTESY PHOTO
Operations Chief Marvin Tipler
S
PHOTOS BY JACK DAVIS/SIUSLAW NEWS
houls and
ghosts, skeletons and
princesses, sharks, gnomes, pirates,
heroes and more — that’s what Halloween is
for! Hundreds of children and their families
got into the spirit of Halloween as they
swarmed the merchants of Historic Old Town
Florence Monday during
the annual Trick or Treat in
Old Town. Businesses
handed out candies and
treats for two hours.
Elsewhere in town, church-
es and community groups
held dances, parties,
“trunk-or-treats” and even
the Scare-CROW Haunted
Maze. For more photos,
see page 11A.
G
than 14 acres offered
Quince Street land up for bid More in sealed-bid
auction
B Y J ACK D AVIS
Siuslaw News
INSIDE
Two lots along Quince Street in
Florence, amounting to more than
14 acres, will be sold through a
sealed bid auction ending Nov.
15.
One site, totaling 13.39 acres,
fronts Quince Street and has 6.33
acres of useable land zoned for
multiple-family, lodging, assisted
living and additional commercial
uses.
According to Principal Broker
John Rosenthal, the minimum
asking price has been reduced
from $1,400,000 to $720,000.
City Manager Erin Reynolds
said the property owner, Aspen
Flo, LLC, no longer wants the
property in their investment port-
folio.
The other property is 37,470
Ambulance . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Library Tidings . . . . . . . . . . .
Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
A2
B6
A5
A4
COURTESY PHOTO
This site map shows two parcels (No. 120 and No. 122) located
along Quince Street being auctioned off in a sealed-bid auction
between now and Nov. 15.
Police . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A2
Scoreboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . B3
Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B
Weather Data . . . . . . . . . . . A2
THIS WEEK ’ S
square feet on the corner of
Quince Street and Highway 126.
A third one-acre parcel adjacent
to the north end of the Florence
Events Center (FEC) was pur-
chased by the city for $180,000
prior to the auction date. The city
plans to turn it into additional
FEC parking.
Reynolds said, “The city has
had a great partnership with the
Aspen group. This has been a
pretty stagnant commercial mar-
ket for many years and the city is
excited about the prospects and
the ongoing business relationship
we have had with the Aspen
group.”
According to Reynolds, the last
significant new commercial devel-
opment in Florence was the Fred
Meyer store that opened in 2000.
See
Full Forecast, A3
See
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
64 52
64 51
63 55
58 52
OPERATIONS 9A
Experts say sea
squirt unique,
harmless
A
fter spying an unusual sea creature on
the sand of Heceta Beach, a resident
of Florence submitted a photo of a sea
squirt.
B Y M ARK B RENNAN
According to the
Siuslaw News
Director of the
Oregon Institute of
Marine Biology, Craig Young, the animal is
called Pyrosoma, or sea squirt, and it is a harm-
less visitor to our beaches.
The name has nothing to do with the ani-
mal’s diminutive size but refers instead to its
method of propulsion.
“They swim while they feed by drawing
water thru siphons on the outside of their tunic
tube then expelling it to the inside.This allows
the whole colony to move by jet propulsion,”
Young said.
He speculates that the reason some of these
unusual animals may be washing up on shore
is our recent stormy weather coupled with high
wave activity.
“The animals’ little spikes are not sharp and
you can pick up the animal and handle it
AUCTION 9A
TODAY
WEATHER
iuslaw Valley Fire and Rescue
Operations Chief Marvin Tipler gets to
hang up his helmet this week after 35
years with the Florence-area fire department.
He officially
B Y C HANTELLE M EYER
retired Aug. 1,
Siuslaw News
but contracted
to remain until
a replacement operations chief was hired. Jim
Dickerson, of Netarts, Ore., joins the fire sta-
tion this week, and Tipler’s last day is Friday.
Tipler, 53, announced his retirement to the
Siuslaw Valley Board of Directors during the
July 20 meeting.
At that time, he said, “My goal is to make
the transition as smooth as possible and do
whatever the district needs to be successful in
the future.”
“Congratulations on your retirement. I
think you’ll enjoy it,” said Board President
John Scott.
Board member Lori Gates said, “Good for
you.”
Tipler said, “I’m going to volunteer
throughout the community. I’ve got plenty of
home improvement projects, plenty of hob-
bies and plenty of friends who need help.”
Siuslaw Valley is holding an open house
reception for Tipler this Friday, Nov. 4, from
3 to 5 p.m. at the main fire station, 2625
Highway 101, in the upstairs meeting room.
Refreshments and light snacks will be
served.
S IUSLAW N EWS
2 S ECTIONS ❘ 20 P AGES
C OPYRIGHT 2016
See
SEA SQUIRTS 9A
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