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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 10, 2016)
THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM ❘ / SIUSLAWNEWS ❘ @ SIUSLAWNEWS SATURDAY EDITION Boys and Girls stuff the bus SAILORS BUMPED BY BRAVES SPORTS — B 126TH YEAR ❘ ISSUE NO. 98 ❘ DECEMBER 10, 2016 ❘ $1.00 INSIDE — A3 SERVING WESTERN LANE COUNTY SINCE 1890 FLORENCE, OREGON Remembering Brandon Peace Harbor holds 2nd town hall meeting During the second PeaceHealth Peace Harbor Medical Center town hall meeting, held Friday at the Florence Events B Y J ACK D AVIS Center, medical group Siuslaw News representatives announced the addition of five new providers to the center’s staff. PeaceHealth Chief Administration Officer Rick Yecny said, “Since the last town hall meeting we have been really focusing on recruitment.” The new providers, including one family practice obstetrician, two physicians’ assistants (PA) and one nurse practitioner (NP), are replacing five physicians who have left Peace Harbor. One more PA is scheduled to begin practice in February. See Bond measure secures WLAD services M ore than 150 people gathered in the Mapleton High School gym Friday afternoon for a spe- cial memorial service in memory of Brandon Kimble, a Mapleton freshman who tragically took his own life the morning of Dec. 1. Organized by family members and school faculty, the service was as much a chance to honor the memory of the 15-year-old as it was for family, friends and community members from Mapleton and Florence to come together as part of the heal- ing process. Mapleton School District Superintendent Jodi O’Mara (bottom right) opened the serv- ice by speaking about how every student was a part of the staff’s lives, on campus and off, and the sub- ject of conversation as much as family. “We care about every one of you,” O’Mara said, addressing the large number of students who were in attendance. “It’s what makes us ‘Mapleton strong.’” Mapleton football coach Jeff Greene (above right), who coached Kimble earlier this season as a wide receiver and defensive back, noted that the freshman “had a great sense of humor and an incredible amount of char- acter.” Other speakers included Melissa Trombetta, outreach coordinator for Lines for Life Oregon YouthLine, and Evangelical Church of Swisshome pastor Brian Moore. The memorial included a moving slideshow of Kimble’s young life, accompanied by the song “One More Day” by Diamond Rio. On the memorial program handed out to attendees, part of the inscription read: ”You never said ‘I’m leaving;’ you never said goodbye; you were gone before we knew it; and only God knows why.” Interagency agreement between ambulance, fire districts showing benefits PHOTOS BY NED HICKSON/SIUSLAW NEWS Time for toys and time for cheer Soroptimists seek community assistance with holiday food, toy basket donations B Y M ARK B RENNAN Siuslaw News I INSIDE magine you are a 10-year-old child. Now imagine waking up on Christmas morn- ing and there are no presents for you or your brothers and sisters. You have no tree or lights, decorations or toys. And later that day you have a sandwich for dinner. No ham or mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce or pie. This scenario is a very real possibility for many of the area’s residents, according to the Soroptimist International of Florence Holiday Food Coordinator Carol Bennett. “For more than 30 years, the Soroptimists have organized a community Christmas basket and toy distribution. It started out with us giv- ing food to people in need out of the back of a station wagon and has grown every year,” said Benett. “Hopefully, on Saturday, December 17, MARK BRENNAN/SIUSLAW NEWS we will be distributing the 2016 baskets to Members of the Rhody Cruisers collect toys for Soroptomist International of approximately 425 families.” Florence Community Christmas Baskets at A&W Restaurant on Dec. 8. The rising costs of food have made the over- all amount of money needed to meet demands “We do it because there are a lot of hungry forms to fill out and you can get as much food grow dramatically in the last few years. people in Florence and the surrounding com- as you need,” she said. “This endeavor costs about $20,000 and the munities,” she said. Bennett wants the community to know of community has always supported this effort,” Bennett said that while other local groups this year’s financial shortfall, so that they can Bennett said. “Unfortunately, we are running give away holiday foodstuffs, there are limits respond in time to avoid having to turn some way behind in col- and restric- people away empty handed. lections this year “We need cash donations to be able to tions to the “We need cash donations to be able to buy and it is almost time aid they can the items to put in the baskets,” she said. “We buy the items to put in the baskets.” to buy the food. receive. are about $4,000 short now and the distribution —C AROL B ENNETT , Bennett has been “One im- is about a week away.” S OROPTOMIST H OLIDAY F OOD C OORDINATOR overseeing the food portant dif- There is an urgent need for money so distribution for f e r e n c e Soroptomists can purchase the food to fill the more than a decade. The reason she and the between us and other organizations is that the baskets. Soroptomists continue to donate their time and clients are limited to the number of food boxes energy to the task is simple. they can get per year. This distribution has no See BASKETS 10A Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Police . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B7 A4 A2 A2 Religion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A5 Side Show . . . . . . . . . . . . . B6 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B Weather Data . . . . . . . . . . . A2 THIS WEEK ’ S TODAY SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY 49 44 47 41 48 34 46 33 WEATHER Full Forecast, A3 HEALTH 10A In November, voters overwhelmingly approved renewal of a five-year bond measure to supple- ment the funding of B Y J ACK D AVIS Western Lane Ambulance Siuslaw News District’s (WLAD) budg- etary needs. According to WLAD Board President Mike Webb, the district established its tax base on Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements in the early 1990s. “Now, more than 60 percent of our population is over 65 and most of our calls are going out to those people,” Webb said. “The reimbursement rate is something like $440 per call and the hard cost on that call is $1,600 or more. “We have a large funding gap. The purpose of the original tax base didn’t cover that. Five years ago, the effort was made to shore that up. We received the bond. This year we went back out for the levy just to continue the service level at what it is now.” Brian Burright, consultant and interim director for WLAD, said, “If the levy had not passed, the district would have had to cut back on non-essen- tial services, community outreach, public educa- tion and other services.” He added that personnel reductions and reduced capital expenditures also would have been neces- sary to balance the budget. Webb said the number of annual calls WLAD responds to has gone from 600 to700 per year in the 1990s to more than 3,400 last year. Siuslaw Valley Fire Chief and WLAD Director Jim Langborg said, “I want to thank the public. The support that WLAD received with that levy said a lot. It passed with 77 percent approval. That speaks volumes to the service delivery that WLAD employees deliver. It also speaks volumes about the way the community feels about the para- medics here. “We need to do everything we can to maintain and build on that trust.” WLAD paramedics are trained to a higher level than many other districts. WLAD Operations Manager Matt House said, “On the state or national levels there is basic, intermediate and paramedic levels of training. In our community, we have gone one step higher. Nine of our 14 staff members are critical care trained.” S IUSLAW N EWS 2 S ECTIONS ❘ 22 P AGES C OPYRIGHT 2016 See WLAD 10A CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK Update on the search for replacement providers
