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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
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THIS WEEK ’ S
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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.”
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C OPYRIGHT 2016
See
WLAD 10A
CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK
Update on the search for
replacement providers