SIUSLAW NEWS ❚ SATURDAY, JANUARY 7, 2017
Rhody Society to meet Jan.17
Classroom lockdown kits
DISASTER PREP
B Y D AVE R OBINSON
Special to the Siuslaw News
S
ferently. The first step is to secure the
students in their classrooms, secure all
entrances to the building and block
visual access to the rooms. Students
are directed to position themselves in
an area of the room away from the
door. Often the classroom lights are
turned off. Students are usually required
to remain quiet for the duration of the
lockdown.
Lockdowns can last from a few min-
utes to several hours. Not all class-
rooms are directly connected to a rest-
room. Can you see where I’m going
with this?
Human nature being what it is, there
will always be the kid who just finished
off a 44-ounce Big Gulp moments
before the lockdown was ordered.
Other students may have skipped break-
fast, then sometime during first period
the school building locked down and
now it’s two periods after lunch.
To plan for just such a contingency,
some schools have purchased lockdown
kits.
The kit is usually stored in a five-gal-
lon bucket and contains water pouches,
food bars, first aid supplies and many
other items considered useful to weath-
er such an incident. Some even include
a snap-on toilet seat/lid and toilet bags
to provide for the sanitary needs that
chool officials are understandably
jumpy these days. School shoot-
ings are unspeakably tragic, they
get nationwide attention and no school
administrator wants to be caught unpre-
pared in the event the unthinkable hap-
pens in their school. Consequently,
most schools have developed a lock-
down procedure which secures each
classroom and isolates safe zones in the
building.
Some states have even enacted legis-
lation mandating that schools develop a
viable lockdown policy and conduct
periodic drills, much the same as the
fire drills with which we are all famil-
iar.
Schools activate their lockdown plan
for a variety of reasons. The primary
reason is when the safety of the stu-
dents is at stake. Another reason is
when the police are conducting a drug
search, usually with a specially trained
dog and they don’t want several hun-
dred kids milling about.
Also, if an event is occurring nearby
the school, such as some kind of “per-
son with a gun” situation, bank robbery
or other incident which could be poten-
tially hazardous to the students, the
school will lockdown.
Different schools do lockdowns dif-
The public is invited to
attend the next meeting of the
Siuslaw Chapter of the
American
Rhododendron
Society on Wednesday, Jan.
17, at 6:30 p.m.
The group will host a talk
given by Don Wallace, owner
of Singing Tree Gardens in
would inevitably arise.
(Yes, a roll of tissue is also included.)
Ideally each classroom has a kit with
enough supplies to meet the needs of
several students. One kit I checked out
sold for $70.00 and contained 30 water
pouches. It also was equipped with a
battery powered radio, a flashlight, and
several light sticks, among many other
items.
Newly marketed inventions such as
door-jamming tools and other security
devices are finding their way to class-
rooms. Some schools are designing
classrooms to make it more difficult for
intruders to see into the room.
Disaster preparedness doesn’t always
mean stocking your own pantry. It is
regrettable that we find ourselves turn-
ing schools into fortresses, but with the
right amount of planning and supplies
on hand, we can make our schools safer
for our kids.
______________________
McKinleyville, Calif.
His
topic
will
be
“Creating an arboretum style
nursery, that will work well for
your personal garden.”
The meeting will be held at
The Presbyterian Church of
the Siuslaw, 3996 Highway
101.
541-999-5083
Dave Robinson is the postmaster in
Bandon, Ore., and author of “Disaster
Prep for the Rest of Us.” He may be
contacted at
disasterprep.dave@gmail.com. Visit his
website for more disaster preparedness
tips, www.disasterprepdave.blogspot
.com.
Congratulations to
Ace Johnson
of Florence for winning the
Mystery Santa Contest
in December. Ace identifi ed all the
Mystery Santa's correctly to win $100.00.
New tool allows public to view road conditions in real time
A new online tool will allow
the public to view road clo-
sures or restrictions due to
downed trees, debris, land-
slides or flooding in near real-
time on county-maintained
roads.
The tool, called Storm Road
Tracker, has been used by Lane
County staff to report and track
issues for the last year. It was
developed by Lane County’s
Geographic
Information
Services (GIS) Department in
partnership
with
Road
Maintenance staff.
“It has been a great tool for
our crews to use in the field,”
said Lane County Road
Maintenance Manager Orin
Schumacher. “It allows us to be
more efficient in how we dis-
patch staff and creates a record
we can use to report on dam-
age.
“Our hope is that the public
can use the tracker to see
what’s going on around them,
as well as report issues if they
don’t see them on the map.”
The tracker allows users to
look for incidents on a County-
wide map, or to search by
address and road name.
The Storm Road Tracker is
available at www.lcmaps.lane
county.org/stormroadtracker.
It can also be accessed by
visiting www.lanecounty.org
and selecting “Know Your
Route” under the “Emergency
Preparedness” tab.
“We are still in the develop-
ment phase,” said Melissa
Crane, GIS program manager.
“We were scheduled to roll this
out later this year, but with the
new storm approaching we
wanted to provide residents
with as much information as
possible.
“It’s also a good opportunity
to test the Storm Road
Tracker.”
Feedback is welcome at lc
gis@co.lane.or.us. Information
from the public will be used to
continue improving the tool.
People using the tracker
should remember that it only
includes county-maintained
roads and issues that have been
reported.
To report an issue not on the
map, call Public Works at 541-
682-6900 during business
hours, or the Sheriff’s Office
non-emergency dispatch line at
541-682-4150 after hours.
Siuslaw News thanks everyone that
turned in an entry for the contest.
OBITUARIES
FIORITO—David Michael
“Botts” Fiorito, 71, died peace-
fully Monday, Jan. 2, 2017, at
his home in Florence while
surrounded by family.
Dave was born June 30,
1945, in Batavia, NY, to John
and Maria Fiorito. He was
raised in LeRoy, NY, and grad-
uated from LeRoy High School
in 1963.
He spent a number of years
working for manufacturing
companies. In 1977, he met his
wife, Barbara (Corcimiglia),
and they moved to Colorado in
1979. David worked for Public
Service Utilities until he retired
in 1989.
In 1992, he and his family
moved to Florence, where they
currently reside.
Dave enjoyed working out-
side at his home, playing on his
computer,
photography,
Mapleton
School Board
Wednesday
Mapleton School District
will recognize the contribu-
tions of its board at its Jan. 11
meeting at Mapleton High
School.
Mapleton will join 196
other districts statewide in
celebrating the important
work its board members do.
According to District
Superintendent Jodi O’Mara,
the individuals that serve on
the board are essential to the
fulfillment of the districts
mission.
The board meeting will be
Wednesday, Jan. 11, begin-
ning at 6 p.m.
Parents, students and com-
munity members are invited
to attend.
stained glass and spending
time with his grandchildren.
He is survived by his wife,
Barbara; his son Matthew; two
grandchildren (Mia and Elena);
his brother, John (Shirley)
Fiorito; and his sister,
Bernadette Fiorito.
He was preceded in death by
his parents and a brother,
Edward.
At his request, no service
will be held.
Burns’s Riverside Chapel
Florence Funeral Home was in
charge of arrangements.
KIMBALL—Charles H.
Kimball, 96, of Florence,
passed away Dec. 24, 2016.
Burns’s Riverside Chapel
Florence Funeral Home was in
charge of arrangements.
Without the generous support and donations of the following sponsors,
restaurants, organizations, artists, students and volunteers, the Empty Bowls
2016 fundraiser to benefi t Florence Food Share could not have been possible.
We are truly fortunate to live in a community that works together to make our
town a better place to live!
Artists & Silent Auction Donors
Let’s Do This!!!
3rd Annual CHILI COOKOFF and BAKE SALE
When: SATURDAY, JANUARY 21st
Where: ELKS LODGE, 1686 12th ST, FLORENCE, OR
Time: 2PM to 4PM. Entry on East side of the Lodge
Open to the public!
$1.00 charge when you decide to purchase a bowl of chili which counts as a vote (no fees for a
small taste of the various chili), or 6 bowls for $5.00. Coīee, tea and water will be provided at no
cost (You can purchase your favorite soda or alcohol) .
You may want to bring your own TUMS - .
If you think you have what it takes to win the best chili in Florence, sign up and bring your favor-
The
top 3 places.
The annual bake
will have the chance to buy or bid on some of the best desserts this side of
serts. Yum, yum!!!
All proceeds beneĮt the American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life of Florence/Central Coast!
Bobbi Harris 541 991 1957
Rae Henry 541 999 8624
Harold Kinney 712 242 7336
Live Music provided by Speaker Wave!
Stephanie Ames
Lois Bass
Larry Bishop
Karen Brodkin
Rhonda Butler
Alissa Clark
Steve Dennis
Kris DeNoyer
Paul Doberantz
Sam Dantone
Julie Ellingson
Joshua Greene
Rod & Ruth Engleman
Kim Fleenor
Jan Gaynor
Daniel Heffron
Bernie Herr
Greg Kennedy
Jeff Kernan
Debbie Kiturkes
Bonnie Kramer
Leroy Kryzycki
Phyllis Laird
Patti Land
LCC Clay Classes
Christine Larkin
Sue Lyons
Oregon Coast Woodturners
Owen Marsh
Michael MacDuffee
James McHenry
Geraldine McMahan
Kim Pickell
Jane Rincon
Michael Schwartz
Kathy Shamey
Vicki Sieber-Benson
Margie Sittner
Siuslaw High School Art
Classes
Jayne Smoley
Julie Strecker
Bonnie Wilson
Sponsors
Restaurants
Backstreet Galley
Coast Radio
Coast Broadcasting
Coastal Fitness
Florence Dental Clinic
Florence Rotary Club
Goodmans Floor Covering
Integrity Plumbing
The J Group/Desiree Clifton
& Amy Johnson
Oregon Pacifi c Bank
Ray Wells Inc.
1285 Restobar
Bridgewater Ocean Fresh Fish House
Clawson’s Wheelhouse
Firehouse Restaurant
Fresh Harvest Café
Ichiban
International C Food Market
Le Bouchon
La Pomodori Ristorante
Maple Street Grille
Mo’s
Nature’s Corner Café & Market
CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK
2 A