Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 4, 2017)
THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM ❘ / SIUSLAWNEWS ❘ @ SIUSLAWNEWS SATURDAY EDITION MAPLETON TAKES ON MARSHFIELD Siuslaw’s special director SPORTS — C COAST LIFE — B 127TH YEAR ❘ ISSUE NO. 10 ❘ FEBRUARY 4, 2017 ❘ $1.00 SERVING WESTERN LANE COUNTY SINCE 1890 FLORENCE, OREGON Dunes City Council recommends Siltcoos Trail closure E xpressing what it called “sig- nificant safety concerns” dur- ing its Jan. 17 goal setting session, the Dunes City Council instructed staff to take action to close the Siltcoos River Trail. The trail currently allows access for kayakers and canoers to tra- verse from an inland lake, down a river, to the ocean and back — something that only exists in a few places in the world. Years ago Dunes City, with a grant from the State of Oregon, installed a portage (ramp) that allows kayakers and canoers to safely navigate over the Siltcoos River Dam. That portage was recently repaired and replaced with the help of Ean Young, former operator of the dam for International Paper. “The concern isn’t our portage at the Siltcoos River Dam,” said Dunes City Councilor Duke Wells. “It’s the condition of the river. It has been at least three years since the state has cleaned out that course of the river and there are spots that are, quite frankly, deadly. See TRAIL 7A Agencies arrest Veneta man on multiple charges On the job with Oregon Marine Construction Eugene crime spree spreads to Mapleton, ends at Florence 7-11 F lorence police arrested 25-year-old Trennon Ray Smith, a transient from Veneta, on mul- tiple charges stemming from an incident out- side the 7-11 store at 1560 B Y J ACK D AVIS Ninth St. on Jan.31. Siuslaw News At approximately 7:39 p.m., Lane County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) received a report that Smith was attempting to break into a Mazda 3 at the 10700 block of Highway 126 in Mapleton. LCSO Public Information Officer Sergeant Carrie Carver said, “Smith then allegedly entered a different vehicle, a red Jeep, and asked the driver to take him to Florence. Smith left another vehicle, an Acura, at the scene that had been reported stolen.” Florence Police Department Commander John Pitcher said, “Trennon came to the 7-11 store, where he contacted two males and See CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK POLICE ARREST 7A PHOTOS BY MARK BRENNAN/SIUSLAW NEWS Siuslaw River Bridge construction to make some noise next week regon Department of Transportation reports that Hamilton Construction crews will be working shifts from 3 a.m. to 10 p.m. next week, Feb. 6 to 10, sandblasting and spraying zinc coat- ing on the Siuslaw River Bridge. This will entail construction noise and possible additional traffic delays. The Siuslaw River Bridge Cathodic Protection Project is repairing damaged concrete, replacing bridge railings, and constructing sidewalk fea- tures at the bridge ends. A major portion of the project is to install cathodic protection that includes a zinc surface coating to protect the structure from corrosion. Sandblasting the bridge and spraying the zinc coating are noisy operations that must be done separately, in containment structures. The project is scheduled to be com- pleted in March 2019. More information on the project is available at www.Siuslawbridge.com O Oregon Marine Construction’s Brien Mill manages repairs at Port of Siuslaw, a job which entails diving, welding, removal of material — such as the rusted ladder in the photo below — and regular inspections of the marina’s docks and walkways. Four repair projects at Port of Siuslaw will be completed in the next two weeks B Y M ARK B RENNAN AND J ACK D AVIS Siuslaw News he importance of the Siuslaw River and the Pacific Ocean is both historic and contemporary. By extension, the ability to safely access these community resources is essential to maintaining the Florence area’s eco- nomic vitality and way of life. That’s why the work currently done by Oregon Marine Construction (OMC) at the Port of Siuslaw is critical. Brien Mill is managing the project for OMC, a Woodburn-based company. He pointed out that proper maintenance is necessary to ensure that residents and visitors can use Florence’s water resources safely year round. “I inspect the docks and walkways regular- ly. When I see something that is now or could be a problem, I let the port know and we fig- ure out what we need to do to fix the prob- T lem,” Mill said. Jason Wagner, Port of Siuslaw mainte- nance supervisor, said OMC has been a long- time repair partner and it provides a valuable service to the community. “We have used Oregon Marine Construction for a number of years. They are very helpful and easy to work with and they are very thorough,” Wagner said. OMC is currently working on a multi-part maintenance and repair related upgrade. The first concern of OMC when recommending work at the port is the safety of the public. If there is an unsafe or potentially dangerous situation, OMC will schedule a repair as soon as possible. “We had a couple of jobs to do at Mercer Lake and the next stop on our schedule is here at the port. We now have four different jobs to take care of at the port alone,” Mill said. OMC’s process begins with a diver, in this case Mill, going below the surface to inspect the underside of the port’s docks and walkways to assess their condition. See MARINA 7A Woman’s search reveals questions about state, local sex offender registration Oregon leads nation in per capita sex offenders, yet no sex offenders registered as level 3 ‘predators’ in Florence B Y J ACK D AVIS Siuslaw News uring a recent move to Florence, a D woman who asked to remain INSIDE anonymous began looking into the area to learn about its schools, home rentals and local services. As a parent of two small children, she also researched to see if any regis- tered sex offenders were in the area. After following the City of Florence website to the Florence Police Department link, she found a page that Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C5 Coast Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B Weekly Calendar . . . . . . . . . B4 Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A4 explained that there were no “predato- ry” sex offenders registered in the city of Florence. However, after researching a home she was interested in renting, she dis- covered on an alternate website that a registered sex offender was listed as an occupant in a home located next door. “I was shocked,” said the woman, who eventually found a home some- where else. “It made me wonder why the city website said one thing while another website said something else.” Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A2 Religion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A6 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C Weather Data . . . . . . . . . . . A2 According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, in 2016, Oregon had the most sex offend- ers per capita of any state in the U.S., with 713 sex offenders per 100,000 residents. The national average was 262 offenders per 100,000 people. Eighty-one registered sex offenders reside within the Florence area, according to Florence Police Commander John Pitcher. At this time, none of the 81 is classified as a level 3 “predatory” sex offender. Pitcher said, “The basic criteria to THIS WEEK ’ S reach level 3 are violence, domestic abuse and repeat offenses. That would automatically start you as a level 3, or ‘predatory.”’ Level 3 offenders are also required by state law to be supervised. “Level 1 and 2 sex offenders still have the right to privacy under Oregon law,” Pitcher said. “They must register with OSP, but that information is not publicly available. Only level 3 ‘predatory’ sex offenders’ information is available to the public. “I am not minimizing any crimes, TODAY SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY 50 46 52 39 44 39 48 43 WEATHER Full Forecast, A3 victims or offenses. I’m just stating how sex offenses are categorized,” Pitcher added. In 2013, Oregon adopted a three- level classification system for the evaluation of sex offenders. The Oregon State Police (OSP) website says, “The classification of sex offenders is based on the statistical likelihood that an individual sex offender will commit another sex crime. S IUSLAW N EWS 3 S ECTIONS ❘ 24 P AGES C OPYRIGHT 2017 See REGISTRATION 7A
