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WEDNESDAY EDITION
❘ FEBRUARY 8, 2017 ❘ $1.00
Chef spices up
VIKING
TEAMS FALL the kitchen
COAST LIFE — B
SPORTS — C
127TH YEAR ❘ ISSUE NO. 11
SERVING WESTERN LANE COUNTY SINCE 1890
FLORENCE, OREGON
CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK
L a n d s l i d e t o p p le s tr a i l e r o n H i g h w a y 1 2 6
PHOTOS BY MARK BRENNAN/SIUSLAW NEWS
(Left) Siuslaw Valley firefighters escort Allison Barkemeyer to safety after she and her granddaughter had been trapped in their RV by a major landslide Sunday morning. (Right)
Firefighter Megan Stronegger carries Barkemeyer’s infant granddaughter away from the landslide.
A woman and infant are now safe after rescue and aid from Siuslaw Valley Fire, Western Lane Ambulance, Red Cross
T
he nearly five inches of rain
the Florence area received
Saturday and Sunday were
likely a major contributor to a hillside
collapse at the Siuslaw Marina and
River RV Park
B Y M ARK B RENNAN
on
Highway
Siuslaw News
126, authorities
say.
Western Lane Ambulance District
and Siuslaw Valley Fire and Rescue
(SVFR) responded to a 911 call at
approximately 10:15 a.m. on Sunday.
The first responders rescued two indi-
viduals, Allison Barkemeyer and her
infant granddaughter, Arylyn, who had
been trapped in their RV by a major
landslide.
Upon arrival, responders were con-
fronted with a partially
overturned trailer. The trail-
er had slid off of its cement
pad due to a significant
impact from a landslide that
began on a steep hill above
the park.
SVFR Fire Marshal Sean
Barrett said, “Calls like this
really test our abilities. We
classify them as high haz-
ard and low frequency.
They don’t happen very
often but they are very haz-
ardous — not only to the
victim but to the first
responders.”
Trees, dirt and debris
from the hillside had cas-
caded down a steep slope
and slammed into the
affected RV, trapping the
occupants and nearly flip-
ping the trailer over.
Kathy Elfers lives next
door to the Barkemeyers
and she heard and felt the
slide.
“I was just sitting there
with my dog and I heard
this loud crash. I looked
out my window and saw
this large tree sticking out
in the road. So I looked
Allison Barkemeyer’s RV teeters dangerously from closer and saw my neigh-
the impact with Sunday’s landslide. Trees and debris bors’ RV was on its side
knocked the trailer from its cement pad and blocked and I realized we had a
the exits for the two occupants.
landslide,” she said.
The nearby trailer was covered in
trees and brush. Elfers knew her
neighbors were in the trailer, so she
didn’t hesitate.
“I called 911 before I even went to
see if my neighbors were OK, because
I wanted to get the medics and every-
body else out here as soon as possible.
Thankfully, everyone is OK,” she said.
Barkemeyer did not have any type
of warning before the mud slid into
her RV.
“I didn’t hear anything. I felt some-
thing hit the trailer and I thought it was
a car or something that came off the
road up there,” she said. “Then we
started sliding a bit and then we turned
See
SLIDE 7A
City council ties together 5 goals
CITY CODE
F LORENCE
CLARIFIES POSITION ON Florence’s Work Plan gives direction for ‘two-year horizon’
n Monday, Florence City
meet community expectations
IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT
O
Council approved its
for municipal services, pro-
City Work Plan in a new form,
B Y C HANTELLE M EYER
Siuslaw News
Florence police will not enforce federal immigration laws
ity of Florence issued a
statement Feb. 3 in
response to President
Donald Trump’s Executive
Order 13768, signed Jan. 25,
expanding
B Y J ACK D AVIS
the
Siuslaw News
authority
of state
and local police to include
enforcing federal immigration
law.
Executive Order 13768,
Section 8 states, “It is the poli-
cy of the executive branch to
empower state and local law
enforcement agencies across
the country to perform the
functions of an immigration
officer in the interior of the
United States to the maximum
extent permitted by law.”
This statement directly con-
flicts with language in the
Oregon Revised Statutes,
(ORS) and the Florence City
Charter.
INSIDE
C
Boy Scout Appreciation . . . . B4
Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C6
Coast Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B
Library Tidings . . . . . . . . . . . A9
According to the city’s
statement, in light of recent
national events, Florence
Police Department has
received inquiries regarding
immigration enforcement at
the local level.
Florence Public Information
Officer Megan Messmer said,
“We feel it is important for
our community to understand
how we interact with the pub-
lic on this topic.”
The city’s press release stat-
ed, “The Florence Police
Department does not enforce
federal immigration laws and
we will continue to follow
state laws regarding immigra-
tion.
“ORS 181A.820 states that
‘No law enforcement agency
of the State of Oregon or of
any political subdivision (city
or county) of the state shall
use agency moneys, equip-
ment or personnel for the pur-
Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A4
Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A2
Senior Calendar . . . . . . . . . B6
Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C
pose of detecting or appre-
hending persons whose only
violation of law is that they
are persons of foreign citizen-
ship present in the United
States in violation of federal
immigration laws.”’
According to Florence
Mayor Joe Henry, a recent
legal analysis of ORS
181A.820 by the Oregon State
Sheriffs Association supported
that position.
“That statute has been in
place since 1987,” Henry said,
“and unless the Oregon legis-
lature changes it, that law will
continue to prohibit Oregon
police officers from acting as
immigration enforcement offi-
cers.”
Local and state ordinances
appear to trump the executive
order and will create multiple
levels of judiciary conflict.
See
ENFORCEMENT 7A
THIS WEEK ’ S
reflecting the council’s deci-
City staff put the Work Plan
sion in January to move the into a document to use as part
city into a biennial budget of the city’s ongoing commu-
cycle.
nication tools. The full-color
City
Manager
Erin brochure shows each of the
Reynolds presented the 2017- city council’s five goals —
18 City Work Plan in City
Service
Delivery,
Resolution No. 2, Series 2017. Livability and Quality of Life,
“Starting with your first Economic
Development,
reign as Florence City Council Communication and Trust,
two years ago in 2015, we and
Financial
and
incorporated a really robust Organizational Sustainability
work plan that coincided with — and the 145 objectives that
your council goals,” she said. fall under them.
“You have five City Goals that
“You can see what each
you refined last
year and chose to
keep for the com- “We just want to acknowledge the
ing year.”
shift in making things happen. It’s
According to the a good thing and it’s healthy.”
council packet, the
— C OUNCILOR J OSHUA G REENE
City Work Plan
serves as the foun-
dation for preparing the department is working on and
upcoming budget. It assists how it relates back to each of
the city in showing validation those goals,” Reynolds said.
for the work plan objectives
She emphasized that every-
and is intended to be a work- thing in the City Work Plan
able, changing document.
ties into the city’s mission, “to
TODAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
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54 45
49 38
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WEATHER
Full Forecast, A3
S IUSLAW N EWS
3 S ECTIONS ❘ 26 P AGES
C OPYRIGHT 2017
vide a vision for civic
improvements, maintain a
quality environment and posi-
tion Florence to have an eco-
nomically viable and sustain-
able future.”
The City Work Plan
brochure also includes a hier-
archy of municipal functions
and work plan priorities.
Reynolds said, “This isn’t
complete. It is a living docu-
ment and we did our best (to
make additions) over the last
week and a half now that we
know we are working with a
biennial budget. We build the
budget off the work plan,
including things that have the
two-year horizon in there.”
The first amendment will be
to add “2017-18” to the docu-
ment before final edits are
available to the public. Future
amendments will occur during
future city council retreats and
the regular city manager eval-
uations.
See
WORK PLAN 7A