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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (March 4, 2017)
❘ / SIUSLAWNEWS ❘ @ SIUSLAWNEWS ❘ MARCH 4, 2017 ❘ $1.00 SATURDAY EDITION SMS EYES PRIZE PTA takes students ‘Around the World’ INSIDE — A3 SPORTS — B 127TH YEAR ❘ ISSUE NO. 18 SERVING WESTERN LANE COUNTY SINCE 1890 U . S . COAST GUARD STATION SIUSLAW RIVER 21 ST ANNUAL FLORENCE, OREGON F LORENCE H OME & G ARDEN S HOW M a g ic of S p ri n g riday opened the 21st annual Home and Garden Show at Florence Events Center with a tiny house exhibit, a new tractor display and a line out the door. Guests especially enjoyed a “Taste of Spring” at Laurel Bay Gardens and whimsi- cal fairy gardens filled with miniatures. With tastings, exhibits, displays and vendors both indoors and out, this sea- sonal event will get people ready for spring and all its proj- ects. The Home and Garden Show continues today from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday, March 5, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tickets are $2 for adults and $1 for children 12 and under, or people can get in free today from 4 to 6 p.m. F CHANTELLE MEYER/SIUSLAW NEWS U.S. Coast Guard Station Siuslaw Master Chief Tim Tregoning shakes hands with Chief Boatswain’s Mate Ben Snider during Tregoning’s advancement ceremony Wednesday. Tregoning advances to master chief O n Wednesday, U.S. Coast Guard Station Siuslaw Officer-in-Charge Tim Tregoning advanced to the title of master chief petty officer, the “pinnacle” of his career, in a ceremony held at Oregon Coast Military Museum in Florence. B Y C HANTELLE M EYER Sector North Bend Siuslaw News Commanding Officer Captain Michael Trimpert conducted the ceremony for Coast Guard personnel from all over the sector and District 13. Chief Boatswain’s Mate Ben Snider opened the ceremony by calling Station Siuslaw River per- sonnel to attention. “Today is a momentous day for the Tregoning family,” Trimpert said. “Advancing to master chief is the pinnacle of being an enlisted man in the U.S. Coast Guard.” Trimpert listed Tregoning’s decades with the Coast Guard, including service “on both sides of the dateline.” Tregoning’s previous command was Station Apra Harbor in Guam, and he also served at Motor Lifeboat Station Quillayute River, Wash., Motor Lifeboat Station Morro Bay, Calif., and Motor Lifeboat Station Humboldt Bay, Calif. Trimpert also spoke of Tregoning’s dedication to Sector North Bend since he assumed command of Station Siuslaw River in June 2015. Master Chief Petty Officer Kirk McKay, officer in charge of Coast Guard Station Chetco River in Brookings, was there in the capacity of Ancient Keeper, a title honoring the Coast Guard member See CHIEF 11A PHOTOS BY MARK BRENNAN/SIUSLAW NEWS Bank robber had a simple plan Roderick Wilson, homeless with a fatal brain disease, felt he had few options left B Y J ACK D AVIS Siuslaw News COURTESY PHOTO Roderik J. Wilson What do you do when you are homeless, broke and suffering from Huntington’s Disease, a fatal brain- destroying malady that has no cure and leads to physical disabilities and dementia? Roderick J. Wilson, 48, thought he had the answer — rob a bank, get arrested and have the state take care of him for the next several years. On Feb. 24, at 10:20 a.m., Wilson walked into the Florence branch of Oregon Pacific Bank (OPB), 1355 Highway 101, and put his plan into action. According to the Florence Police Department Affidavit for Probable Cause, Wilson walked up to an OPB teller and said he was there to rob the bank. The teller reportedly placed approximately $2,000 on the counter. Wilson picked up the cash and start- ed to put it into his pocket, but then placed it back onto the counter and said, “The police are on their way.” According to the affidavit, Wilson then walked out the front door and See ROBBERY 7A Elementary students have a field day Stream Team takes students outside to learn about salmon, habitats The term field trip usually refers to any excursion that students take when they leave the school grounds. But a field trip taken by the students in Susan DeVries third-grade class at Siuslaw Elementary School was conducted, at least partially, in a real field. D e Vr i e s ’ class was the Siuslaw News latest to make the journey to the Whittaker Creek Recreation Area to observe the spawning run of salmon as they make their way to the INSIDE B Y M ARK B RENNAN Chamber Business Beat . . . . . Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Community . . . . . . . . . . . . . Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A8 B7 A3 A4 sea. Classes from Siuslaw and Mapleton school districts are regular- ly invited to come and learn onsite. These trips are part of a longterm effort by the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB) to increase awareness of the life cycle of the native fish that populate Oregon’s rivers, streams and lakes. The effort to introduce this slip- pery part of the natural world is head- ed up by Jim Grano, who is the gal- vanizing force behind the Stream Team, as it has been named. Grano is a retired seventh-grade teacher and, since his retirement, he has volunteered his time to support and improve the number and quality Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A2 Religion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A5 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B This Week on the Coast . . A10 of the area’s fish populations. He is an active participant in the Salmon Trout Enhancement Program (STEP) and has been taking students to Whittaker Creek for more than two decades. He and the other STEP volunteers participating in this educational effort take the time to explain to students the life cycle of the salmon and its impor- tance to the health of the larger ecosystem of the Siuslaw Watershed. The field trips make it possible for students to get up close and personal with the migrating fish. “The Stream Team has been going to Whittaker with STEP since February 1996. Other partners, the U.S. Forest Service and the Siuslaw THIS WEEK ’ S MARK BRENNAN/SIUSLAW NEWS Stream Team Captain Jim Grano describes the anatomy and habits of area salmon to Siuslaw Elementary students. Watershed Council, came on in 2007,” Grano said. Since the inception of the pro- gram, Grano estimates that 3,500 TODAY SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY 45 35 42 36 45 40 47 42 WEATHER Full Forecast, A3 students have made the trip to the recreation area. S IUSLAW N EWS 2 S ECTIONS ❘ 22 P AGES C OPYRIGHT 2017 See FIELD TRIP 7A CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM
