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❘ MARCH 22, 2017 ❘ $1.00
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127TH YEAR ❘ ISSUE NO. 23
SERVING WESTERN LANE COUNTY SINCE 1890
FLORENCE, OREGON
Dancing for the Stars of Tomorrow
Rotary Auction sets record high for third straight year
otary Club of Florence announced the
grand total of this year’s Rotary
Auction at its lunch meeting on March
21, and the total had club members dancing.
The March 11 auction, called “Dancing for
the Stars of Tomorrow,” raised $109,131.89.
This is up nearly $8,000 from last year’s
“Sky’s the Limit” record of $101,390.
Auction Committee co-chair Kevin
R
The 2017 Rotary Auction on March 11
was a night full of stars as the Florence
community raised a record-setting
$109,131.89 during the “Dancing for the
Stars of Tomorrow” event.
Three Rivers
hosts Community
Job Fair Thursday
Annual fair to match 30+ area
employers with job applicants
Thursday will see a gathering of employers cur-
rently hiring and active job seekers all in one room,
thanks to the efforts of Three Rivers Casino Resort
and
the
B Y C HANTELLE M EYER
Confederated
Tribes
Siuslaw News
of Coos, Lower
Umpqua
and
Siuslaw Indians. The Community Job Fair will be
March 23 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Three Rivers
event center at 5647 Highway 126.
“It can be tough to find opportunities in this
area,” said Pam Hickson, event organizer and Three
Rivers recruitment specialist. “Folks don’t always
get the chance to meet this number of applicants all
at one time. This is both sides, employers and appli-
cants, coming together. You can hone in on the
careers and opportunities available.”
Last year, more than 300 people attended the first
event.
“We had people from all over the area and state,
and even people from Washington looking to relo-
cate,” Hickson said.
Three Rivers began the event when Hickson real-
ized that job openings in the area were remaining
unfilled while a lot of people were looking for work.
See
JOB FAIR 9A
B Y C HANTELLE M EYER
Siuslaw News
McMullen said the total came from just the
auction alone.
“This is what you guys did in just one
night,” he said. “It’s around 10 percent
higher than last year.”
More than 300 people attended the Rotary
Auction at the Florence Events Center.
See
AUCTION 9A
G e tt i n g t h e ‘ C on v e r s a t i o n ’ s t a r t ed
Oregon Humanities Conversation Project promotes listening and sharing ideas
T
he current heated political climate has
highlighted the many differences that
exist between individuals across the
country and in the Florence community. The
issues that divide peo-
B Y M ARK B RENNAN
ple can appear at times
Siuslaw News
to be insurmountable.
One solution to this
problem, and to most others, is to talk about it.
The process of listening to others, even
those with wildly different perspectives, can
and often does bring people together.
That is the premise behind The Convers-
ation Project, a program sponsored by Oregon
Humanities. Siuslaw Public Library has twice
brought the program to Florence.
Discussing differences is one of the main
objectives of the Conversation Project, accord-
ing to Adam Davis, executive director of
Oregon Humanities. Davis feels talking may
lead to an understanding and an appreciation
of the concerns with those whom we disagree.
“The goal is to get Oregonians from differ-
ing perspectives to communicate and connect
while discussing issues that matter to them,”
Davis said. “We think it strengthens communi-
ties to talk about the tough issues, even if we
continue to disagree.”
The Conversation Project is an ongoing
series of discussions from a menu of 30 topics
selected for their relevancy and topicality. The
conversations are taking place across the state
in libraries, schools and other public places
that request speakers.
Both forums hosted
by Siuslaw Public
Library have had pos-
itive results.
Last week, the
library presented food
writer Jennifer Burns
Bright, who focused
on the sometimes-
confusing paradigm
surrounding seafood,
its quality, scarcity
and future availabili-
ty.
Bright presented
information on the
MARK BRENNAN/SIUSLAW NEWS
various aspects of the
Dr. Jennifer Burns, the featured speaker at last week’s
seafood industry that
Conversation Project forum, discusses the different aspects of
affect Oregon con-
Oregon’s seafood culture with attendees.
sumers and commer-
cial and recreational fishermen. People who Florence project here in our area,” Spencer
attended Bright's presentation asked pertinent said. “And in the case of this most recent con-
questions and actively participated in the con- versation, Bright was speaking on a topic of
great interest to our area, seafood.”
versation.
Most areas can request a speaker on the
Siuslaw Library Director Meg Spencer said
issues
that resonate in their location.
the number of
topics covered by the
“One
of the strengths of the Project is the
Conversation Project allow for an interested
fact
that
communities across the state can con-
group to ask for a specific speaker to address
tact
us
and
bring a speaker into their commu-
an issue that is important to that area.
nity
that
will
be able to speak about an issue
“The library hosted a Conversation Project
that
is
important
to them,” said Davis.
event with Nan Laurence about ‘A City's
Center: Rethinking Downtown’ that had a
See PROJECT 9A
great deal of relevance in light of the ReVision
Pesticide concern City council names grant recipients, approves action items
prompts voluntary
F
marijuana recall
On Monday, The Oregon Liquor Control
Commission (OLCC) issued an immediate health
and safety advisory due to the identification of
potentially unsafe pesticide residue on retail plant
material produced from marijuana cultivated by
Emerald Wave Estate, LLC.
The effected marijuana failed a pesticide test
for pyrethrins exceeding the Oregon Health
Authority (OHA) action level for this class of pes-
ticide.
Affected products include marijuana flower
and, as a result, the retailer that sold the product
has issued a voluntary recall.
The marijuana flower was sold at “Buds 4 U”
in Mapleton, where 82.5 grams was sold to 31
customers between March 8 and 10.
INSIDE
See
Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Community . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Library Tidings . . . . . . . . . . .
Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
MARIJUANA 9A
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lorence City Councilors
appeared to be in an agree-
able mood during the
March 20 meeting as they unani-
mously voted
B Y J ACK D AVIS
to award five
Siuslaw News
$1,000 grants
to local non-
profit organizations and approved
all six action items on the agenda.
Councilor Joshua Greene was
out of town and did not participate
in the voting.
The city offered a total of
$5,000 in grants to local nonprof-
it organizations that met the city’s
criteria. This year, 18 groups
applied for the grants, which was
a significant increase over last
year, when money was left over
because only four organizations
submitted applications.
This year’s grant recipients are
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Spring Sports Preview . . . . . B3
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Weather Data . . . . . . . . . . . A2
THIS WEEK ’ S
Boys and Girls Club of Western
Lane County, Florence Senior
Center, Florence Food Share,
Siuslaw Youth Soccer Association
and Helping Hands Coalition.
In other business, Interim
Finance Director Andy Parks
reported to the council on the
Distinguished Budget Present-
ation Award the city received
from the Government Finance
Officers Association.
According to Parks, the award
is offered to cities, special dis-
tricts and school districts that
present clear, concise and trans-
parent budgets that are easy for
the community to understand.
“This isn’t an easy award to
get,” Parks said. “Florence is in
the top 2 percent. In Oregon, you
are only going to find one other
city of our size (that received the
award). It is a testament to the
support from the city council and
the management team.”
During public comments, two
residents expressed concerns over
what, if anything, the city was
proposing to do about the recent
flooding occurring east of Willow
Loop, between 16th and 18th
streets.
David Eckhardt said, “Although
this has been an extremely wet
winter, it doesn’t mean the future
is not going to be the same. This
would be a good opportunity for
the city to get ahead of the ball on
this.
“Sixteenth Street was like
Venice, Italy. There was no street.
Pine Court was blocked off.
Eighteenth Street was the same,”
he added.
Shannon Graham said she was
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WEATHER
Full Forecast, A3
worried about black mold grow-
ing in the flooded crawl space
under her home on Pine Court.
Mayor Joe Henry acknowl-
edged their concerns, but was not
sure what the city could do, other
that providing pumps to discharge
the excess water.
“To handle the worst case run-
off all over town would be monu-
mentally expensive. We only have
so many pumps, and they are tak-
ing them around to different
places,” Henry said.
The council later approved two
action items involving right-of-
way ordinances and fees for com-
munications providers. New lan-
guage authorized the city to sign
leases with communications
providers and fixed the fees for all
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COUNCIL 9A
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