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WEDNESDAY EDITION
❘ MARCH 29, 2017 ❘ $1.00
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127TH YEAR ❘ ISSUE NO. 25
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SERVING WESTERN LANE COUNTY SINCE 1890
FLORENCE, OREGON
WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH
A true Oregon pioneer
B Y M ARK B RENNAN
Siuslaw News
arch is National Women’s
History Month. The designation
and official recognition of this
month is an effort to acknowl-
edge the many contributions that women have
M
Abigail Scott Duniway (center), shown
with Oregon Gov. Oswald West and
social rights activist Viola M. Coe,
authored and signed the 1912 procla-
mation allowing women to vote in all
elections in the state of Oregon.
PHOTO COURTESY LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
made to America and to its culture. One issue,
that of women’s participation in the voting
process, was once again front page news during
the most recent election cycle.
Women’s marches have found the media spot-
light in the post-election frenzy of 2017, rein-
forcing women’s desires to have their concerns
and needs addressed in a substantive way.
Florence had a Women’s March in January that
drew hundreds of participants to the streets,
demanding acknowledgement of their ongoing
concerns.
One of the first and most important stages of
the women’s movement was the fight for the
right of women to vote. This struggle culminat-
ed in 1920 with the passage of the 12th
Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which
prohibited voting discrimination based on gen-
der.
Unfortunately, the struggle to obtain what we
now consider an unquestioned right for women
was long and arduous, both in Oregon and
nationally. In addition, although Oregon was the
seventh state to pass a law permitting the vote
for women, the battle was a decades-long cam-
paign. The individual most often given credit for
the success of the fight in Oregon is Abigail
Scott Duniway.
See
HISTORY 7A
Central Lincoln Champion for Children gets ‘mudded’
PUD chosen
for national
study program
Utility one of four across
the nation selected for
policy academy study
Oregon Department of Energy chose Central
Lincoln Public Utilities District (PUD) to rep-
resent Oregon in a 15-month grid moderniza-
tion study by the
B Y J ACK D AVIS
National Governors
Siuslaw News
Association (NGA).
Only four states,
Oregon, Washington, Rhode Island and
Kentucky, were selected, with one PUD chosen
to represent each state.
According to Department of Energy Senior
Analyst Adam Schultz, the NGA picks different
sectors of the economy to study. In the past
they have done studies on healthcare, emer-
gency management and homeland security.
Schultz said, “Oregon Department of Energy
decided to approach one of our 37 consumer
utilities providers to look at grid modernization
work and how distributed energy resources
could be used to enhance local grid resiliency,
particularly, but not exclusively, in response to
the threat from a Cascadia Subduction Zone
earthquake.”
Schultz said his department reached out to
Central Lincoln PUD because they are located
on the central Oregon coast and the utility is at
risk for an earthquake event.
“Also, a couple of years ago they finished a
major smart grid investment, funded with a
$9.9 million award from the U.S. Department
of Energy. That is a significant award for a util-
ity of their size. That was a feather in their
cap,” Schultz said.
The Oregon team is made up of representa-
tives from Central Lincoln PUD, the
Department of Energy and the governor’s
office.
“We were selected in December. We did our
first workshop in San Diego at the beginning of
February. The study will run through this year
and wrap up first quarter of 2018,” Schultz
said. “Over the next 12 months we hope to help
consumer utilities identify what the opportuni-
ties and challenges are and how to incorporate
these changes into their future planning.”
Schultz said one of the goals is to learn how
to make critical public infrastructure such as
police, fire, hospitals, water-pumping stations
and communication towers more resilient.
“Many of these already have backup power
like diesel generators, but one thing that was
learned from hurricane Sandy, in the New York
INSIDE
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STUDY 7A
S
iuslaw Elementary School
Principal Mike Harklerode was
awarded the Oregon PTA’s
‘Champion for Children” award. His
reward for receiving this statewide
recognition was to be “mudded” dur-
ing a school assembly on Friday.
MARK BRENNAN/SIUSLAW NEWS
CONTINUING RIPPLE
Dancing with Sea Lions wins awards for impact, innovation
hen Florence Events Center (FEC)
Marketing Director Jennifer Connor
conceived the idea for Dancing with
Sea Lions, a year-long celebration of the events
center’s 20th anniver-
B Y C HANTELLE M EYER
sary, she spoke of the
Siuslaw News
ripple effect the arts
have on communities
and visitors to an area. Ripples created from the
Friends of the FEC’s Dancing with Sea Lions
public art project continue to be felt along the
coast and in the state. Most recently, Oregon
Festivals and Events Association awarded the
W
project the Impact Award in March.
In 2015, the nonprofit group Friends of the FEC
was looking for a creative way to celebrate the
20th anniversary of the events center. Connor used
Dancing with Sea Lions to promote the impact of
the arts, highlight 21 area artists and partner with
area businesses and organizations to sponsor the
See
SEA LIONS 11A
Rhody, the smallest member of Dancing
with Sea Lions, shows off the Friends of
the Florence Event Center’s Impact Award.
CHANTELLE MEYER/SIUSLAW NEWS
Deeds of Valor proposes General Ben King memorial park
B Y J ACK D AVIS
Siuslaw News
our members of Deeds of
Valor, Inc. (DOV) met with
Florence City Council during the
council work session held on
March 22 to request approval to
proceed with a proposed General
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THIS WEEK ’ S
Ben King Memorial Gateway adja-
cent to the south end of the Oregon
Coast Military Museum on
Kingwood Street.
The outdoor park would be
named after Florence resident
U.S. Air Force (USAF) retired
general and World War II and
Korean conflict fighter ace Ben
King, who died in 2004.
DOV is an Oregon Domestic
Nonprofit whose mission is “to pro-
mote and support military heritage
in the greater Florence area.”
Park features would include a
pedestal mounted fighter jet, a U.S.
Coast Guard vessel, an army vehi-
cle or artillery piece, a gazebo and
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possibly an Asian-styled bridge and
walking paths.
DOV President Sam Spayd said
the purposes of the presentation
was to brief the council on the proj-
ect and get the council’s approval to
proceed.
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MEMORIAL 7A
CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK
Abigail Scott Duniway was a leader in the fight to acquire voting rights for women