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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (April 1, 2017)
THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM ❘ / SIUSLAWNEWS ❘ @ SIUSLAWNEWS SATURDAY EDITION B EST OF F LORENCE 127TH YEAR ❘ ISSUE NO. 26 C OAST C ENTRAL SIUSLAW PLAYS ON SPORTS — B INSIDE ❘ APRIL 1, 2017 ❘ $1.00 A&E — INSIDE SERVING WESTERN LANE COUNTY SINCE 1890 FLORENCE, OREGON Port special meeting gets contentious Regional ICE Florence residents caught up in three-state ICE sweep March 26 B Y J ACK D AVIS Siuslaw News During the March 31 special meeting, several Port of Siuslaw Commissioners butted heads with Port Manager Steven Leskin on several unresolved issues from the March 15 board meeting. Commission President Ron Caputo and commissioners Terry Duman, Mike Buckwald and David Huntington attempted to take Leskin to task on several issues, including inappropriate behavior relating to a report Leskin read into the record of the last port meeting,, anger management issues, stemming from the same meeting, unreasonable moorage rate charges and poor port staff atti- tude toward customers. At the Jan. 30 special meeting to discuss Leskin’s job performance, Commission President Ron Caputo had said, “I personally would give Steven the rating of ‘excellent.’” Commissioners also attempted to resolve several unsettled dis- putes with current port moorage lessees. At the top of the list was an ongoing dispute between the port B Y J ACK D AVIS Siuslaw News O NED HICKSON/SIUSLAW NEWS Siuslaw Port Commission President Ron Caputo explains to fellow commissioner Nancy Rickard why he believes Port Manager Steven Leskin should follow commission recommendations. and boat moorage lessees David Swinney and Michelle Culwell of Florence. The disagreements between Swinney, who is currently running for port commissioner in the May 16 special election, and the port go back to at lease 2014. Though there were different board members, a different port manager and differ- ent circumstances, Swinney com- municated similar grievances in a 2014 letter addressed to the port and a 2017 email sent to the port. In March 12, 2014, Swinney wrote of then Port Manager Bob Forsythe that the port “…is no longer directed by a board of five elected officials but managed and See PORT 7A Band of Brothers helps on the home front Local veterans work together to assist in projects for variety of causes tephen Ambrose was an American historian, bestselling author and Emmy Award winning producer. His biographies of B Y M ARK B RENNAN President Dwight Siuslaw News D. Eisenhower, Richard Nixon and Meriwether Lewis are considered essential contributions to the historical record of America. His most important and enduring con- tribution to the public’s understanding of modern American history, however, may be his 1993 Non-Fiction book, “Band of Brothers.” Ambrose’s book told the story of the 506th Regiment of the 101st Airborne, using the recollec- tions and letters of the soldiers of the unit as the basis for the book. The significance of this work may be best evidenced by the fact that Florence S has its own version of this famous group of veterans, working to better the community in a number of differ- ent ways. Tony Cavarno, one of the first mem- bers of the local Band of Brothers, points out that unlike the original “Band of Brothers,” this group is made up of veterans from other services. “Our group is made up of members of all the services. We have veterans from the Army, the Marines, Navy, Coast Guard and the Air Force,” Cavarno said. “These guys are from the VFW, the Elks, the American Legion and other veteran groups. All these guys give freely of their time and MARK BRENNAN/SIUSLAW NEWS their money to make our community Members of the local Band of Brothers meet weekly at better.” Florence Elk’s Lodge #1858 to discuss the group’s volun- teer projects and donation requests from local civic See BROTHERS 7A organizations. n Sunday, March 26, federal Immi- grations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents conducted a raid in Florence as part of a larger operation that took place in Oregon, Washington and Alaska. A total of 84 foreign nationals were arrest- ed, including four men from Florence. “This operation highlights our commitment to promoting public safety through the pur- suit of targeted criminals residing in the U.S. illegally,” said Bryan Wilcox, acting field office director for Seattle Enforcement and Removal Operations. According to the ICE website, 60 had criminal records, but 24 — almost one third of those arrested, including at least one Florence resident — apparently did not. Daniel Lara Rendon, 35, and his wife, Odilia Garcia Justiniano, 30, have lived at the Ocean Breeze Trailer Park on 27th Street for the past three years. The park manager, who asked to remain anonymous, said Rendon and Justiniano both had to pass a criminal and financial back- ground check before moving into the park. “They both had a very clean history,” he said. “They are wonderful tenants who’ve never been a problem. Daniel helps others in the park and is always friendly. “Both have been taking English classes at Lane Community College here in Florence,” he added. The manager said park residents own the homes and rent the space. He also said two other Latino families live in the park. Rendon works in the timber industry and was fully employed at the time of his arrest. Florence Police Commander John Pitcher said Florence police records showed no arrests or convictions for Rendon. According to Pitcher, an ICE agent con- tacted Florence police and told them that ICE was in the area at 1 p.m. on March 26. ICE called back at 5 p.m. to say they had left the area. Pitcher was given no further information as to what ICE was doing, or who was arrested. According to one of Rendon’s neighbors, an unmarked white van and a dark SUV pulled up at the trailer park Sunday afternoon and two bearded ICE agents got out of the SUV. They wore side arms and were carrying assault weapons. See ARRESTS 7A Battery theft threatens traffic on Siuslaw River U.S. Coast Guard reports two thefts at one navigation aid since November B Y C HANTELLE M EYER Siuslaw News INSIDE U.S. Coast Guard Aids to Navigation Team Coos Bay, (ANT) maintains lighthouses, buoys, lights, day beacons and fog signals along 240 miles of the Oregon coast. Each May, ANT places a sound signal at the end of the North Jetty in Florence. In addition, ANT responds to reports of theft and vandalism on any of the aids to navigation it maintains. In November, U.S. Coast Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Community . . . . . . . . . . . . . Religion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B5 A3 A6 A4 Guard Station Siuslaw River reported that the Siuslaw River Inner Range Front Light was out. When ANT investi- gated, crew members discov- eredthat a battery had been stolen. The same light was again targeted in March. Chief Tom Hines, officer in charge of ANT Coos Bay, said, “We handle aids to navi- gation up and down the coast. When the lights go out, we have a discrepant aid.” Aids to navigation are buoys, lights and signals that Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A2 Side Show . . . . . . . . . . . . . B4 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B Weather Data . . . . . . . . . . . A3 help mariners navigate chan- nels in rivers and on the ocean. “If an aid stops working, we have to restore function in order to maintain safe and proper operations in waters,” Hines said. “When the aids are discrepant because of theft or vandals, it exacerbates the problem.” Coast Guard aids to naviga- tion require both a primary and secondary battery to func- tion. Aids to navigation batter- ies are used by the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Navy, and private THIS WEEK ’ S parties to power lighted buoys, signals and other navigational aids. Each is marked with a serial number. According to Hines, the thieves removed one battery and its wiring from the the Siuslaw aid before rewiring the second battery. This kept the light powered for a short time, but was not enough to maintain full operation. When the light went out, Station Siuslaw River reported it. PHOTO COURTESY U.S. COAST GUARD See BATTERY 7A TODAY SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY 58 43 54 40 53 41 59 49 WEATHER Full Forecast, A3 U.S. Coast Guard Siuslaw River Inner Range Front Light S IUSLAW N EWS 2 S ECTIONS ❘ 20 P AGES C OPYRIGHT 2017 CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK crackdown hits Florence Commissioners pose directives that port manager declines to follow.
