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SATURDAY EDITION
FINAL AT BAT
FOR VIKS
Mother’s Day is
Sunday, May 14
SPECIAL SECTION INSIDE
SPORTS — B
127TH YEAR ❘ ISSUE NO. 38
POLICE
County continues
investigation into
inmate’s death
Hospital confirms 2
injured police officers
released from care
SERVING WESTERN LANE COUNTY SINCE 1890
2017 R HODODENDRON C OURT PREPARES FOR M AY 18
C ORONATION WITH A RETURN TO TRADITION
S E N I O R C O U R T — P R I N C E S S E S
Eyza Abbas
Chehalis Stinger
Claire Waggoner
Abby Watkins
Benjamin Cahoon
Kyle Doran
Michael Larson
J U N I O R C O U R T — P R I N C E S S E S
POLICE 9A
Community invited to
participate in ‘fun’
awareness event May 20
The Autism Society of Oregon is
sponsoring the organizations first
Florence Autism
B Y M ARK B RENNAN
Walk on Saturday,
Siuslaw News
May 20, at Miller
Park.
Sign ups for the walk start at 2 p.m.
and the walk begins at 3 p.m.
The walk is intended to be family ori-
ented and fun, and it will take place on a
fully accessible one mile loop at the
park.
There will be tables with face painting
artists and arts and crafts, a bounce
house, a sensory table and Autism aware-
ness items. A free lunch will also be pro-
vided for registered walkers.
Walk coordinator Karen Holmes said
on one level the initial Autism Walk is
about increasing the public’s understand-
ing about the syndrome, but there is a
more immediate purpose for the walk.
“Awareness is one of the factors, but
more importantly, we are trying to bring
resources to the coast and to build
stronger community ties,” Holmes said.
The State Capitol is holding a special
series of forums over the spring and
summer to explore issues pertaining to
Autism Spectrum Disorder, which affects
1 in 68 children.
Florence residents who traveled to
Salem in March shared a plea for restor-
ing services on the coast, which have
been reduced in recent years.
INSIDE
Jewel Roby
S E N I O R C O U R T — P R I N C E S
Autism Walk
goes for a stroll
at Miller Park
See
FLORENCE, OREGON
READY TO RHODY
The Lane County Interagency Deadly
Force Investigation Team continues to
investigate an inci-
B Y J ACK D AVIS
dent that occurred
Siuslaw News
Monday, May 8, at
the
Florence
Municipal Jail, which left one 40-year-old
inmate dead and two Florence Police offi-
cers seriously injured.
According to Oregon State Police
(OSP) Sergeant Andy Kenyon, the two
injured officers were 24-year veteran
Officer Ken Larson and one-year veteran
Corrections Officer Stephanie Sansom.
Both were hospitalized.
The deadly force team includes repre-
sentatives from Oregon State Police
(OSP), Lane County Sheriff’s Office and
Eugene, Springfield and Cottage Grove
police departments.
Florence Police Department is not rep-
resented because it is a part of the ongo-
ing investigation.
The Lane County Deadly Physical
Force Plan was one of the first of its kind
in the state and was implemented in 2008.
Lane County Chief Deputy District
Attorney Eric Hasselman said, “The
autopsy (on the deceased inmate) has
been completed, but the toxicology report
See
❘ MAY 13, 2017 ❘ $1.00
AWARENESS 9A
Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Coastal Events . . . . . . . . . . .
Community . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
B7
A8
A3
A4
1st-grade:
Clover Holbrook
2nd-grade:
Chloe Clark
3rd-grade:
Madi Jerabek
4th-grade:
AriAnna Williams
5th-grade:
Ava Center
PHOTOS COURTESY OF 2017 RHODY COURT COMMITTEE
he members of this year’s
Rhododendron Court Co-
mmittee are showing they
are “Always Ready to Rhody” by
hearkening back to 110 years of
the Rhododendron Festival. Led
by the family team of Pat Sapp
and Wendy Krause, along with
Brynne Sapp, the Rhody Court
Coronation will feature several
fresh takes on tradition.
T
B Y C HANTELLE M EYER
Siuslaw News
King of the Coast will be at 7 p.m. on Thursday,
May 18, at the Florence Events Center, 715 Quince
St. Tickets are $10, and $6 for those 18 and under.
Krause said, “We’ve all been involved on the
court, and all of us were past royalty.”
All three women have helped the Rhody Court
Committee in various ways over the years, from
leading the process, emceeing, judging, working
backstage and choreographing dance numbers.
“Because we already had experience, we want-
ed to help out and put a fresh spin on it,” Krause
said.
The first of those spins was returning to some of
the Rhododendron Court’s traditions. With 110
years of history, it was relatively easy to return to
favorite moments from the past.
“One of the things my mom wanted to do was
bring back the older style buttons and incorporate
incentives,” Krause said. “It brings back the tradi-
tion when they used to give out free bowls of clam
chowder.”
Florence Area Chamber of Commerce is work-
ing with local restaurants to offer $1 off a bowl of
See
The Coronation of Queen Rhododendra and
CORONATION 7A
Peace Harbor offers recruitment, nurse update
PeaceHealth CEO said nurse contract negotiations are moving forward after May 8 meeting
B Y J ACK D AVIS
Siuslaw News
During a PeaceHealth Peace
Harbor Medical Center editorial
board meeting, held at the hospital
May 11, representatives from the
medical center and PeaceHealth
Medical Group updated the media
on the hospital’s ongoing search for
care providers and the results of the
latest round of mediation between
PeaceHealth and the Oregon Nurses
Association (ONA) contract negoti-
ations.
Peace
Harbor
Operations
Director Nena Harvey said, “Since
June of 2016 and February, we have
brought on seven primary care
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THIS WEEK ’ S
providers. Two are physicians, and
the rest are advanced practice clini-
cians.”
Harvey said the medical group
has a half-time OB-GYN physician
starting in September, a primary
care provider starting in October
and a second primary care provider
starting in October 2018.
“We had about 6,000 patients that
were displaced when the primary
care providers left in 2016. We have
offered all but 1,200 of those
patients a new primary care
provider,” Harvey said.
According to Harvey, the 1,200
patients that have not been offered a
new primary care provider yet have
not required medical treatment for
more than two years.
“They weren’t real active
patients,” she said. “We went
through the list when providers left
and anyone who came in less than
two years got top priority. Now we
are going back through and seeing
who is left.”
Harvey said new residents to
Florence are placed on the list based
on visits to the walk-in clinic.
“We have about 1,800 people on
our new patient wait list. We are
starting to work on that,” she said.
“We have had people on that list
since 2012, but we are up to the
middle of 2015 right now.
“Between the ones that are more
than two years and the ones that
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have not had a provider before,
there are about 3,000 people.”
According to Harvey, the medical
group receives more than 100 calls
per month from people new to
Florence who are looking for a pri-
mary care provider.
One of the popular new features
offered by the walk-in clinic is the
real-time on-line posting of wait
times for patients waiting to see
doctors, Harvey said.
“We are not having the huge del-
uge of patients early in the morning.
People are watching the wait time
and coming in when the wait time
isn’t as long,” she said.
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C OPYRIGHT 2017
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PEACEHEALTH 9A