THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM
❘
/ SIUSLAWNEWS
❘
@ SIUSLAWNEWS
WEDNESDAY EDITION
STUDENTS AT
STATE
Siuslaw News will join other area businesses by being closed
SPORTS — B
126TH YEAR ❘ ISSUE NO. 9
❘ MAY 24, 2017 ❘ $1.00
Memorial Day, Monday, May 29. Deadlines for the following
Early
Wednesday’s issue, May 31, will be advanced to accommodate
shortened work week. All display advertising and legal pub-
deadlines for the
lication deadlines move to noon Thursday, May 25. By-the-word
deadlines advance to 5 p.m. Friday, May 26. Deadline
Memorial Day classified
for news articles and press releases is noon Thursday.
SERVING WESTERN LANE COUNTY SINCE 1890
110 TH
ANNUAL
FLORENCE, OREGON
R HODODENDRON F ESTIVAL
ALWAYS READY TO RHODY
Florence carries on tradition with
110th Rhody Days celebration
F
lorence’s 110th annual
Rhododendron Festival wrapped
up Sunday after a season of being
“Always Ready to Rhody!” This year’s
festival theme borrowed from U.S.
Coast Guard’s motto “Semper Paratus
— Always Ready” and honored Station
Siuslaw River.
R HODY F EST
C O M M E M O R AT I V E A L B U M
I N S I D E
S TORY B Y C HANTELLE M EYER
P HOTOS B Y M ARK B RENNAN , J ACK D AVIS ,
N ED H ICKSON AND C HANTELLE M EYER
Siuslaw News
Cahoon as the 2017 Queen Rhododendra and King of the
Coast.
The festival really kicked off for the weekend with events
and activities at Three Rivers Casino Resort, Florence Events
Center and Historic Old Town Florence.
According to Rich Colton, director of consumer marketing
at Three Rivers, 245 motorcycles participated in various Let It
Ride motorcycle events at the casino on Friday and Saturday,
and more than 500 people attended the show.
“Our Rebel Rally Poker Run raised $4,800 for veterans and
the Let It Ride Bike Show brought in $2,300 for St. Jude’s,”
Colton said.
People showed their bikes on the casino floor and outside
— and many parked their wheels along Bay Street throughout
the weekend.
Rhody Days officially ran May 19 to 21, but Davis Shows
Northwest’s Amusement Carnival opened the festival May 17
at the Port of Siuslaw parking lot. The Davis family’s carnival
has been coming to Florence since 1950.
Then, on May 18, the Rhododendron Court crowned
Siuslaw High School seniors Claire Waggoner and Benjamin
See
AMBULANCE
Popular broadcaster
ATV crash claims life passes away at 89
Local woman dies in Deadwood area
recreational vehicle accident
B Y J ACK D AVIS
Siuslaw News
INSIDE
Area resident Sara Smith,
26, died in a single vehicle
ATV accident Sunday in the
Deadwood area.
Oregon State Police (OSP)
Public Information Officer
Sergeant Jeff Proulx said in a
statement, “At approximately
4:15 p.m. on May 21, OSP
responded to the Mapleton
Valley Fire Department after
hearing on the radio of a
woman being transported by a
friend to the fire department
with serious injuries.”
Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Community . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Library Tidings . . . . . . . . . . .
Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
B6
A3
A5
A4
Medical personnel and OSP
performed CPR on the female,
identified as Smith, before she
was transported to PeaceHealth
Peace Harbor Medical Center,
where she died of her injuries.
Western Lane Ambulance
District also responded.
The preliminary OSP inves-
tigation determined that Smith
was riding an ATV by herself
in the Deadwood area and, for
an unknown reason, crashed.
OSP is continuing the inves-
tigation to determine the cause
and location of the crash.
See
Harley Youngblood’s distinctive voice,
warm personality informed, entertained
Long time local Coast Radio broad-
caster Harley Youngblood passed
away May 22 at the age of 89.
Yo u n g b l o o d
B Y M ARK B RENNAN
was one of
Siuslaw News
Coast Radio’s
most popular
and recognizable on-air personalities.
Youngblood had a passion for radio
and a lifelong history working in
broadcasting beginning in Portland in
the late 1940s.
Harley Youngblood
Initially starting out as a DJ,
Youngblood went on to become music director at KISN Radio
and eventually spent time working as an on-air personality in
See
CRASH 9A
Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A2
Rhody Results . . . . . . . . . . . A7
Scoreboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . B2
Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B
THIS WEEK ’ S
RADIO 7A
TODAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
63 47
65 50
71 51
65 51
WEATHER
Full Forecast, A3
RHODY 7A
Tenacious owner seeks
$2,989 repayment from port
Port agrees to sell surplus riverfront
property to City of Florence
B Y J ACK D AVIS
Siuslaw News
The saga of the 40-foot sail-
boat Tenacious continued dur-
ing the May 17 Port of Siuslaw
Commission meeting, even
though the vessel is no longer
moored at the port.
Tenacious owner Gordon
Owen presented commission-
ers with an invoice for $2,989
he claims is the amount the
port overcharged him for
moorage fees.
During the April port meet-
ing, Commission President
Ron Caputo agreed to let
S IUSLAW N EWS
2 S ECTIONS ❘ 20 P AGES
C OPYRIGHT 2017
Owen submit the invoice for
commissioners to review.
At that meeting, Caputo
said, “If you have a complaint,
and I think you do have a valid
complaint, if you want to write
something up and put down a
dollar figure that you think
you were cheated out of, send
it to the port and I will be
happy to look that over.”
After handing the invoice to
Caputo, Owen said, “I feel that
the lien that was filed against
my boat was done illegally.
See
PORT 9A