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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 19, 2017)
THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM ❘ / SIUSLAWNEWS ❘ @ SIUSLAWNEWS SATURDAY EDITION COAST GUARD CITY Community Voices INSIDE — A8 INSIDE — A3 127TH YEAR ❘ ISSUE NO. 66 D UNES C ITY M AYOR R EBECCA R UEDE P ASSES A WAY City officials and friends remember the life of the beloved civil servent ❘ AUGUST 19, 2017 ❘ $1.00 SERVING WESTERN LANE COUNTY SINCE 1890 FLORENCE, OREGON Happy ending for Heather Missing woman’s family talks about experience Details given on dramatic Coast Guard rescue B Y J ARED A NDERSON A ND C HANTELLE M EYER Siuslaw News INSIDE Dunes City is in mourning this week as Mayor Rebecca “Becky” Robinson Ruede passed away on Thursday, Aug. 17, after losing a year long battle with cancer. She was 61. A tribute from Dunes City read; “Becky’s com- passion for mankind, her level head and her kind COURTESY PHOTO heart made her a perfect Dunes City Mayor mayor for our city dur- Rebecca ‘Becky’ ing a time when healing Ruede. was necessary and strong leadership a must. Her presence will be greatly missed as the city faces the new challenges presented to it every day.” Ruede, who graduated from Siuslaw High School, had been Mayor of Dunes City since 2011 and was a council member before that. She was employed as the Branch Manager Assistant Vice President of U.S. Bank in Florence until she was stricken with cancer in 2016. She was also the co-owner of West Coast Auto Body in Florence with her husband, Rick. Ruede was an avid volunteer in the community, including past president of Soroptimists International of Florence, past president of the Florence Christian Women’s Club, a volunteer for Relay for Life, former member of the Board of Directors of the Boys and Girls Club of Western Lane County, a volunteer and financial educator for Oregon Youth Authority and a Paul Harris Fellow of Rotary International of Florence. Ruede said she relaxed by painting; oil on canvas. Her favorite subjects were nature scenes and vintage landscapes. She was also a published poet, having written her first sonnet at the age of 12, which was a tribute to her grandfather. Ruede, who was a certified scuba diver wrote, “My favorite pastime is being with the family, whether it’s outings to the snow for some skiing or to the lake for some water skiing or just hanging at the house and playing on Woahink Lake.” Longtime friend and Dunes City Administrator Jamie Mills remembered her time with Ruede as they campaigned for the city council together: “We decided to campaign together and spent many days ‘walking the streets’ of Dunes City, knocking on doors and talking to people. I remember one woman who accused us of many ugly and illegal things at the top of her lungs before demanding we leave her prop- erty immediately. Becky quietly thanked her for her time and we turned and walked away. “She showed no signs of being taken aback,” she continued. “I asked her if the things the woman said upset her at all, as I was quite insulted. She said sim- ply, ‘She was expressing her opinion. I don’t have to buy into it.’ “That was Becky, always able to quickly put things into perspective and to see the good side of everything. I will miss her so much. She helped to make this diffi- cult job tolerable and was always there as a shoulder to lean on.” Florence Mayor Joe Henry stated, “She was a close personal friend for Pam and I since we moved to Florence. She was just a good friend and fellow Christian. She loved Jesus and knew where she was going. She’s in heaven as we speak.” “In Dunes City, Rebecca brought some harmony and peace to the council,” he said. “She did a great job, and Florence has had a great relationship with her all this time.” As for being mayor, Ruede once wrote, “I really enjoy working as a volunteer in public service. I believe if you think you can contribute to society then you should. It’s your civic duty.” Ruede is survived by her husband Rick, daughter Heidi, son Erick, and her grandchildren. Services will be held on Aug. 30, at 1 p.m. at Florence Events Center, 715 Quince St. The service will be open to the public. Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Community . . . . . . . . . . . . . Community Voices . . . . . . . Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B5 A3 A8 A4 MARK BRENNAN/SIUSLAW NEWS COURTESY PHOTO/SIUSLAW VALLEY FIRE & RESCUE Friends and family of Heather Davison never gave up hope of finding the missing woman,turning to their faith for the belief that they would ultimately find the wife, daughter and mother of two. A Coast Guard helicopter from North Bend lands on Highway 101 after rescuing Heather Davison from the brush along a cliff near milepost 181, not far from where her car had been discovered days earlier. B Y M ARK B RENNAN Siuslaw News The family of Heather Mounce Davison never gave up hope of finding their loved one. The Dallas, Ore., mother of two had been missing since Saturday afternoon near milepost 180 on Highway 101 north of Florence. Davison’s family gathered to assist emergency response crews in the search. Relatives and friends also came in from neighboring states to help in the search. The search team was led by Davison’s parents, Les and Cindy Anderson, who had been combing the area where Davison’s car was found Saturday. They were begin- ning to tire due to the physical and emotional stress of the search. Cindy recounted the hours lead- ing up to the beginning of the search. “We were at church camp when we got the news Heather was miss- ing. There was no cell phone cov- erage there, so our daughter Kimery had to come 45 miles up to get us,” she said. “We came here as soon as we could and we went straight to the beach and started combing the area, but we didn’t find anything.” Davison’s family continued searching during daylight hours for the next three days, without find- ing any trace of her. The members of Davison’s fam- ily are people of faith, and they turned to that faith in this time of crisis. The group met early Wednesday morning to discuss the plan for the day and, as usual, began the day with prayer and a hope that the search would be guided by their faith — and would therefore be successful. “Les was so determined,” Cindy recalled. “He said, ‘I’m not going home till I find her.’” The time that passed since Davison disappeared was growing, and the family was starting to men- tally prepare for the worst. See B Y C HANTELLE M EYER Siuslaw News U.S. Coast Guard Air Station North Bend and a host of other agencies played a vital role in the rescue of Heather Mounce Davison from a cliff- side near Florence on Aug. 16 around 2 p.m. Davison sus- tained only minor injuries in her five days without food or water. According to Florence’s 911 Dispatch Center, a call came in at 1:25 p.m. requesting Davison’s rescue after she had been located by her husband. From there, the call went out to local emergency response agen- cies, including Oregon State Police, Siuslaw Valley Fire and Rescue, Western Lane Ambulance District, Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) and Air Sector North Bend. A representative from North Bend said a MH-65 Dolphin helicopter was already flying FAMILY 7A north, so was able to arrive quickly at the scene. North Bend had also been part of the initial search when Davison was declared missing on Aug. 12. A statement released by North Bend said Siuslaw Valley previously made an attempt to rescue Davison, but, due to steep terrain along the shore- line, was unsuccessful. Siuslaw Valley Operations Chief Jim Dickerson, who acted as rescue command, said he knew they would need helicop- ter assistance as soon as he arrived. “I was first on scene from the fire station, and I radioed on Coast Guard Channel 22 as soon as I analyzed the situa- tion,” he said. Dolphin pilot Lt. Alex Webber and copilot Lt. Justin Bunch navigated the helicopter close enough to lower rescue swimmer AST3 Tyler Stacey See RESCUE 7A Port of Siuslaw looks for ways to right ship After months of contention, port works on selling land, customer relations B Y J ARED A NDERSON Siuslaw News At Wednesday’s Port of Siuslaw public meeting, commissioners and employees attempted to renew public confidence following the contentious dismissal of former port manager Steven Leskin. Leskin’s tenure led to numerous arguments between the commission and the manager, complaints from moorage customers and public disen- chantment with the port and its poli- cies. Administrative Assistant Dina McClure, who is currently acting as interim port manager, asked to begin the process of finding Leskin's replacement. This is the second time McClure has assumed the role of interim man- ager, the first following the retire- ment of manager Bob Forsythe. McClure has been with the port since 2009. She suggested that an individual step in as an interim manager on a part time basis, saying, “I'm already getting behind in my administrative work because I've been wearing two hats.” Commissioner Bill Meyer sug- gested caution in hiring a new See PORT 78A Unruly OCHS Board meeting demonstrates turmoil Members call for resignation or recall of board and removal of manager Garrett B Y M ARK B RENNAN Siuslaw News The August Board Meeting of the Oregon Coast Humane Society (OCHS) was called to order this past Thursday to a full room and a highly energized audience at the Laurelwood Community Center on Maple Street. The meeting was the first to take Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A2 Sideshow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B4 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B This Week on the Coast . . . A11 THIS WEEK ’ S place since an article detailing report- ed issues and concerns at OCHS was published Aug. 12, in the Siusalw News. OCHS Board President Robert Bare began the meeting at 5:30 p.m. with an opening statement that told the approximately 50 community members in attendance that the meet- ing was not an action meeting and therefore only two board members were needed to complete the items on the evenings agenda. The audience reaction was unfa- vorable during what would be the first of many noticeably negative reactions during the 90-minute meet- ing. TODAY SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY 69 50 70 53 70 55 68 54 WEATHER Full Forecast, A3 The published agenda for the OCHS meeting called for reports from staff and board members, but the crowd’s dissatisfaction with Gervais and Bare seemed to be the primary reason for the high turnout in the room. S IUSLAW N EWS 2 S ECTIONS ❘ 20 P AGES C OPYRIGHT 2017 See OCHS 7A