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127TH YEAR ❘ ISSUE NO. 82
❘ OCTOBER 14, 2017 ❘ $1.00
INSIDE — A3
SERVING WESTERN LANE COUNTY SINCE 1890
FLORENCE, OREGON
Exploration and discovery
Beyond
labels —
Part II
Siuslaw region’s diverse
LGBTQ members discuss
community, ‘normality’
B Y JA RED A NDERSON
Siuslaw News
COURTESY PHOTOS
Third-grade students from Siuslaw Elementary School take the opportunity to get up close and personal with sea creatures of many types
on a water-based field trip in Newport on Oct. 3. The class climbed aboard The Discovery for their “exploration voyage.”
Siuslaw third-graders take a two hour exploration cruise with focus on learning
B Y M ARK B RENNAN
Siuslaw News
S
iuslaw
Elementary
School students from
Susan DeVries’ third-
grade class recently had the
chance to get out of the class-
room and onto the water for a
unique educational opportunity.
DeVries and her class took a trip to
Newport as part of an Oregon Coast
Education Program (OCEP) project
initiated by STEP (Salmon Trout
Enhancement Program) members Jim
Grano and Dennis King.
The purpose of the trip was to
familiarize the youngsters with the
important role the ocean and the
coastal environs have played in
developing the culture of Florence
and the surrounding area.
An additional benefit was the
chance to get outside and enjoy a trip
that expands the classroom to include
the coastal waterways and the inhabi-
tants of those waters.
“Susan and I continued an OCEP
project started by Dennis King and
me last spring that involved using
OCEP lesson plans for developing
units of study. In August, we attended
the four-day ‘Finding the Hook’
workshop in Newport that informed
and inspired the project,” Grano said.
“We were able to use OCEP and
Bandon Submarine Cable Council
funds to take 24 students and 12
chaperones, including Dennis and
me, on the Marine Discovery Boat
Tour’s two-hour Exploration Voyage
on Yaquina Bay.”
Marine Discovery Tours is a
regional leader in coordinating edu-
cational tours for Oregon public
schools. A 65-foot long boat named
The Discovery acts as an interactive
classroom and floating laboratory for
the students and their teachers.
Participants are able to observe and
interact with marine creatures from
small invertebrates to whales and
larger animals, depending on the time
of year and the conditions at sea.
The Discovery is equipped with all
types of technologically sophisticated
equipment that allows students to
“see” the ocean floor using sonar and
learn how the ship navigates safely
through the water.
There are also opportunities to
observe sea birds and sea lions, por-
poises, pelicans and bald eagles in
their natural habitat.
Before the trip, guest speakers vis-
ited the class and talked to the stu-
dents about different aspects of the
marine culture that is an important
part of the history of Florence.
STEP member Brian Hudson
spoke on the commercial history of
Florence’s port, the Port of Siuslaw;
Siuslaw Middle School Principal
Andy Marohl discussed commercial
salmon fishing; and Mapleton resi-
dent and retired Coast Guardsman
Wayne Gage talked about the partner-
ship between the U.S. Coast Guard
and fisheries.
Dunes City to revisit marijuana grow operations
Spurred by public comment, Dunes City Council will review applications by pot growers
I
n what councilors praised as a civil meeting,
marijuana continued to be the major topic of
public discussion at the Dunes City Council meet-
ing held on Wednesday,
B Y J ARED A NDERSON
Oct. 11.
Siuslaw News
As a result of the public
comments, the council
agreed to review at a later date the applications sub-
mitted by marijuana grow facilities located in the
city.
The facilities, which have been a focus of a heat-
ed debate in the city, spurred the council to pass
Ordinance 245 in September, which banned future
marijuana growing operations but kept existing
grows in tact.
Of particular concern during this Wednesday’s
meeting was a Land Use Conformance Statement
(LUCS) for a marijuana grow that was approved by
the city council months earlier.
Residents at the meeting, and in a guest view-
point in The Register Guard on Oct. 11, requested
the LUCS be reviewed by the city council.
The guest viewpoint read, “A citizen contacted
Jesse Sweet, the Oregon Liquor Control
Commission’s (OLCC) process administration
director, and Danica Hibpshman, the OLCC’s
statewide licensing director, who are now aware of
the residential conflicts presented. The Dunes City
Planning Commission has been invited to contact
them. The OLCC has indicated that it wants them
to return the Land Use Conformance Statements
for further review by the city.”
After giving contact information for OLCC, the
editorial urged citizens to write the commission and
give their views on the effects the grows have on
families, neighborhoods, property values and
water.
It went on to say, “It is imperative that they hear
from Dunes City residents. It was never the intent
of the OLCC to thrust these commercial recre-
ational grows into our neighborhoods.”
The Siuslaw News contacted OLCC and spoke
with Sweet about the LUCS.
See
(Editor’s note: This is the second
part of a two-part series examining
the LGBTQ community in the
Siuslaw region.)
“Different isn’t scary”
Jason Wood is not sure if his drag
queen character, Fanny Rugburn, is a
force for LGBTQ rights in Florence.
Rugburn is a foul-mouthed, over
the top hurricane of raunchy jokes,
lively songs and 30 pounds of make-
up, wigs, costumes and padding.
Wood performs her at least once a
month in Florence, usually at Class
Act Theatre. He also tones the charac-
ter down for family shows where he
sings Disney songs and makes puns.
“Fanny Rugburn is an even truer
version of myself,” he said. “The fil-
ter is cut off. In that sense, she’s the
truest form of myself.”
Wood is not a cross-dresser, some-
one who feels more comfortable in
female clothing.
“I have a definite femininity about
me, but the only time you catch me in
drag is in performance,” he said. “It’s
not just because I want to wear this
stuff. I have to wear four pairs of
panty hose, and that’s not fun. My
fake breasts weigh 10 pounds, and
I’m a big guy, so I get hot.”
But he has always been drawn to
strong female characters like Rugburn
throughout his life. “Little House on
the Prairie” was all about Nelly Olson
in his opinion. Miss Piggy was his
idol. And, as the gay stereotype goes,
he loved “The Wizard of Oz.” But for
Wood, it was all about the ruby slip-
pers.
He was coaxed into moving to
Florence by his longtime friend,
Melanie Heard, the artistic director
for the Children’s Repertory of
Oregon Workshop (CROW), after
Wood was recovering from a close
friend’s death from AIDS. Florence
was a chance to reinvent himself.
Not long after he arrived, he was
working with CROW, and was soon
giving private lessons for singing and
piano.
“My favorite thing is when I’m
preparing someone for an audition
DUNES CITY 10A
See
LGBTQ 10A
SIUSLAW SCHOOL DISTRICT REQUESTS LEVY RENEWAL
Administrators say current state, federal cutbacks make local option levy more important than ever
B Y M ARK B RENNAN
Siuslaw News
A
INSIDE
n important component of fund-
ing for the Siuslaw School
District (SSD) is up for review and
possible renewal by Florence voters
on Tuesday, Nov. 7.
The SSD is asking the electorate
to renew a local option levy of 75
cents per $1,000 of assessed proper-
ty value. The current levy was ini-
tially approved by voters in 2008,
renewed in 2012 and will expire in
July 2019.
Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Community . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
B5
A3
A4
A2
The SSD Board of Directors feels on residents, but would continue the while only a small part of the district’s
the Levy renewal is needed to con- current rate of taxation for Florence overall funding, is critical to maintain-
tinue to provide and maintain educa- property owners.
ing current levels of student support.
tional services at their
“The Local Option
current levels.
Levy is very important
The
requested “Without the levy funds, there simply would not to our day-to-day opera-
renewal would be for be the level of programs and options for stu- tions here in the Siuslaw
five consecutive years,
School District. Six-and-
dents that we have today.”
beginning in 2019-20,
a-half percent of the
— Andy Grzeskowiak general operating fund
and would raise a total
Siuslaw School District Superintendent may not seem like much,
of
approximately
$5,387,099, during that
but it is the piece that
time.
SSD
Superintendent
Andy keeps many aspects of school opera-
The renewal of the local levy Grzeskowiak wants voters to know the tions going. It is the margin between
option would not raise current taxes money raised by the levy renewal, running a full school year or cutting
Sideshow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B4
Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B
This Week on the Coast . . . A10
Weather Data . . . . . . . . . . . A2
THIS WEEK ’ S
TODAY
SUNDAY
MONDAY
TUESDAY
60 42
61 43
61 47
57 47
WEATHER
Full Forecast, A3
days,” Grzeskowiak said. “ The Local
Option Levy also helps to keep class
sizes reasonable, with the most pro-
nounced impacts at the elementary and
middle school levels.”
According to Grzeskowiak, the levy
is also responsible for keeping more
elective, enrichment and vocational
programs available for students.
“Without the levy funds, there
simply would not be the level of pro-
grams and options for students that
we have today,” he said.
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