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WEDNESDAY EDITION
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127TH YEAR ❘ ISSUE NO. 93
❘ NOVEMBER 22, 2017 ❘ $1.00
SERVING WESTERN LANE COUNTY SINCE 1890
FLORENCE, OREGON
18th annual Pounding brings in record haul
Hundreds of area residents help fill the pantry of Florence Food Share before the holidays
EMERGENCY
Florence
man drowns
in accident
at Siltcoos
Agencies respond to
overturned boat
B Y M ARK B RENNAN
Siuslaw News
PHOTOS BY JARED ANDERSON/SIUSLAW NEWS
People flock to Grocery Outlet on Nov. 18 to participate in the 18th annual Pounding for Florence Food Share. Far left, Food Share Director
Norma Barton works alongside volunteers to weigh items. Each pound of food donated was matched by up to $2.
B Y J ARED A NDERSON
Siuslaw News
T
he 18th Annual Pounding
broke records this past
Saturday as Siuslaw area resi-
dents donated 13,088 pounds to be
given to Florence Food Share. The
event broke the all-time record by
almost 2,000 pounds, set last year
when 11,111 pounds were donated.
“I couldn’t be happier,” said
Florence Food Share Executive
Director Norma Barton. “We are
incredibly grateful to this amazing
community.”
The pounding is a yearly event
held at Grocery Outlet, where com-
munity members buy food and donate
it to the food share. The groceries are
weighed,
and
to $10,000, while
then
donors
Top Hydraulics
match
those
donated $1 for
funds in cash
every pound.
donations, which
On top of that,
assist Florence
individual donors
Food Share with
throughout the
operational costs.
day donated a
This year, two
total of $2,878.
groups donated
All told, the event
matching funds:
brought
in
an anonymous
$25,966.
donor and Top
“It’s amazing,”
Hydraulics,
Barton said. “I
located
in
thank the public
Florence.
so much.”
The
anony- Cindy Wobbe founded the
However,
mous donor, who Pounding after Sept. 11, 2001.
Barton wanted to
has been donating to the Pounding for remind the community that the need
the past three years, matched funds up for donations is a year-round issue.
“This isn’t a one-time need,” she
said. “It’s ongoing.”
The Pounding began in 2001, just
after the terrorist attacks that
brought down the World Trade
Center.
“In the weeks and months after
Sept. 11, everybody responded in a
big way by sending their donations
to the Red Cross and other agencies
that were helping those immediately
impacted by 9/11,” said Cindy
Wobbe, co-creator of the fundraiser.
Because the donations were being
funneled to the larger national cri-
sis, local charities like Florence
Food Share saw a dip in contribu-
tions.
See
POUNDING 6A
Siuslaw School Board turns attention to building needs
Elementary, middle schools need upgrades while high school may need to be replaced
B Y M ARK B RENNAN
Siuslaw News
S
iuslaw School Board met on Nov.
15 to address the future needs of
the district.
The passage of the district’s local
option levy earlier in November was a
positive step in securing the funding
needed to maintain the district’s cur-
rent level of student services, but does
not address many of the facilities’
long-term needs.
These needs are most notably tied
to building size, structural integrity
and technological options currently
available.
The district has three buildings that
will require upgrades, all of which
will be extensive and costly.
Siuslaw Superintendent Andy
Grzeskowiak said, “In short, the big
consideration is the time students
would spend trying to learn in a
construction zone. An incremental
remodeling of the high school
would take at least five years and
still leave some of the deficiencies
of the physical layout.
“We can’t change some of the
geometry and layout of the current
building, no matter what is done dur-
ing a remodel. Building a new facili-
ty would save on time and allow all of
the site deficiencies to be properly
addressed, without subjecting stu-
dents to the noise, smells and other
distractions of construction around
them.”
The next challenge for the board is
to decide what level of upgrades to
undertake to provide safe and modern
learning facilities for the student pop-
ulation.
An integral component in deter-
mining the most effective process
begins with the assessment and rec-
ommendations made by Curt Wilson,
principal
architect
at
Pivot
Architecture of Eugene.
Wilson leads a team of designers
and architects who have been
engaged in an overall analysis of the
district’s current structures and future
requirements.
See DISTRICT 6A
On Saturday, Nov. 18, emer-
gency response agencies received a
call about a capsized boat on
Siltcoos Lake, seven miles south of
Florence.
Florence resident Gordon
Bradford was pronounced deceased
at the scene.
According to the incident report,
at approximately 9:30 a.m. on
Saturday morning, crews from
Siuslaw Valley Fire and Rescue
(SVFR) and Western Lane
Ambulance District, (WLAD) were
dispatched to an overturned boat at
the Siltcoos Lake boat ramp.
According to witnesses, the fish-
ing boat accidentally flipped over
when approaching the dock.
The boat was occupied by
Bradford, his wife Eileen
Lundquist Bradford and their dog.
When the boat overturned the cou-
ple and the dog were trapped
underneath the boat.
On their arrival, SVFR first
responders found the overturned
boat and immediately began using
rescue equipment to lift the front
of the boat.
After a few minutes, paramedics
and firefighters were able to access
Lundquist Bradford and the dog.
During the search, the responders
were unable to locate Bradford.
Lundquist Bradford and the dog
were treated for hypothermia and
transported to PeaceHealth Peace
Harbor Medical Center in stable
condition.
The rescuers were not able to
locate Bradford, and requested
assistance from Lane County
Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) Dive
Team.
See
DROWNING 7A
I S COASTAL LIVING IN JEOPARDY ? P ART II: S TATE OF H OUSING
City of Florence details current struggles, future plans for housing and services
B Y C HANTELLE M EYER
Siuslaw News
T
INSIDE
he City of Florence’s mission is,
“To meet community expecta-
tions for municipal services, provide a
vision for civic improvements, main-
tain a quality environment and posi-
tion Florence to have an economically
viable and sustainable future.”
“Livability and Quality Life” is sec-
ond on Florence City Council’s 2017
goals, an overarching objective that
includes housing and much of what
makes coastal living worth it.
“Our goal is to sustain and
improve,” said Florence Planning
Director Wendy FarleyCampbell.
She said that the city has been
aware of the recent housing crisis, and
gave some background information on
how the city got here.
Rental rates are rising, there are few
Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Community . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Kid Scoop . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Library Tidings . . . . . . . . . . .
B8
A3
B6
A5
vacancies and even median home ing to go with the option they can
Still, in some ways, that woman
prices make it hard for people to rent attain than the one they may wait to was one of the lucky ones — she was
or buy homes in the Florence area. As hear back from for months.
able to find a place to live.
such, people live
“There’s defi-
out of the city or
nitely a housing
stay in unsuitable
“Based on an up-to-date, accurate accounting of Florence s h o r t a g e , n o
conditions.
incomes and the price of homes and rental rates, the average d o u b t , ”
“I see a lot of
FarleyCampbell
wage earner in town cannot afford to purchase a home at the affirmed. “That’s
people
moving
median home price offered today and there are not enough why people are
here, I really do,”
dwellings having the amenities and acceptable level of condi- willing to live in
FarleyCampbell
said. “Just finding a
an uninhabitable
tion in the price range that he or she can afford.”
place, period, is
— City of Florence Housing Needs Assessment, 2008 place. I have a
probably the great-
place just up the
est
challenge.
street from me that
Assuming you find something, will it
“I talked to someone the other day I’ve been watching for years. It took
meet your needs, from a rooms and whose daughter had just moved into a a tree falling on the thing to actually
amenities perspective?”
place. Everything was exactly as it get the residents moved out of there.
She said more often it is a quality was when it was built in 1979. Same Social services showed up to get the
perspective people have to face with oven, same everything — which isn’t kids. It was horrible, and they lived
the rentals available in their income necessarily a bad thing, if the mainte- in it with the tree crashed on it. For
bracket, especially as long waitlists for nance is kept up, which it hasn’t months. Finally, it’s gone now, but,
certain units make people more will- been,” she said.
people will live in what they need to
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WEATHER
Full Forecast, A3
do. They’ll live in anything. They
need a house. They need something
to live in. It’s spongy floors and
leaky walls, but at least it’s not in a
tent.”
But there are those who live in a
tent, or their vehicle, sometimes liv-
ing on a neighbor’s property in an
effort to have some semblance of
services, such as running water or
privacy.
FarleyCampbell said, “Nobody
really wants to live in a tent. … But
your neighbor might have someone
living in tents in their back yard — a
family member or a friend that’s just
down on their luck. ‘Hey, you got a
spare boat?’ Well, it’s got a cabin
space and they’ve got a boat stored in
their backyard. So someone is living
in a cabin in a boat.”
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See
HOUSING 7A