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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 16, 2017)
THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM ❘ / SIUSLAWNEWS ❘ @ SIUSLAWNEWS SATURDAY EDITION ❘ DECEMBER 16, 2017 ❘ $1.00 Home stand continues SPORTS — B Toni Pimble, Artistic Director Tue, Dec 19 7:00 pm Florence Events Center PERFORMANCE SPONSORS e Nutcracker A holiday adition for the entire family! eventcenter.org | 541-997-1994 | Events Center Box Offi ce 127TH YEAR ❘ ISSUE NO. 100 Siuslaw School Board considers upgrade options SERVING WESTERN LANE COUNTY SINCE 1890 FLORENCE, OREGON Be the ‘change’ Siuslaw Elementary raises nearly $3,000 for Florence Food Share with Penny Drive Replacement of the high school is just one of the needed improvements B Y M ARK B RENNAN Siuslaw News Siuslaw School District Board of Directors (SSD) met for its monthly meeting on Dec. 13. Directors first took care of the normal work of district oversight, accepting reports and approving changes to language dealing with dress codes and drug testing. After the district’s housekeeping items were addressed, directors turned their attention to the ongoing assessment of district facilities and the process involved in determining what improve- ments or replacements the board will decide to ask the public to support. The main presentation of the evening was given by Curt Wilson, the district’s project coordinator for Pivot Architecture in Eugene. Wilson’s presentation was comprehensive and detailed the cost estimates requested by the board for different levels of upgrades to the district’s school buildings. SSD has held a number of work sessions in recent weeks, at which Pivot design team members and SSD staff incorporated the specific needs of the district into the final recommendations and options presented at this meeting. The numbers involved take into account many factors that will influence the final cost of repair or replacement. As they stand, the estimated totals range from $65 to $131 million dollars to complete. SSD Superintendent Andy Grzeskowiak wants the public to know the current state of disrepair of the district’s buildings and the real world costs that will be associated with completing necessary improvements. “Right now, we are still at the ‘facilities assess- ment’ stage of the process,” he said. “There is a bal- ance between being able to handle the upcoming enrollment increases, ensuring that all programs have a home at the high school and that classrooms are designed for the modern learning environment.” See UPGRADES 7A PHOTOS BY CHANTELLE MEYER/SIUSLAW NEWS COURTESY PHOTO (Clockwise from left) Siuslaw Elementary School students raise nearly $3,000 for Florence Food Share during a new competition among grade levels. Siuslaw fifth-graders hear that they won a “bonus” class party for their donations. Florence Food Share Director Norma Barton tells students how far the money they raised will go — in terms of how many pizzas food share can buy. B Y M ARK B RENNAN Siuslaw News tudents and staff at Siuslaw Elementary School have decided to help families in the area that avail themselves of services offered at Florence Food Share, not only by collecting food, but also by collecting pennies. Principal Mike Harklerode, explained the shift in thinking. “It’s been a long tradition for the elementary school kids to partici- pate in a canned food drive for Florence Food Share each year. This year, we heard from the food share that, while food items are always appreciated, their ability to stretch a dollar takes cash dona- S tions further to meet the needs of our community,” he said. “We’ve always had an impressive turn-out of food and it presented a nice visual for the kids to see. We were afraid that changing to a coin drive fundraiser would not have as much positive energy.” Harklerode’s concerns were laid to rest when the new format for collection began. “Staff member Ella Glowacki did some looking around and found an interesting model for us to copy. Pennies and bills were each worth points. All silver change was worth negative points,” Harklerode said. “In our grade vs. grade competition, kids could add pennies and bills to their own bucket. All other coins were a face value deduction of points. Those would go into competing grade levels’ buckets.” Glowacki said she was very pleased with the results achieved by the change and thought the stu- dents enjoyed the different approach to fundraising. “We held a school-wide compe- tition where grades competed against each other for a movie and popcorn party. Our competition ran for nearly three weeks,” Glowacki said. “Our students have huge hearts and not only brought pockets full of pennies, but also coins and dollars they received from the tooth fairy and birthday gifts.” Totals raised in both pennies and food were impressive from Glowacki’s perspective, signaling a new element of effort for Florence Food Share. Glowacki said, “All in all, Siuslaw Elementary School raised $2,963.03, allowing food share to access and distribute 103,705 pounds of food. Amazing! Our stu- dents brought in 59,278 pennies, plus countless silver dollars, coins and dollar bills.” In an assembly on Friday, Harklerode announced that the third grade won first place, and that the grade’s totals balanced out to $45.62. The bonus winner was the fifth grade, with the highest dollar value at $710.37. Dunes City swears in new councilor ‘Net’ gain from FCC decision unclear Council meeting also covers water issues, law enforcement you. I want to keep it a nice, friendly place that people are happy to live in, and that there’s no Susan Snow was contention between resi- sworn in as a Dunes City dents or the cities councilor during Wed- around us.” nesday’s city council As far as issues facing public meeting, filling a Dunes City, Snow stated vacancy that had been that she has listened to created with the passing the concerns of the resi- of former mayor dents, but would like to Rebecca Ruede. In “do my homework August, Councilor before I can comment on Robert Forsythe was anything.” appointed to the role of Snow listed the out- mayor, leaving an unoc- door activities that cupied seat on the coun- Dunes City provides as cil. JARED ANDERSON/SIUSLAW NEWS one of the key positives “I like to be involved with the city where I Susan Snow (front) takes the oath of to the city. office as a new Dunes City councilor “There are so many live,” Snow said. things in Dunes City. She is not new to pub- on Wednesday, Dec. 13. lic service, having served on ther and two brothers living in You can occupy yourself with the sand dunes and go sand- the board of directors of a the area. She and her husband, who boarding. There’s fishing, homeowners association in her previous home, both worked for the Pentagon boating — you can do what- Alexandria, Va. She also vol- previously, moved to Dunes ever you want and it’s all unteered with the Annandale City in 2016. They were not within a few minutes,” she Christian Coalition for new to the area, however, as said. For her own enjoyment, Action, which helps provide they bought one home within early childhood care, educa- city limits in 2008, and anoth- Snow likes kayaking in the area and fishing the Siltcoos tion, food, rental assistance er in 2011. “I hope to make this a place River, where she catches and other services to low- that people enjoy living in,” salmon and perch. income families in the area. Snow has familial roots in Snow said. “The residents are Dunes City, with her stepfa- friendly and want to talk to See DUNES CITY 8A B Y J ARED A NDERSON INSIDE Siuslaw News Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Community . . . . . . . . . . . . . Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B6 A3 A4 A2 Side Show . . . . . . . . . . . . . B5 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B This Week on the Coast . . . . A7 Weather Data . . . . . . . . . . . A2 THIS WEEK ’ S Thursday’s reversal of net neutrality rules leave local internet service providers, users uncertain about impacts The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) repealed its own 2015 ruling on net neutrality Thursday, scoring a victory for large cable companies B Y D AMIEN S HERWOOD Special to the Siuslaw News and leaving many skeptical about the future of a free and open internet. The vote reflects a hotly debat- ed claim that previous net neutrality rules were overbearing and stifling to the market- place. Supporters of the previous regulatory system argue that net neutrality is necessary to protect consumers and small businesses from corporate manipulation. Net neutrality is the principle that all data on the internet should be equally accessible and that internet regulators, such as govern- ments or internet service providers (ISPs), should not be able to prioritize or degrade access to content. The loss of these precepts in effect entrusts the cable and wireless companies to adhere to net neutrality standards on a voluntary basis. And while major service providers had openly voiced their support for a free and open internet in the lead-up to this vote, not everyone feels inclined to take them at their word. “We’re gonna be screwed by the corporate- dominated telecom ISP industry,” said Rand Dawson, a Siltcoos Lake area resident who relies heavily on internet access in his work. “I’m concerned about speed, access and cost. I’m concerned about all three of these func- TODAY SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY 49 39 52 43 53 44 51 40 WEATHER Full Forecast, A3 tions because these large corporate interests will find a way to manipulate the components of all three of those to maximize their return.” Others, like co-owner of OregonFAST.net George Rogato, have a more optimistic outlook. “I’m not really worried about it,” he said. Rogato believes it’s possible to retain an open internet without all the regulatory bag- gage of the Title II classification. “It’s maybe a bumpy experience. There’ll be something that will happen that will cause a lawsuit between the content providers and a carrier,” he said, adding, “It’ll get solved.” Robbie Wright, CEO of Siuslaw Broadband, predicts negligible affects, at least for a time. “It will not have any effect on direct ISP con- sumers for years,” said Wright. “ISPs are look- ing to provide the best value with the highest margins to consumers as possible and will try and find ways to maximize those two things.” Debate surrounding the principles of an “open internet” has its roots in the 1990s, but it wasn’t until 2008 that the FCC made its first proactive move to enforce net neutrality, issuing Comcast a cease-and-desist order for throttling peer-to-peer networks like BitTorrent. The order was eventually denied in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and the next several years saw the FCC and internet providers struggling with how far the commission’s regulatory authority should extend. S IUSLAW N EWS 2 S ECTIONS ❘ 22 P AGES C OPYRIGHT 2017 See INTERNET 9A
