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WEDNESDAY EDITION
❘ JANUARY 3, 2018 ❘ $1.00
SPECIAL EDITION INSIDE
128TH YEAR ❘ ISSUE NO. 1
SERVING WESTERN LANE COUNTY SINCE 1890
Armed robber hits
Mapleton market
Man pepper sprays manager,
steals money at gunpoint
The Riverside Market in Mapleton was
robbed at gunpoint at approximately 8:20 p.m.
on Dec. 30.
B Y M ARK B RENNAN
Store Manager Vedpal
Siuslaw News
Kaushik was in the
process of closing the
store when an armed gunman entered, confront-
ed him, and demanded, “All the money, all the
money now or I will shoot you!”
Kaushik had just finished delivering a
liquor order to a neighboring establishment,
Frank’s Place, and was preparing to close out
the store’s till when he became aware of
someone coming up to him.
The robber was wearing a bandanna and
gloves and spoke with a recognizable Hispanic
accent, according to Kaushik.
“I was sitting at my desk and he came into
my office and pointed a gun at me and made me
give him the money in the till,” he said. “I told
him not to shoot; I would give him the money.”
Afterwards, the man pushed Kaushik down
and told him to get on the floor.
“I looked up at him, and he sprayed pepper
spray in my eyes and mouth, maybe so I could
not follow him and see what kind of car he was
driving,” Kaushik said.
According to Kaushik, the man’s face was
hidden and he didn’t say many words — “like a
professional,” he noted.
See
ROBBERY 6A
FLORENCE, OREGON
Major deployment to California fires ends
Siuslaw Valley firefighters, equipment provide assistance on worst ever California fire
B Y M ARK B RENNAN
Siuslaw News
S
even firefighters from Siuslaw
Valley Fire and Rescue (SVFR)
recently returned home from an
extended deployment in California.
The firefighters were part of efforts
directed at controlling the largest
wildfire in modern California history,
the Thomas Fire, in addition to small-
er scale incidents at the Creek and
Lilac fires.
Two crews from SVFR were
deployed to assist in the suppression
efforts, along with a Type 1 Structural
Engine and a Type 6 Brush Engine.
All seven men made it home safely
just before Christmas after having
spent two weeks with more than 7,000
other firefighters battling the
California blazes.
Captain Jeff Larson was one of the
senior members to respond to the call-
out from the Oregon State Fire
Marshal. He recounted the events that
led to the deployment.
“Our Ops Chief called me in and
said we were going to California. So,
we sat down, brainstormed, went
down our list and figured out who was
qualified to respond. We pulled in
Kyle and Colten and told them to get
ready to go,” Larson said. “We had 30
minutes to go to our houses and pack
MARK BRENNAN/SIUSLAW NEWS
From left, SVFR firefighters Levi Green, P.J. Crescioni, Captain Andy Gray, Shannon Curry, Kyle Orozco,
Captain Jeff Larson and Colten Griswold return from a major deployment to the Thomas Fire.
and then head back to the station.
Then we headed to the South Lane
Fire Department in Cottage Grove and
met there with other members of Task
Force Oregon and then we all drove to
the Thomas fire and checked in.”
Firefighter P.J. Crescioni was part
of Larson’s team and was surprised to
be making such a long trip to help
fight a fire.
“I never thought I’d be driving a
fire truck all the way to LA,” he said.
“It was a 22-23 hour drive, and we
took turns. We had three different
drivers and we drove straight
through.”
Larson’s team reported to the main
staging area for responders and imme-
diately realized the amount of people
involved in the suppression was sig-
nificant.
“It was a huge camp. There were
more than 7,000 people working on
that fire,” he said.
Originally, the camp was staged in
Ventura County, but later moved south
R ISING TO MEET THE CHALLENGES OF ECONOMIC
– I S COASTAL LIVING IN JEOPARDY ? P ART VII –
to San Diego County.
According to Larson, “Time man-
agement is the hardest part of these
deployments. You work a 12-hour
shift, but it runs longer because there
is a lot of other stuff to do. We have to
get our rigs fueled up and get our gear
ready. Then we have to get some food
and a shower and set up our tent, but
they had a great set up for us and the
food was really good.”
See
FIREFIGHTERS 6A
DEVELOPMENT
From 2015 to the present, Florence pursues development of businesses, partnerships
B Y C HANTELLE M EYER
Siuslaw News
INSIDE
In Part VI, Siuslaw News looked at
local businesses and how local residents
view jobs and the workforce. Now, in
Part VII, read about efforts locally,
regionally and statewide to promote
Oregon’s economy.
“The state of our city is excellent
because of the many difficult decisions
and investments all of us have made in
our community over the years,”
Florence Mayor Joe Henry said in his
first State of the City address in 2015.
“Our future remains bright if we accept
the challenges ahead and rise to meet
them.”
In the three years that the current
Florence City Council has worked
together, the City of Florence has made
economic development a key factor in
the city’s goals.
Henry has lived in Florence for 18
years. In that time, he has owned a mort-
gage company and dive shop and trav-
eled extensively with his wife, Pam. He
also began to notice something about the
city.
“Things just weren’t happening.
There was no growth,” he said.
Henry was too late to make it on the
ballot, but he conducted a write-in cam-
paign and got elected to the Florence
City Council. However, the council had
a hard time working together, and Henry
“didn’t see eye to eye” with then-mayor
Nola Xavier. So he decided to run for
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mayor.
“The majority spoke when I was
elected because I think people wanted to
see some change,” Henry said.
Movement, then, is why Henry joined
the council, and why, in February 2015,
he declared proudly, “Look at us now, a
city in motion.”
In that first year, Florence City
Council took on seven main goals for its
Five-Year Work Plan: deliver efficient
and cost-effective city services; expand
and diversify the Florence economy;
improve the city’s livability and quality
of life; sustain the city’s strong financial
position; strengthen and improve organ-
ization; improve the city’s communica-
tion program and strengthen citizen
trust; and improve the community’s
safety and perception of safety.
“This council, we work together as a
team,” Henry said. “Even though we
have some widely varying political
views, we have fought really hard to
keep political agendas out.”
Early in their term, councilors
approved the hiring of City Manager
Erin Reynolds to lead city staff. Soon
after, the city brought on Interim
Finance Director Andy Parks and hired
Police Chief Tom Turner.
“We’ve kind of been a city on hold for
several years, with maintenance and
parks and a number of other things, and
now there is a whole new level of excite-
ment in all our departments,” Henry
said. “I haven’t done anything but pro-
vided a little guidance from my long
career in business management and
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motivating and creating high-perform-
ance teams. That’s really why we have
Erin and her staff.”
By June 2015, a new Public Art
Committee and Economic Development
Committee were active after the council
worked with city staff to create commit-
tees with purpose.
“Both these committees will have
some impact on economic development.
That’s one of our major goals in 2015
and going forward,” Henry said. “It’s a
long-term goal to create economic
development in the City of Florence —
to support and expand existing business-
es and to recruit, develop and support
new businesses that might come to town
to provide living wage jobs.”
Many of Florence’s committees go
hand-in-hand with economic develop-
ment, including Florence Urban
Renewal Agency and the Florence Area
Chamber of Commerce’s Downtown
Revitalization Team.
And the city kept moving. From road
improvements to strengthened intergov-
ernmental relationships, city staff con-
tinued to “place Florence on the map,”
even increasing its social media pres-
ence.
“We must first create an economic
development strategy and then sustain
and improve that effort once created,”
said Reynolds in a July 2015 update of
the council’s goals.
In turn, Henry said that the city could
see a definite improvement in interac-
tions with city staff due, largely, to
Reynolds.
THIS WEEK ’ S
“I’m sure everyone
in the community has
seen the improvement,
positive attitude and
amount of work that is
getting done by the city
staff, and I think that’s
a reflection on her
leadership,”
Henry
said.
In that September,
Florence began work to
attract developers to
the area, from govern-
ment partnerships to
more regional solutions.
“You have to be working on all fronts,
looking at all stages,” Reynolds said.
“That was probably our biggest hurdle.
We had to first plant before we could
start showing our harvest.”
At that time, Henry said he hoped to
“attract some entities or companies that
can create jobs that provide a living
wage. That will allow people to buy a
home, stay here and raise a family.”
Some of those struggles are ongoing
— but some of their solutions remain the
same.
The next month, Florence partnered
with Eugene-based RAIN (Regional
Accelerator and Innovation Network) to
bring support to tech-based and traded
sector entrepreneurs. This resource
would be completely new to the area.
“They’re going to help us and show
us how to do it,” Reynolds said. “I think
we can go out and make this work. If we
can get one business going because of it,
TODAY
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SATURDAY
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WEATHER
Full Forecast, A3
it’s great.”
Henry agreed.
“What might work really well in
Florence is that start-up, encouraging
atmosphere for entrepreneurs and people
who are innovative,” he said. “What we
have as a resource are the mentors.”
Florence also began to expand its use
of the slogan “Oregon’s Premier Coastal
Community.”
According to Reynolds, this name
defines Florence because it was success-
ful in bringing in tourism to replace the
resource-based economy of fishing and
timber.
“(Our economy) won’t be like it was
before,” she said. “And there are talents
and resources left over that add to who
we are today and what can work well
here. … You have to create the environ-
ment that the mayor has by saying, ‘Hey,
we’re here and we’re open to business.’”
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3 S ECTIONS ❘ 24 P AGES
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DEVELOPMENT 6A