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SATURDAY EDITION
❘ JANUARY 20, 2018 ❘ $1.00
Latest ‘BE the
Whale’ winner
VIKINGS FALL
TO BRUINS
SPORTS — B
INSIDE — A3
128TH YEAR ❘ ISSUE NO. 6
SERVING WESTERN LANE COUNTY SINCE 1890
2017 F LORENCE A REA C HAMBER
OF
FLORENCE, OREGON
C OMMERCE S IUSLAW A WARDS
First Citizen, Future First Citizen nominees
The upcoming Florence Area Chamber of Commerce Siuslaw Awards on Wednesday, Feb. 7, will be a night to celebrate
members of the Florence community. In addition to the Business Awards, the chamber will also recognize the Future First
Citizen and First Citizen Award recipients. For the 2017 year, there are four nominees for the Future First Citizen — Kyle
King, Kaylee Graham, Jared Brandt and Abigail Coday — and three nominees for the First Citizen Award — Jean Murphey,
Rachel Pearson and Thomas F. “Sam” Spayd. For nominee bios, see SIUSLAW AWARDS 7A.
F UTURE F IRST C ITIZEN
F IRST C ITIZEN
NOMINEES
NOMINEES
COURTESY PHOTOS
Future First Citizen nominees are (from left): Kyle King, Kaylee Graham, Jared Brandt and
Abigail Coday
SVFR,WLAD
discuss 2017 and
future plans
COURTESY PHOTOS
Florence First Citizen nominees are (from left): Jean Murphey, Thomas F.
“Sam” Spayd and Rachel Pearson
New tech ‘clicks’ with local schools
Merging of administrative
functions and district call out
statistics are explained
B Y M ARK B RENNAN
Siuslaw News
The SVFR and WLAD Boards met one day apart this
week in the same location, SVFR Station House 1, for
January board meetings.
The SVFR meeting was held Wednesday evening and
all members were present when Board President Green
gaveled the group to order.
Following the Pledge of Allegiance, the agenda was
amended to reflect the postponement of a presentation
from Chris Mahr, a CPA hired to evaluate SVFR’s finan-
cial protocols and procedures.
Mahr is in the process of conducting an audit of the
See
SVFR 9A
Deadwood man killed in
officer-involved shooting
B Y N ED H ICKSON
Technology like tablets and iPads are slowly edging out traditional tools once used by educators.
The blending of technology and learning is key to next generation of education
Siuslaw News
B Y D AMIEN S HERWOOD
More details have been released regarding the officer-
involved shooting in Eugene this past Monday that took
the life of 42-year-old Robert
Martinez Jr., whose last known resi-
dence was Deadwood, Ore.
The incident began with the Lane
County Sheriff’s Office receiving
reports of a stolen vehicle, a white
Honda Accord, at the 500 block of
Clairmont Drive in the River Road
area of north Eugene on Jan. 15.
LCS PHOTO
At about 4:50 p.m., a deputy
Robert
responded and had been made aware
Martinez Jr.
of the possibility of two occupants in
the vehicle. Upon arrival, the deputy
only observed Martinez, who exited the vehicle and
INSIDE
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Community . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Sideshow . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
B5
A3
B4
A6
SHOOTING 9A
Opinion . . . . . . . . . . A4 & A5
Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A2
Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B
Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A6
for Siuslaw News
T
he Oregon Coast is sel-
dom associated with
terms like “cutting-edge
technology.” Contrastingly, the
coast's allure is planted firmly
in its panoramic natural beauty
and the ease of escaping the din
of our modern world. Outside
of Florence, the gentle buzz of
small-town modernity settles to
a low, rural hum, eventually
rippling upriver toward the
pastoral ambience of riverside
homes in Mapleton, where
images of pleasantly simple
life seem far removed from
THIS WEEK ’ S
thoughts of “cutting-edge”
concerns.
A glimpse through a window
in a Mapleton classroom,
though, might widen some
eyes. For all the rustic appeal
of Mapleton’s community, a
quiet but revolutionary adapta-
tion to the 21st century is
occurring inside its schools.
For students here, a typical day
will present a range of front-
line technology into their lives.
While a recently-installed
computer lab boasts 25 new
computers, each class in the
elementary school comes
equipped with eight iPads, a
Smart Board (an interactive
TODAY
THURSDAY
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SATURDAY
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WEATHER
Full Forecast, A3
whiteboard), a document cam-
era (a digital overhead projec-
tor) and two computers for
teacher operations. In higher
grades, many of the same tools
complement lessons, including
40 notebook computers which
float between classes as need-
ed.
For a district its size, the
sight of a classroom full of dig-
itally connected students may
come as a shock.
“Most people come out here
and don’t expect that,” said
Jodi O’Mara, Superintendent
of Mapleton School District.
O’Mara has stepped into the
digital domain with little trepi-
dation, bucking the inherent
limitations of a rural school
district to win her students a
taste of the future. Though the
plethora of modern hardware
means some veteran teachers
face a bit of a learning curve,
it's proven little to no obstacle
for the students of a tech-savvy
generation.
“Students are pretty fluent in
all of that,” O’Mara said. “In
fact, they can sometimes help
the teacher with it.”
On top of classrooms brim-
ming with digital devices, the
entire district’s internet
S IUSLAW N EWS
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DIGITAL 8A