Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 24, 2018)
THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM ❘ / SIUSLAWNEWS ❘ @ SIUSLAWNEWS ❘ JANUARY 24, 2018 ❘ $1.00 WEDNESDAY EDITION C OMMUNITY V OICES HOOP SHOOTERS SPORTS — B INSIDE — A9 128TH YEAR ❘ ISSUE NO. 7 SERVING WESTERN LANE COUNTY SINCE 1890 FLORENCE, OREGON ‘ N e v e r t h e l e s s s h e p e r s i s t e d ’ Florence appoints Woody Woodbury to council vacancy Council, committees and boards get new members B Y C HANTELLE M EYER Siuslaw News PHOTOS BY MARK BRENNAN/SIUSLAW NEWS 2018 Women’s March in Florence draws hundreds undreds of people participated in the 2018 Florence Women’s March on Jan. 20. The marchers began gathering just before 10 a.m. at the Florence United Methodist H Church on Kingwood Street to distribute signs, go over the route protesters planned to use and to coordinate their message. See MARCH 8A Participants in Saturday’s Women’s March gather to protest the current administra- tion’s policies regarding civil rights, healthcare, immigration and the First Amendment. At the Jan. 22 Florence City Councilor meeting, councilors voted to appoint Florence resi- dent Woody Woodbury to the council seat left vacant when former coun- cilor George L y d d o n retired Dec. 31. In addi- tion, Mayor Joe Henry welcomed Woody Woodbury community members to positions on five boards and committees. “We had an interesting conversation about the candidates,” Henry said. “They all represented very different facets of our Florence community.” There were seven total applications to the open council seat, though only six met resi- dency requirements within the city limits. The council met in a work session Jan. 16 to narrow the applicants down to four candi- dates, which members then interviewed on Jan. 18. Each person had the chance to answer five set questions. “Woody clearly stood out, both with his current community service and past work,” See MAPLETON HIGH SCHOOL REMODEL BEGINS Upgrades to classrooms, resources and a revamp of the structure are planned B Y J ARED A NDERSON Siuslaw News With the remodel of Mapleton School District’s elementary school heading into the home stretch, the district is turning its sights on the high school with a plan to completely revamp and modernize the facility. Labor on the high school began last week in the lower section of the building, starting with asbestos abatement, which has just been completed. Focus now turns to a whole host of upgrades for the building. “There will be all new siding, all new windows, flooring and plumbing,” Mapleton School District Superintendent Jodi O’Mara said. “We’re adding more electrical outlets to the class- rooms. Updating the data that is throughout the school as well as adding data ports in the classroom. The entire envelope of the build- ing will be seismically sound. New bathrooms, new bathroom fixtures, new paint. Most of the classes are getting lighting upgrades.” The high school’s media center and library will be updated with new computers to compliment the high-speed fiber-optic internet that has recently been installed on the campus. “It’s a complete remodel,” O’Mara said. The remodel comes courtesy of a group of bonds and grants awarded to the district in 2016 and 2017, equaling more than $11 mil- lion. “The community has said to our young people ‘You’re worth it and we’re going to invest in you,’” O’Mara said. “And I think that’s something that our kids are feel- ing. Just the energy and the posi- tive vibe that came when the ele- mentary kids came back to school is so different and changed and new. It makes them feel valued, and that’s priceless.” Helping the students feel valued was a major goal for O’Mara dur- ing the design process, as the school worked directly with the high school students to gain insight on what they liked to see in the remodel. “We’re trying to create a space that’s more student friendly,” she said. See B Y J ARED A NDERSON Siuslaw News INSIDE With the tragic death of Florence resident Heather Marie Sanford on Jan. 10, community members are raising concerns about Highway 101 directly south of the Siuslaw River Bridge. Sanford was struck while walking in the highway’s southbound lane by milepost 191 near Glenada Road. At issue is the construction occurring at the Siuslaw River Bridge. Currently, the northbound sidewalk (east side) of the bridge is closed due to construction. Because of this, pedestrians are forced to cross the highway to traverse the Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Community . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kid Scoop . . . . . . . . . . . . . Library Tidings . . . . . . . . . . . B6 A3 B4 A5 west bridge sidewalk. But finding a place to cross can be challenging. On the north side of the bridge, located in Florence City lim- its, crossing is relatively safe, with a designated crosswalk with flashing lights within eyesight of the bridge. The south side of the bridge out- side city limits is more problematic — no clearly delineated crosswalk exists. The issue is complicated further because of the terrain of the south side. The bridge is located at the bot- tom of a hill, and the highway creates a blind curve going into the mouth of the bridge. On top of the hill, the speed limit is 45 miles per hour (mph), and reduces to 40 on the Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A4 Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A2 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B Winter Sports Preview . . . . . B5 downhill slope of the highway. Because of the curve, vehicles can have a difficult time seeing pedestri- ans as they attempt to cross the high- way. In addition, the rate of speed the vehicles travel is a factor. The stopping distance for a car traveling 40 mph is approximately 120 feet. That is, once a driver sees an obstruction in the road, it will take 120 feet for them to come to a full stop. Stopping in time to avoid a pedes- trian collision is difficult enough when a driver can see an individual crossing the highway, but because of the curve, it can be difficult for driv- ers to see road obstructions sooner, thus creating a slower reaction time. THIS WEEK ’ S Man dies in fatal logging accident Early Tuesday morning just before 9 a.m., the Lane County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a logging fatality approximately four miles east of B Y N ED H ICKSON Mapleton, along Siuslaw News Highway 126. Lane County Sheriff’s Deputies responded, in conjunction with Siuslaw Valley Fire and Rescue, to the location near milepost 19. In addition, members of Eugene Mountain Rescue and Lane County Ground Search and Rescue, which are specialized units of Lane TODAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY 48 40 45 39 47 42 54 47 See DEATH 7A Construction on Siuslaw River Bridge creates challenges for pedestrians The risks involved in crossing the south side of the bridge is well known to local resident Justin Stewart, who frequently crosses the bridge on foot or bicycle with his two children. “The rate of speed that people are allowed to travel on the bridge is not safe for pedestrians or cyclists,” Stewart said. “It’s clearly obvious for anyone who’s willing to go out there and walk it themselves. The reduc- tion (in speed) doesn’t happen until they hit the bridge, so people are coming flying down the hill at Best Western into town. People are travel- ing too fast for their reaction time. It’s an unsafe situation.” There are multiple issues that Stewart sees with the area, one of WEATHER Full Forecast, A3 EMERGENCY RESPONSE REMODEL 8A Highway 101 death raises roadside concerns CITY 7A which is trying to determine where it’s safe to cross. “They have signs directly after you pass the bridge after the 45 mph increase, that say ‘pedestrian cross- ing.’ It kind of miscommunicates to pedestrians that it’s safe to cross there,” he said. Technically speaking, all intersec- tions in the state of Oregon are a legal place to cross whether they are marked or not. “But typically they’re not marked,” Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) Public Information Officer Angela Beers Seydel said. S IUSLAW N EWS 2 S ECTIONS ❘ 18 P AGES C OPYRIGHT 2018 See ROADSIDE 6A
