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❘ 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
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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.
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ROADSIDE 6A