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❘ MARCH 17, 2018 ❘ $1.00
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128TH YEAR ❘ ISSUE NO. 22
SERVING WESTERN LANE COUNTY SINCE 1890
Students ‘walkout’ to protest school violence
Hundreds of students gather silently in front of Siuslaw High School March 14
B Y M ARK B RENNAN
Siuslaw News
“We are out here because
things need to change.
People are dying when they
go to school. I think school
should be a safe place for
everybody. When kids die at
school, it is wrong.” — Kiger
Johnson, Siuslaw High
School sophomore
Hundreds of students from
the Siuslaw School District’s
Middle and High Schools,
joined hundreds of thousands
of students across the country,
by leaving school without
permission on Wednesday
morning.
The students left classes
and school buildings in sup-
port of the walkout initiated
by student activists at
Marjory Stoneman Douglas
High in Parkland, Florida.
Stoneman was the scene of
a mass shooting in February,
and survivors of the school
massacre are marshaling sup-
port for gun reform.
The nationwide protest was
held on March 14 to com-
memorate the 17 students
and educators killed in
Parkland, exactly one month
prior.
The walkout began at 10
a.m. local time and lasted 17
minutes, one minute for each
of the those killed.
The somber students partic-
ipating in the Siuslaw demon-
stration said they hoped to
draw attention to the ongoing
issue of gun violence and stu-
dent safety.
A student, who asked to
remain anonymous, said, “We
Department of Justice
says humane society
election on right track
The controversy surrounding the Oregon Coast
Humane Society (OCHS) is working towards res-
olution, according to Oregon Department of
Justice (ODJ) Senior
B Y M ARK B RENNAN
Assistant Attorney General
Siuslaw News
Elizabeth Grant.
If things continue as
Grant expects, OCHS members in good standing
will soon have the opportunity to vote for a new
board of directors under the supervision of the
ODJ.
See OCHS 9A
FLORENCE, OREGON
Walking out of
schools and into
national conversation
B Y C HANTELLE M EYER
Siuslaw News
PHOTOS BY MARK BRENNAN/SIUSLAW NEWS
Students from Siuslaw School District walked out of
class March 14 without administrative approval in sup-
port of student activists across the nation protesting
school violence.
don’t want to feel unsafe and
scared when we go to school.
We can’t learn that way.”
Another student said, “We
want to make this about the
students who died, instead of
See
Students across the U.S.
stepped into a national con-
versation Wednesday as they
chose to participate in the
National School Walkout —
or chose not to.
According to organizers
of the March For Our Lives,
“This movement is for kids
and by kids” — specifically,
survivors of the mass shoot-
ing at Marjory Stoneman
Douglas
(MSD)
High
School, in Parkland, Florida,
on Feb. 14.
A group of 20 student
activists began using the
social
media
phrase
“#NeverAgain” to advocate
for school safety and an end
to school gun violence. They
formed the group Never
Again MSD.
In just one month, sur-
vivors have spoken at rallies,
protests, talk shows and
schools in support of their 17
slain classmates and school
staff, calling for “sensible
gun legislation reform.”
“In the tragic wake of the
17 lives brutally cut short in
Florida, politicians are
telling us that now is not the
time to talk about guns.
March For Our Lives
believes the time is now,”
See
WALKOUT 7A
STUDENTS 9A
Norma Barton to resign from Florence Food Share
Outgoing executive director cites accomplishments and volunteer contributions to effort
B Y M ARK B RENNAN
Siuslaw News
Florence Food Share Executive
Director Norma Barton has
announced she will be leaving her
position as head of the organization
at the end of March.
Barton has taken a position in
Bend but the decision to leave the
Florence community was a diffi-
cult one to make.
“Florence Food Share has been
the best career experience for me
thus far. The staff and the volun-
teers are the most dedicated group
of people I have ever encountered.
It has truly been like a big family,
and I was welcomed from the start
with open arms,” Barton said. “As
with any family, there are ups and
downs, but all in all the love we
shared for the mission of Florence
Food Share bonded us together
through thick and thin. … It’s hard
to leave when things are going
well, but I believe this is the right
time for me to make this transi-
tion.”
Florence Food Share Board
Secretary Judy Plummery said the
organization will miss Barton’s
leadership.
“We will miss her organization,
fundraising
and
community
involvement skills, but wish her
well, and are grateful for all that
she’s brought to food share and the
Florence community. We are a bet-
ter community because of her,”
Plummery said.
Barton has overseen major
improvements to the physical and
financial components of food share
during her tenure, particularly in
the area of client services.
“Florence Food Share has expe-
rienced incredible growth in the
past four years,” Barton said.
“When I initially came on board,
we had a grant for a new floor but
no plans to install that floor. I
moved our operations to the ware-
house shortly after beginning my
See
DIRECTOR 10A
Siuslaw School District discusses Salvation Army rings in the cash
upgrades, Indian Education program Siuslaw region’s donation percentage is best in the state
B Y M ARK B RENNAN
Siuslaw News
INSIDE
The Siuslaw School District
(SSD) Board of Directors met
on Wednesday, March 24, with
a short list of agenda items on
the docket.
Directors spent much of the
evening on procedural matters,
approving updates and revi-
sions to policies dealing with
accident reporting, medical
and communicable diseases
and with complaints and
appeal procedures.
The subject of most interest
to directors, and to the public,
was the scheduled discussion
on facility planning.
Facility planning refers to
the ongoing debate over the
need for replacement or
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upgrade to all three school
buildings managed by the dis-
trict.
There have been numerous
work sessions, steering com-
mittee meetings and public
forums held during the past
year to formalize the final plan
that will be presented to the
voters, if it is decided by the
board that a bond measure is
needed.
The work done at the previ-
ous meetings has determined
the improvements most needed
in the district, and those that
might be delayed or modified,
to reduce the amount of fund-
ing the voters will be asked to
approve.
Directors discussed the need
to narrow the choices the board
will consider, before asking the
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public to support a bond meas-
ure.
The board members are still
unsure of the need for many of
the upgrades, suggesting for
example that a proposed gym-
nasium might be used as a
multi-purpose activity center
and questioning the need for a
dedicated soccer field.
It was decided that an in-
depth discussion of these and
related matters was needed, so
directors set a work session for
April 4 to determine the need-
ed changes the board will rec-
ommend.
Siuslaw Middle School
Principal Andy Marohl gave
one of the more encouraging
presentations of the evening,
See
DISTRICT 7A
THIS WEEK ’ S
B Y J ARED A NDERSON
Siuslaw News
The
Siuslaw
region
stepped up to the kettle this
past holiday season as the
Salvation Army (SA) released
numbers on its annual holiday
campaign, a hefty sum that
the organization needs help in
distributing back to the com-
munity.
The Red Kettle Campaign,
which ran from Nov. 24 to
Dec. 23, 2017, brought in
$27,555 in donations over the
period, for a per capita dona-
tion amount of $3.19.
In comparison, cities such
as Newport and Coos Bay
averaged $1.83 and $1.33,
respectively. The City of
Eugene averaged $0.66,
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57 40
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while the national average
donation is $0.44.
“The smaller communities
give so much more than
the larger communities,”
SA Oregon Service Rep-
resentative Debi Leighton
said. “It’s just amazing.”
Along with the donations
dropped into the kettles, an
anonymous donor made a
matching gift of $27,000,
which will be added to the
Western
Lane
County
Endowment, with a fixed per-
centage of that fund restricted
for use in the region.
The all-volunteer cam-
paign, which was coordinated
last year by Florence resident
Sam Spayd, utilized over 100
volunteers to brave the cold
weather and entice people to
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C OPYRIGHT 2018
donate to their community.
Now, SA needs assistance
in determining where the
donated funds should be
directed.
“We’re working on an
advisory committee that I’m
looking for members to be a
part of,” Leighton said. “We
would meet every other
month and oversee how we
spend the money in the com-
munity.”
Thousands of dollars from
2016’s drive have already
been distributed, including
food for Florence Food
Share, emergency clothing
for Mapleton and Siuslaw
elementary schools, tennis
shoes for the Boys and Girls
See
CAMPAIGN 9A