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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (April 7, 2018)
THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM ❘ / SIUSLAWNEWS ❘ @ SIUSLAWNEWS SATURDAY EDITION Seasonal business feature ODE TO THE PAST INSIDE SPORTS — B 128TH YEAR ❘ ISSUE NO. 28 SERVING WESTERN LANE COUNTY SINCE 1890 City of Florence A great man renews nonexclusive Wilbur Ternyik franchise agreement leaves a legacy of with Charter for cable leadership, vision, FLORENCE, OREGON & a great steward of Oregon’s coast passion and integrity B Y C HANTELLE M EYER Siuslaw News At the April 2 meeting of the Florence City Council, the City of Florence negotiated a new franchise agreement for cable with Falcon Cable Systems Company II, L.P., locally known as Charter Communications. Florence has had franchise agreements with Charter since at least 1983. “We've been working on our Charter fran- chise agreement for the last five years,” said City Project Manager Megan Messmer. “For me personally, this is an exciting moment, since I've been working on this since about my Day 1 with the city.” The franchise agreement is a renewal of an agreement made in 2003. That 10-year fran- chise technically expired in 2013, Messmer said, but a provision allowed the agreement to continue during the negotiation period. Negotiations have included updating the city's requirements per Florence City Code, including right of way management, and Charter's revisions based on its corporate poli- cies. According to the staff report, Florence exerts “management authority over the Public Rights of Way to protect and efficiently man- age the public's resources, to ensure fair and non-discriminatory access to the public right- of-way and to protect the public health, safety and welfare.” Florence obtains franchise fees from service providers in the rights of way who provide service to residents. “We start out with a good set of rules, regu- lations and operating procedures between the city and an organization, and then we use our franchise agreement to create specific details for that relationship,” Messmer said. Florence staff negotiated a nonexclusive franchise with Charter Communications, meaning that other users occupying the right of way can provide the same services. “Charter is not only the one providing cable, internet and phone service,” Messmer said. “We don't have any others that provide just cable service, though.” See ❘ APRIL 7, 2018 ❘ $1.00 FRANCHISE 7A B Y M ARK B RENNAN Siuslaw News Wilbur Ternyik, longtime resi- dent of Florence, passed away on Monday, April 2. Ternyik was a central figure in Florence, particu- larly during the 1970s and ’80s, when his conservation and restoration work formed the national framework for merging environmental and development efforts. Ternyik attracted further atten- tion of political leaders from both parties, statewide and nationally, when he worked with then Governor Tom McCall to estab- lish protocols for saving Oregon’s beaches and coastal recreation areas from environmental degra- dation. He was often seen around town wearing a buckskin coat and he famously gaveled official meet- ings to order with a tomahawk. While Ternyik was known for these symbolic displays, he will be remembered primarily for his thoughtful, attentive manner, cou- pled with the ability to bring opposing philosophies into align- ment. Ternyik was born Jan. 26, 1927, and graduated from Warrenton High School, near Astoria, Ore., before enlisting in the Marine Corps in 1944. He was proud of his heritage, which included both Native and European ancestry. Ternyik was seriously wounded in the leg during a battle on the island of Okinawa in 1945, for which he received a Purple Heart Commendation. He returned to Astoria for convalescence before moving to Florence in 1947. It was at this time that he turned COURTESY PHOTO Former Florence mayor, city councilor, Port of Siuslaw Commissioner and area resident Wilbur Ternyik was instrumental in shaping Oregon’s relationship to the dunes. his attention to the endeavors that would make a permanent impact on the coastal communities of Oregon: constraining the inex- orable spread of the coastal dunes. He employed these experi- ences, making modifications that took into consideration local cir- cumstances, to develop effective ways to mitigate the spread of “Wilbur was a great man who will be missed by many of us that were fortunate enough to work with him. ... He had a unique ability to bring people together, to find common ground.” — Oregon Sen. Arnie Roblan Ternyik had a lifelong interest in plants, which he grew into a vocation in 1953, when he estab- lished a dunes stabilization busi- ness called Wave Beach Grass Nursery. He had spent considerable time as a young man working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Soil Conservation Service to learn the best ways to use native plants and grasses to minimize beach loss to erosion. coastal dunes. This was the beginning of what turned into a decades-long effort by the young Ternyik to safeguard the beaches of Oregon from destruction. Ternyik’s work to stabilize the dunes included the development of erosion control techniques that have subsequently been embraced by coastal towns across the coun- try and around the world. In 1971, Ternyik was selected to provide advice and strategies to the newly formed Oregon Coastal Conservation and Development Commission (OCCDC). Ternyik’s advice was held in unusually high esteem by legisla- tors concerned with coastal devel- opment, particularly McCall, who, with other civic leaders, came to trust and rely on the advice and council of the man from Florence. “Wilbur worked with Governor Tom McCall in the 1970s to create the beach and land use plan, specifically to meet the needs for the Oregon coast’s unique ecosys- tems,” State Sen. Arnie Roblan said. Roblan considered Ternyik a friend and described him as one of those iconoclastic individuals who has made a difference in the state, most importantly in the areas of ecology and environmental stew- ardship. See LEGACY 5A N ATIONAL C HILD A BUSE P REVENTION M ONTH Reconciling the perceptions of child abuse B Y D AMIEN S HERWOOD For the Siuslaw News (Editor’s note: In recognition of Child Abuse Prevention Month, Siuslaw News will be offering feature stories, guest viewpoints and editori- als focusing on this issue, beginning with this special two-part series to help identify child abuse and some of the local resources for victims as well as abusers.) pril marks Child Abuse Prevention Month, an annual observance dedicated to rais- ing awareness and promoting com- munity efforts to address child abuse. The 90by30 program, a University of Oregon-based nonprofit, will plant blue pinwheel gardens across the county this month and encourage volunteers to join local efforts that will benefit future generations. As its name suggests, the organi- zation aims to reduce child abuse in Lane County 90 percent by the year 2030 through coordinated programs and public education. INSIDE A Chamber Business Beat . . . . Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Community . . . . . . . . . . . . . Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C4 B5 A3 A4 Suzanne Mann-Heintz, co-chair of 90by30’s West Lane Regional Leadership Team, is helping to spread awareness in Florence. “Creating a community where children are safe and happy is the goal of this project,” she said. Child abuse remains a pervasive issue worldwide and continues to be a problem in the U.S. According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, an estimated 676,000 children were victims of child abuse or neglect nationally in 2016, a 3 percent increase over the previous four years. “The estimate is that only about a third of cases get reported,” said Mann-Heintz. In 2017, Child Protective Services received 80,683 reports in Oregon. “So you multiply that number by three,” she said. Typically each year, a little more than half of received reports are referred for investigation and a quar- ter of those are founded for abuse or neglect. Oregon totaled 7,063 cases Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A2 Sideshow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B4 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B This Week on the Coast . . . . A7 and 11,077 victims in 2017. Other reported cases were either dismissed or handled with alternative methods such as parental assistance. Though definitions of abuse differ state by state, these numbers are reflective of nationwide trends and tend to stay relatively proportional as they scale more locally. While the number of reports received across the nation scores in the millions, nearly half are screened out of the system, lending suspicion to a lack of understanding about when abuse is taking place. Indeed, public attention toward child abuse often skews in the direction of the more emotionally evocative forms of physical or sexual abuse. “That’s actually much less the case,” said Mann-Heintz. “The most frequent form of abuse is neglect.” The Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS) reports neglect as accounting for about 47 percent of cases in Lane County and 46 percent statewide. The high numbers of neglect THIS WEEK ’ S reflect its broad criteria. “Neglect includes things like mal- nutrition, sanitation and inadequate supervision,” Mann-Heintz explained. Also on that list may be non-com- pliance with healthcare recommen- dations, being deprived of education and exposure to drugs or violence. The prevalence of neglect points to parents’ and caregivers’ lack of education about child-rearing, though a general confusion as to what constitutes “abuse” could also play a role. Precise definitions of child abuse can be elusive. The perimeters vary by family and culture worldwide, including what constitutes responsi- ble parenting and acceptable discipli- nary action. Further muddying the waters is the pragmatic question of whom a defi- nition aims to inform. A definition to raise public awareness, for instance, differs from definitions serving legal, service or research purposes. Nonetheless, in an effort to recon- TODAY SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY 52 46 52 42 63 46 52 42 WEATHER Full Forecast, A3 cile the diversity of perceptions, the World Health Organization (WHO) Consultation on Child Abuse Prevention in 1999 drafted a broad and adaptable definition: “Child abuse or maltreatment con- stitutes all forms of physical and/or emotional ill-treatment, sexual abuse, neglect or negligent treatment or commercial or other exploitation, resulting in actual or potential harm to the child’s health, survival, devel- opment or dignity in the context of a relationship of responsibility, trust or power.” Although determining which cases meet the criteria may still be a source of disagreement, there is near consensus on classification. S IUSLAW N EWS 3 S ECTIONS ❘ 24 P AGES C OPYRIGHT 2018 See PREVENTION 9A
