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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (April 21, 2018)
THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM ❘ / SIUSLAWNEWS ❘ @ SIUSLAWNEWS SATURDAY EDITION VIKS NAB BRUINS B USINESS SPORTS — B MAGAZINE INSIDE 128TH YEAR ❘ ISSUE NO. 32 PROFILE SERVING WESTERN LANE COUNTY SINCE 1890 FLORENCE, OREGON ‘Wealth of the world’ celebrated on Earth Day New Earth Day Festival will be Sunday on the port boardwalk from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. B Y M ARK B RENNAN Siuslaw News “The wealth of the nation is its air, water, soil, forests, min- erals, rivers, lakes, oceans, sce- nic beauty, wildlife habitats and biodiversity. ... That’s where all the economic activity and jobs come from. These biological systems are the sustaining wealth of the world.” — Gaylord Nelson Former senator and Founder of Earth Day E ❘ APRIL 21, 2018 ❘ $1.00 arth Day is held around the world, every year, on April 22. The inspiration for the first Earth Day, held in 1970, was the desire of a small group of academics to establish a day that was dedicated to the idea that the environment on the planet was complex, possibly unique and needed to be protected for future generations. The first Earth Day has often been referred to as the birthday of the envi- ronmental movement in America. Over the years, Florence has rarely participated in this worldwide effort to raise awareness regarding all types of environmental issues. That will change this Sunday as the communi- ty’s first “Earth Day Festival” takes place on the Port of Siuslaw Boardwalk from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Maureen Miltenberger is the chair- person of the Florence Environmental Management Advisory Committee (EMAC) and also one of the coordina- tors of the festival. Miltenberger said she is pleased that Florence will be joining more than 1 billion individuals, from 200 coun- tries, in recognizing Earth Day. More significantly, she is glad that there will be a day in Florence dedicated to informing the public about the challenges facing those that wish to safeguard the environment for the gener- ations to follow. “We hear so much about pollution, climate and earth related issues on a national and worldwide basis that we wanted to bring aware- ness and attention to our own environment,” Miltenberger said. “Earth day encompasses the well- being of so many areas of our local everyday life, including our rivers, our forests, the ocean and park- lands, as well as wildlife and our own children and grandchildren.” The theme of this year’s Earth Day events is partic- ularly relevant to local res- idents, as it touches on a subject that has directly effected most residents of Florence in the past few months. “Globally this year, Earth Day is focusing on reducing plastic pollution,” Miltenberger said. “This is very time- ly for the Florence area as we have just had the sudden change in our recy- cling where we can no longer include any plastics in our co-mingled recy- cling. “We realize that there are many groups in our local area who are involved in one way or another with our Earth, and we wanted to provide an annual event to bring us all together.” The location of the festival is signif- icant as well. See EARTH DAY 6A ‘A sense of meaning’ Area volunteers find purpose, hope in serving the Siuslaw community ABOVE IMAGE COPYRIGHT THE ROBERT RAUSCHENBERG FOUNDATION The first Earth Day on April 22, 1970, used the above lithograph by artist Roger Rauschenberg as its primary poster. (Right) Florence resident Stu Henderson worked in the same lithog- raphy studio, and later created his own poster for Florence. “Men seem to be born with a debt they can never pay no matter how hard they try,” Siuslaw Public Library Director B Y J ARED A NDERSON Meg Spencer said at Siuslaw News the 30th Annual Florence Area Community Coalition (FACC) volunteer recogni- tion lunch held earlier this month, quoting from the John Steinbeck novel “Sweet Thursday.” “It piles up ahead of them. Man owes something to man. If he ignores the debt it poisons him, and if he tries to make payments the debt only increas- es, and the quality of his gift is the measure of the man.” Spencer, who was the keynote speaker for the event, looked at hundreds of volunteers that had gathered at the Florence Events Center and said, “By any measure, I know many of you have made direct payments, and we are all richer as a result.” Pulling numbers from just 14 groups in the Siuslaw region, FACC reported that day that 1,079 volunteers donated a total of 73,984 hours over the past year. If one were to pay each vol- unteer Oregon’s minimum wage, that would equal $758,336. That’s just from a handful of organizations, and does not reflect the dozens of other reli- gious, entertainment, service, social and educa- tional groups that employ thousands more volun- teers throughout the year. “We live in a place where every organization, every church, every social club — we all rely on you, and what you do for us,” Spencer said. “That’s really more special than what I can say.” In celebration of National Volunteer week, April 15-21, the Siuslaw News visited three dif- ferent organizations within the area and spoke with the volunteers who help make a difference within our community. See VOLUNTEERS 6A Lane County adopts 3-year strategic plan City considers roundabout on Kingwood focused on health, safety & partnerships ARTS Program grant for INSIDE The Board of County Commissioners voted unani- mously to adopt a new strate- gic plan for 2018–21 that will focus the work of Lane County into four priority areas during the next three years: • Safe, Healthy County • Vi b r a n t Communities • Robust Infra- structure • People and Partnerships To improve lives is the overall pur- pose behind the County’s work — from Public Health to Transportation Planning — identified during the creation of the Strategic Plan. “Lane County provides a wide array of services to the community,” said Lane County Board of Commissioners Chair Jay Bozievich. “Each resident, regardless of where in Lane County they live, is affected by the services we provide and we must be purposeful in how we allocate resources and the efforts of our staff. A Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Community . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sideshow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . This Week on the Coast . . . . B5 A3 B4 A8 three-year plan helps us make the most of our work.” The strategic plan identi- fies 13 key initiatives that fall under the priority areas, including: • Increase housing options for residents to reduce home- lessness and increase afford- ability • Maintain and enhance public safety funding and service delivery, focusing on outlying and rural areas • Enhance equity and Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A4 Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A2 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B Weather Data . . . . . . . . . . . A2 access in service delivery and representation in governance. “We are very pleased that nearly 800 community mem- bers participated and helped us create this plan,” said County Administrator Steve Mokrohisky. “Over the next three years, every department and division in Lane C o u n t y Government will use this plan as the blueprint for their work and strive to serve Lane County residents with passion and with a focus on creating solutions.” The new Strategic Plan replaces the previous 2014–17 plan and was devel- oped with the help of Lane County community members and employees. More than 790 community members participated in an online survey and several attended a variety of focus group and open house events as the plan was developed. The full strategic plan can be found at lanecounty.org/ strategicplan. THIS WEEK ’ S 2022-24 could improve traffic safety, flow B Y C HANTELLE M EYER Siuslaw News On April 16, Florence City Council approved Resolution No. 7, Series 2018, authorizing staff to apply for an All Roads Transportation Safety (ARTS) Program grant for safety enhancements to Florence’s transportation system. If accepted, the grant could fund Florence’s first roundabout at the inter- section of Kingwood and Ninth streets. According to the staff report, project selection is scheduled to begin this fall for projects to be delivered in years 2022- 2024. Projects will be selected for either COURTESY IMAGE “hotspot” or “systemic” improvements and added to the Statewide Florence Public Works is considering installing Transportation Improvement Program a roundabout at the intersection of Kingwood (STIP). and Ninth streets if approved for an All Roads “ARTS is a transportation safety pro- Transportation Safety (ARTS) Program grant for gram for all public roads, so that can be the 2022-24 funding cycle. local county and city roads, not just state. The goal is to reduce fatalities and seri- State highways, with 8,000 miles, had 49 per- ous injuries,” said Florence Public Works cent of those per year; city streets, with 10,000 Director Mike Miller. miles, had 27 percent and county roads, with The program uses federal funds from the 26,000 miles, had 24 percent. Highway Safety Improvement Program and The ARTS Program aims to reduce fatalities applies them to help prevent the other 50 per- and serious injuries and address safety on all cent of fatal and serious injury crashes that public roads. It works with Oregon occur on local agency roads. Department of Transportation (ODOT) and According to Miller, between 2011 and 2015, local agencies on the selection process. Oregon had 1,926 accidents per year with fatal- See TRAFFIC 8A ities and serious injuries on its 44,000 miles. TODAY SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY 56 40 59 44 69 49 68 49 WEATHER Full Forecast, A3 S IUSLAW N EWS 2 S ECTIONS ❘ 24 P AGES C OPYRIGHT 2018
