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SATURDAY EDITION | MAY 26, 2018 | $1.00
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FLORENCE GOLF
LINKS NOW OPEN
SPORTS — B
Monday, May 28
128TH YEAR | ISSUE NO. 42
FLORENCE, OREGON
SERVING WESTERN LANE COUNTY SINCE 1890
Rickard retires
‘Working together
from Port of
for optimal outcomes’ Siuslaw board
First responders train together for
commission
active violence scenario Wednesday
5-year board veteran
will now focus her
efforts on education
V
Story and Photos
By Mark Brennan
Siuslaw News
Emergency responders
from Florence Police Dep-
artment, Siuslaw Valley Fire
and Rescue, PeaceHealth
Peace Harbor and Western
Lane Ambulance District
participate in an active vio-
lence drill at LCC Florence
Wednesday.
iolence directed at stu-
dents continues to capture
the headlines across America.
In only the first 21 weeks of
2018, there have been 23 school
shootings where someone was
hurt or killed.
The possibility of violence
occurring at any school, at any
time, is real as these violent in-
cidents are becoming a familiar
and unsettling aspect of educa-
tion.
The need for first responders,
from all of the organizations that
will be called upon to respond to
a violent emergency, to be ready
for differing emergency scenari-
os has never been greater.
Western Lane Emergency Op-
erations Group (WLEOG) and
the leaders of the Florence Po-
lice Department (FPD), West-
ern Lane Ambulance District
(WLAD) and Siuslaw Valley
Fire and Rescue (SVFR) are
By Jared Anderson
Siuslaw News
aware of this need and have
an ongoing series of training
programs in place to prepare
members to deal with an active
violence situation.
Operation Emerald Shield,
held May 23 at Lane Commu-
nity College Florence Center
on Oak Street, was the most
recent training of this type
held for local first responders.
Members from all three emer-
gency organizations participat-
ed in the drill, along with per-
sonnel from PeaceHealth Peace
Harbor.
See TRAINING page 7A
Local soldier honored with highway memorial
By Damien Sherwood
For Siuslaw News
A highway memorial sign dedication
ceremony will be held Monday, May
28, at 1 p.m. at the Florence Veteran’s
Memorial Park for Private First Class
Brice Scott, a Florence local who was
killed in action in Afghanistan in 2011.
The ceremony will include a
wreath-laying service on the Siuslaw
River and be followed in the coming
weeks by installing the Brice Scott
Fallen Hero Memorial Highway sign
on Highway 101 north of Munsel Lake
Road.
Brice was born Sept. 17, 1988, in
Eugene’s Sacred Heart Hospital and
raised in the Florence area. According
to his father, Steven Scott, growing up,
Brice was athletic and energetic, yet
thoughtful and rule-abiding.
“He was just a super easy boy to
raise,” Stevent said. “He was just one of
those kids that everybody wanted to be
friends with.”
Private First Class Brice Scott was
killed in action in Afghanistan in 2011.
After attending North Eugene High
School, Brice joined the Job Corps in
Yachats and graduated early, becoming
a student instructor and later acquiring
a job as a union carpenter.
However, amid the economic depres-
sion, Brice was laid off. Already raising
a child and with another on the way, he
needed a way to support his family.
See MEMORIAL page 8A
In a brief monthly public meeting
last Wednesday, Port of Siuslaw com-
missioners announced the departure of
Commissioner Nancy Rickard and gave
an update on their attempts to sell the
Pacific View Industrial Park.
Rickard, who has served as com-
missioner on the port for the past five
years, will be focusing her efforts on
education and will sit on the District
Advisory Committee for the Siuslaw
School District board.
Rickard’s retirement from the
commission leaves two vacancies on
the board, after former commissioner
David Huntington was hired as port
manager earlier this month.
“I’ve always appreciated Nancy’s work
ethic,” Port Commissioner Bill Meyer
said at the meeting. “She really made a
lot of effort to get to meetings related
to the port. I appreciate her love of the
port, and I know her heart is with us
and hoping we will succeed. I wish her
the best in her continuing efforts. I
know it will involve the community.”
Rickard joined the board in 2013,
filling a midterm vacancy.
“There was a big upheaval in elec-
tions and a push for women to get
involved,” Rickard said. “I figured I did
my time because I worked 14 years on
the school board.”
See PORT page 7A
Siuslaw Middle School faces second threat of siolence
School, police representatives believe the threat was made by same individual, and is considered non-credible
By Jared Anderson
Siuslaw News
INSIDE
Police
and
school
officials
searched Siuslaw Middle School on
Tuesday, May 22, as another threat to
student safety was made on campus.
The incident comes just weeks after
a similar warning was made at the
school, and it appears the episodes
are linked. Both threats have been
deemed non-credible, with school
officials believing they were made by
the same person.
However, the identity of the perpe-
trator is currently unknown, and the
school is taking extra precautions.
On May 22, school cleaning staff
discovered in a school restroom stall
Classifieds. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Community. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
B5
A3
A4
A2
graffiti warning of potential vio- vious threat, which gave a similar dirty clothes and leftover lunches,”
lence.
vague warning.
Grzeskowiak said.
“It said there was going to be a
After the graffiti was discovered,
The graffiti is also suspected to
bombing,” said Siuslaw
be linked to an anon-
School District Super-
ymous online Insta-
“I hope this is not the new normal. I hope it will gram account that has
intendent Andy Grz-
eskowiak. “That was it. get back to the point where kids can go to school appeared this month,
No specific date, time and feel safe. Unfortunately, for the immediate fu- with images of graphic
or location. It wasn’t ture, people’s nerves are a little raw. ... We’re going violence from films.
even directed here. It to maintain vigilance on our end.”
“It’s not even saying
just said that there’s
stuff,”
Grzeskowiak
— Andy Grzeskowiak
going to be a bomb-
said.
“It’s
just
taunting
Siuslaw School District Superintendent
ing.”
kids.”
Grzeskowiak
was
Even though the
unable to release the exact wording police and school officials searched perpetrator is unknown, authorities
of the threat, stating that there is still the entire school, including opening were able to determine the threat
an ongoing investigation.
every locker and cabinet, for materi- non-credible because of a lack of in-
The warning was scrawled in the als that could be used in a bombing. dicators that are generally associated
exact location as the month’s pre-
“The only thing we found was with school violence. These include
Sideshow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B4
Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B
This Week on the Coast. . . . . A6
Weather Data . . . . . . . . . . . A2
THIS WEEK ’ S
TODAY
SUNDAY
MONDAY
TUESDAY
61 48
64 50
64 50
61 48
WEATHER
Full Forecast, A3
specific times of a possible incident,
a threat to a group of people or spe-
cific person or a disciplinary inci-
dent involving the school or police.
“We’ve had no big discipline in-
cidents on campus,” Grzeskowiak
explained. “We’ve had no recent in-
cidents involving students and law
enforcement. There’s been no real
incidents with students from social
services. No conflicts between stu-
dents on campus. No conflicts with
students off campus. There’s been
no other notes, journals, writings
or blogs stating specific threats of
violence on or off campus that have
been reported to school officials and
police, either direct or anonymous.”
See THREAT page 6A
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