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SATURDAY EDITION | JUNE 22, 2019 | $1.00
THESIUSLAWNEWS.COM
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Florence, Ore.
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Siuslaw News
School district
terminates
shop teacher
VOL. 129, NO. 50
NEWS &
VIEWS THAT
DEFINE OUR
COMMUNITY
F LORENCE , O REGON
WEATHER
By Chantelle Meyer
Siuslaw News
Partly cloudy with a
high of 64 and a low
tonight of 50.
Full forecast on A3
COMMUNITY
MARK BRENNAN/SIUSLAW NEWS
Construction along the C-Row camp sites at the Port of Siuslaw is nearly completed and should be
ready for rental after next month’s Fourth of July festivities.
Jon Thompson
receives Tourism
Ambassador Award.
INSIDE — A5
SPORTS
Port now ready for fireworks
Completion of major upgrades for camp sites are on the fast track
By Mark Brennan
Siuslaw News
The Fourth of July is 11 days
away and the race to safely stage
the much-anticipated holiday fire-
works display is on. The fireworks
component of the annual event
was in jeopardy this year when the
original plans to launch the fire-
works from a barge on the river
fell through. The Port of Siuslaw
Florence Softball
League season
begins.
INSIDE — SPORTS
RECORDS
Emergency
response logs
Crime report
Inside — A3
SIDE SHOW
Activities and
comics every
Saturday
Inside — B4
CLASSIFIEDS
Listings and public
notices
Inside — B5
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LATEST NEWS :
/S IUSLAW N EWS
stepped in with an offer to provide
a legal, approved staging area for
the display. This decision has im-
pacted projects taking place at Port
facilities by changing the original
completion dates due to the need
to divert personnel from their reg-
ular duties to finish the improve-
ments as quickly as possible.
Port Manager David Hunting-
ton made the decision to offer
space to the Chamber believing his
team would be able to complete
the “C-Row” installation and also
prepare the space needed to meet
the city requirements for the legal,
safe launching of the Fourth of July
fireworks.
Huntington updated Port Com-
missioners on the progress of the
renovations and the preparation
for the Fourth of July festivities
See PORT page 9A
City Council approves Block Party street closure
The approval was just one of several agenda items approved
By Mark Brennan
Siuslaw News
The June 17 City Council Meet-
ing covered a wide array of issues
including approval of a street clo-
sure related to the 2019 Commu-
nity Block Party, consideration and
adoption of a resolution to amend
the city budget and a request from
City staff to renew an expiring ser-
vice agreement with the Florence
Chamber of Commerce.
The meeting opened with public
comments from three individuals
that reside in Florentine Estates.
These residents were requesting
the council to intercede on their
behalf to limit estate sales within
the Florentine property. The com-
plaints centered around excessive
traffic and noise associated with
the estate sales and the possible in-
terference with first responders the
sales might create in the case of an
emergency.
Mayor Joe Henry, while ac-
knowledging the concerns of the
speakers, suggested the council
was not the best entity to address
the issue.
“Normally we don’t respond [to
public comments]. But I will pro-
vide a brief response. Number one,
See TATUM page 9A
Learning about life untethered from electronics
Watershed Exploration Camp offers a view of nature through hands-on experience.
@S IUSLAW N EWS
T HE S IUSLAW N EWS . COM
See COUNCIL page 8A
On June 19, the Siuslaw
School Board met for both an
executive and regular session.
At the open of the regular ses-
sion, the board voted to sup-
port Siuslaw School District
Superintendent Andy Grz-
eskowiak’s decision to termi-
nate the employment of shop
teacher Clint Tatum.
“Be it resolved that the Siu-
slaw School District Board
of Directors moves to accept
the recommendation of the
superintendent and dismiss
teacher Tatum for improper
conduct that does not meet
the standards of the district
and of the teachers’ standards
and practices commissions ef-
fective immediately,” read Di-
rector Guy Rosinbaum.
After Resolution 061919-
3 was seconded by Director
Paul Burns, no further dis-
cussion was made during the
regular session and the school
board voted unanimously in
favor.
Tatum, a licensed contractor
hired by the district to work
in the Career Technical Ed-
ucation program, was placed
on administrative leave from
his position at Siuslaw middle
and high schools in early May
after being arrested May 1 for
first-degree criminal mischief
and first-degree criminal
mistreatment. Siuslaw News
was unable to verify if Tatum
was ever charged in the inci-
dent; he was released by Lane
County Corrections just over
24 hours later on May 2.
While Florence police said
“the investigated incident was
not connected to his employ-
ment and did not occur on
school property,” in an official
letter sent to district families,
Grzeskowiak stated the leave
was in accordance with the
policies of the Siuslaw School
District and the State of Or-
egon Teacher Standards and
Practices Commission. A sub-
stitute teacher filled out the
remainder of the school year.
According to Grzeskowiak,
S IUSLAW N EWS
2 S ECTIONS | 24 P AGES
C OPYRIGHT 2019
Devon, one of the par-
ticipants in last week’s
Watershed
Camp,
shows off his “duck.”
By Jared Anderson
Siuslaw News
Last week, the Siuslaw Water-
shed Council’s (SWC) five-day
Watershed Exploration Camp was
held, teaching children throughout
the region what the watershed has
to offer — all beyond the hustle and
bustle of main street and the allure
of electronic devices. In a bid to
get children outside and interested
in the world surrounding
them, the camp has been
a chance for generations of
Siuslaw children to learn
and experience the tradi-
tions of the Siuslaw.
“We work on restoring
our watershed,” SWC Executive
Director Eli Tome told the camp-
ers about the council at the start
of the camp. “That means projects
helping salmon habitat and restor-
ing the river. And we want to make
sure we want to have fun doing it,
so that’s why we have camp — so
you can actually go outside to show
you what we do, and teach you
See CAMP page 10A
JARED ANDERSON/SIUSLAW NEWS
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