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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 31, 2019)
NEWS & VIEWS THAT DEFINE OUR COMMUNITY F LORENCE , O REGON WEATHER Clouds and rain with a high of 52 and a low tonight of 49. Full forecast on A3 COMMUNITY Eagle Scout completes project INSIDE — A3 iuslawLibra www.S 97-31 32 541-9 VOL. 129, NO. 105 LY OPO - E C N E R FLO OUT CHECK S.) (WE EVEN GAME BOARD ry.org Siuslaw News TUESDAY EDITION | DECEMBER 31, 2019 | $1.00 ͘͘͘ ͕ sŝƐ ŝƚƵ ƐĂ ƚ ŝƐĐ ŚŽ ŽǀĞƌ ŵĞ ǀ ŝŶƚĞ ŝŶƚĂ ƌŝŽ ŐĞĐů ƌƐ͕Ă Žƚ ŶĚ ŚŝŶŐ ĐŽ ͕Ă ŽŬ ŶƟ ŝĞƐ͊ ƋƵ ĞƐ ͘͘͘ƚŽ Ě AVAILABLE NOW see ad on page 6A for details. D\ P +LJKZ WUKXQWHUFR ZZZ rd aboa g Climb readin ad! the real railro SN TH THESIUSLAWNEWS.COM Framing es Fram ence Quality Custom of Flor • Mirrors s • Needlework • Watercolors Shadowboxe Photography Oils • 43 97-20 G 541-9 101, Suite Hwy. 2285 OR 97439 Florence, Postal Customer Florence, Ore. 97439 Dunes City meets in December Council hears of Scouts, deer counts, water testing By Jared Anderson Siuslaw News E agle Scouts and an abbreviat- ed deer discussion were the topics of December’s Dune City council meeting, held earlier in the month. Originally, the council meet- ing was to focus on the issue surrounding the seemingly large population of deer in the city, but Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) representatives had to postpone their appearance. This gave ODFW more time to conduct its deer count, which it has been doing throughout De- cember. In the meantime, Councilor Duke Wells has been asking res- idents their thoughts on deer in Dunes City. “I’ve been paying attention to Hilltop, which is where most of the [deer] problems have been,” he said. “I talked to about 14 people. Myself, I’m about captur- ing and relocating them. I think that’s where most folks are feeling. Four people added that if it was a man-power problem for them to relocate them, then folks in Dunes City would be willing to help out with capturing the deer.” JARED ANDERSON/SIUSLAW NEWS Eagle Scout candidates Kyle Hughes and Jeff Edman fixed up the small park area near Dunes City Hall on Spruce Street in Westlake as part of their Eagle Scout projects. Wells added that he saw around 20 deer on the side of the road while he was driving to the meet- ing that night. Dunes City Council will have a clearer understanding of the deer issue on Jan. 8, when ODFW will speak to the city council and members of the public regarding both the deer population and what can be done. The bulk of discussion during the meeting was the work that two Eagle Scout candidates had done to improve the south end of Spruce Street in Westlake, just next to Dunes City Hall. After months of work, Kyle Hughes and Jeff Edman completed See DUNES page 6A SPORTS 2020 sees many new laws take effect By Mark Brennan Siuslaw News Siuslaw v. Douglas INSIDE — SPORTS RECORDS Obituaries & emergency response logs Inside — A2 KID SCOOP Activities and comics every TUESDAY Inside — B5 CLASSIFIEDS Listings and public notices Inside — B6 FOLLOW US FOR THE LATEST NEWS : /S IUSLAW N EWS @S IUSLAW N EWS T HE S IUSLAW N EWS . COM The 2019 Oregon Legislature passed 120 bills during this year’s short summer session. Some of these new laws, such as the “Workplace Fairness Act” and the “Oregon Consumer Protection Act,” have already taken effect. Many others will become law on Wednesday. Jan. 1, 2020. Perhaps the most discussed of the new measures is H.B. 2509, the Sustainable Shopping Initiative. This law includes a requirement that retail stores and restaurants discontinue the distribution of single use plastic bags and provide sustainable options for consumers to use when bagging their pur- chases. The state is now mandating a minimum 5 cent charge to those that do not use sustainable bags. This is a minimum fee to be im- posed by the state, with the retailer ultimately deciding the amount of the fee to be charged at their place of business. S.B. 90 is also designed to reduce plastic waste, this time by prohib- iting restaurants from providing customers with a plastic straw un- less they specifically ask for one. H.B. 2005 initiates a system for paid family leave in which Ore- gon workers can take off up to 12 weeks of paid leave. This leave can be used to care for a new child or sick family member, or to recover from a serious illness or domestic violence. The leave would be paid for by a state insurance fund that employers and employees will con- tribute to, similar to worker’s com- pensation. There are two new laws that are specifically designed to enhance the safety of youth, women and those in a domestic abuse situation. H.B. 4145 extends a gun ban to All business license renewals due Jan. 1 those who have been convicted of domestic abuse, regardless of the legal relationship that exists between those involved, and S.B. 155 now requires the investigation of all reports of suspected abuse or suspected sexual conduct by school employees, contractors, agents and volunteers. There are a number of other changes due to be introduced that will affect consumers and residents in a mostly monetary way. There will be an increase in the gasoline tax, which will add 2 cents a gallon to the cost of driv- ing, and there will be potentially much higher registration costs for electric and other high mileage vehicles. This increase in registra- tion fees was passed with biparti- san support as a way of increasing gas-related tax funding for ongo- ing road maintenance costs. “No person shall maintain, oper- ate, engage in, conduct or carry on any business within the city without first having obtained a license for the current year as provided by this chapter.” This is the text from Florence City Code, Title 3, Chapter 1, which states that everyone doing business in Florence must have a current business license. The cost to operate a business in Florence, or to operate a business elsewhere and sell goods or services in Florence, depends on the type of work being done and the amount of time that work will take. If a business’s physical address is located within City of Florence See LAWS page 5A See RENEWALS page 6A By Mark Brennan Siuslaw News Winter Whale Watch Week continues See up to 30 grey whales per hour at vantage points along the coast S IUSLAW N EWS 2 S ECTIONS | 18 P AGES C OPYRIGHT 2019 Gray whales are on the move south again this December and Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD) is celebrating the migration with the annual Whale Watching Week, which ends today. Volunteers from the Whale Watch- ing Spoken Here program will be sta- tioned at 24 sites along the Oregon coast during the event. From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. each day, they’ll offer whale watching tips and facts about the an- imals. A map of the 24 volunteer whale watch sites can be found on whalespoken.org. The website states, “In the win- ter, Whale Watching Spoken Here volunteers watch nearly 25,000 gray whales from mid-December through mid-January as they travel south to the warm lagoons of Baja Mexico.” Every winter, gray whales migrate south from Alaska to the warm calv- ing lagoons off the coast of Baja, Mexico. Whale Watching Week coincides with the highest frequen- cy of whales swimming down the coast; roughly 30 whales pass by per each hour. Luke Parsons, an OPRD ranger with the Whale Watching Center in Depoe Bay, says one of the goals of the event is to create awareness and compassion for whales and other marine life. “Whales are a special part of the Oregon coast,” he said. “We’re very proud to work with our volunteers to help visitors connect with the whales and our oceans.” The Whale Watching Spoken Here program places volunteers at great whale watching sites during the two official watch weeks each winter. The official Whale Watch Weeks typically take place between the Christmas Holiday and New Year’s Day and during the last week in March. For more than 40 years, trained volunteers have helped visitors watch whales at sites in three states along the Pacific Northwest coast. “We definitely know whale watching,” the website continues. “Last year, the Whale Watching vol- unteers spoke with over 52,000 vis- itors from around the globe. Thank you volunteers!”
