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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 19, 2020)
THESIUSLAWNEWS.COM WEDNESDAY EDITION | FEBRUARY 19, 2020 | $1.00 W SIU AW NE L S E BR AT I N G 1 3 2020 RS Serving scratch made food, local beer, wine & spirits. EA CEL SN S 1890 Open 7 days a week 11am-8pm 0 Y Catering & private events available 541-997-5899 Thanking her rescuers OCHS posts executive director job listing A WARD - WINNING PHOTOGRAPHY I NSIDE — A9 Siuslaw News NEWS & VIEWS THAT DEFINE OUR COMMUNITY VOL. 130, NO. 14 F LORENCE , O REGON WEATHER By Mark Brennan Siuslaw News The Oregon Coast Humane Society (OCHS) continues to experience management related issues as the shelter has lost both Executive Director Mark Curran and Shelter Manager Marina Lewis after serving in their respective positions for less than a year. Curran relocated to Florence in the fall of 2018 to take over the reins of the floundering or- ganization after the Oregon De- partment of Justice (ODJ) initi- ated an inquiry into the process used by the humane society to nominate and elect members to its board of directors. Unfortunately, Curran, who at the time was heralded as the “perfect hire,” resigned in January due to communication problems between himself and members of the OCHS Board. The ODJ inquiry which resulted in Curran’s hiring was initiated in response to concerns shared by volunteers and staff members in 2017 that OCHS was not following basic “best practices” when selecting board members. There were no formal charges filed against the shelter by the ODJ after the conclusion of the inquiry and recommendations offered by the department to address the situation were later incor- porated into OCHS’ operating principles. ODJ also determined that serving board members had been seated improperly, so elec- tions were held to fill all of the positions on the board. None of the directors seated at the time were reelected. The OCHS Board moved into 2019 with a new leadership team in place. Sunshine with a high of 58 and a low tonight of 37. Full forecast on A3 Fourteen-year-old Eve Stidham (center) receives a Chal- lenge coin from Central Lincoln PUD after she wrote a thank you to Siuslaw Valley Fire and Rescue and the PUD for their help after her mother’s vehicle crashed into a power pole. Other individuals honored included (from left) CLPUD’s Jason Ford and Greg Carter, SVFR’s Megan Moore, Dispatcher Yolanda Ross and SVFR Captain Liz Iabichello. CLPUD, SVFR receive letter of thanks after teaming up for vehicle rescue near charged power lines A ccidents can happen at any time, sometimes with deadly consequences. One of the most serious of these types of accidents occurs when an indi- vidual is electrocuted due to con- tact with a live power line or hit by a lightning strike. As with many things, knowing what to do in the case of an emergency is often the best way to avoid serious injury or death. The National Center for Biotech- nology Information reports that COMMUNITY Story & Photos By Mark Brennan Siuslaw News electrocution claims 1,000 lives a year, with the majority caused by high-voltage accidents. These type of deadly accidents of- ten take place at a construction site but do occur in unexpected settings, such as a car accident or a fire. This proved to be the case for one Florence-area family on the last day of 2019, when Siuslaw Valley Fire and Rescue Capt. Liz Iabichello received a call to respond to a ve- hicle accident just outside town on North Fork Road. Upon arrival, she was confronted by a major incident in which a Ford SUV had hit a telephone pole head- on, knocking it to the ground below. “This full-size Excursion heading east left the roadway and completely took down a power pole and all lines attached,” Iabichello said. “This was a major line supplying power to the area. I think it was three high voltage lines. Two had broken and one was still connected.” (Editor’s Note: This is a break- ing news story. Look for updates at TheSiuslawNews.com.) See OCHS page 8A As of Tuesday evening, an investi- gation was continuing into a shooting incident near Florence that claimed the life of one woman and sent a man to the hospital in critical condition with a gunshot to the head. Around 8 a.m. on Feb. 18, Lane County Sheriff ’s Office, along with Oregon State Police and first responders from Siuslaw Valley Fire and Rescue and Western Lane Ambulance District, responded to a residence at the 90800 block of Southview Lane, approximately four miles north of Florence along SPORTS See RESCUE page 8A Woman dead, man seriously wounded Tuesday after early-morning shooting incident By Ned Hickson Siuslaw News Dr. Brauer’s Birthday INSIDE — A3 Highway 101. OSP and LCSO were first on scene, with emergency medical ser- vices and members of SVFR staged away from the home until police could secure the scene for patient care. Upon entering, police located an elderly couple, both of whom had sustained gunshot wounds. See SHOOTING page 8A Post-season play INSIDE — SPORTS RECORDS Obituaries & response logs Inside — A2 NEW: TV GUIDE Inside — A5-6 KIDS CORNER Activities for kids Inside — B5 Diversity, equity & inclusion comes to the Siuslaw CLASSIFIEDS Nonprofit Association of Oregon, Siuslaw Vision host workshop in Florence Listings and notices Inside — B6 By Chantelle Meyer Siuslaw News Merriam-Webster. The training was tailored to the nonprofit sector, with attendees from Florence Habitat for Human- ity, Healthy Families Lane County, Mapleton and Siuslaw school dis- tricts, Siuslaw Outreach Services, Siuslaw Watershed Council, St. Vincent de Paul, United Way of Lane County and others from both the Siuslaw region and elsewhere in Lane County. NAO Director of Learning and Resources Allison Adcox said, “We really appreciate the opportunity to work with rural communities and smaller communities across Ore- gon.” There was enough interest in the workshop that the association elected to move the training from its initial location at Lane Commu- nity College Florence Center to the inn, which also catered lunch. For the Siuslaw Vision, DEI training is a newer focus for the grassroots organization which seeks “to improve quality of life for the people in the Siuslaw region, which is basically everything in western Lane County,” said Vision Co-Chair Susy Lacer. “We work broadly on everything from jobs and economy to arts and culture, health and human services, recre- ation and infrastructure.” See DIVERSITY page 7A FOLLOW US FOR THE LATEST NEWS : /S IUSLAW N EWS @S IUSLAW N EWS T HE S IUSLAW N EWS . COM S IUSLAW N EWS 2 S ECTIONS | 18 P AGES C OPYRIGHT 2020 “I’m someone who has been living in Oregon as a person of color and seeing the state and my area change over time,” said Alexis James, direc- tor of training and organization de- velopment for Cascade Employers Association. She was speaking to approximate- ly 60 people at “Unpacking Diver- sity, Equity & Inclusion, (DEI)” a workshop held at the Best Western Pier Point Inn on Feb. 12 and put on by The Nonprofit Association of Oregon (NAO) and Siuslaw Vision, with support from The Ford Family Foundation. “I come to this work from a very personal level, but I also come to it with a lightness,” James continued. “Growing up black and growing up biracial, I really have had to navi- gate different conversations and find the joy in it all.” For James, who grew up in Bea- verton, one of her joys is teaching DEI education and helping others connect to broader conversations based on race, sexuality, religion, ability and any of the other markers that make a community diverse. She focused on intersectionality, or “the complex, cumulative man- ner in which the effects of different forms of discrimination combine, overlap or intersect,” according to Barbara Martin TAXES & BOOKKEEPING Bookkeeping & Payroll Quickbooks Pro Advisors BARBARA MARTIN Licensed Tax Consultant #71554 • EA #00107916 Shari & Barbara SHARI JAMES Licensed Tax Preparer #31250-P (541) 997-8833 2285 Highway 101 Suite “K” • Florence, Oregon, 97439 Toll Free (877) 549-6899 (In the Coastal Fitness Shopping Center)
