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What’s
happening
in the
Siuslaw
region
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2020
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SATURDAY EDITION | MARCH 21, 2020 | $1.00
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I NSIDE — A6
Federal tax
payment dead-
line extended
to July 15
Friday morning, U.S.
Treasury Secretary Steven
Mnuchin announced that tax-
payers will have an additional
three months to file their
taxes amid the coronavirus
pandemic.
“We are moving Tax Day
from April 15 to July 15,”
Mnuchin stated in a tweet.
“All taxpayers and businesses
will have this additional time
to file and make payments
without interest or penalties.”
However, according to the
IRS website, filing for tax-
es is still April 15, with the
payment deadline extended to
July 15.
“Income tax payment dead-
lines for individual returns,
with a due date of April 15,
2020, are being automatically
extended until July 15, 2020,
for up to $1 million of their
2019 tax due. This payment
relief applies to all individual
returns, including self-em-
ployed individuals and
See TAXES page 5A
Siuslaw News
Three Rivers, City of Florence
prepare for coming weeks
NEWS &
VIEWS THAT
DEFINE OUR
COMMUNITY
VOL. 130, NO. 23
F LORENCE , O REGON
WEATHER
Sunny with a high
of 55 and a low
tonight of 37.
Full forecast on A3
On March 18, the Confederated Tribes of Coos Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians directed casino man-
agement to temporarily suspend all operations at Three Rivers Casino Resort in Florence and Coos Bay.
community updating residents on
the urgency of the danger posed by
the novel coronavirus COVID-19
virus and the actions being taken by
the city to combat the pandemic.
“I know the past few weeks, espe-
By Mark Brennan
cially the past few days, have been
Siuslaw News
filled with uncertainty, fear and
heartache,” Henry stated. “Many of
n Thursday, March 19, Flor- us have never experienced some-
ence Mayor Joe Henry re- thing like this in our lifetimes. Work-
leased an open letter to the ing together, I think we can come
Mayor Joe Henry
writes letter; casino
closes doors
O
through this stronger as a commu-
nity, but we know it will be difficult
before it gets better.”
Henry described the situation as a
fight against the coronavirus, which
is entering “a stark new phase” that
has prompted federal and state gov-
ernment to take extraordinary ac-
tions an attempt to slow the spread
of COVID-19.
See LETTER page 5A
Area businesses join Siuslaw School District in feeding the community
Restaurants donate
food to schools, area
food shares
By Jared Anderson
Siuslaw News
As restaurants close or limit ser-
vice in the Siuslaw region, partner-
ships are being formed between the
Siuslaw School District, local food
shares and shuttered restaurants
to ensure the community stays fed
during shutdowns caused by the
spread of the novel coronavirus dis-
ease COVID-19.
“1285 Restobar made a large
donation of food supplies to help
the district feed students and the
community during our distribution
runs,” said Siuslaw School District
Superintendent Andrew Grzesko-
wiak. “The word is getting out and
other restaurants are looking to see
what they can donate.”
The donation comes after Ore-
gon Gov. Kate Brown ordered all
restaurants to close dine-in ser-
vices, allowing only takeout and
delivery.
Restobar decided that it would be
better for them to close this week,
which left behind hundreds of
pounds of food that was in danger
of going to waste.
“We had all this extra produce
that we didn’t want to go to waste,”
said Restobar co-owner Kurt Har-
gens. “We heard about the school
district and how they’re trying to
feed all the kids for breakfast and
lunch, so we thought that donating
the food to the school would be ide-
al.”
Hargens also made sure that his
laid-off employees received por-
tions of food as well.
As far as closing the restaurant,
Hargens said, “It’s hard to get your
head wrapped around it. We don’t
know if this is for four weeks or
eight weeks. I’m sick to my stomach
for my employees, more than any-
thing. It’s tough. They live paycheck
to paycheck. So we’re trying to do
‘We are not prepared’
right now if there was to be a mas-
sive outbreak in Florence, I’m not
sure how we would handle it. We’re
starting the meetings, but it takes
time to get these rolling. I think in
general, no — I don’t feel that we’re
prepared at all.”
The information comes after the
Siuslaw News began receiving re-
ports that local governmental agen-
cies have lacked organization and
leadership since COVID-19 was
first diagnosed in Oregon. While
some agencies, such as Siuslaw
School District, have taken strong
steps to instituting plans to protect
the community and provide ser-
vices, there still remain more ques-
tions than actual actions taken.
The consequences of not be-
ing prepared could be severe, with
Schick estimating a fatality rate be-
tween 2 and 6 percent in the com-
ing weeks if actions aren’t taken
Region’s leaders meet Friday to
coordinate efforts against COVID-19
immediately. With an estimated
18,000 people in the Siuslaw region,
that could be anywhere between a
couple hundred people to more
than 1,000.
However, Schick also stressed
that people should not panic;
community members within the
region are ready and willing to
help in a concerted effort against
COVID-19.
“I don’t think it’s too late, but
we’re running out of time very
quickly,” he said, adding that com-
munity leaders have been “asking
the right questions, the ‘What if ’s”
over the last few weeks.
From the view of SVFR and
WLAD, these questions include:
“What do we do if half of our am-
bulance employees are infected?
Even if we can utilize firefighters
and city personnel to drive ambu-
lances, where do we take them if
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the hospital overwhelmed? Do we
start setting up triage centers at the
schools?”
There are other unanswered
questions, such as meeting the
needs of citizens who are being
asked to stay at home.
“Do we need a call-in center for
people?” Schick asked. “We just
don’t have the answers yet. We have
a lot of people that want to help, so I
think over the next few weeks that’s
going to start ramping up here for
this area — and then the surround-
ing areas as well.”
Two weeks ago, Schick organized
a weekly meeting between local
governmental agencies, including
the City of Florence, PeaceHealth
Peace Harbor and the Siuslaw and
Mapleton school districts. Before
that meeting, “We’d all been plan-
ning on our own,” Schick said.
See PREP page 7A
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Update: After the meeting on Fri-
day, three hours after this article was
released online at TheSiuslawNews.
com, Schick contacted the Siuslaw
News and stated that planning was
going in the right direction. City of
Florence Public Information Officer
Megan Messmer will be the official
spokesperson regarding WLEOG’s
response to COVID-19.
“We are not prepared” for a novel
coronavirus
By Jared Anderson COVID-19
Siuslaw News
outbreak,
We s t e r n
Lane Am-
bulance District (WLAD) and
Siuslaw Valley Fire and Rescue
(SVFR) Chief Michael Schick said
on Thursday.
“I think we’ve been waiting for
something to happen, and then
start preparations. I think we are
slowly getting things geared up, but
everything we can for them, getting
them set up with unemployment
insurance.”
As far as collecting insurance for
1285 Restobar, it’s unclear whether
or not Hargens will receive pay-
ments. As reported in The Orego-
nian on March 18, many insurance
carriers exclude pandemics and vi-
ral infections from coverage.
“We’re trying to talk to our insur-
ance company about covering the
closing, but they’re not even sure if
it’s possible,” Hargens said. “We’re
just treading water right now.”
Siuslaw School District was
thankful for the restaurant’s dona-
tion.
See FOOD page 6A
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