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SATURDAY EDITION | MAY 16, 2020 | $1.00
Virtual 113th annual
Rhododendron Festival
Grand Floral Parade
Watch online on Sunday, May 17, at noon
on Facebook. See www.ci.florence.or.us/
community/2020-rhody-parade
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Lane County enters Phase I of reopening
Rights of
employers,
employees as
Oregon reopens
Guidance from state, county shape
Florence’s metrics for reopening
Siuslaw News
NEWS &
VIEWS THAT
DEFINE OUR
COMMUNITY
VOL. 130, NO. 39
F LORENCE , O REGON
WEATHER
What small
businesses need
to know
By Jared Anderson
Siuslaw News
After two months of stay-
at-home orders, 28 counties in
Oregon are slowly beginning to
reopen this week as small busi-
ness owners and their employees
learn how to work in the age of
COVID-19.
The shutdown has created eco-
nomic devastation matching the
some of the worst crises in Amer-
ican history, with rural commu-
nities being hit the hardest.
“We have the highest unem-
ployment in the state on the coast
because we are so tourist driven,”
Oregon Sen. Arnie Roblan said
last week.
Roblan, along with Lane Coun-
ty and Oregon RAIN (Regional
Accelerator and Innovation Net-
work) hosted a webinar on the
ins and outs of reopening, includ-
ing what’s expected of employees
and employers in the first phase
of reopening, along with what
financial assistance is available
for businesses still struggling.
The panel included Roblan,
David Gerstenfeld from the Or-
egon Employment Department,
Melissa Drugge from Business
Oregon and Leah Horner from
the office of Oregon Gov. Kate
Brown, and was hosted by Flor-
ence City Manager Erin Reyn-
olds, who is also the incoming
vice-chair of RAIN.
The focus was on small busi-
nesses with 25 employees or less.
“They have been the backbone
of the economy and our state for
a long, long time,” Roblan said.
“We have to figure out ways we
can support them.”
One of the most pressing
questions businesses have had
this week is whether or not they
should open in the first place.
While businesses that have re-
mained open through the
See BUSINESSES page 6A
Rain showers with a
high of 60 and a low
tonight of 50.
Full forecast on A3
COMMUNITY
Many of Lane County’s restaurants are opening this weekend under Phase One of Oregon’s reopening.
Diners are able to sit indoors and outside once more as long as tables are six feet apart, as they are at
Off Bay Street Bistro in Historic Old Town Florence, and restaurant employees must wear facemasks.
Story & Photo
By Mark Brennan
Siuslaw News
T
he next stage in the rapidly
evolving COVID-19 para-
digm began Friday, May 15,
following Gov. Kate Brown’s an-
nouncement Thursday that Lane
County was one of the Oregon
counties whose applications for a
Phase One designation has been ap-
proved.
“It has been over seven weeks
since I announced Oregon’s Stay
Home, Save Lives order,” Brown
said. “Our success this far gives me
confidence as we take these next
steps toward reopening.”
The governor’s office received
applications from 33 counties be-
ginning May 8 seeking to enter
Phase One reopening. According to
Brown, the applications were exam-
ined and forwarded to the Oregon
Health Authority (OHA), where
OHA’s team of medical and public
health experts reviewed each appli-
cation.
“In some cases, we asked for clar-
ifying information and, after a thor-
ough and detailed review, I have
approved 28 of these applications,”
Brown said Thursday.
In each of these counties the state
will continue to monitor testing
rates, effectiveness at contact trac-
ing, isolation of new cases, hospi-
talization rates and other metrics
that are required to remain open
during the initial 21-day Phase One
period.
Brown was also clear on the spe-
cific guidelines regarding newly
authorized reopening for segments
of the business community which
have been temporarily closed.
See REOPEN page 8A
Siuslaw School Board looks at budget, fiber
In a board meeting Wednesday
night, the Siuslaw School District
By Jared Anderson discussed
several
Siuslaw News
issues, in-
cluding the
possibility of providing internet to
low-income students for five years
through a deal with local fiber op-
tic internet provider Hyak. The deal,
which would cost the district $1.4
million, would ensure that a num-
ber of students would receive inter-
net access at a reduced cost, while
also ensuring access to students if
social-distancing measures due to
COVID are still in place during the
next school year.
The board decided to wait on
a final decision, instead opting to
review further options, including
partnerships with local govern-
ments and nonprofits. But the dis-
cussions led to broader questions
regarding distance learning as a
whole, as board members and staff
spoke on the issues teachers face
with at-home learning, the shorten-
ing of the school year, budget issues,
community support and the uncer-
tainty of the future of all school dis-
tricts beyond Siuslaw.
School Board President Guy Ros-
inbaum began the night by discuss-
ing the feedback he had received
regarding the proposed project with
Hyak.
“I heard a lot of people who are
really excited about the project, I’ve
heard some people that are really
upset,” Rosinbaum said. “We even
heard some people make some ac-
cusations about Hyak running out
of money and they’re using their
connections with the board.”
Rosinbaum stressed the latter was
not the case.
See SCHOOLS page 5A
Representative shows how he ‘CARES’ by procuring millions for Oregonians
By Mark Brennan
Siuslaw News
by the COVID-19 pandemic. All
ballots are now due at Lane Coun-
ty ballot drop boxes. In Florence,
can be dropped off outside the
Florence Municipal Court, 900
Greenwood St.
In his role as chairman of Trans-
portation and Infrastructure, De-
Fazio said has been disappointed
in the leadership provided by
President Donald Trump during
this crisis and has been very pub-
lic with those criticisms. His most
recent disagreement with the ex-
ecutive branch centers around
airplane travel and the safety of
passengers that travel while ig-
noring Centers for Disease Con-
trol (CDC) guidelines regarding
personal behaviors related to hy-
giene.
DeFazio’s staff shared a letter
the congressman sent to an air-
line trade association requesting a
stringent mask-wearing policy on
all American airlines.
“Who among the CEOs of your
association’s members would
want a member of their own
family to be assigned to a mid-
dle seat between two potentially
See REP page 5A
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C OPYRIGHT 2020
U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio is the
longest-serving Congress mem-
ber in Oregon history.
First elected to represent Ore-
gon’s District 4 in 1986, DeFazio
has served as a member of the
House Transportation & Infra-
structure Committee since 1987,
and in 2019 was elected to the
chairmanship of that committee.
The Transportation and Infra-
structure Committee has jurisdic-
tion over the U.S. Coast Guard,
highways and transit, water re-
sources, railroads, aviation and
economic development.
DeFazio has previously served
as the ranking member of the
House Natural Resources Com-
mittee, where he focused on sec-
tors of the economy including
ocean, fisheries, federal lands and
energy resources.
DeFazio had little to say to Siu-
slaw News regarding his May 19
primary challenge from Doyle
Canning, instead focusing on
what the congressman said he
sees as the extreme danger posed
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