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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 12, 2020)
RS 2020 E EA CEL SN BR WEDNESDAY EDITION | AUGUST 12, 2020 | $1.00 S SIU THESIUSLAWNEWS.COM W 1890 AW NE L S AT I N G 1 30 Y SIUSLAW NEWS: A LOOK B ACK AT 130 Y EARS INSIDE — A7 ‘Remote Workers and the Rise of Main Street’ Mapleton Siuslaw News NEWS & schools to hold VIEWS THAT DEFINE OUR classes online COMMUNITY for all grades VOL. 130, NO. 64 F LORENCE , O REGON 2020-21 school year to begin Sept. 14 How lifestyle destinations can harness remote workers for eco- nomic growth COURTESY IMAGE ‘Sea and shore’ to unite in new mural By Chantelle Meyer Siuslaw News G N I N E OP DAY, SATUR UST AUG H. 15T Clawson’s Wheelhouse waits on city approval after community funds project S ometime in the next recognition in town after he By Lena Felt few months, a colorful restored the 1990 mural of a Siuslaw News new mural titled “Legends whale on ICM Restaurant’s and Lore of Sea and Shore” front entrance on Bay Street will appear on the south side of Claw- in Historic Old Town Florence. son’s Wheelhouse on Eighth Street off “When I was working on the ICM Highway 101. The new mural has been mural, the Novellis asked me if I would in the works since last October, when do a mural on their little crab shack on Amy Clawson spread the word that she the dock as well,” Wood said. “So I did, was hoping to add some life to the blank and I sort of got a reputation for those white siding of her business. murals.” Local artist Michael Wood jumped One of the first concepts Wood at the opportunity as soon as he heard pitched to Clawson was inspired by Clawson was looking for an artist to take the interior of Clawson’s Wheelhouse, on the job. which showcases several mermaids and “It really was just serendipity how it other nautical elements. came to together,” said Wood, who gained See MURAL page 6A By Jared Anderson Siuslaw News The Mapleton School Dis- trict has announced it will be beginning the 2020-21 school year online, with the possibility of moving to a hybrid schedule later in the year. The decision comes af- ter Oregon Gov. Kate Brown announced new metrics for districts to allow onsite learning. “I know it’s hard for a lot of our families, especially working families that will now have kids at home with online learning. But we’re going to do our best to sup- port them,” said District Su- perintendent Jodi O’Mara. When O’Mara discussed reopening at the beginning of summer, she stated that they hoped they could open up fully on-site, no hybrid models. See MAPLETON page 6A Mostly sunny with a high of 65 and a low tonight of 47. Full forecast on A3 COMMUNITY Yachats begins annual banner sale INSIDE — A3 LIFESTYLE The direction we’re going A deep dive into partisan politics in Florence and the Siuslaw region do that was to begin with an over- view of this investigation, how it came about and what mistakes have n this two-part introduction to been made on all sides — including Siuslaw News’ investigative series our own — along the way. that began with a front-page editori- al on Aug. 8, we have chosen to elim- “Have city committees been infil- inate references to specific individu- trated by partisan actors?” als and groups, with those specifics In February 2019, members of the coming in subsequent installments newsroom here at Siuslaw News were of this series. We have chosen this still learning from mistakes we had approach so that our readers can made during the 2018 election for first get a clear understanding of the Florence City Council. In a two-part broad issues related to partisanship series titled “Chaos in the Commu- in our community and its impacts nity,” we described a number of dis- on local government, and hopeful- turbing incidents that had occurred ly do so without creating additional in the run-up to that election. In- fracturing between specific groups, cidents included sitting councilors individuals and our community. attempting to push out candidates, What follows is an overview which vandalism being reported and ethics is clear but not accusatory. complaints filed. The groups we write about in this However, what took our staff most series have often used soundbites by surprise was that it was occurring without context in order to both at all. Two of our three reporters had denigrate political opponents and been hired little more than a year further divide the community. We earlier, and none had noticed any are doing our best to provide the signs that the political atmosphere truth without adding to that divi- had deteriorated to the extent that sion. it had. So, 2018 — we thought — The City of Florence has come to was a one-off and something merely this moment because of a series of sparked by the heightened political small steps, miscommunications, atmosphere in the nation. mistrust and overall frustration We were wrong. with the direction of things result- After the 2018 election, it seemed ing from decisions both distant and most were ready to move on as elect- in the recent past. It’s these smaller ed officials made hopeful statements steps that we will be covering over about working together. There was a the next few months as we examine sense that a level of normalcy would specific moments that have led to return. where we are today. But by February, elected officials But to understand any of this, it’s were again openly fighting with each important to know what is being other. Many of those arguments fought over. We felt the best way to surrounded the direction of the By Siuslaw News Editorial Staff I city, from how affordable housing should be approached, to the role of job creation. The Public Art Com- mittee (PAC) and the Florence Ur- ban Renewal District (FURA) were suddenly becoming battle grounds. At that point, we began asking the city a host of questions about those agencies and others; the city had spent countless hours and tens of thousands of dollars on community planning. We decided to look at commit- tees and their role in the city, how some had flourished while others had failed — some due to internal conflicts among members, others because of the sheer enormity of the task at hand. We found plenty of information on the issues facing the city, and there were some clear disagree- ments about what direction the city should take. But ultimately council members and committee officials appeared to have more in common than not and the gaps in agreement seemed easy to bridge. Yet problems continued to esca- late although no one could pinpoint the reasons why. To find out, Siuslaw News be- gan asking questions beyond the scope of what was transparent and into things that had become more opaque. Though most of our ques- tions were attempts to either dispel or verify rumors — some given from elected officials themselves — the questions began exacerbating what had already become a tense situation between elected officials. See DIRECTION page 8A Free Fishing weekend INSIDE — B RECORDS Obituaries & response logs Inside — A2 NEW: TV GUIDE Inside — B3-B4 KIDS CORNER Activities for kids Inside — B5 CLASSIFIEDS Listings and notices Inside — B6 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 Small towns on the Ore- gon coast are gaining atten- tion as lifestyle destinations due to their abundance of natural beauty, recreational opportunities and charm- ing business centers. In an Aug. 5 webinar hosted by Pacific Northwest Econom- ic Region (PNWER) State Sen. Arnie Roblan repre- sented the coast in a forum on “Remote Workers and the Rise of the Main Street.” The discussion, which also included representa- tives from British Columbia and Montana, centered how the novel coronavirus COVID-19 might allow re- mote workers to live where they want while working where they want — as long as the technology infra- structure is in place. PNWER covers the five northwest US states and all of western Canada. “It’s a very diverse, large area,” said PNWER Senior Program Manager Steve Myers. “We’re lucky today to have representatives from three areas around our region that represent a diverse geography and community perspective when it comes to econom- ic development and other issues around our region.” The panel included Roblan, representing his hometown of Coos Bay and the Oregon coast; Central Okanagan Economic Devel- opment Council Manager Krista Mallory, represent- ing Kelowna in B.C.; and Bozeman, Mont., Economic Development Director Brit Fontenot. PNWER Inno- vation Co-Chair Nirav S. Desai moderated the panel. Desai described the three locations as “lifestyle cities — great locations that aren’t just fun to vacation in, but are great towns.” Although vastly different in location, the three areas encompass similar growth trajectories in recent years, with technology as a key point in economic develop- ment. Similarly, the impacts of economic shutdowns due to COVID-19 have caused people in these areas to plan for a future where in-person meetings may not be possible. See ECONOMY page 5A WEATHER DANNY’S GAME STORE WE BUY & SELL VIDEO GAMES & CONSOLES Open 11:00 am - 7:00 pm 511 Highway 101, Florence • 619-507-1852 (Located between Nick of Time and Pest Tech)