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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 17, 2020)
Hearing; Dental Vision; FOR FREE RS 2020 E EA SIU Medicare Compare S CEL SN BR SATURDAY EDITION | OCTOBER 17, 2020 | $1.00 THESIUSLAWNEWS.COM W 1890 AW NE L S AT I N G 1 30 Y Plans matched CORRECTLY to you needs! In Florence, No Fees, Ralph- 541-977-6199 SIUSLAW NEWS: A F INAL L OOK B ACK AT 130 Y EARS INSIDE — A7 AllOregonInsured@gmail.com Annexation Hearing postponed Siuslaw News Planning Commission to consider request in November VOL. 130, NO. 83 F LORENCE , O REGON NEWS & VIEWS THAT DEFINE OUR COMMUNITY WEATHER By Mark Brennan Siuslaw News The highly anticipated Oct. 13 meeting of the City of Florence Planning Committee (PC), which initially included acting on an annexation request from the owner of property locat- ed on Oceana Drive (off of Rhododendron Drive) was much shorter than had been expected. The petitioner, Benedick Holdings, LLC, requested a postponement of the hear- ing on behalf of its clients, which is requesting annex- ation consideration by the City of Florence. PC chairperson John Murphey was not in atten- dance, so vice-chair Phil Tarvin brought the meeting to order and handled the introduction of agenda items and presentations by city staff. The request for post- ponement was authored by Attorney Michael E. Far- thing on behalf of Benedick, asking for the rescheduling of the presentation to the Nov. 10 meeting. According to Farthing, the request for postpone- ment was submitted due to a concern on the part of the applicant that there was a procedural issue that needed to be researched and clarified before the required presentation to PC. See PLANNING page 10A PHOTOS BY MARK BRENNAN/SIUSLAW NEWS Vendors at Florence Farmers Market ended the 2020 season on Tuesday by bringing fresh produce, baked goods, meat, poultry, fish and more. The market has one final day — the Fill Your Pantry event on Nov. 8. Fill Your Pantry to be ‘a gift to our community’ Florence Farmers Market concludes third season with bulk-buying event By Chantelle Meyer Siuslaw News On Tuesday, Florence Farmers Mar- ket vendors packed up at the end of the market’s third season. It was a year of transition, as the COVID-19 pan- demic guidelines meant the market operated as a drive-through service — with people ordering ahead online and picking items up without having to get out of their cars. “The market itself has just been so successful,” said Florence Farmers Market organizer Jennifer Nelson. “I can’t believe that we just finished our third season. We’ve accomplished so much in these three years, especial- ly because we had to totally change things up this year.” She and fellow market volunteer Britte Kirsch met with Siuslaw News via Zoom to talk about its third year and a special bulk-buying event that will conclude the season in November. Fill Your Pantry will take place Sun- day, Nov. 8, from noon to 3 p.m. at Siuslaw Middle School, 2525 Oak St. People will be able to purchase pantry items along with fresh produce, frozen and fresh meat products, pastries and more. “The market is looking at this event as a gift to our community,” Nelson said. “We’re offering accessibility to food that can be challenging to access in general in our community, and es- pecially during these times of COVID and recent fires. … This is our gift to our community to try to create more a sense of food sustainability and acces- sibility.” Kirsch added, “It’s an opportunity for the vendors, as well, to finish out their season, get rid of anything that they have extra, and just make sure that the food goes to use.” All the 2020 vendors from the mar- ket will have goods for sale, along with a few new faces. See MARKET page 5A Partly cloudy with a high of 63 and a low tonight of 50. Full forecast on A3 COMMUNITY Art Exposed adds “Heart” to Bay Street INSIDE — A3 LIFESTYLE CEDC continues goals for housing, business, partnerships By Mark Brennan Siuslaw News The Florence Community & Economic Development Commit- tee (CEDC) meeting on Thursday, Oct. 15, was another in a series of primarily preparatory committee and commission meetings which have been focused on updating and modifying their workplans. City committees representing many areas of city government have started working on these workplans and goals, which each commit- tee will bring to the Florence City Council as it develops an overall City Workplan for the next bienni- um. The CEDC meeting was anoth- er in this type of meeting, with the emphasis on determining which goals from the previous year would need to be removed from the list or added to the new workplan. It was also an opportunity for committee members to bring new ideas to the other members of CEDC — and eventually the full city council — to discuss and con- sider. Committee Chairperson Robbie Wright called the meeting to or- der and, after determining there was a quorum, began a discussion that quickly led to one of the most pressing concerns of city leaders and area residents: housing. See CEDC page 10A The divides created by a newspaper unprepared for partisanship — Pt. II The finale of Siuslaw News’ investigation into the impacts of partisanship on local government [Editor’s Note: In an effort to provide trans- parency and accountability in our reporting, Siuslaw News has begun publishing source documents with reference links in our online version of these reports.] By Siuslaw News Editorial Staff Ned Hickson Jared Anderson Mark Brennan Chantelle Meyer Food Backpack for Kids Together, No Child Will Go Hungry Obituaries & emergency response logs Inside — A2 SIDE SHOW Activities and comics every Saturday Inside — B4 CLASSIFIEDS Listings and public notices Inside — B5 FOLLOW US FOR THE LATEST NEWS : /S IUSLAW N EWS @S IUSLAW N EWS T HE S IUSLAW N EWS . COM foodbackpackforkids.com 541-997-3533 Kids who receive our weekend food bags, also depend on the school food programs as their main source of nourishment. Their need is even more critical with school closures. Thanks to the Florence VFW & Mapleton Volunteers, our food bags have been delivered to kids at home. Please send your check payable to: Food Backpack for Kids P.O. Box 3347, Florence, OR 97439 RECORDS S IUSLAW N EWS 2 S ECTIONS | 18 P AGES C OPYRIGHT 2020 Becky Goehring posted on her Facebook page June 5, 2020. “Another reason I’m staying off Bay Street. If this sh** continues it may be an- other reason to consider another place to call home.” Attached was a photo of two men standing in Old Town wearing fatigues and carrying rifles. No laws were being broken, but after receiv- ing many calls about the men, Florence Police Department (FDP) asked them to leave, which they did without incident. “They told a woman she should leave the “Show zero mercy country because she’s liberal,” Michael Jarman get rid of the scum of our society” reported on Goehring’s post. “So this was Bay Street Thursday night when According to Florence Police Chief Tom teeny penis men heard rumors that Antifa might Turner, the incident was politically motivated; come to small towns in Oregon! WTF!?!?!” rumors were spreading online about antifa ac- This final installment in Siuslaw News’ In- vestigative Series explores the current state of local partisan impacts — from responses to COVID-19 and pressure from climate ac- tivists, to election coverage and rallies — and the role Siuslaw News, along with local polit- ical interest groups, have played in the divi- sions we are experiencing as a community. WARNING: This installment includes many examples of inappropriate language and references. tivists coming to small towns to cause havoc. “The Florence Police department has found nothing credible in these rumors,” Turner stated during a June 9 Florence City Council meeting. The rumor had been spreading throughout Oregon and the country, with multiple cities seeing armed individuals patrolling for antifa in small towns. “This is a situation where an openly armed citizen on our streets can — and has — caused undue public alarm,” Turner said. “This had the potential to create a disastrous situation and ac- cidentally escalate a situation beyond anyone’s wishes. And it simply isn’t necessary.” The danger was evident on pages like the Florence Liberty Alliance (FLA), which has been posting about protests since 2017. “Report: Homeland Security labels Portland Anti-Trump Protests ‘Domestic Terrorist Vio- lence,” read a July 22, 2017, article posted on the page. “That’s because they are,” the post com- mented. See POSTS page 6A Ada Grange celebrates members INSIDE — B ALL DONATIONS ARE USED TO PURCHASE FOOD ONLY. Thank You For: • Supporting our program to feed 100+ children on weekends in Florence & Mapleton who have little to no food at home. • Enabling our kids to focus on learning, improve social interaction and thrive physically. • Committing to them going forward during the COVID pandemic uncertainties. Children should be happy, not hungry.
