E BR AT I N G 1 3 RS 2020 EA CEL SN S SIU THESIUSLAWNEWS.COM W 1890 AW NE L S 0 Y WEDNESDAY EDITION | OCTOBER 28, 2020 | $1.00 Medicare Compare Hearing; Dental Vision; FOR FREE Plans matched CORRECTLY to your needs! In Florence, No Fees, Ralph- 541-977-6199 AllOregonInsured@gmail.com V OTING I NFORMATION I NSIDE — A3 City of Florence celebrates 5 years of RAIN Partnership emphasizes economic development and entrepreneurship By Chantelle Meyer Siuslaw News T he nonprofit Oregon RAIN (Regional Accelerator and In- novation Network) held a virtual commemoration of its five-year partnership with the City of Flor- ence on Oct. 21. Held over Zoom, the meeting brought together some of the people that have made the partnership possible over the years, including officials from RAIN and the city and representatives from the entrepreneurial ecosystem of Florence. As people logged into the chat, one person said, “This feels like a family call!” “This is so fun,” Coastal Catalyst Ariel Ruben agreed. “We’ve got to do this more often.” The group in attendance was small, just under 30, with many peo- ple announcing their connections and RAIN Executive Director Car- oline Cummings greeting most by name. She started the celebration by say- ing, “Thank you so much for joining us for the five-year anniversary of RAIN being invited into the Flor- ence community. I can’t believe it’s been five years. … And even with COVID and the fires slowing things down, I still feel like time is flying.” The partnership between the two entities started in October 2015 with a meetup at Homegrown Public In this Siuslaw News photo from October 2015, City Lights Cinemas House, and a “Call of Interest” event hosted the first large-scale event for Oregon RAIN and the City of at City Lights Cinemas on Oct. 28. See PARTNERS page 6A Florence, leading to a five-year and beyond partnership. EcoGeneration takes out the recycling Florence’s Sunday event accepts No. 1, 2, 4 & 5 plastics By Mark Brennan Siuslaw News The nonprofit EcoGeneration, based in Cottage Grove, will be hosting a Recycling Take Back Event at the Florence Events Cen- ter (FEC) parking lot, 715 Quince St., on Sunday, Nov. 1. This will be a free opportunity for Florence area residents and businesses to bring their clean, dry, label-free recyclables for collection. The event will take place be- tween 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., with the first hour specifically designated for residents over 65 years of age. Florence Master Recycler and City of Florence Environmental Management Advisory Commit- tee member Britte Kirsch is help- ing to coordinate the Take Back. She emphasized the need for properly prepared items, but also wanted to remind people masks must be worn. “Masks are really important for this event. The FEC is requesting that we follow all state mandat- ed safety protocols to ensure the health and safety of staff and vol- unteers. If you are not wearing a mask, we will not be able to help you,” Kirsch said. The items that will be collected include not only No. 1 bottles but also 2, 4 and 5s. For the first time in Florence, health and beauty containers will be accepted. This is a major addi- tion to the recy- clable take backs and will allow for more ma- terials to be reused. “One of the cool things about the addition of the health and beauty items is you don’t have to remove the labels. They are going into a complete- ly different stream. They have to be cleaned and dry, like all of the items, but they don’t have to be la- bel free,” Kirsch said. EcoGeneration was formed two years ago by Lane County Mas- ter Recycler David Gardiepy with the mission to safeguard and im- prove ecosystems where humans exist. An additional focus of the volunteer group is the protection of biodiversity in and around the Northwest and the reduction of waste materials entering the tradi- tional trash stream. “We are very excited to be teaming up with the Florence community to provide recycling events through 2021 as we grow as an organiza- tion,” Gar- diepy said. “We also are looking for community sponsors to help build local awareness about ethical waste man- agement and help pro- tect the coastal environment.” The COVID-19 pandemic has interrupted many recycling op- tions for the public, but there has been some movement to expand the items which can be accepted. For example, EcoGeneration is including No. 1 plastics for bot- tles, jugs and tubs, though this ex- cludes clamshell containers, cups and to-go boxes. See RECYCLE page 9A WLFEA discusses COVID-19 and contracts By Mark Brennan Siuslaw News crease in the number of positive patients, at least those who we are aware of.” Schick explained that a travel policy for all employees and vol- unteers is being developed and that the agencies will be strongly encouraging anyone who travels to a high-risk area to self-quaran- tine for 14 days upon their return. “We have put into effect a policy to restrict access to anyone out- side our organizations from en- tering any crew or staff areas,” said Schick. “Vendors and visitors were being allowed to enter areas which should have restricted access, which creates an unnecessary risk of exposure for our personnel.” There was also an important update related to the currently stalled WLAD labor negotiations. See WLFEA page 8A NEWS & VIEWS THAT DEFINE OUR COMMUNITY VOL. 130, NO. 86 F LORENCE , O REGON WEATHER Sunny with a high of 62 and a low tonight of 44. Full forecast on A3 COMMUNITY Florence Public Art Committee finalizes goals for next biennium By Mark Brennan Siuslaw News The City of Florence Public Art Committee (PAC) met remotely Oct. 26 with the task of working towards finalizing the committee’s suggested City Workplan. The end result of this work will be presented to the Florence City Council for consideration at its Nov. 16 meet- ing, when all the city boards and commission will submit their proposals for the 2021-23 bienni- um. PAC chairperson Harlen Springer opened the meeting with a preview of what the group would be work- ing on to present to the council and then turned the recap of the reworking of PAC priorities over to Sarah Moehrke, Economic Devel- opment Catalyst. Moehrke reviewed the progress made on accomplishing goals set out in the previous workplan, high- lighting the Art Exposed Rotating Gallery program, which is now entering its second cycle of art, and the completion of the mural on Quince Street as examples of PAC’s successes. However, one of the challenges faced by PAC has been a sense in the community that the decisions made the group — primarily in regard to Art Exposed and the Quince Street Mural — that there has not been enough regard given to the perspectives of residents when selecting art to display under the auspices of PAC. PAC member Peggy Meyer has been involved with the committee, as both a critic and an advocate, and offered a suggestion on improv- ing that relationship. “Maybe we should think about where we could work more with the community in the areas of private murals or private sculptures put up by businesses or people in the community,” Meyer suggested. “So that it wouldn’t be an adversarial relationship, and people would see See COMMITTEE page 8A Community plans safe Halloween events INSIDE — A3 LIFESTYLE First Lady of Deadwood INSIDE — B RECORDS Obituaries & response logs Inside — A2 NEW: TV GUIDE Inside — B3-B4 KIDS CORNER Activities for kids Inside — A7 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 The regularly scheduled meet- ing of the Western Lane Fire and Emergency Authority (WLFEA) took place as scheduled via tele- conference on Thursday, Oct. 22. WLFEA is made up of board members and first responders from both the Siuslaw Fire and Rescue (SVFR) and Western Lane Ambulance District (WLAD), and joint sessions of both boards have been common over the past year. Fire/EMS Chief Michael Schick led the meeting and first sought approval for the agenda and con- sent items, which he received and then moved to staff reports. The agenda for the meeting included staff reports submitted to the boards of directors, up- dating them on issues related to COVID-19 policies, finances, per- sonnel and community support. Schick updated the boards on a Lane County COVID policy change and included a warning to both EMS and fire first respond- ers. “We anticipate that Lane Coun- ty may be moving to an increased monitoring level (very high) in the near future, which would in- dicate our healthcare facilities are at — or near — full capacity. Pos- itive patients at Peace Harbor will be transferred to Eugene, which increases our exposure. But our crews are very diligent in wearing the proper PPE and disinfecting equipment following transports,” Schick said. “Within our response area, we continue to see a slow in- Siuslaw News Getting rid of 'Huh?' for over 20 years HEARING ASSOCIATES Call today to schedule an appointment. of Florence 541.991.4475 FLORENCE • 1901 Hwy 101, Ste A Florence's ONLY Doctors of Audiology Scott C. Anderson, Au.D. • Steven G. Anderson, Au.D. HearingAssociatesofFlorence.com FREE TV Adapter with the purchase of every set of level 7 or 9 hearing aids.