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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 25, 2020)
E AT I N G 1 3 CYBER MONDAY 2020 Is November 30th RS 50% OFF local gift certifi cates. EA CEL SN BR WEDNESDAY EDITION | NOVEMBER 25, 2020 | $1.00 S SIU THESIUSLAWNEWS.COM W 1890 AW NE L S 0 Y Look for details on the Siuslaw News 2nd annual HALF PRICE Cyber Monday Gift Cards in this Saturdays paper. T OMORROW , N OV . 26 G R AT I T U D E & G R E E T I N G S Happy Thanksgiving 2020 By Chantelle Meyer Siuslaw News Inside this edition, on pages A9 and A10, students at the Teen Cen- ter and Elementary Program of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Western Lane County wrote out lists giving thanks to their families and com- munities. Below, find out what some Siuslaw Middle Schoolers are thank- ful for in 2020. According to Middle School Counselor Parma Roe, students in the sixth- to eighth-grade advisory class created a slide show presenta- tion to “show their gratitude to our local community helpers.” The slides, which featured pho- tos, icons and messages of thanks, demonstrated the students’ grat- itude for people who support the Florence community. “Some of them are pretty cute,” Roe said. sad and sick. but with you guys we The messages in the 28-slide pre- are all really happy that you guys sentation include: help us and try your best on help- ing people. I would be a doctor but SMS students are very grateful for i think that you guys have a better our PeaceHealth doctors, nurses chance at keeping people alive. and support staff: • For helping people and exposing • Thank you guys and girls for get- yourselves to covid and saving lives ting everyone better and still work- • Thanks for keeping us safe! We ing in these hard times. I am glad really appreciate it! You are AMAZ- you guys are in are life because no ING! one will be happy they will be really See GRATITUDE page 11A Raising tons of food & thousands of dollars Rural Development Initiatives gives update on Florence business climate under COVID-19 Siuslaw News NEWS & VIEWS THAT DEFINE OUR COMMUNITY VOL. 130, NO. 95 F LORENCE , O REGON WEATHER Rain with a high of 51 and a low tonight of 41. Full forecast on A3 COMMUNITY By Mark Brennan Siuslaw News PHOTOS BY MARK BRENNAN/SIUSLAW NEWS O n Nov. 21, the 20th annual Pounding ben- efit for Florence Food Share raised 18,796 pounds of donated food and an additional $12,623.20 in monetary donations. For the fifth year in a row, Top Hydraulics was an underwrit- ing the poundage match. However, to mark the 20th anniversary of the event, Top Hydraulics rounded up its donation to $20,000. “Despite the restrictions of COVID guide- lines, the Florence community really showed up with an outpouring of generosity in a year when a record number of families in our community are in need,” said event founder Cindy Wobbe. “The drive-thru drop was a great success and made it possible for folks to donate safely with- out having to get out their vehicles.” Proceeds from the event went directly to Flor- ence Food Share, 2190 Spruce St., to support lo- cal food secure people. “I am especially grateful to the many Food Share volunteers who packed and weighed and loaded thousands and thousands of pounds of food with such joy and enthusiasm, and to Top Hydraulics for their continued corporate support of this event,” Wobbe said. Read more on page B1 Western Lane Fire and EMS Authority districts receive updates on negotiations, audit, positions By Mark Brennan Siuslaw News fighter/engineer positions have opened. “We have two lieutenant posi- tions to be filled first, followed by the firefighter/engineer positions, with a total of three positions to be filled.” One issue which was raised for group discussion was related to McClure’s report and brought up by WLAD Director Larry Farn- sworth. Farnsworth expressed dissatis- faction with the auditing company Emerald CPA, which is currently under contract with WLFEA, and said there were basic issues includ- ed in the latest audit with which he had disagreements. “I don’t believe and don’t un- derstand the auditor’s referred outflow of resources. I don’t know how you count the lack of a due See DISTRICTS page 5A FRAA artists design ornaments INSIDE — A3 LIFESTYLE Community turns out for fundraiser INSIDE — B RECORDS Obituaries & response logs Inside — A2 NEW: TV GUIDE Inside — A7-8 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 | 20 P AGES C OPYRIGHT 2020 Siuslaw Valley Fire and Rescue and the Western Lane Ambulance District, also known as the West- ern Lane Fire and EMS Authori- ty (WLFEA), held their regular- ly scheduled virtual joint board meeting on Nov. 19. The two organizations continue to work towards a phased merging of responsibilities, particularly in the administrative area, and hold- ing joint board sessions allows for a more streamlined and transpar- ent process as the groups contin- ue to work towards achieving that long-term goal. SVFR Chief Michael Schick led members of both boards through the limited agenda, as there were no public comments offered and brief reports from Schick and Of- fice Manager Dina McClure. During the meeting, Schick in- cluded an update on labor nego- tiations between IAFF (Interna- tional Association of Firefighters) Local 851 and SVFR, along with an update on the hiring of three new employees. “The fire district is still waiting for a contract counter proposal from Local 851. We were hopeful that we would have one at the Nov. 9 meeting. The union indicated it may have a counter proposal on Nov. 11, but then cancelled that meeting with a request for more time to review the proposal inter- nally,” Schick said, adding that the department is currently looking at December dates for its next meet- ing. The chief also said that the ap- plication periods for the depart- ment’s new lieutenant and fire- The City of Florence Commu- nity and Economic Development Committee (CEDC) met virtually on Nov. 19, with an agenda that mainly centered on a thorough re- view and update on the work being done with one of Florence’s most influential economic partners, Ru- ral Development Initiatives (RDI). The meeting was chaired by Rob- bie Wright and covered RDI data, statistical reviews and correlative recommendations for Florence. RDI is a multi-faceted consulta- tion and planning support group that focuses on the development of economic and cultural models for rural communities statewide. These recommendations are indi- vidually shaped for those specific areas. During the CEDC meeting, RDI focused on business retention and expansion. Florence signed an initial con- tract for services with RDI in De- cember 2019 for $3,000. The re- search and analysis presented was gathered since the onset of the COVID-19 crisis in the spring. Nathan Davis, Program Manager for RDI, presented the committee with a comprehensive recap of the work which RDI and Florence have been collaborating on, and also looked towards the future using a series of metrics which measure current and growing employment sectors while determining a strate- gy to enhance the development of those particular fields. Davis first described the over- all intent and process involved in gathering information for the re- port delivered to CEDC. “The process has a few basic steps, but generally it involves go- ing into a community and identi- fying what bodies are working with economic development, identify- ing leaders within those organiza- tions that can be representatives at the table, and talking through what they see as generally large issues for economic development,” he said. See ECONOMY page 6A C elebrating Over 30 Years in Real Estate JIM HOBERG Broker/Owner 9 201 VOTED F BEST O E SIUSLAW NEWS READERS CHOICE WINNER Voted Best Realtor for 6 Years! F LO E N C R 1870 Hwy. 126, Suite A • PO Box 3040, Florence, OR
