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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 5, 2020)
E AT I N G 1 3 LANE FLORENCE CENTER RS 2020 EA CEL SN BR SATURDAY EDITION | DECEMBER 5, 2020 | $1.00 S SIU THESIUSLAWNEWS.COM W 1890 AW NE L S 0 Y Twila Lenington Owner/Stylist / Estetician 179 Laurel Street, Suite A • Florence 541-997-8440 • WWW. KREATIONS101.com Offering: • Massages,Facials, • Botox and fillers • All Your Hair Care needs • All exclusive AVEDA Salon Gift Certificates available. Florence lights up for the holidays C ONT I NUING E D U C AT I O N WINTER 2021 REGISTRATION OPENS DEC. 8 CLASSES START JAN. 4 REGISTER AT LANECC.EDU/CE WINTER IS HERE Stay warm. Stay safe. Stay connected! C ATALOG I NSIDE Siuslaw News NEWS & VIEWS THAT DEFINE OUR COMMUNITY VOL. 130, NO. 98 F LORENCE , O REGON WEATHER Clouds and evening rain with a high of 54 and a low of 45. Full forecast on A3 Photos By Mark Brennan Story By Chantelle Meyer Siuslaw News COMMUNITY H ow many City of Florence officials does it take to light the Christmas tree? Thanks to Public Works staff, just Mayor Joe Henry as he was lifted high in the air to light the Siuslaw River Bridge Interpretive Center’s living 30-foot Douglas fir tree at a special tree lighting on Thursday night. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, participation was limited at the event and all attendees wore masks and socially distanced. To light up the area, city staff and their families counted down while Henry released glitter over the tree. According to Public Works Director Mike Miller, the interpretive center has even more lights this year, and many hands went to finishing the display. The City of Florence is releasing a video about the tree lighting and other holiday specials this weekend. People are encouraged to wear masks and take photos as they interact with holiday displays. Learn more online at www.ci.florence.or.us. Holiday by delivery Homegrown Pub once again “Adopts a Family” for holidays Home By Mark Brennan Siuslaw News Homegrown Public House and Brewery, 249 Laurel St. in Histor- ic Old Town Florence, continues to show its concern for homes and families with its special “Adopt A Family” program. Now owned by Scott and Elaine McMillan, the pub offers food and brews, many which combine traditional preparation with a unique “Homegrown” twist. “The Adopt a Family program was started eight years ago at Beauty by Delivery Wellness Spa,” said Elaine, who also owns the spa. “Each year, we have served the community by choosing one family in Florence to get an entire holiday delivered at no cost. Two years ago, we decided to take the event to the brewery. This enabled the project to get more ex- posure to the public.” The McMillans are concerned not only for their businesses, but for the friends and customers who frequent their establishments who are being negatively impacted by COVID-19 restrictions and related business clo- sures. The Adopt A Family Program is designed to support — in as full a manner as possible — one family during the holiday season. Food, Christmas tree, decorations and gifts are all part of the holiday pack- age donated to the selected family. “People can nominate themselves or a friend and we choose a family,” Elaine continued. “It is always confi- dential, and no one knows who the family is but me.” This year, there were 17 nominat- ed families. Homegrown’s Facebook announced that it selected a family on Dec. 1. Now, the real work begins. “We gather lists from every per- son in the household,” Elaine said. Then, each list is written up and affixed to one of two trees on display at the pub. “The community tree at Home- grown is where you can grab tags of need off the tree,” she continued. “We ask that you wrap the gifts and put the tag on the outside. A few days prior to the holiday, we deliv- er the tree, dinner and all the gifts wrapped for the entire family. The goal is to literally drop off the entire holiday, stress free.” The Adopt A Family tree is already up at Homegrown after being donat- ed by members of the community. Besides this holiday event, the McMillans are involved in support- ing the Florence community in a number of other ways, such as their “Kegs for a Cause,” which donates proceeds from kegs provided by outside breweries to local support agencies. See FAMILY page 6A Backstreet “Shell- abrates” artists INSIDE — A3 LIFESTYLE Mapleton School District looks at ‘what’s best for kids’ By Jared Anderson Siuslaw News “We are in comprehensive distance learning with limited in-person instruction (LIPI),” said Mapleton School District Superintendent Jodi O’Mara. “That means we’re still doing online schools for all of our stu- dents, K-12. Our preschoolers are receiving online learning kits.” However, the district is offering LIPI for 50 students as supple- mental education. “Some of them simply bring their Chromebook, and they open up Chromebook here, just like their peers are at home, but we have the wi-fi,” said Mapleton High School Principal Brenda Moyer. “For some kids, they need See MAPLETON page 5A Pounding continues to give to Florence Food Share INSIDE — B RECORDS 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 Brown’s proposed budget hopes to ‘ensure basic needs are met’ Governor calls for increased federal aid as pandemic affects all aspects of economy Oregon Gov. Kate Brown present- ed her proposed 2021-23 budget to the state this week, followed by a press conference on Dec. 1. She went over highlights of the budget, which will next be reviewed by Ore- gon lawmakers before final approval in 2021. In addition to outlining areas of increased spending and marked de- creases, Brown spent considerable time requesting aid from the U.S. government to address the pandemic and help states support their people. “Unlike the federal government, state governments have to balance our budget,” Brown stated. “We have to meet the needs of the pandemic. Our revenues are down as a result of the recession caused by the pan- demic, and yet we’ve got to meet the needs of vulnerable Oregon families. And frankly, we have got to invest and rebuild in our communities.” Her proposed budget seeks to do that, but also calls for more federal funds. According to the budget doc- ument, “The Governor’s Recom- mended Budget for 2021-23 pro- poses $100.2 billion in total funds spending, including $25.6 billion in General Fund and Lottery Funds. … The budget includes over $293.8 million in increased revenues and leaves $243.3 million in the General Fund. In addition, by the end of the 2019-21 biennium, the Rainy-Day Fund is projected to have a balance of $942.3 million.” See BUDGET page 7A /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 By Chantelle Meyer Siuslaw News LATEST NEWS : 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
