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Siuslaw News
SATURDAY EDITION | JANUARY 2, 2021 | $1.00
S IUSLAW N EWS 2020 F EATURE
I NSIDE — A7
PHOTOS
Siuslaw News
NEWS &
VIEWS THAT
DEFINE OUR
COMMUNITY
2020
VOL. 131, NO. 1
F LORENCE , O REGON
WEATHER
YEAR IN REVIEW
munity members and representing
• Community members support
Florence as ambassadors. This year’s March for Life
court was a “Blast from the Past” —
• Oregon Department of Fish and
this year’s Rhody Days theme — as Wildlife tells Dunes City to stop
ended on several members had past Rhody feeding the wildlife
• Oregon celebrates the 100th an-
Dec. 31, Royalty in their families.
niversary of the ratification of the
heralding
Florence holds
19th Amendment on Jan. 14, 1920
the end of an unprecedented year
fourth Women’s March
• OCHS Director Mark Curran
full of firsts as people adapted to
The Florence Women’s March announces resignation
life under a global health emergen-
cy, shifted their social lives online, took place with the theme of “Wom-
changed entire business models and en Rising.” Coordinated by mem-
FEBRUARY
ultimately found ways to make it bers of Florence ORganizes, the
Florence holds State of the City
event drew more than 100 mem-
through.
Address, City Expo
Even as we look ahead to 2021, bers of the community. The march
Hundreds of community mem-
Siuslaw News took time to look sought to emphasize the important
bers attended the State of the City
back at the past year. In this year work that needs to be done to assure
and City Expo at the FEC. The event
in review, watch the progression of the continuation of American de-
included booths of the many ser-
stories from regular Siuslaw Region mocracy.
vices the city offers. Florence Mayor
life to living under lockdown as the
Joe Henry presented the address,
Florence City Council
novel coronavirus COVID-19 be-
joined by City Manager Erin Reyn-
begins contentious year
gan to influence every part of our
olds and city officials.
The first Florence City Council
lives.
It was a tough year, but small meeting of 2020 included an apol-
Community Gardens
victories were evident despite the ogy delivered by Councilor Joshua
opens at new site
abundant struggles. It was a year of Greene for what he admitted were
The Florence First Harvest Com-
politics and policies, supplication some “poorly chosen words” previ-
munity Gardens moves to Rolling
and support, fundraisers and even a ously directed at some of his critics.
Dunes Park at 35th Street and Sia-
This continued a number of
little bit of fun. In addition, Siuslaw
no Loop, next to the tennis courts.
News spent the year celebrating its heated exchanges between Greene
A parking lot, bathroom and other
and Florence Mayor Joe Henry re-
130th anniversary.
amenities make it easier for garden-
Look how far we came in 2020. garding the future of the Public Art
ers to get their hands in the dirt.
Now, we all get to look at 2021 with Committee, FURA, mayoral powers
a little bit of relief and a lot more and other topics.
Peace Harbor Foundation estab-
readiness.
lishes new fund
Notable Mentions:
A group of 30 gathered at Flor-
• Dredge work begins at Port of
JANUARY
ence Golf Links for an event bene-
Siuslaw
fiting PeaceHealth Peace Harbor’s
Rhododendron Court prepares
• Dee Osborne retires from Ban-
new Women’s Care Fund. The event
The 2020 Rhododendron Festival
ner Bank after 33-year career in lo-
was a way to introduce the founda-
Court began five months of speak-
cal banking
tion’s new program director of de-
ing in public, interacting with com-
By Mark Brennan
& Chantelle Meyer
Siuslaw News
2020
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2 S ECTIONS | 16 P AGES
C OPYRIGHT 2021
SALEM — Oregon Gov. Kate
Brown announced updates to county
risk levels under the state’s public
health framework to reduce trans-
mission and protect Oregonians
from COVID-19. The framework
uses four different risk levels for
counties based on COVID-19 spread
— extreme risk, high risk, moderate
risk and lower risk — and assigns
health and safety measures for each
level.
Effective Jan. 1 through Jan. 14,
2021, there will be 24 counties in the
See COUNTY page 8A
It was another busy week for
Siuslaw Valley Fire and Rescue
(SVFR). On Tuesday, the fire de-
partment responded to a structure
fire which involved other local re-
sponders and proactive staff mem-
bers of a local hardware store.
SVFR and Western Lane Am-
bulance District (WLAD) crews
responded to the Timber Apart-
ments at 1750 Eighth St. in Flor-
ence on Tuesday at 11:29 a.m. for a
structure fire.
“First arriving crews found
smoke coming from one of the
apartments and were able to quick-
ly enter and extinguish a small fire
in the bedroom of one of the units,”
said Fire and EMS Chief Michael
Schick. “Prior to the arrival of
emergency responders, employees
from nearby True Value Hard-
ware discharged multiple fire ex-
Story & Photo
By Mark Brennan
Siuslaw News
A fire broke out in the bedroom of a unit at the Timber Apartments on
Tuesday. Firefighters were able to suppress the flames and clean up after
staff from True Value Hardware responded with fire extinguishers.
tinguishers through the bedroom helped contain the fire.”
window along Eighth Street which
See FIRE page 8A
Y
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P
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On Sale
F L O R
$
9
Modeled after the world famous board game, Florence-Opoly is customized to our great city.
Fun for the whole family!
Siuslaw News • 148 Maple Street • Old Town Florence or call 541-997-3441
24.
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Listings and public
notices
Inside — B5
Fire department also hires two career firefighters
͘͘͘
CLASSIFIEDS
SVFR responds to apartment blaze
͕
Lane County
remains at
‘extreme risk’ as
Florence’s COVID
numbers rise
Activities and
comics every
Saturday
Inside — B4
Ăƚ
SIDE SHOW
ŝƚƵ
Ɛ
Obituaries &
emergency
response logs
Inside — A2
COVID-19 hits Oregon
The first case of the novel corona-
virus COVID-19 was announced in
Oregon on Feb. 28.
See IN REVIEW page 5A
sŝƐ
RECORDS
MARCH
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Winter whale
watching
INSIDE — B
͘͘͘ƚŽ
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LIFESTYLE
Notable Mentions:
• Eugene-Florence Connector be-
gins service between Eugene, Vene-
ta, Mapleton and Florence
• Fraudville raises $79,930 for
Boys & Girls Clubs of Western Lane
County
• OCHS continues search for ex-
ecutive director
• Three Rivers Foundation awards
statewide grants to 46 organizations
• Siuslaw Watershed Council
holds 21st annual Native Plant Dis-
tribution
• First Siuslaw Education Expo
unites dozens of agencies who offer
resources and services for children
and families
ibrary.or
iuslawL
www.S 97-313 2
541-9
Safe + Strong
Oregon campaign
INSIDE — A3
Siuslaw Awards honor
residents, businesses
Florence Area Chamber of Com-
merce celebrated the 2019 Siuslaw
Awards at the Florence Events
Center. Attendees indulged in hors
d’oeurves catered by event center
staff and recognized two dozen
businesses and nine area residents
who were nominated for the cham-
ber’s 12th annual business awards.
OUT
CHECK S.)
(WE EVEN GAME
BOARD
g
COMMUNITY
velopment, Heather Quaas-Annsa,
as well as the Women’s Care team at
Peace Harbor.
rd
aboa
g
Climb
readin
ad!
the real
railro
Rain with a high of
52 and a low of 46.
Full forecast on A3
Framing
es
Fram ence
Quality
Custom
of Flor
• Mirrors
s • Needlework
• Watercolors
Shadowboxe
Photography
Oils •
43
97-20 G
541-9
101, Suite
Hwy.
2285
OR 97439
Florence,