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Siuslaw News
INSIDE
Today’s Issue
Siuslaw News
Bringing the vaccine to Florence
NEWS &
VIEWS THAT
DEFINE OUR
COMMUNITY
Lane County hosts vaccination clinic for more than 1,000 at FEC
VOL. 131, NO. 19
M ARCH 6, 2021
F LORENCE , O REGON
Rain showers
with a high of 49
and a low of 41.
Full forecast on A3
Story & Photo
By Mark Brennan
Siuslaw News
COMMUNITY
A team from Lane County Sheriff’s Office’s Search and Rescue administered first doses of the
Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to more than 1,000 people in Florence on Wednesday. City staff and
CERT volunteers helped the event run smoothly at the Florence Events Center.
he first public offering of a
vaccine for the COVID-19
virus in Florence took place at the
Florence Events Center (FEC) on
March 3, as Lane County oversaw
the vaccination of 1,105 people
who had pre-registered and were
determined to be eligible to re-
ceive the vaccination.
The organized process had all
potential recipients checking in
at the entrance to the FEC, where
they were identified, and tem-
perature tested before entering
the main hall. There was a long-
roped line which separated the
Cross Country
takes off
INSIDE — B
Work session
highlights
Florence City
Council changes
RECORDS
By Mark Brennan
Siuslaw News
Obituaries &
emergency
response logs
Inside — A2
SIDE SHOW
Activities and
comics every
Saturday
Inside — B4
CLASSIFIEDS
Listings and public
notices
Inside — B5
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C OPYRIGHT 2021
The Florence City Council is
in the final stages of creating an
updated City Work Plan,” which
serves as a template for achieving
the long-term goals previous coun-
cils and city staff have identified as
priorities for area residents, along
with new ideas and initiatives sug-
gested by recently seated councilors
and committee and commission
members.
Over the past two months, all city
commissions and committees have
updated and reconfigured their
recommendations to the council on
areas they are representing. There
have been significant changes in
the make-up of the committees and
on the city council, which has shift-
ed some previous priorities and ob-
jectives.
These updated committee and
commission
recommendations
were incorporated into a new set of
possible additions or subtractions
to the overall city workplan, which
was presented to councilors at an
extended work session Thursday.
All councilors were in attendance
at the virtual meeting.
See WORK page 5A
public from the healthcare work-
ers who were busy speaking with
clients and performing injections.
This is also where the effort’s
incident commander, Jason Bow-
man, drew out the individual
doses available in the larger vials
provided and separated them into
six different syringes.
Bowman is assigned to the Lane
County Sheriff ’s Office as a mem-
ber of the county’s Search and
Rescue Team, but has taken on re-
sponsibilities associated with the
vaccination effort in Oregon.
“We think things went real-
ly on Wednesday,” he said. “The
Search and Rescue Team from
Lane County was really happy to
bring the vaccines to Florence.
We know it might be difficult for
some individuals that are eligible
to receive the vaccine to make the
trip into Eugene, so we were real-
ly pleased to be able to help them
receive the vaccination without
having to make the trip to Eu-
gene.”
Staff from the City of Florence
were on hand throughout the day
to help with the process.
See VACCINE page 6A
The Dunes City Council held
an in-person meeting last week
at Dunes City Hall to talk about
short term vacation rentals, a top-
ic first discussed last spring.
The meeting was called to order
by City Council President Shel-
don Meyer, with Councilor Tom
Mallen and Mayor Bob Forsythe
absent and excused.
Meyer then asked fellow coun-
cilors for suggestions or changes
to the consent agenda and receiv-
ing none, moved to accept the
agenda, which included previous
meeting minutes and a Profit and
Loss statement distributed at the
last council meeting, as presented.
Next, City Administrator Jaime
Mills updated the council on an
opening in the Dunes City ad-
ministrative office for a planning
secretary and provided an update
on work being done by Spectrum
to improve service to the area.
The main issue at the meeting
was next on the agenda, and it
centered around the council’s
intention to regulate in some way
the area’s short term rental mar-
ket. Ordinance 256 would provide
some framework to deal with
the ramifications of short-term
rentals on residents and their
properties.
See DUNES page 6A
Kids (back)
in the hall
Mapleton juniors,
seniors return to
on-campus learning
Story & Photos
By Chantelle Meyer
Siuslaw News
Mapleton staff members lined
the high school entrance next to
the iconic blue anchor. Conversa-
tion flowed about their excitement
for the day — March 3 — when
juniors and seniors could return to
campus after nearly a year of com-
prehensive distance learning and
limited in-person instruction.
Cheers erupted as the first stu-
dent walked up.
As if there wasn’t enough joy for
one day, a special guest also made
an appearance. Salty the Sailor, Ma-
pleton’s long-time mascot, handed
each student a navy-blue mask
adorned with white anchors.
“That was very special for Salty
to welcome our juniors and seniors
back. It was special for the people
who donated the costume, and it
was special for the person in the
costume. You could tell none of the
kids had ever seen it and none of
the staff had seen it,” said Mapleton
Superintendent Jodi O’Mara.
Salty also made an appearance
at Mapleton Elementary, where
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Mapleton High School
reopened for juniors and
seniors on Wednesday,
with Salty, the Mapleton
Sailors’ mascot, joining
teachers and staff in
greeting students on
their return to campus.
students have been back on
campus since Feb. 10.
Once the juniors and se-
niors arrived, students were
ushered into the gym, where they
sat six feet apart. Their places were
marked with stickers saying, “An-
chor Here.”
Teachers and staff got the chance
to greet the students as O’Mara
and Principal Brenda Moyer gave
a presentation on how the school
year will look now that students are
actively on campus for a full day of
education.
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202
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O
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SPORTS
Dunes City
continues
talks on short
term rentals
By Mark Brennan
Siuslaw News
WEATHER
Travel Oregon awards
City of Florence
INSIDE — A3
M ONDAY , M ARCH 8
F LO E N C
R
“We brought you back first be-
cause, whether you like it or not,
you are leaders of the school,”
O’Mara told the juniors and se-
niors, who together make up one
19-person cohort. “The middle
schoolers, freshmen and sopho-
mores look up to see what you’re
doing, and they mimic and model
that.”
See MAPLETON page 8A
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