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Siuslaw News
Siuslaw News
NEWS &
VIEWS THAT
DEFINE OUR
COMMUNITY
VOL. 131, NO. 22
M ARCH 17, 2021
F LORENCE , O REGON
WEDNESDAY EDITION | MARCH 17, 2021 | $1.00
How to get the
COVID-19 vaccine
in western
Lane County
997-5973
COLORFUL CLASSICS
Lane County Public
Health details best
ways to access info
WEATHER
By Chantelle Meyer
Siuslaw News
PHOTOS BY MARK BRENNAN/SIUSLAW NEWS
Mostly sunny
with a high of 53
and a low of 42.
Full forecast on A3
COMMUNITY
Backstreet Gallery
showcases artists
INSIDE — A3
SPORTS
Sports seasons
race on
INSIDE — B
RECORDS
Obituaries &
response logs
Inside — A2
TV GUIDE
Inside — B4-B5
KIDS CORNER
Activities for kids
Inside — B3
CLASSIFIEDS
Just three months into vaccinat-
ing Oregon’s population, the state
has fully vaccinated 493,440 Orego-
nians against the novel coronavirus
COVID-19. More than 1.3 million
doses of vaccine have been adminis-
tered in the state since Dec. 14.
More locally, Lane County has
vaccinated 79,040 people out of its
population of 378,879. Of those
vaccines, 63,102 have been Pfizer,
57,915 have been Moderna and
1,778 have been the newest vac-
cine, Johnson & Johnson.
As of Tuesday, 44,521 people in
the county are fully vaccinated.
“I believe that your zip code is
the second most vaccinated zip
code proportionally in Lane Coun-
ty right now,” stated Lane County
Public Health (LCPH) Public In-
formation Officer Jason Davis. “In
terms of the percentage of overall
people that have been vaccinated,
Florence is really high up there.
This is in large part due to two
mass vaccination clinics conducted
by Lane County Search and Res-
cue, LCPH and the City of Florence
at the Florence Events Center on
March 3 and 6.
“Right now in Florence, we have
several different options for you
to get a vaccination,” Davis said.
“First of all, preregistering with the
county will continue to be a good
option — because that’s how you
get your vaccinations from Fred
Meyer, PeaceHealth Peace Harbor,
Bi-Mart or at a mass vaccination
event.”
See VACCINE page 6A
LATEST NEWS :
/S IUSLAW N EWS
@S IUSLAW N EWS
T HE S IUSLAW N EWS . COM
OCHS names new executive director
Elizabeth Thompson
officially began
March 1
By Scott Steward
Creative Wave Marketing
After a nationwide search, the
Oregon Coast Humane Society
(OCHS) Board of Directors has
named a new executive director,
Elizabeth Thompson.
“I couldn’t be more thrilled. The
Oregon Coast Humane Society is
an outstanding organization,” said
Thompson. “It’s a no-kill facili-
ty that bettered the lives of about
1,000 animals last year. We have a
great staff both at the shelter and
the Paws Boutique Thrift Shop
in Old Town. We have a bunch
of sweet, adoptable dogs and cats
right now, and the board has a
solid vision for a very bright and
vibrant future.”
Thompson comes to OCHS
with both extensive retail and
nonprofit experience. For the past
eight years, she managed Good-
will Stores in Eugene/Springfield
and has deep and relevant experi-
ence at Lane County Animal Ser-
vices’ (LCAS) First Avenue Shelter
in Eugene. She holds a bachelor’s
degree in marketing education/
fashion merchandising from Vir-
ginia Tech with additional educa-
tion in leadership, grant writing
and employee training.
While at Goodwill, she hired,
trained, and supervised a team of
more than 45 employees for the
multimillion-dollar store where
she increased sales on a regular
basis. At Lane County’s animal
shelter, she helped manage the
operation, organized volunteers,
raised thousands of dollars, part-
nered with media, and appeared
weekly on KEZI-TV’s “Pet of the
Week” segments.
“My experience in animal res-
cue has been some of the most
rewarding in my life,” Thompson
said. “I am passionate about advo-
COURTESY PHOTO
Oregon Coast Humane Society
Executive Director Elizabeth
Thompson
cating for animals and educating
people about the importance of
spay/neuter and how to care for
their pets. My time at LCAS was
the most rewarding in my career
so far. Every day brought new
challenges and new rewards. I was
eager to find a shelter position
where I can make a difference in
the lives of animals and their hu-
mans.”
See OCHS page 7A
Florence considers intergovernmental agreement with Port
Public comments asks
for consideration on
climate issues
By Mark Brennan
Siuslaw News
Listings & notices
Inside — B6
FOLLOW US FOR THE
T
he nice weather over the weekend,
and the risk reduction criteria re-
leased last Friday by Oregon Gov. Kate
Brown, prompted a spontaneous gathering
of local classic car owners at the Port of Siu-
slaw parking lot on Saturday. Approximately
25 classic cars, owned by local automobile
enthusiasts, were on display for a short peri-
od of time before the owners drove the cars
through Historic Old Town.
S IUSLAW N EWS
2 S ECTIONS | 20 P AGES
C OPYRIGHT 2021
The March 15 Florence City
Council meeting was brought to
order virtually Monday evening by
Mayor Joe Henry, with a mix of is-
sues for councilors to consider.
To begin the meeting, there
were nine speaker cards submitted
for the public comments, with cli-
mate change as the focus for many.
There were also references made
supporting the mayor’s sugges-
tion, made at the council’s March
1 meeting, that the Environmental
Management Advisory Committee
(EMAC) should consider city poli-
cy option recommendations which
might include some form of meth-
ane recovery in the future.
2020
VOTED
E
F
O
T
S
BE
F LO E N C
R
There was also a suggestion by
area resident Ivy Medow that the
council consider contacting Lane
County to participate in a program
to incentivize the installation of
electric cars charging stations.
“Here is something I would
like to see incorporated into the
City Work Plan,” Medow wrote.
“I think Florence has a great op-
portunity to incorporate electric
vehicle charging stations into its
profile as ‘A City in Motion’ and
vacation destination. People trav-
eling up and down the coast from
out of state, and those coming over
from the east … will welcome the
opportunity to charge up while
they are here.”
She proceeded to list several
sites for charging stations.
In addition, Meadow clarified
she does not care if the council
ever officially proclaims a climate
emergency.
“If you and the citizens of Flor-
ence can continue to seek, identify
and implement strategies aimed at
making a positive difference, that’s
good enough for me,” she wrote.
“We all know that grants and other
monies can be accessed based on
specific programmatic proposals
— particularly when collaboration
with diverse (private, public and
nonprofit) partners are involved in
the proposals.”
The comments offered by the
nine individuals were then entered
into the record and can be viewed
in the meeting’s materials.
After the public comments, City
Senior Planner Roxanne John-
ston led the council on its first
action item of the evening, which
was a request for a status change
in an underused piece of prop-
erty owned by the city. Basically,
the applicant was asking to pur-
chase a small piece of ground
from the city to use as a right-of-
way.
Johnston presented a request
from Simone Calfee to apply for a
“vacation” procedure of the 20th
Street pedestrian way between
1499 and 1545 20th Street. In this
usage, vacation refers to a public
right-of-way or a public service
easement “abandoned” by the city.
Once the subject right-of-way or
easement is abandoned, the public
use of the land or easement area is
relinquished without restrictions
to the property owner.
The discussion began with John-
ston providing an aerial view of the
area, pointing out other easements
which are already in effect in the
area. The value of the property is
an essential part of this process,
according to Johnston, and it must
be accurately determined.
In order to be granted easement,
the city would be recuperated
by the petitioner the decided-on
amount.
See CITY page 10A
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