SN
YOUR #1 LOCAL YARD, GARDEN, AND LANDSCAPE EXPERTS! WE’RE GLAD TO GET YOU GROWING!
32
YEARS
88493 Hwy. 101 Florence
Open 7 days a week
Senior Discount Every Tuesday
Siuslaw News
Siuslaw News
NEWS &
VIEWS THAT
DEFINE OUR
COMMUNITY
VOL. 131, NO. 32
A PRIL 21, 2021
F LORENCE , O REGON
WEATHER
Sunshine with a
high of 58 and a low
of 45.
Full forecast on A3
COMMUNITY
CROW plans to hold
summer camps
INSIDE — A3
SPORTS
Sliding into home for
Siuslaw ball games
INSIDE — B
RECORDS
Obituaries &
response logs
Inside — A2
TV GUIDE
Inside — B4-B5
KIDS CORNER
Activities for kids
Inside — A11
CLASSIFIEDS
Listings & notices
Inside — B6
FOLLOW US FOR THE
LATEST NEWS :
/S IUSLAW N EWS
@S IUSLAW N EWS
T HE S IUSLAW N EWS . COM
WEDNESDAY EDITION | APRIL 21, 2021 | $1.00
THESIUSLAWNEWS.COM
997-5973
S PECIAL G UIDE I NSIDE
Local veteran honored by DAR
Oregon Dunes chapter recognizes Tim Sapp with Outstanding Veteran Volunteer Award
Story & Photo
By Mark Brennan
Siuslaw News
(Center) Tim
Sapp receives
the Oregon
Outstanding
Veteran Vol-
unteer Award
from DAR
members
Joanie Gualco
and Jacquie
Beveridge at
the Oregon
Coast Military
Museum on
Monday.
True heroes are few and far be-
tween.
Florence is fortunate to have more
than its fair share of brave, selfless
individuals who exemplify the best
in our nation’s military, values and
national spirit.
Tim Sapp is one of those individ-
uals.
Sapp is a veteran of the Vietnam
War and sustained grievous injuries
Governor
updates 10
counties to
‘high risk’
overseas, for which he received the
Purple Heart commendation.
Quiet and unassuming, Sapp was
recognized for his service, his con-
tributions since serving and the way
in which he lives his life during a
special ceremony held last Monday
at the Oregon Coast Military Muse-
um (OCMM), 2145 Kingwood St.
The Oregon Dunes Chapter Na-
tional Society Daughters of the
American Revolution (DAR) award-
ed Sapp the prestigious Oregon Out-
standing Veteran Volunteer Award,
See AWARD page 5A
Cleaning up the beaches
for Earth Day
Lane County’s
updated risk level
takes effect Friday
SALEM—On Tuesday, Oregon
Gov. Kate Brown announced up-
dates to county risk levels under
the state’s public health framework
to reduce transmission and pro-
tect 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 April 23 through May 6,
there will be 23 counties in the high-
risk level, three at moderate risk,
and 10 at lower risk. Lane County
is one of six counties that jumped to
high risk from moderate risk. Other
counties in the high-risk designa-
tion are Baker, Benton, Clackamas,
Clatsop, Columbia, Coos,
See RISK page 5A
SOLVE members met at three Florence beaches on Saturday to participate in COVID-safe Earth Day
beach clean-ups. The North and South Jetty had many volunteers walking the beach to collect trash.
E
arth Day events in Florence
began this weekend as some
community members were
able to show their support for a
day specifically dedicated to rec-
ognizing and acting to clean up the
planet.
Oregon-based organization
SOLVE (Stop Oregon Littering and
Story & Photo
By Mark Brennan
Siuslaw News
Vandalism) held a series of clean-
up events on Saturday, which in-
cluded the North and South jetties
of the Siuslaw River and the beach
by Driftwood Shores Resort. There
were teams deployed at each loca-
tion to walk the beach collecting
and properly disposing of solid
waste.
Jon Tipple, the area coordinator
for SOLVE, said he was pleased
with the turnout at his post at
South Jetty.
See CLEAN UP page 10A
The show must go on — hold Council approves
Last Resort Players
pause planned show
as Lane County
reenters ‘high risk’
By Chantelle Meyer
Siuslaw News
S IUSLAW N EWS
2 S ECTIONS | 20 P AGES
C OPYRIGHT 2021
Earlier in April, the Last Resort
Players (LRP) announced dates
for its first theater event since the
COVID-19 pandemic halted large
gatherings more than a year ago.
Within days of first getting the
word out there, Lane County Public
Health reported that the county’s
positive case count for the novel
coronavirus was again on the rise.
The LRP Board of Directors decid-
ed to forgo its spring dates for ten-
tative days in June.
Initially, LRP planned to perform
BOATS (Based On A True Story),
a series of monologues told by
area residents, at City Lights Cine-
mas the last weekend in April. The
board decided it was finally time to
return to the stage since the county
had entered low risk of communi-
ty spread of COVID-19 on March
26, following several weeks of lower
case counts.
“We were doing well. We were at
the low at the low risk level,” said
LRP President Jim Wellington.
“This was of course before we had
heard anything about it potentially
turning around.”
Lane County began to see a climb
in cases at the end of March. How-
ever, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown kept
the county in a two-week caution
period, which left the county in
“low risk” despite the rising cases.
“I just think we were feeling opti-
mistic,” Wellington said about mov-
ing forward with BOATS. “Peo-
ple want something, people need
something — and the same thing
goes for the theater community —
we want, need to be out there doing
something and giving to the com-
munity.”
According to an email sent out
to LRP members, “The ‘low to me-
dium’ COVID-19 risk level guide-
lines would allow us to play to a
socially distanced audience of up to
30 members. And, we had put to-
gether a small cast show that could
rehearse and perform in comfort
and safety. We felt that the time was
appropriate for LRP and the theater
going community to begin to re-
connect.”
A second email, sent soon after,
announced the indefinite post-
ponement of BOATS.
“When I sent out the latest
blurb, I was thinking about say-
ing, ‘The show will go on — hold,’”
Wellington said.
See SHOW page 7A
City Workplan
By Mark Brennan
Siuslaw News
Florence City Council had a
busy day Monday. The day began
with a scheduled work session in
the morning covering the rules and
attitudes involved in harassment,
discrimination and unconscious
bias in the workplace, which was
presented by Citycounty Insurance
Services Senior Consultant Sharon
Harris. That was followed by an
executive session in the afternoon
and the regularly scheduled coun-
cil meeting that evening.
The agenda for the regular
session was brief and began with
a proclamation read by Mayor Joe
Henry in recognition of Arbor
Day.
See CITY page 10A
C elebrating Over 30 Years
in Real Estate
LOCALLY OWNED AND OPERATED
JIM HOBERG
Broker/Owner
1870 Hwy. 126, Suite A • PO Box 3040, Florence, OR