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SATURDAY EDITION | JUNE 5, 2021 | $1.00
THESIUSLAWNEWS.COM
WE ARE EXCITED TO ANNOUNCE THAT THE
FLORENCE SENIOR CENTER WILL OPEN STARTING
Siuslaw News
June 7th, 2021
We welcome you all back and hope to see new faces as well.
ALL AGES WELC0ME
Card games, yoga, line dancing, billiards, Cribbage, chair exercise.
Bingo starts up June 10 11:00 am and 12:30 pm
We will practice mask wearing and social distancing.
9 am to 4 pm Monday thru Friday
1570 Kingwood St - Florence • 541-997-8844
Food Share reopens to public Siuslaw Valley,
Siuslaw News
NEWS &
VIEWS THAT
DEFINE OUR
COMMUNITY
Western Lane
conduct poll
VOL. 131, NO. 45
J UNE 5, 2021
F LORENCE , O REGON
Districts seek input
on future of combined
fire, EMS services
WEATHER
By Mark Brennan
Siuslaw News
Morning rain
with a high of 59
and a low of 45.
Full forecast on A3
COMMUNITY
Members of the Florence Food Share team (from left) Bart Mealer, Brittany Goldberg, Jeff Kernan,
Michelle Perry, Executive Director Colin Morgan and Stephen Beale show off the food share garden
this week. Florence Food Share has reopened for client shopping while maintaining masking and
distancing requirements.
Community members can now shop the Florence pantry in person
Story & Photo
By Mark Brennan
Siuslaw News
As state mandated restrictions
are lessened on businesses and
nonprofits, local foodbank Flor-
ence Food Share has reopened to
serve those in need of nutrition-
al support. There has been food
available at the pantry during the
pandemic, but the opportunity to
enter the facility and for volunteers
Habitat selects next
family for housing
INSIDE — A3
SPORTS
to assist clients has been severely
limited.
Florence Food Share Executive
Director Colin Morgan said he be-
lieves the resumption of more nor-
mal services will be well-received
by the people he and his staff serve
in the community.
“For the past year, the public has
not been able to enter the building,
but was still able to receive food
with the help of volunteers shop-
ping the pantry for them,” Morgan
said. “Clients will now once again
be able to shop the shelves for
themselves with the help of a vol-
unteer. We will continue to follow
all safety guidelines and ask clients
to please wear a mask when enter-
ing the building.”
One of the most appreciated as-
pects of the food support program
at Florence Food Share is the op-
portunity to offer fresh vegetables
to clients.
See FOOD page 6A
Expanded program brings support to veterans
Disabled American Veterans hosts counselor to address wellbeing
By Mark Brennan
Siuslaw News
Elks support
Little League
INSIDE — B
Florence veterans have a new
opportunity to share their mili-
tary experiences and other mem-
ories at a program taking place at
the Florence Chapter of the Dis-
abled American Veterans (DAV),
1715 21st St., just off Highway
101. Veterans will now have the
opportunity to speak one-on-
one with a Licensed Professional
RECORDS
Obituaries &
emergency
response logs
Inside — A2
SIDE SHOW
Activities and
comics every
Saturday
Inside — B5
Counselor about stress or psycho-
logical issues they may be facing.
In the wake of the COVID-19
pandemic, there has been a ma-
jor reduction in services offered
to veterans as Veteran Service
Officers (VSO) operating under
COVID restrictions have been
unable to assist veterans with
state and federal military service
issues. This has led to an increase
in veterans in crisis — and a cor-
responding increase in veteran
suicides — across the country, in-
cluding the Oregon coast, among
many other problems.
Florence DAV is hosting a se-
ries of workshops focused on
wellness coordinated by the U.S.
Department of Veterans Affairs’
Vet Centers to address issues not
related to obtaining benefits but
to ensuring the mental and emo-
tional health of former service
members.
See VETS page 6A
The merger of administration ser-
vices between local first responders
from Siuslaw Valley Fire and Rescue
and Western Lane Ambulance Dis-
trict has been in the works for three
years. Recent discussions of the joint
boards of directors, known as West-
ern Lane Fire and EMS Authority
(WLFEA), have often centered on
the need to reevaluate the integra-
tion of the two districts.
One suggestion from the WLFEA
discussions was to initiate a more
direct way to determine what dis-
trict voters, who will have to pay
for changes through taxes, want to
support.
See INPUT page 5A
School district
notified of
COVID-19 case
The Siuslaw School District has
been notified that an employee at
Siuslaw Middle School has tested
positive for COVID-19.
The sixth-grade on-campus co-
hort should be in isolation through
June 15, and may return to campus
on June 16.
Sixth grade students should be
monitored for any symptoms of
COVID-19 over the next few days.
Any changes in health conditions
should be reported to your primary
care doctor or Lane County Public
Health.
This isolation period does not im-
pact the seventh and eighth grade
classes, and they may continue their
regular routines on campus.
See CASE page 7A
Students receive acknowledgment, support Lane County now
Regional scholarships go to Mapleton, Siuslaw students
in ‘moderate risk’
Modeled after the world famous board game, Florence-Opoly is customized to our great city.
Fun for the whole family!
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@S IUSLAW N EWS
SALEM—On Tuesday (after press
deadlines), Oregon Gov. Kate Brown
announced updates to county risk
levels under the state’s public health
framework to reduce transmis-
sion and protect Oregonians from
COVID-19. Effective June 4 through
June 10, there will be 13 counties in
the High Risk level, 4 at Moderate
Risk, and 19 at Lower Risk.
A complete list of counties and
their associated risk levels is avail-
able here. Among the changes is a
shift downward for Lane County,
See LEVEL page 5A
Vis
it
/S IUSLAW N EWS
On May 28, the 2021 Siuslaw
Regional Scholarship Awards
Ceremony awarded 42 students
from Mapleton and Siuslaw high
schools with a total of $222,300.
“Each honored senior has plans
for the future, and tonight those
plans take a step closer to becom-
ing reality,” said Siuslaw High
School Counselor Steve Moser,
who helped coordinate the event
along with Bob Orr. “There are
costs associated with these future
goals and career aspirations. That
sacrifice of time, energy and free-
dom will become well known to
Originally published on June 1 at
TheSiuslawNews.com
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LATEST NEWS :
students into a database for the
153 awards. This is just the sec-
ond year that the form has been
available to students. Previously,
high school seniors at Siuslaw
and Mapleton would have to fill
out multiple paper copies, write
different essays and send in their
resumes and transcripts to indi-
vidual awards.
“This system was created to
simplify and streamline the
way students consolidate their
information to submit to local
providers,” Orr said. “It is our
hope to continue the use of the
regional application in the years
to come.”
See SCHOLARS page 7A
...to
FOLLOW US FOR THE
these students. Although the cost
we hope to limit tonight is one of
financial debt.”
In total, there were 153 indi-
vidual scholarships presented by
33 local presenters and organi-
zations in a virtual ceremony re-
leased that Friday night.
“I want to thank you all for tak-
ing the time to be present tonight
as we gather to acknowledge the
achievements of tonight’s hon-
ored seniors and to support their
educational and career aspira-
tions,” Moser said.
To be eligible for the scholar-
ships, students filled out the Siu-
slaw Regional Scholarship form,
which automatically entered
ibrary.or
iuslawL
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By Chantelle Meyer
Siuslaw News
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