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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (July 31, 2021)
THESIUSLAWNEWS.COM | SATURDAY EDITION | JULY 31, 2021 | $1.00 SN DEQ#37263 CCB#91052 E XCAVATNG S EPTIC S YSTEMS S UBDIVISIONS L AND C LEARING P AVING T RUCKING B RUSH & D EBRIS R ECYCLING D EMOLITION 1770 Laurel Place • raywellsinc.com 541-997-2054 Fax: 541-997-3499 Siuslaw News ‘COVID’s still here’ Siuslaw News NEWS & VIEWS THAT DEFINE OUR COMMUNITY VOL. 131, NO. 61 J ULY 31, 2021 F LORENCE , O REGON WEATHER Assisted living employers network at Healthcare Job Fair Partly sunny with a high of 67 and a low of 54. Full forecast on A3 COMMUNITY SPORTS Local care communities New Friends Memory and Residential Care, Regency Florence, Northwest Memory Care and Spruce Point Assisted Living and Memory Care Community came together for a Healthcare Job Fair on Wednesday, July 28, at the Florence Events Cen- ter. The event focused on career and training opportunities for potential hires to help staff the assisted living and memory care facilities expe- riencing a shortage of healthcare workers in and around Florence. The event went from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and had informational tables around the room as well as speak- ers on a variety of topics. Later that afternoon, COVID-19 vaccina- tions were offered, free of charge, by Rite Aid Pharmacy. “We have to come together as a community to try to help each other out,” said Debi Bone, the ex- ecutive director of New Friends of Florence, during the event. See WATER page 6A See MEDICAL page 5A See JOBS page 5A South Coast Water Company cites infrastructure improvements Summer soccer kicks off INSIDE — B RECORDS Obituaries & emergency response logs Inside — A2 Dunes City Council met in per- son on July 28, with Mayor Rob- ert Forsythe and councilors Shel- don Meyer, Duke Wells and Rory Hammond in attendance. Coun- cilor Robert Orr joined the group midway through the meeting. For both the council and the public, the evening focused pri- marily on the issue of water rates, which are scheduled to increase dramatically if a requested rate hike is approved by the state. Forsythe opened the meeting with a request for approval of the consent agenda and minutes from the June Council meeting which was granted. The only requests to speak to councilors was related to the wa- ter rate increase and that topic dominated most of the remainder of the meeting. On July 1, 2020, South Coast Water Company (SCWC) sent out By Chantelle Meyer Siuslaw News a notice to approximately 100 cus- tomers they serve in Dunes City, announcing a request made to the Oregon Public Utilities Commis- sion (PUC) for a rate increase. The letter was sent to the PUC on July 16, 2021, and “seeks to increase our annual revenues to $139,416, representing an increase of $84,856, above the $54,560, we collected in 2020,” the letter stated. Staffing shortages have persist- ed during the pandemic amongst restaurants, local businesses and public institutions in the Florence area. It is a problem that seems to amplify as the days go on, accord- ing to staff attending the event. They talked about how the lack of employees stems from limited housing availability in the area. Although housing development plans are in motion, some resi- dents face evictions or experience Dunes City braces for water rate increase By Mark Brennan Siuslaw News PeaceHealth talks about vaccinations, masks in preventing further spread COVID-19 cases in Oregon are now at 218,689 after recent rises in infection statewide. Locally, Lane County has had 14,867 COVID-19 cases since Jan. 1, 2020. Numbers in the county are showing a steep climb since July 15, with daily reported cases climbing from one or two a day to surges of 93 people reported on July 28. On Lane County’s COVID-19 dashboard at public.tableau.com, the Rolling 7-Day Rate Per 100k chart shows that numbers in July match the higher numbers report- ed in May. “COVID’s still here,” said Jason Hawkins, Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) for PeaceHealth Peace Harbor Medical Center. “We still need to continue the education and continue with masking and social distancing when appropriate, especially in healthcare facilities, whether it’s a hospital, assisted living or nursing homes. All healthcare facilities are still requiring masking and social distancing. And we’re still very much encouraging for folks to get vaccinated.” He was joined by Dr. William Foster, M.D., PeaceHealth Peace Harbor Emergency Department Medical Director, and Dr. James McGovern, M.D., Chief Medical Officer (CMO) for the PeaceHealth Oregon Network, in a conversation about the state of COVID-19 in Lane County and how PeaceHealth is working in communities to pre- vent further infection. Facilities seeking staff members come up against housing shortage By Reina Harwood Siuslaw News Backstreet features two artists INSIDE — A3 Learn more Inside — A9-12 SIDE SHOW Activities and comics every Saturday Inside — B4 CLASSIFIEDS Listings and public notices Inside — B6 FOLLOW US FOR THE LATEST NEWS : /S IUSLAW N EWS @S IUSLAW N EWS T HE S IUSLAW N EWS . COM Veteran Service Officers return to Florence Thursday By Mark Brennan Siuslaw News S IUSLAW N EWS 2 S ECTIONS | 20 P AGES C OPYRIGHT 2021 The Florence Chapter of the Dis- abled American Veterans (DAV) is restarting its on-site access to Lane County Veteran Service Officers (VSOs) beginning on Thursday, Aug. 5. The service, which assists veterans with paperwork, advice and medical referrals, has been discontinued since March 2020, an early victim of the COVID-19 pan- demic restrictions. Many local veterans have been unable or unwilling to work through the digital and computer challenges associated with access- ing veteran care. These people are precisely the individuals the VSOs are here to help, according to Steve Baggin, DAV Chapter 23 Adjutant. “We are happy to announce DAV will be sponsoring the Veterans Services of Lane County and its VSO,” Baggin said. The Oregon Department of Vet- erans Affairs Lane County VSO will be at the DAV Hall, 1715 21st St. in Florence every Thursday starting Aug. 5. Baggin is active in the Florence veteran community, having served during the Vietnam conflict. He has taken a lead role in pushing for the return of a VSO to this area. He also understands the hesi- tancy and reluctance of vets to try and navigate the world through a computer. See VETERANS page 5A Free COVID-19 vaccinations today at Siuslaw Middle School A free drive-through vaccination clinic will be held today, July 31, from 1 to 3 p.m. at Siuslaw Middle School, 2525 Oak St. in Florence. Walk-up vaccinations will also be available. Insurance is not needed. The clin- ic will be offering the Pfizer vaccine for ages 12 and older, and the John- son & Johnson vaccine for ages 18 and older. Appointments are not required, but, if desired, an appointment can be scheduled at www.LaneCoun- ty.org/VaxClinics. For individuals ages 12, 13 or 14 who are not ac- companied by their parent or legal guardian, the individual must bring a signed consent form in order to be able to receive the vaccine. The form is available at the above website. Lovejoy’s Restaurant & Tea Room Invites you to join us in celebrating our Sixth Anniversary! For the week of August 4-7th, buy any entree and get entered for a chance to win a Lovejoy’s gift basket. The drawing will be held at close of business on the 7th of August. 195 Nopal Street, Florence, OR 97439 • 541-902-0502 Sun – Tue Closed • Wed – Sat 11 – 2:30 pm For questions or concerns about the vaccine, contact Lane County’s COVID call center at 541-682- 1380. This clinic at the coast is a col- laboration with Lane County Pub- lic Health and several local agen- cies including The ARC of Lane County, Autism Society of Oregon, Families Connected, Early Child- hood CARES and Oregon Family Support Network. The clinic is free and open to all people living in the central coast area. For Siuslaw residents who can’t make it to a clinic or pharmacy offering this free vaccine, Lane County Public Health can also help with transportation or arrange for in-home vaccinations. Contact them at 541-682-1380.
