Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 25, 2021)
SN THESIUSLAWNEWS.COM | SATURDAY EDITION | SEPTEMBER 25, 2021 | $1.00 September 2021 A Special Supplement to 72-Hour Emergency Kit Creating an emergency kit with WLEOG VOL. 131, NO. 77 S EPT . 25, 2021 F LORENCE , O REGON WEATHER Partly sunny with a high of 62 and a low of 52. Full forecast on A3 COMMUNITY Emergency response organizations honor life of Sarah Susman Western Lane Ambulance employee died Sept. 20 in Highway 126 accident trict (RFPD). known with the She was born crews already.” and raised in S u s m a n Portland before a l s o pre v i ou s - moving to Eu- ly worked at gene to attend M i d - Va l l e y the University of Ambulance in Oregon. There, Springfield. she graduated “She’s really with a degree in been very active biology and pre- in the emergency med. response setting “Sarah start- for several years Sarah Susman ed in March of now,” Schick said. this year as a part time employee Susman was certified as an EMT with us,” Schick said. “She was well intermediate program through Lane By Chantelle Meyer Siuslaw News “Volunteerism sometimes is just in your soul. And I think helping others was definitely in Sarah’s soul. She had plans,” said Fire and EMS Chief Michael Schick about Sarah Susman, a part-time Western Lane Ambulance District employee who died Monday morning in a car acci- dent on Highway 126. Susman was 25 and an EMT basic at Western Lane while be- ing a volunteer firefighter/EMT at Lowell Rural Fire Protection Dis- SPORTS listing for the area of Florence, Ore., it can also be further divided into 12 individual neighborhoods While most individuals who for the utmost specificity and live in close proximity to one another have no physical lim- itations preventing them from meeting their neighbors, many have no opportunities for lo- cation-based social interaction unless they are heavily involved in convenience: Baker Beach, Down- community events. Nextdoor is a town, Driftwood Shores, Dunes localized social bulletin platform City, Florentine Estates, Glenada, seeking to change this by connect- Heceta Beach, Mercer Lake, Mun- ing people within a small area to sel Lake, Sutton by the Sea, The facilitate discussion and connec- Reserve Heceta Lake and Woahink tion. Lake. The geographical locations list- Many users, especially during ed are generally small to ensure the periods of isolation brought on that all posts are relevant to the by the COVID-19 pandemic, have users. While there is a location taken to the platform to connect with their neighbors, get recom- mendations for dock builders or handymen, report local wildlife sightings, or simply revel in the local natural beauty with daily photos. Aside from being an informa- tive tool to stay updated locally, many users prefer its social as- pect and use it to form friend- ships with others in the area. When a user creates a new Nextdoor account, they are first prompted to introduce themselves, an opportunity which many take to give a brief outline of their location, hobbies and interests, prompting responses from people with shared traits who often propose meeting in person for social gatherings. See SOCIAL page 6A Florence proclaims awareness month, approves agenda Siuslaw takes first at XC Classic INSIDE — B RECORDS Obituaries & emergency response logs Inside — A2 SIDE SHOW Activities and comics every Saturday Inside — B4 CLASSIFIEDS Listings and public notices Inside — B5 FOLLOW US FOR THE LATEST NEWS : /S IUSLAW N EWS @S IUSLAW N EWS T HE S IUSLAW N EWS . COM Community College. “We had several firefighters who went through the program with her, so they worked really closely with her,” he said. Many of the instructors in the course were Western Lane Ambu- lance paramedics. “This program has been great for us to have the instructors over there so we can offer positions to the best and brightest,” Schick said. “Sarah certainly filled that role. Our instructors knew her really well and, as soon as she completed her See SARAH page 6A Connect with neighbors ‘Nextdoor’ Recognize Preparedness Platform promotes community through location-based chats Month by focusing on emotional health needs from disasters By Ferris Haukom Siuslaw News Intern Information on vaccine boosters INSIDE — A3 Preparing for Uncertainty How much should you stockpile in an emergency? FIND OUT HOW TO BE PREPARED — INSIDE Siuslaw News NEWS & VIEWS THAT DEFINE OUR COMMUNITY peacehealth.org/Florence After the Storm Why hire a disaster restoration service View this section online @thesiuslawnews.com EmergencyPreparedness Siuslaw News Your community partner. Siuslaw News By Mark Brennan Siuslaw News The Sept. 20 Florence City Council meeting was held virtually, with all council members in atten- dance and a brief agenda of items to consider. The meeting was brought to or- der by Mayor Joe Henry, who then read into the record a proclamation recognizing October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Siuslaw Outreach Services (SOS) Director Bob Teter was on hand to accept the virtual proclamation and he spoke briefly outlining the problem and updating councilors on the situation in the Florence area. “It is not a happy thing to declare October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month, but it is a huge problem in our community. Add- ing the stresses of the pandemic has created the perfect storm; our numbers for domestic violence have increased over 65 percent in the last year and some of our other stats have doubled,” Teter reported. This includes the number of sex- ual assaults and human trafficking. “People are on the edge. Domes- tic violence is all about control and it happens when someone feels that their life is out of control,” he con- tinued. Locally, 477 individuals sought assistance related to domestic vio- lence from SOS in the past year. Teter also provided information showing that while SOS contin- ues to operate, other social service agencies have stopped offering as- sistance to some due to COVID and resulting staff shortages. “A lot of agencies are stressed to the point of burnout and most domestic violence agencies have shut down their shelter programs because of concerns over the pan- demic. We have not,” he stated. “In fact, our referrals that we receive from other agencies have increased over 200 percent because a lot of agencies do not have the capaci- ty to handle domestic violence in their area in a large part due to lack of staffing.” See COUNCIL page 8A PORTLAND—Oregon Health Authority (OHA) joins the nation- al observation of Preparedness Month during September, with special emphasis on emotional health resources for communities, and building social connections as public health emergencies like the COVID-19 pandemic and wildfires continue. Like many of its emergency management partners, OHA en- courages people in Oregon to start or continue their journey toward being prepared for emergencies. OHA’s emphasis is on helping people prepare for their health needs during and after a disaster, including reminding people to review their plans and kits to make sure they address their household’s health and medical needs. OHA recommends: • Families with infants consider essential items like diapers, special items or food. • People who rely on regular medical care like dialysis discuss their facilities’ emergency plans. • People who use medical de- vices plan to take them as part of their evacuation kit and know how to replace them if the devices are lost during a disaster. • People learn about other ways to prepare for health needs during a disaster at HealthOregon.org/ preparedness. See PREPARE page 7A Debate precedes November vote on Western Lane Ambulance levy By Mark Brennan Siuslaw News S IUSLAW N EWS 2 S ECTIONS | 18 P AGES C OPYRIGHT 2021 The Western Lane Ambulance District (WLAD) Board of Direc- tors has placed a levy request on the November 2021 ballot. The di- rectors are asking voters to approve a new tax on local property owners to continue funding for the publicly funded organization, which would replace an existing levy which ex- pires at the end of the year. WLAD and Siuslaw Valley Fire and Rescue (SVFR) have shared administrative costs since 2019 and the levy request from WLAD was first approved by the WLAD Board of Directors. It was then approved by select directors from both boards who serve on the di- recting board of Western Lane Fire and EMS Authority (WLFEA). As it gets closer to autumn and the November vote, there has been some public confusion on the need for the levy and what the monies, if approved, would be funding. FOLLOW THE CHARM TRAIL through Oregon’s Coastal Playground and make a personalized keepsake for friends and family. Organized by the Siuslaw News fl orencecharmtrail.com • @FlorenceCharmTrail According to Fire and EMS Chief Michael Schick, the levy is needed to maintain the WLAD’s current level of service and to adequately handle the ever-increasing number of calls answered by local EMTs. “The WLAD Local Option Levy, first approved by our voters at this level in 2012, represents a little over 25 percent of our total annual reve- nue. Renewing this levy is critical in allowing us to maintain the emer- gency service levels our citizens and visitors expect and deserve,” Schick said. “Calls for service have increased by 54 percent since 2012, and we have added three additional paramedics to help us handle the increase in call volume with no change in the levy rate. The levy, at this same rate, has been approved twice before by our voters, in 2012 and 2016.” There has been a reluctance by some members of the public, and among some previous members of the WLAD board, to endorse the See LEVY page 7A