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THESIUSLAWNEWS.COM | SATURDAY EDITION | NOVEMBER 27, 2021 | $1.00
CYBER MONDAY
FLORENCE CENTER STAGE
December 2021
Is November 29th
Holiday Events
in the Florence area
50% OFF
Florence Holiday Festival &
Historic Old Town Tree Lighting
Empty Bowls — 25th anniversary
CROW Ho Ho Holiday
Windows & Radio Show
local gift certifi cates.
Santa Paws
Look for details on the
Siuslaw News 3rd annual HALF PRICE
Cyber Monday Gift Cards
on 7A of today’s paper.
FRAA Holiday Arts Festival
Plus Gallery Shows all over town!
Featuring the Florence Events Center — A publication of the Siuslaw News
Siuslaw News
Siuslaw News
NEWS &
VIEWS THAT
DEFINE OUR
COMMUNITY
VOL. 131, NO. 95
N OV . 27, 2021
F LORENCE , O REGON
WEATHER
Rain showers with a
high of 58 and a low
of 51.
Full forecast on A3
Mapleton
schools address
sports, water
situation
Fall Foliage
People from all over are taking advantage of
the Thanksgiving holiday weekend and
relaxed COVID-19 mask mandates to visit
loved ones. By trekking “over the river
and through the woods,” travelers
can see some of autumn’s finest
foliage in the Siuslaw Region.
By Zac Burtt
Siuslaw News
The Mapleton School
Board met in an online ses-
sion on Nov. 17. A live link
was available for the public
to view the meeting via You-
Tube as it was happening.
In attendance were Ma-
pleton High School Princi-
pal Brenda Moyer, district
IT specialist Jeron Ricks and
board members Michelle
See MAPLETON page 6A
CHANTELLE MEYER/SIUSLAW NEWS
‘Rebuilding the backbone of America’
Local impacts of Infrastructure Act, RAISE & Build Back Better
CROW-Ho-Ho with
window display
INSIDE — A3
LIFESTYLE
Siuslaw faces South
Umpqua at state
INSIDE — B
The passage by the U.S.
House of Representatives
of the “Build Back Better”
(BBB) Act on Nov. 18 is
another step in a process
which will potentially pro-
vide substantial funds for
many Oregon cities for im-
provements in their com-
munities.
Earlier in November,
Congress passed the In-
frastructure
Investment
and Jobs Act (IIJA), which
authorized $1.2 trillion
specifically targeted to
traditional infrastructure
improvements like bridg-
es and roads. There are
also important projects
which will receive fund-
ing through the recently
reauthorized Rebuilding
American Infrastructure
with Sustainability and Eq-
uity (RAISE) discretionary
grants program.
Between the two piec-
es of legislation already
passed and the pending
BBB, millions of dollars
will make their way to mu-
nicipalities and businesses
across Oregon in the next
decade.
On Friday, U.S. senators
Ron Wyden and Jeff Merk-
ley and U.S. representatives
Peter DeFazio and Suzanne
Bonamici announced that
Lane and Washington
Counties have earned more
than $31 million from the
U.S. Department of Trans-
portation through RAISE
Grants for road, rail and
transist improvements in
RECORDS
Activities and
comics every
Saturday
Inside — B5
FOLLOW US FOR THE
LATEST NEWS :
/S IUSLAW N EWS
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Oregon.
“I am gratified these two
counties have earned such
large grants that will take
a big shovel to the infra-
structure backlog facing
our state,” Wyden said. “I
am pleased we can put Or-
egonians to work in their
communities to build a
more resilient and stronger
state, and will keep work-
ing for similar investments
throughout Oregon.”
While the BBB legislation
still has to receive U.S. Sen-
ate approval, the prospects
for passage seem good and
President Joe Biden touted
the benefits of the bill in a
statement released last Fri-
day.
“The BBB Act is fiscally
responsible. It reduces the
deficit over the long-term.
It’s fully paid for by mak-
ing sure that the wealthiest
Americans and biggest cor-
porations begin to pay their
fair share in federal taxes. It
keeps my commitment that
no one earning less than
$400,000 a year will pay a
penny more in federal tax-
es,” Biden said. “Leading
economists and indepen-
dent experts on Wall Street
have confirmed that it will
not add to inflationary
pressures. Instead, it will
boost the capacity of our
economy and reduce costs
for millions of families.
Above all, it puts us on the
path to build our economy
back better than before by
rebuilding the backbone of
America: working people
and the middle class.”
See ACTS page 6A
On Nov. 23, the Oregon
Department of Education
(ODE) and Oregon Health
Authority (OHA) announced
that state health officials will
lift COVID-19 outdoor mask
requirements for large pub-
lic gatherings. In addition,
state education officials an-
nounced that an adequate and
stable COVID-19 test kit sup-
ply has been acquired for all
public and private schools in
the state to be able to imple-
ment “test to stay” protocols.
“Right now, this is not a
huge impact on school oper-
ations,” said Siuslaw School
District Superintendent Andy
Grzeskowiak. “Outdoor re-
cess, mainly at the elementary
school, is treated as a ‘mask
break’ when students can
maintain some physical dis-
tance. The bigger impact will
be for middle and high school
physical education classes
when they go outside for ac-
tivities.”
OHA health officials have
now lifted the requirement
for outdoor mask wearing in
crowded settings. The rule
was implemented in August
at the onset of Oregon’s most
recent surge of COVID-19.
See COVID page 5A
Marines, local partners bring toys to
families with kids up to age 14 on Dec. 4
SIDE SHOW
Listings and public
notices
Inside — B6
Schools get new
tool for testing
for COVID
Toys for Tots to come to town
Obituaries &
emergency
response logs
Inside — A2
CLASSIFIEDS
Oregon Health
Authority lifts
outdoor mask
requirement
By Chantelle Meyer
Siuslaw News
COMMUNITY
By Mark Brennan
Siuslaw News
INSIDE!
By Mark Brennan
Siuslaw News
S IUSLAW N EWS
2 S ECTIONS | 16 P AGES
C OPYRIGHT 2021
One of the longest-run-
ning efforts to ensure all
youngsters have a happy hol-
iday season is the Marine’s
Toys for Tots campaign. The
program began in 1947 to
help families of returning
World War II veterans and
quickly became a national
effort to gather, wrap and
SIUSLAW NEWS FILE PHOTOS
2020 saw a socially distanced and masked Toys for distribute toys to families un-
Tots at Siuslaw Valley Fire & Rescue. A similar for- able to provide them due to
mat will be used this year on Saturday, Dec. 4, as the limited financial resources.
Presently, the Marine
Marine Corps brings toys to local families.
Corps’ Toys for Tots Cam-
paign distributes, on average,
more than 18 million toys a
year.
In Florence, the Toys for
Tots campaign is overseen
and staffed by first respond-
ers from Siuslaw Valley Fire
and Rescue, the Florence
Police Department, Western
Lane Ambulance District
and U.S. Coast Guard Station
Siuslaw River.
On Saturday, Dec. 4, from
11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Siuslaw
Valley Fire will host the Ma-
rines’ Toys for Tots at the
Main Station, 2625 Highway
101 in Florence.
This will be the fifth year
the fire department is host-
ing the event.
“This maybe the big-
gest event yet, as there will
be up to 20 Marines com-
ing out to give toys away,”
said local coordinator Pete
Warren, a longtime em-
ployee and volunteer of
Siuslaw Valley Fire and Res-
cue.
Members of the Marine
Corps stationed in Eugene,
and other locations in Ore-
gon, have joined Florence’s
emergency responders in
past years to assist with the
distribution of the toys to
area families and will once
again be here to participate
in the popular, free event.
“Marines, Coast Guard
members, Florence PD and
your local firefighters will be
giving away toys for infant
children up to 14 years old,”
Warren said. “Come cele-
brate the holidays at your lo-
cal fire department.”
People can go online
to
eugene-or.toysfortots.
org and “Apply for Toys”
or “Donate Local” at this
site. The link is also posted
on the Siuslaw Valley Fire
and Rescue Facebook page.
This link will go over the
proper paperwork needed to
qualify toys for infants to 14
years of age.
See TOYS page 5A
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