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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 4, 2021)
SN THESIUSLAWNEWS.COM | SATURDAY EDITION | DECEMBER 4, 2021 | $1.00 LANE REGISTER AT CE.LANECC.EDU OR CALL 541.997.8444 FOR ASSISTANCE FLORENCE CENTER C ONTINUING E D U C AT I O N HOLIDAY EVENTS WINTER 2022 REGISTRATION OPENS DEC 7 ONSITE CLASSES START JAN 3 Siuslaw News Siuslaw News NEWS & VIEWS THAT DEFINE OUR COMMUNITY VOL. 131, NO. 97 D EC . 4, 2021 F LORENCE , O REGON WEATHER Clouds and rain with a high of 53 and a low of 47. Full forecast on A3 COMMUNITY Fill your cupboards with Empty Bowls INSIDE — A3 SPORTS Military Heritage Chronicles A s we celebrate the 80th an- niversary of that “day of in- famy” of Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, most folks are at least vaguely familiar with the event and even some of the back story. People may know about the surprise attack by the Japanese while they were pretending to be negotiating; the failed or blotched intelligence interpretations; the tragic destruction of naval vessels and loss of life; and the amazing rebuilding and response from the Pacific Fleet. Hollywood films and even doc- umentaries often cover all of those elements in detail, but also often only pay cursory attention to the event from the air war point of view. I myself have always struggled with geography over the years, and even while I visited the USS Arizo- na Memorial in my one and only trip to Hawaii back in the 1980s, I didn’t comprehend the geographic size of the attack. I thought every- thing happened right there in the Staff shortages shutter services Chop your own Christmas Tree INSIDE — B RECORDS By Mark Brennan Siuslaw News SIDE SHOW Activities and comics every Saturday Inside — B5 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 Pearl Harbor – an Aerial View By Cal Applebee Military and Vehicle Historian Special to Siuslaw News Rite-Aid temporarily closes pharmacy; Shangri-La gives residences notice Obituaries & emergency response logs Inside — A2 INSIDE — A8 S IUSLAW N EWS 2 S ECTIONS | 16 P AGES C OPYRIGHT 2021 Staffing shortages contin- ue to negatively impact local businesses, with the latest casualties being the phar- macy at Rite-Aid and the social service organization Shangri-La. The pharmacy at Rite-Aid on Highway 101 has been without an on-site pharmacist for more than two weeks and has been unable to fill prescriptions during that time. Rite-Aid is currently searching for a full-time pharmacy staff. As of press time Friday, Rite-Aid’s cor- porate office has not re- sponded to requests for information regarding the closure or steps being taken to provide this needed ser- vice to the Florence area. The situation at Shan- gri-La is much different, as the staff shortages have forced what is likely to be a permanent closure of the or- ganization’s location on First Street in Florence. See STAFFING page 5A OFFICIAL U.S. NAVY PHOTOGRAPH Photograph taken from a Japanese plane during the torpedo attack on ships moored on both sides of Ford Island shortly after the beginning of the Pearl Harbor attack shows this view towards the east. A torpedo has just hit USS West Virginia on the far side of Ford Island (center). immediate vicinity of Pearl Har- bor itself — wrong! In addition to the naval base itself, there were six different military aviation sites scattered around the Island of Oahu. At that time, all of the USAAF op- erations in the Pacific were under the umbrella of the Hawaiian Air Force, and for the Navy, air oper- ations were under the jurisdiction of the Pacific Fleet. Four different US Army Air Force bases and two Naval Air Stations were affected; however, only five were actually attacked. See HARBOR page 6A Florence considers housing, property taxes in special session Lack of unanimous vote prevents further action on MUPTE Program By Mark Brennan Siuslaw News The Florence City Council met virtually for a special meeting on Nov. 29 to consider a resolution and an ordinance related to proposed amendments to Florence City Code Title 1. The measures under consid- eration, Ordinance No. 22, Series 2021, and Resolution No. 39, Series 2021, would establish a Multi-Unit Property Tax Exemption (MUPTE) Program, which has been written to positively impact local housing de- velopment and construction. All councilors were in attendance as the meeting began, with Mayor Joe Henry congratulating the Siuslaw High School football team. “What an awesome weekend and final game of the season for our Siu- slaw Vikings. Not just the football team, but we had some other teams that also did really well. I would like to issue a proclamation at our next meeting to recognize these teams,” Henry said. “I think we need to recognize our administrators, our teachers, our coaches and especial- ly our students for just an awesome performance this year.” Henry then encouraged other councilors to send any comments or thoughts for inclusion regarding the proclamation to staff. See FLORENCE page 7A Thanksgiving Day stabbing suspect is captured On the morning of Dec. 3, the Florence Police Depart- ment received a tip from a citizen that a person of in- terest in a recent crime, Rob- ert Gavin Bowers, had been spotted at a storage facility in the 3300 block of High- way 101. Officers quickly re- sponded and located him. Bowers was detained and transferred to the custody of the Lane County Sheriff ’s Of- fice without incident. See SUSPECT page 5A Dunes City to reconsider lighting, computer changes By Mark Brennan Siuslaw News The Dunes City Council met for a special session on Nov. 17 with a number of issues pending council input, including an extended discus- sion related to an appeal of a fine as- sessed to a contractor working on a home within city limits. The council met in person, with councilors Tom Mallon and Susan Snow excused. Councilors Rory Hammond and Robert Orr were masked while councilors Duke Wells and Sheldon Meyer and Mayor Rob- ert Forsythe were unmasked. The meeting began with a re- cap of an unusual situation where a contractor, Joe Ellis, is working on a project on Collins Loop which has garnered criticism. A neighbor of the property has lodged official and unofficial complaints with the city regarding the parking of recreational vehicles on the property. According to City Administrator Jamie Mill’s review of the situation, there are circumstances under which an individual may legally reside on property being worked on, if there is an active building permit issued for construction on the residence. That was the case when Ellis be- gan working on the property in 2020. However, the neighbor has lodged a number of complaints stat- ing there are RVs and abandoned vehicles at the location, which are unsightly and should be removed. The neighbor also expressed con- cern about illegal dumping and un- lawful storage of vehicles. Mill’s report was followed by a statement and explanation of the circumstances surrounding the con- struction on the property by Ellis. The contractor filed an appeal with Dunes City, seeking to overturn the city’s judgement of $400 levied against him. Ellis is a part owner of the prop- erty in question. He recapped the steps he has taken to address the concerns of the complainant, which include removing a derelict vehicle and the circumstances which result- ed in more than one RV parked on the property. He also discussed the unclear na- ture of the ordinances applying to short-term residential status related to new or ongoing construction. Debate following Ellis’s presenta- tion was brief but direct. See DUNES page 5A Find Your Perfect RV Rental! RVshare connects millions of renters to the perfect RV rental and provides a safe, secure booking experience. Start Planning the Road Trip of a Lifetime rentrvusa.com/siuslaw
