CYA

N

MA

GE

NTA

Y

EL

LO

W

BL

AC

K

1 2 5 T H Y E A R • I S S U E N O . 2 3 M A R C H 2 1 • 2 0 1 5 $ 1 . 0 0

SATURDAYSERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF FLORENCE • DUNES CITY • WESTLAKE • MAPLETON • SWISSHOME • DEADWOOD • YACHATS AND ALL POINTS BETWEEN

SPORTS — BI N S I D E

SATURDAY

Angling B1Births A6Classifieds B5Community A5Courts A6

In Brief A8Obituaries A6Opinion A4SideShow B4Sports B

Y o u r W e a t h e rTODAY SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY

MostlyCloudy

5646

Rain

5345

Rain

5545

Rain

5745

WWW.THESIUSLAWNEWS.COM

COUPONS INSIDEwww.shoppelocal.biz

L ast Resort Playersraises the curtain on“Our Town” thisweekend at the

Florence Events Center, but for this production, it will bean imaginary curtain.

When Thornton Wilder wrote “Our Town” inthe late 1930s, American audiences expected tosee a theater production behind a proscenium archand through what is called the “fourth wall.”Wilder used the role of the Stage Manager tocompletely break this realistic illusion.

On stage most of the time and speaking directlyto the audience, the Stage Manager goes farbeyond audience expectation. The role includes

narrator, philosopher, stage manager and occa-sionally another acting assignment. The patriar-chal figure makes sense of the daily living, loveand marriage and the reality we face “when ourfit” is over on this earth.

“Now, we can get on with the wedding,” theStage Manager says, removing an apron and don-ning a clerical collar, immediately switching fromthe drugstore owner, Mr. Morgan, to the ministerwho conducts the wedding. In Act III, the StageManager philosophizes on death and the eternalaspects of humankind while helping Emily makethe transition from the world of the living to amore eternal state.

Originally written at a time when all stage man-agers were male, in recent years women havebeen more and more often cast in the role.

Lane County Sheriff Tom Turnerwas offered the position of Florencepolice chief this week, under the con-ditions of a successful backgroundcheck and contract negotiations.

Turner, 54, would takeover the Florence dutiesMay 1 from interim ChiefLynn Lamm, if the condi-tions are accepted. LaneCounty would then need tohire a temporary sheriffuntil the May 2016 election,in which voters will decideon a replacement.

Finding a new policechief was one of the Florence CityCouncil’s main goals this year.

“We upped the criteria,posted it and started accept-ing applications,” CityManager Erin Reynolds saidof the hiring process. “Wedid our first review onMarch 6. We had 12 applica-tions.”

Only two applicantsmatched what the city want-ed.

“We were looking for a lawenforcement perspective, a good,

strong career and heavy experience asa top-level something, whether that bea chief, sheriff, possibly a lieutenant ora captain, but someone who had expe-rience at that level of leadership.That’s not always easy to come by,”Reynolds said.

She said Turner’s experience placedhim above the other applicant.

“Far and beyond Tom had thatexperience (we were looking for), andnot only that, he had that local thing.And that was the other piece we were

really looking for, is that local connec-tion,” she said.

Turner said, “One of the things thatwas so fantastic about the opportunityis that’s where I wanted to go. That’swhere I wanted to go back ever since Ileft.”

He began his law enforcementcareer as a resident deputy for theLane County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO)in Florence in 1982.

BY CHANTELLE MEYER

Siuslaw News

Sheriff TomTurner

If accepted, Turnerwould begin Florence

duties May 1

City offers Sheriff Turner police chief position

BY JENNIFER CONNOR

Special to Siuslaw News

One item on the Port of Siuslaw’scommission agenda for the March 18meeting was a resolution to revise ratesand fees. The proposed increasescaused concern among the port’sDecember Members.

Beginning Dec. 1, 2013, the Port ofSiuslaw granted special advance reser-vation privileges to a group of RVcampers designated the DecemberMembers. In order to receive the spe-cial advanced reservation benefit,guests had to have stayed at the port’sRV park for a period of at least onemonth for three consecutive years.

Typically, December Member guestshave both RVs in the park and boatsmoored at the port’s dock facilities.

During the meeting, DecemberMember Janine Strain said that underthe proposed new rate structure, herboat moorage fee would increase from$176 per month to $337 per month.

According to port staff, the logicbehind the increase was that the dailymoorage rate was multiplied by four toachieve the weekly rate, while the dailycampground rate was multiplied by sixto determine the weekly rate. The goalwas to have the campground and moor-age weekly and monthly rates based onthe same equations.

Strain told commissioners that shehad called and received prices fromSalmon Harbor RV Park in WinchesterBay on moorage rates. She said theywere, “much less.”

Board president Ron Caputo suggest-ed tabling the issue until next month sofurther study could be done.

Commissioner Bill Fleenor said, “Ithink we need to put some specifics in,requesting staff to come back withsome comparative rates and some inter-nal justifications for how we are struc-turing the rates. Then we can have abetter discussion as to whether theserates are appropriate or not.”

Manager Bob Forsythe offered tosend the information electronically tocommissioners so they would have timeto review it before the next meeting.

The motion to postpone rate increasediscussions until April was approved.

Port rateincreasesencounterpushback

BY JACK DAVIS

Siuslaw News

December Members voice concerns over proposed new costs

THIS IS

‘OUR TOWN’

PHOTOS BY CHRIS GRAAMANS

LAST RESORT PLAYERS REVIVE CLASSIC PLAY THIS WEEKENDAnnie Schmidt as the “Stage Manager” narrates while Lyndsey Keppol as “Emily Webb” and Jesse Reeves as “George Gibbs” marry.

Members of the ProtectFlorence Aquifer citizensgroup spoke about theimpact of herbicides onaquifers during FlorenceCity Council’s March 16meeting.

Shauna Boyd, who haslived in the Florence area

since 2001, led the presenta-tion during the public com-ment period.

“I represent a large groupin Florence of concerned cit-izens. ... As we’ve doneresearch, we’ve come to findthat this could affect theentire community’s watersource. It’s taken on a wholenew urgency,” she said.

Protect Florence Aquifer

represents residents fromFlorence and the surround-ing areas who are concernedwith the spraying of herbi-cides near residences,wildlife and, especially,water sources.

“This could affect morethan just the north lakesarea,” Boyd said.

The area in contention is80 acres owned by Howard

and Lisa Charnock in thehills above Clear and Collardlakes. The Charnockssprayed their property withherbicides to prevent growthof Scotch broom, salmonber-ry and blackberry plants.

These invasive speciesthrive on logged land with-out prevention techniques.

The Charnocks chose tospray glysophate aerially in

2014. This year, they will usea backpack crew to manuallyspray triclopyr.

While the Charnocks actwithin their rights as proper-ty owners, the concerned cit-izens question spraying her-bicides so near to areastreams that are part of thebroader Siuslaw watershed.

Group forms to address herbicide use near Florence aquiferBY CHANTELLE MEYER

Siuslaw News

See TOWN 9A

See CHIEF 9A

See SPRAY 9ASee PORT 8A