12 February 2013
Superintendent Search Narrows
Three candidates have risen to the top in the search for a new superintendent at Siuslaw schools. One of those has already had a second interview, the other two will meet with the entire School Board again next week.
Board chair Paul Burns said the board believes that any of the three would be a good fit and do the job well.
Susan Follmer is originally from the Seattle area and is currently a superintendent of a school in Venezuela. She was interviewed yesterday morning before returning to South America. Burns said Follmer was also a finalist for the Siuslaw job four years ago when current superintendent Jeff Davis was hired.
Curtis Scholl has ties to Siuslaw as a former teacher. He’s currently the principal at Sprague High School in Marion County. Shawn Wincek (WINE-seck) is a former school administrator in Montana and currently lives in Springfield. Both Wincek and Scholl will have their second interviews Monday.
Burns said the board is still on schedule for having a finalist indentified and committed by February 27th. Davis will be retiring June 30th.
Street Projects
Have you grown weary of the public works project in Old Town that has had 2nd street and several side streets completely torn up for the past several months? Believe it or not, the new water and sewer lines are in place and crews will work on repaving in the near future. While that is still winding down, another will begin on it’s heels. Florence Public Works Director Mike Miller says it’s actually the final phase of a three part project to improve the water supply to Old Town. Under ground it will be similar to the other two phases, but on the surface it won’t have as much of an impact.
Mike Miller – “Now this project is a little bit different. We’re only going to actually trench for the water main. So it’s water line replacement and services so there will be some cuts across the street, but it will not be totally torn up.”
Work will mean disruption to businesses along Bay Street. But the contractor will only be working Monday through Thursday; and they’ll take a break in March during Spring Vacation. Miller says the work is scheduled to be done in May.
Making the Cover
The cover of the locally produced Central Oregon Coast Telephone Book has featured the work of local photographers and artists since it was first published in 1991. The current cover features the work of Melani Johnson and a colorful photograph of the Pacific Rose, a commercial crab boat based in Florence. The 2013-14 cover will feature an original painting and publisher Robert Serra is inviting artists to submit work for consideration.
The subject matter will be left to the artist, and the only composition requirement is that the image be vertical… so it will fit on the book’s cover. Serra says entries must be original work and can be submitted through May 31st. In exchange for non-exclusive rights to use and publish the art on the cover of the book, the artist will have their work appear on 20-thousand copies of the phone book that is delivered in a 70-mile coastal corridor from Winchester Bay to Waldport and inland to Swisshome and Deadwood.
