Election Results
Brian Lacouture and Diana Pimlott will retain their seats on the Siuslaw School Board and Tamara Cole and Josh Haberly will be the newcomers. Election results are calculated, and Cole will replace Bob Sneddon with 52.4% of the vote. Haberly will replace Frank Armendariz with 61% of the vote. Just over 4800 votes were cast for the special district election. Mapleton School District had 3 seats available, all were uncontested. Maree Beers, Michele Holman and Abbie Kimble will serve in those three seats. Mapleton Fire Board had 4 positions open, only one was contested. Glenna Butler received 59 votes and Heather Flansberg received 57. Siuslaw Valley Fire and Rescue board had three seats. James Palisi, David Carillo and Keith Stanton will fill those seats. Mapleton Water District had 4 seats available. Vanessa West, Julie Doran-Lee, and Sharon Kelly will fill three seats. Position 2 on the board has Nancy Petibon with a one vote advantage over Arthur Donnelly. The Siuslaw Public Library board had two open seats. Jane Yecny and Donna Oshel will occupy those.. Dale Edwards and Craig Zolezzi will serve as port commissioners and Cindy Russell and Linda Stent will serve on the Western Lane Ambulance district board. The Lane County Jail Levy passed with a 79 % approval.
Oregon Dunes Ready for Heavy Traffic
The Oregon Dunes will be buzzing this weekend as the U.S. Forest Service gears up for summer. The Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area will have its first big rally this weekend with the Northwest Raptor Rally. Heavy traffic is expected around the Hauser are through Sunday. Central Coast Deputy District Director, Jeremy Aujero says this year there will be a greater emphasis on controlling noise levels as they hope to lessen the impact to adjacent landowners, other recreationists and sensitive wildlife. Dune Fest this year will be August 8-13.
Grants to Assist Transportation
Funding grants are being fulfilled to improve transit around the state. Here in Florence the Rhody Express Bus shelter receives $60,000 to replace it. The Eugene to Florence connector will receive almost one million dollars with two grants and the Florence to Yachats connector will receive over a half million dollars. It is all part of a 28 million dollar boost to transit around the state to support service, provide charging stations and to purchase new vehicles.
Future First Citizen
The organizers of the Marteen Wick Future First Citizen scholarship have made the announcement on their decision for this year’s Future First Citizen. The recipient of the $2,500.00 scholarship will be Siuslaw Viking senior Ian Sissel. Sissel holds a 4.0 GPA at Siuslaw High School and is active in the High School’s interact club and has been a camp counselor. Sissel is currently involved in Siuslaw High School baseball and played football and wrestled for the school. The other three nominees were Jacob Blankenship, Gillian Norton and Alex Goss.
