SERVING WESTERN LANE COUNTY SINCE 1890

THESIUSLAWNEWS.COM ❘ /SIUSLAWNEWS ❘ @THESIUSLAWNEWS

Births . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A2

Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B7

Courts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A2

Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A4

Religion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A5

SideShow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B6

Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B

Word on the Street . . . . . . . . A8

CY

AN

M

AG

EN

TA

Y

EL

LO

W

BL

AC

K

SIUSLAW NEWS

125TH YEAR ❘ ISSUE NO. 57

COPYRIGHT 2015

SATURDAY EDITION ❘ JULY 18, 2015 ❘ $1.00

EQUESTRIANS ROPEHIGH MARKS

SPORTS — B

Summer Shindig

supports garden

INSIDE — A3

INSID

E TODAYTHIS WEEK’SWEATHER

Full Forecast, A3 81 58

SUNDAY

71 56

MONDAY

71 56

TUESDAY

70 57

FLORENCE, OREGON

During Wednesday night’s regular

session of the Siuslaw Valley Fire and

Rescue (SVFR) board of directors,

new members were sworn in — but the

chief was voted out.

According to board member and for-

mer board president John Scott, the

main item on the agenda had been the

first meeting with the full new board:

current boardmembers Scott and Lori

Gates and new members John

Carnahan, Tony Phillips and Woody

Woodbury.

Once the new board swore in, new

officers were elected, with Carnahan

voted as the new board president.

“I handed him the gavel,” Scott said,

“and he pulled out a piece of paper and

read a very brief statement saying that

they were going to summarily dismiss

Jim Langborg, the chief.”

The board then went into executive

session. Carnahan made a motion to

dismiss Langborg, but didn’t get a sec-

ond.

Scott said, “Then I offered a solu-

tion. I said I didn’t understand where

all this was coming from. We’ve given

Jim no guidance that there was any dis-

satisfaction whatsoever with his lead-

ership or anything, so I advised giving

him at least six months as a probation-

ary period — give him some guidance,

see if it’s all taken care of and go from

there. They didn’t approve that either.”

While Scott’s motion did get a sec-

ond, it failed to get a majority vote.

One last measure, presented by

Gates, received a second, and ultimate-

ly, the vote.

Langborg’s employment was termi-

nated with a 3-2 vote. Scott and

Woodbury were the dissenting votes.

“It wasn’t really a kind termination,”

Scott said. “I questioned them as what

prompted this, and Carnahan just basi-

cally said they want the department to

go in a different direction.”

According to Carnahan, this deci-

sion had grounds.

“What happened between (the elec-

tion in) May and last night was that I

did research,” Carnahan said on

Thursday. “I talked to people. One of

the big things is that none of the

incumbents were re-elected. ... That

told me loud and clear that the public

did not like the direction that the board

was going or the fire department.”

He also included the decreased num-

ber of volunteers as a sign of the pub-

lic’s unhappiness with Langborg.

FIRE BOARD DISMISSES CHIEF LANGBORG

BY CHANTELLE MEYER

Siuslaw News

Former chief John Buchanan will assume

interim position beginning Monday

Jim Langborg John Buchanan

See BOARD 9A

Carrying the torch

The U.S. Coast Guard Station Siuslaw

River (USCG) took part Thursday

morning in the Special Olympics Law

Enforcement Torch Run, with support

from its local law

enforcement partners.

Torch runners

included USCG

Officer In Charge

Senior Chief Timothy

Tregoning and his

crew, listed below. The

run was escorted by a

Coos Lower Umpqua

and Siuslaw Indians

patrol car, Siuslaw

Valley Fire and Rescue

representatives,

Oregon State Police

and the Florence

Police Department.

The torch has been carried up the Oregon coast

by Coast Guard men and women and law

enforcement officers from local coastal towns.

The Florence run began south of the Siuslaw

River Bridge and continued north through town

on Highway 101 to the Fred Meyer parking lot.

The torch will continue its way up the coast,

passing off to the next Coast Guard team in

Newport.

Participants from the USCG Station Siuslaw

River were: BM1 Daniel Nielsen, BM1 Allen

Veach, FS1 Christopher Ricketts, SK2 Angela

Martin, MK2 Manny Mercado, BM3 Sydnee

Sansone, DC3 Cody

Wagner, MK3

Matthew Schmader,

BM3 Joshua Broman,

SN Kelsey Eldridge,

SN Christian Johnson

and SA Brandon Ortiz.

Ruger and Piper,

two USCG station

dogs, also joined the

run.

“We had such a

great turnout,” Nielsen

said. “Thank you to the

community for sup-

porting our run.”

COURTESY PHOTOS

STAFF REPORT

Siuslaw News

U.S. Coast Guard Station Siuslaw River joins fellow agencies for Torch Run

Crew members from U.S. Coast Guard Station Siuslaw River gather Thursday for the Special Olympics Law Enforcement Torch Run.

RUNNING FOR A GOOD CAUSE

Florence Planning Commission

approved two theater remodels at its

session on Tuesday, July 14.

David and Rosemary Lauria pur-

chased property at 509 Kingwood St.

from the Christian Science Society

and plan to extend the building’s use

to include a theater.

Besides hosting religious meet-

ings, the building will also be the

home of the new Class Act Theater.

Inside the current building, an

auditorium space holds 60 theater-

style seats. The Laurias will begin

renovations to add a 460-square foot

addition with a larger lobby, more

restrooms and storage space.

Theater in

Florence a

‘class act’

BY CHANTELLE MEYER

Siuslaw News

Building remodels

for two new theaters

earn city approval

Newly appointed commissioner

Mike Buckwald took the oath of

office from president Ron Caputo

during the Port of Siuslaw July 15

board meeting. Buckwald was cho-

sen over six other applicants to fill

the rest of the position No. 3 term of

Jay Cable, who resigned May 26.

“I don’t have an opinion. I don’t

have an agenda,” Buckwald said. “I

would like to see the port continue to

provide the outstanding services it

does and work on economic develop-

ment.”

New port

commissioner

sworn in

BY JACK DAVIS

Siuslaw News

Update to last week’s

marina diesel fuel spill

also discussed

See PORT 8A

See THEATER 8A