The Umpqua Post
Weekly news from the Heart of the Dunes AN EDITION OF
Wednesday, April 16 2014 | Serving the Reedsport area since 1996 | theworldlink.com/reedsport | $1.00
Search begins for Thomas’ replacement BY STEVE LINDSLEY The Umpqua Post
The Reedsport School Board voted to begin the search for a new, part-time superintendent and a fulltime Highland Elementary principal at a special board meeting Tuesday, April 8. The executive search will be aided by Michael Lasher with Northwest Leadership Associates. Lasher and Greg McKenzie of Window to Leadership LLC, made presentations to the board. The need for the replacements came after superintendent Jim Thomas submitted his resignation, effecBy Steve Lindsley, The Umpqua Post tive on June 30. Superintendent Jim Thomas listens as Michael Lasher and Greg McKenzie Board member Kathy Browning, at one time, asked make presentations about assisting in an executive search to the Reedsport if the board would offer Thomas the part-time posiSchool Board on Tuesday, April 8. tion for next year.
“I want to know how we are going to decide when to offer, or not, the position to Jim,” she asked. “It’s a matter of money. It’s a matter of Jim’s wife. We need to make (the decision) as soon as possible.” “A couple of things I want to put out there,” said board chairwoman Kerrie Palermo. “I will try to keep it simple with this because Jim resigned and I thought that it would be the clearest to be able to go forward with the search and look at the applicant pool and weigh Jim with the others.” Palermo said the timing was not advantageous for the district. “Because of Jim’s timing with his resignation,” she continued, “and I realize there were several factors in there for you to make that, Jim. Some of it with the
SEE SUPERINTENDENT, PAGE A8
Students replay history with replanting trees BY TIM NOVOTNY The Umpqua Post
Umpqua Post file photo
Volunteers get training in the Hinsdale Garden in 2013. Those volunteers, and new members, will be used as the garden opens for the public. It’s hoped there can be three “Open Days” this spring, including Mothers Day weekend and Memorial Day weekend.
Hinsdale open house scheduled for April 26 BY STEVE LINDSLEY Umpqua Post
The Coos Bay office of the Bureau of Land Management is gearing up to help staff the first open day at the Hinsdale Garden, east of Reedsport and possibly more. The first open day will be April 26, while other open days are expected Mothers Day and Memorial Day weekends. There is normally just one open day every year. The Friends of Reedsport’s Hinsdale Garden has been gathering volunteers and funds to have multiple events at the iconic garden. “Everything’s going great,” The BLM’s Michael Kelly said. “The BLM is really pleased that the friends group is moving forward to open the garden more days to the public.” Expect to see BLM staffers at the April 26 event. “We’ll have 10 to 12 BLM staff,” Kelly said. “We’ll pair up the friends, and also Douglas County CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) will be assisting. We’ll pair those folks up with BLM folks. We have about eight identified stations where we like to have people.”
The idea is to have the friends run the next two open days, May 10 and 24, with minimal BLM staff. “We’ll just have a couple of BLM people on site,” he said. “Basically, the friends, with the assistance of CERT, the city of Reedsport and Lewis Transportation will be helping ferry people over.” The friends have been talking with the city and the bus company to provide transportation from the Dean Creek Elk Viewing Area parking lot to the garden, just up state Highway 38. They’re also hoping to run a couple of shuttles from Reedsport. “This first one we’re basically doing as a group effort and a training exercise,” Kelly said. “Then the friends will be running open days after that.” Kelly said there has been some work done to make the garden more handicapped accessible. “We purchased a product ... that’s called Fiberex,” Kelly said. “Basically, it’s cedar wood chips that have been processed into small chips. “They compact really well. We have over 1,500 feet of path laid down. This products
The Umpqua Post
COOS BAY — After more than a decade of lousy catches, the Oregon salmon fleet may have finally hit its stride. Jeff Reeves, a commissioner with the Oregon Salmon Commission, said the 2014 salmon season is one of the best in memory.
The first commercial season for offshore salmon opened April 1, but its returns are already being seen at local canneries like Hallmark Fisheries in Charleston, where workers were busy packing fresh salmon in boxes Thursday afternoon. “The guys are getting record catches and great prices,” Reeves said, speaking by phone that
morning. “$10 a pound, down to $8.75 today — I’ve never gotten that much in my life.” The high price on the docks is also being felt at the market. At Chuck’s Seafood in Charleston, fresh salmon filets were going for $19.95 a pound, with steaks priced only $2 less.
SEE TREES, PAGE A8
“The herbicide was all collected, Really,
the focus of the incident was the jet fuel — the diesel.” — Mark Wall, Roseburg Resources Co.
By Steve Lindsley, The Umpqua Post
State troopers and Region 15 Hazardous Materials personnel tend to the scene of a fatal crash Saturday on state Highway 38 near Scottsburg.
Fatal crash near Scottsburg kills man from Gold Beach THOMAS MORIARTY
SEE HINSDALE, PAGE A7
Salmon catch exceeds expectations BY THOMAS MORIARTY
SCOTTSBURG — More than 150 elementary school children climbed into the forest land near Weatherly Creek, off state Highway 38 between Scottsburg and Elkton, to plant some trees. Actually it was more than 2,000 of them. The 69th annual Lower Umpqua Tree Plant returned, in a way, to the roots of the event. That is because the children were replanting an area that some of their grandparents may have planted back in 1956. Tim Truax, district forester for Roseburg Forest Products, says the area had been harvested after a 1951 fire. They just harvested those trees that were planted in 56, and the hope was that they would be
back with another generation of students in another 50-60 years to replant once again. The goal is to show the children that trees are a renewable product here, he said. The children arrived on the site by 9 a.m. April 8 and got right to work. Two of the young workers were from Highland Elementary School in Reedsport and their effort was indicative of the kind of effort all of the students were putting into the event. Within the first hour and a half, fifth-graders Ashley Espinoza and Ericka Carlton had already planted 26 trees on their own. Officials say their help was important, and timely. We’re kind of at the end of planting season, Truax said, as he
The Umpqua Post
A 22-year-old Gold Beach man died Saturday morning near Scottsburg in a head-on collision with a truck carrying aerial spraying supplies. According to Oregon State Police, Joshua Dale Ray Carter was driving westbound on state Highway 38 when his pickup truck traveled over the double solid center lines and collided with an eastbound Ford F550. Troopers, along with Douglas County sheriff’s deputies, local fire personnel and the Oregon Department of Transportation, were either on scene or on their way
as of 7:25 a.m. Carter was pronounced dead at the scene. Mark Wall, forestry manager for Roseburg Forest Products’ land management division, Roseburg Resources Co., said the two occupants of the commercial truck were from Applebee contractors Aviation hired by the company to conduct aerial spraying of its timber lands. The truck was carrying both helicopter fuel and Atrazine, an
SEE SALMON, PAGE A8
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SEE CRASH, PAGE A8