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Siuslaw NewsWednesday, November 5, 2025 Florence, Oregon

Number 45 • 134 years

Police Chief addresses FLOCK camera concerns By TONY REED The Siuslaw News

CROW actors gathered in the lobby of the Event Center, Wednesday night after the haunted maze. Tony Reed photos.

CROW maze amazes SIUSLAW NEWS STAFF

Standing near the exit doors of the children’s repertory of Oregon workshops haunted maze at Florence events Center last week, the most common comment overheard by survivors was that “it was amazing.” Entitled “Abandoned,” the maze portrayed an abandoned theater where the ghost of a slain actress haunted those who entered. ”We had so much spooky fun this year! People traveled See CROW, Page A5

Young actors raise their hands for a turn to tell their best scare stories.

Lines were long at the ticket booth for the haunted maze.

Police Chief John Pitcher gave a presentation to the City Council at the regular Oct. 20 meeting regarding the department’s use of fixed cameras that read and record license plate data for law enforcement use. In response to some local concerns about FLOCK cameras, Pitcher said Florence has had a camera in place for over a year. “That camera has not been used for anything other than law-enforcement purposes that entire time, and it was not misused,” he said. “State law does not allow us to use any of our resources for Immigration purposes.” Pitcher said the data from the camera is only shared with other law enforcement agencies in Oregon, which have to abide by the same laws. “We do not share our See CONCERNS, Page A7

Spirit Week and Homecoming School boards discuss charter school at Siuslaw High School Submitted by ROBERT ORR

Homecoming at Siuslaw High School is an annual week-long

celebration and a highlight of the school year for many students and staff members. The activities of the week lead up to the homecoming

Martin Zhen and Grasie Hunt were crowned King and Queen during halftime at the Homecoming game against Brookings. Tony Reed photo

INSIDE

Obituaries — A2 Sports & Lifestyle — B1

Opinion — A3 Classifieds — B6-7

football game on Friday night and a dance on Saturday night. This year, Spirit Week began on October 20th and ended with the dance on the 25th. Spirit Week activities are planned by the SHS leadership class. Students in leadership class include class officers (for each grade level, 9-12) as well as officers of clubs such as Interact, Key Club, the Viking chapter of the National Honor Society, and others. This year’s student body president is senior Austin Nunez. Class presidents are: Kiera Koszuta, senior class; Charley Johnson, junior class; Claire McNeill, sophomore class; and Bella Maldonado, freshman class. Club presidents include: Danin Lacouture, Interact; Katelynn Masterman, Key Club; Camden Linton, National Honor Society; and Sylvia Hand, Environmental Club. Campus clubs also See SPIRIT, Page A5

SVCS plans to renovate this building to house Whitmore Classical Academy, while this inclusion on the Hillsdale College website has generated discussion and concern. By TONY REED The Siuslaw News

No action was taken, but much discussion ensued during a joint workshop of Siuslaw School District (SSD) and Siuslaw Valley Charter School (SVCS) boards Oct. 29. SVCS, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, oversees Whitmore Classical Academy, a charter school publicly sponsored by SSD. It was recently announced that the charter school will be housed in the former Rite-Aid building at the corner of Highway 101

and 35th St., starting with K-3 classes, adding more over time until K-8 status is reached. SSD Superintendent Andy Grzeskowiak said directors had suggested a work session take place in order to talk about certain topics. SSD Director Maureen

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Miltenberger opened by saying that a certain back-and-forth tone was set by emails prior to the meeting. “When the charter school was voted on, there were some issues and many questions and concerns from the community,” she said. “Our job as the board is to oversee the contract that we have with the charter school and make sure that it is being honored. That is the bottom line. The legal liability of the charter school falls back on us. At the same See SCHOOL, Page A6