Friday, January 12, 2024 Livestock interests guide decisions to suppress wolf population in Oregon.
See this story on page 14
Photo submitted by reader: Evelyn Baker
Weekender
Local chamber of Surprises hidden commerce welcomes in rural America new leader BY BREE LAUGHLIN The World
The Bay Area Chamber of Commerce is welcoming Rosey Thomas as the organization’s new executive director. Thomas is longtime Coos County resident and has served on the Coos Bay/ North Bend Rotary with the chamber’s previous director Timm Slater, who is leaving for retirement. Thomas said she has spent the past 12 years in telecommunications managing retail stores and being a sales coach. “I loved supporting these businesses but I needed a change of pace because the job brought a lot of travel and working in different cities,” Thomas said. The new executive director said she is thrilled to be in a new position where she can continue to support businesses in her own community. The Bay Area Chamber of Commerce (BACC) is a non-profit, professional organization made up of the Coos Bay, North Bend and Charleston business communities. The chamber works to create a strong business voice, promote business and improve the economy of Oregon’s Bay Area. “I’ve been here for about 27 years and I love it here – the ocean, the way the community works together on problems and supports each other – even the fun banter between North Bend
BY DR. CHARLES HURBIS Guest Article
and Coos Bay can be exciting to watch,” Thomas said. “So I can't wait to support these teams and see how I can help the community grow,” she said. Thomas said she has plenty of goals for her new position as executive director of the Bay Area Chamber of Commerce, including making the website more user-friendly for business members, meeting with board members and plotting a course for the
organization’s future. “A lot of work is going to get done on planning our future this year. So, it's going to be a great year and a season for change,” the executive director said. “We want to lay out a map of where we want to be and how we get there,” she said. Thomas said coming in to Rosey Thomas continued on page 3
Community prepares for Point-In-Time Count BY BREE LAUGHLIN The World
Local agencies are preparing for a yearly event that provides a snapshot into the number of people who are experiencing homelessness in Coos County.
The Point-in-Time count is mandated by the Federal government, and includes those who are unsheltered, as well as those who are in emergency shelter, transitional housing, and Safe Havens. These counts are carried out to better understand
homelessness and housing needs in the community. This year, it will be conducted on Jan. 24 in North Bend, Coos Bay, Charleston, Lakeside and Powers; and on Jan. 25 Point in Time continued on page 4
Jake and Kelly pack new supplies onto their bikes Wednesday before leaving Mingus Park after an interview with volunteers during the annual Point In Time count in 2020 in Coos Bay. Volunteers throughout the county spent several days interviewing the homeless in their communities and doling out food and supplies during the event.
FIND US ONLINE: TheWorldLink.com EMAIL US: WorldCirculation@CountryMedia.net CALL US: (541) 266-6047
One of the things I’ve learned from living in Coos Bay for over 30 years is that, in a small town, you never know who you are going to run in to. I grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan (yes, that football team) where I finished most all of my schooling and medical training before moving to Chicago for surgical residency. From that point. I liked the idea of Oregon and initially moved to Grants Pass to work with a physician who’d trained at the same institution in Chicago. That practice was not busy enough to support three doctors, so I took an opening in Coos Bay, initially working at North Bend Medical Center. Seven years into this job there was an opening back in Ann Arbor and, as many people do, returned to my hometown. After a very short time you realize that some places are nice to have come from. Having already become a “West coaster,” I moved back to Coos Bay. Still, for a while I still had a one-foot out mentality, and did short stints in Las Vegas, Portland and even Medford, none of which had the same fit. I’ve been back in Coos Bay committedly since 1997. There are so many factors involved in why people eventually decide to settle where they do, either during or after their careers. And on this premise, even in a small town, you never know who is going to walk through your door on any given day. For the Oregon coast, the most obvious reasons to live here are the friendly people, the undeniable natural beauty and the open space with complete lack of crowding. There’s so much to be said for the absence of congestion. If you’ve spent any time stuck on I-5 around Portland these days (which always seems to have a multi-mile traffic jam in at least one direction) you really appreciate the beauty of an area where the biggest traffic delay is at the Dutch Brothers drive through. For me, the odd thing about not knowing who is walking through my door, is that you frequently do not realize, often for many months or years into the medical relationship, who the person is you are actually seeing. Rather than just their medical history, what is their personal history? Who were they
Police Blotter
3
Obituaries
Classifieds
8
Sunday Comics
Serving Oregon’s South Coast since 1878 • A Country Media Newspaper • Copyright 2023 Follow us:
3, 7, 10 & 14
13
facebook.com/theworldnewspaper
before they hit the Medicare roles and ended up in my office. This especially came to mind with the passing of one of our patients who we’d known for probably a decade. And it wasn’t until one of my staff members decided to Google his name a few years back that we knew who we’d been caring for. Our patient was Captain Don Walsh. For those who never heard of Don Walsh, he was a Navy submarine pilot, the one who held the record for the deepest dive in history. Amazingly, his dive was completed over 60 years ago, to the deepest part of the ocean, a place called the Marianas trench to a depth of 35,813 feet. This was at a time where diving technology wasn’t nearly what it is today. Put in perspective that’s over 7 miles, straight down, or the same altitude flown by commercial aircraft only in the other direction, and under the immense pressure of water. This feat was essentially the equivalent landing the space shuttle on the moon, the very first time. This record stood for over 50 years until barely broken by movie director/ adventurer James Cameron in 2012, during a dive project where Don was called up as Mr. Cameron’s principal advisor. Since his historic dive, Don remained active as a leading expert in oceanography, he was our American Jacques Cousteau. Even into his late 80’s Don was still travelling 20+ times per year to give lectures or advise groups in his area of expertise. He was recently called on for his opinion after the OceanGate submarine disaster involving the tourist group exploring the Titanic. It was a memorable interview, short and painfully accurate. Regardless of his accomplishments, Don remained a very humble person. When asked though, he had amazing stories and was a great storyteller. His medical visits were always much longer than expected because I just wanted to listen to him. Which brings up the second point of this article, we never knew who he was or what he’d done until we brought it up. Other people who have come through the office included an 80-year-old lady who was once the Harley drag racing national champion (and this at a time way before women were doing that kind of thing). It was hard to wrap my head around the fact that the elderly lady sitting in front of me once did this. For those who remember the Smothers Brothers, Tommie’s sister used to come in from time to time. We also see a retired rocket scientist who was instrumental in the design of the space shuttle, Silvester Stallone’s boxing trainer for the Rocky movies (I got a photo signed by Sly) and a member of the country’s original SWAT team who Dr. Charles Hurbis continued on page 12
Calendar
5
Opinion
14
twitter.com/TheWorldLink
instagram.com/theworldlink