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Local mayors present “State of Cities” Wednesday Business Connection lunch. The “State of Your City” is Local leaders took advantage the latest in a series of public of a weekly networking lunch to engagements featuring both city give a series of “State of Your leaders. The mayors reported they City” presentations. have been working to improve North Bend Mayor Jessica communication and cooperation Engelke and Coos Bay Mayor between the neighboring Joe Benetti came together to communities. discuss the progress and priorities “What’s good for Coos Bay of their local communities. is good for North Bend. What’s They gave key updates on local good for North Bend is good for initiatives, an overview of the Coos Bay,” said mayor Benetti business and economic climate, after the presentations. as well as plans to enhance the “This is the best working local quality of life. relationship that we’ve had in The mayors spoke to a packed a while, and I really appreciate room of participants inside it. Our city managers work the Salmon Room at the Mill well together. Our public works Casino on Jan. 24. The event was well – police departments, fire hosted by the Bay Area Chamber departments – working together of Commerce during their makes a big difference. And BY BREE LAUGHLIN The World
so, I really appreciate all of the interaction,” he said.
Coos Bay Coos Bay Mayor Joe Benetti was the first to address community members during the “State of the Cities” address. Benetti is a Coos Bay resident since 1979. He was the longtime owner of Benetti’s Italian Restaurant, before he sold the restaurant. He is now semiretired. The mayor reports that his love of the Bay Area prompted him to become involved in his community, and he wanted to give back to a community that has been very good to him. Over the years, Benetti has served
Please see CITIES Page 3
Volunteers Needed for 2nd Saturday Hoyle weighs in on effects Cleanup Project for John Topits Park of winter Come spend a couple of hours with the Oregon Bay Area Beautification (OBAB) group and the Coos Bay Parks Department to help beautify John Topits Park at the Lower Empire Lake entrance. The 2nd Saturday cleanup will be on Saturday, February 10, 2024. Volunteers will meet at the Lower Empire Lake entrance at 493 Ackerman Ave, Coos Bay. The clean up effort is from 1pm-3pm, with sign-ins starting at 12:45pm. Clean up focus will be invasive plant removal, tree planting, trail maintenance, and litter removal. Please dress appropriately for working outdoors. Bring a shovel if you would like to help plant trees, work gloves, cutting tools for shrubbery, trash grabbers if you have them, water, and sunscreen. Trash bags and the disposal will be taken care of. This is a kids and family friendly event. Youth under 18 need to have a release form signed
storms
BY STEVE CARD Country Media, Inc.
by parent/guardian. Kids 14 and under will need adult supervision. Contact OBAB for details. Join OBAB for Community Cleanups every 2nd Saturday
starting from January-November in 2024. Visit 4obab.org to see the full schedule and updates. Look for OBAB on Facebook, Instagram, and Nextdoor! Email
volunteer@4obab.org for more info. Oregon Bay Area Beautification (OBAB) is a registered and approved 501 (c) (3) organization.
an electric school bus. The school board was on hand for the demonstration, and there was positivity for the initiative. Lewis Transportation, who has provided school bus services to Reedsport, Gardiner, Scottsburg,
and Loon Lake for 40 years will be hoping this is only the beginning. Lewis Transportation have been in a grant application process with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with
hopes of fully electrifying their fleet. The company is hoping to secure funding for a fleet of 10 buses, including a wheelchair accessible model. Currently in their third round of the application process, the bus service is being assisted by Byd, an electric vehicle company based out of Lancaster, California. Byd, who provided Lewis Transportation with the opportunity to demo the bus, are developing a host of zero emission technologies. This ranges from vehicles such as buses, forklifts, and rail transport, to energy solutions like battery energy storage and solar. The Type-D school bus they provided is a full 36-foot bus. Using Byd’s proprietary lithium iron phosphate batteries, the buses are fully rechargeable. This is a safer alternative to more traditional lithiumion batteries, which have a much more common rate of combustion when punctured or warped. With a capacity of 84 students,
Reedsport moves to electrify bus fleet BY NATE SCHWARTZ The World
In a positive step toward sustainability, Reedsport based school transportation service Lewis Transportation demoed
Please see BUSES Page 2
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U.S. Congresswoman Val Hoyle (D-Ore., 4th District) traveled to Oregon recently, intending to hold a number of gatherings with her constituents. But those plans were altered after the state was hit with extreme snow and ice conditions that caused considerable damage in many locations and shut down power to thousands of Oregonians. Hoyle was still able to connect with people in her district, but it became more of an evaluation of the current crisis, during which she touched base with city employees, county employees, public safety officers and neighbors helping neighbors. “This was a very, very strange storm. We had these sort of micro-climates,” Hoyle said during a sitdown interview with the Lincoln County Leader in Newport on Jan. 23. “We were just talking to (Lincoln County) Sheriff Landers, and he was saying that in southern Lincoln County, they weren’t aware of how bad things were in northern Lincoln County, where the ice hit harder.” In Lane County, she said, the ice storm was devastating in some areas, with inches of ice accumulating. “In Cottage Grove, they ran out of power at the hospital because there was no way to get gas (for generators). “In Eugene, they got less than an inch of ice, but in east Springfield, 80 percent of the trees were damaged.” And at the Springfield hospital, “We had 120 people in the waiting room who couldn’t get back home, couldn’t leave, there weren’t enough beds,” she said. Many people are prepared to cope with a loss of power lasting perhaps two or three days, but some areas hit by the recent storms were Please see STORMS Page 5
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