MUDSLIDE VIGIL
MOVING UP?
Ten more bodies found, death toll at 24, A7
Mariners hope to contend in West, B1
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26, 2014
Serving Oregon’s South Coast Since 1878
BY CHELSEA DAVIS The World
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — People who’ve started applying for health insurance but aren’t able to finish before the March 31 enrollment deadline will get extra time, the Obama administration announced. “We are experiencing a surge in demand and are making sure that we will be ready to help consumers who may be in line by the deadline to complete enrollment, either online or over the phone,” Health and Human Services spokesman Aaron Albright said Tuesday. The White House is scrambling to meet a goal of 6 million signed up through new online markets that offer subsidized private health insurance to people without access to coverage on the job. The HealthCare.gov website got more that 1 million visitors Monday, and the administration also wants to prevent a repeat of website problems that soured consumers last fall. Officials said the grace period will be available to people on the honor system, meaning applicants will have to attest that special circumstances or complex cases prevented them from finishing by March 31. It’s unclear how long the extension will last. Some have urged the administration to allow until April 15, the tax filing deadline. People who are due refunds may be willing to put some of that money toward health care premiums. The latest tweak to the health care rollout is certain to infuriate Republican critics of President Barack Obama’s signature law. It follows delays of the law’s requirements that medium-sized to large employers provide covSEE EXTENSION | A8
NORTH BEND — The South Coast Community Foundation has two approvals in the bag and two to go. The North Bend City Council voted unanimously at its Tuesday night meeting to become a member in SCCF, the nonprofit organization established to manage half of the community service fees the Jordan Cove Energy Project would pay if it gets federal and state permits and if it receives a long-term property tax exemption. The proposed fee distribution and management is detailed in a Community Enhancement Plan, which needs approval from all four enterprise zone sponsors: the cities
of Coos Bay and North Bend, Coos County, and the Oregon International Port of Coos Bay. The approval also includes inducting Bill Lansing, Joanne Verger and John Whitty as the initial foundation directors; ratifying the foundation’s updated bylaws; and appointing a citizen to serve alongside the three initial directors. The council’s vote follows the Port board of commissioners’ unanimous opt-in last week, and largely mimicked it. There was little discussion and a quick tally of “ayes.” Councilor Timm Slater spoke up, though, praising the Community Enhancement Plan. “I think this is a very wellthought-out way to utilize monies
here in Coos County and the Reedsport area for our school systems,” Slater said. “It makes a whole lot more sense to do that than send them off to Salem — and however they’re going to use it.” He agreed with Southwestern Oregon Community College president emeritus Dr. Stephen Kridelbaugh’s guest editorial in The World on Tuesday, calling for a mission statement and specific goals for the plan. “There ought to be a vision of what it’s going to be and the purpose of what it’s going to accomplish,” Slater said. “I think this is part of that process to develop that. It’s a very positive step, a very unique step and a very unique opportunity.” Opponents say they’re begin-
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ning to tire of trying to engage healthy debate with no response or acknowledgment. Citizens Against LNG executive director Jody McCaffree again cautioned the council not to rush into anything, and hold off on signing on to the community foundation until a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ruling comes down. McCaffree has been one of the biggest voices in the anti-LNG movement over the last decade. “It’s like talking to a brick wall,” said opponent J.C. Williams. Two votes remain: Coos Bay City Council and Coos County commissioners. “I really don’t think I’m ready to take a position on the Community SEE SCCF | A8
Blooming into spring
By Alysha Beck, The World
Dee Lynch strolls across Choshi Bridge beneath blooming cherry trees in Mingus Park during a spring rainstorm Tuesday afternoon. Rain is expected to continue through the week and into the weekend.
Economist says baby boomers will slow economic growth MEDFORD — Are baby boomers to blame for a projected slow-down in Oregon’s economy? One state economist, Josh Lehner, said in a post this week on the Oregon Office of Economic Analysis website that data shows a link between retirement, income and spending. Fewer workers mean less taxable income for Oregon According to a information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics as income drops, so does spending in the community. In addition, when the baby boomer generation hits retirement, it will meaning less taxable income which means less money going to the state. That is at the root of economist’s concerns regarding the potential slow-down in Oregon’s economy over the next 5-10 years. Annie Irons, a retired teacher who lives in Medford said she disagrees with the assessment. “The baby boomers are probably one of the
most economically viable groups,” began Irons. “The younger people of today have student loans to pay off and if they have a good job, they’re spending their money paying off loans and on housing which is probably not too easy for them to find,” she said. Irons, who said she’s been on five cruises in two years, said she’s been enjoying retirement. However, her story is different than other retirees since she is fortunate to have a pension. Shara Mcneil, another retiree we spoke with said she probably spends the same amount that she spent 30-40 years ago. But even so, she said she doesn’t spend much.
BY CHAD GARLAND The Associated Press
SALEM — Medical marijuana shops in Oregon are opening their doors with state approval for the first time this week, but at least one may not be in business very long. The Releaf Center, a dispensary located just outside Hermiston city limits, opened its doors Tuesday for the first time since Feb. 28. Owner Jim Ruhe said he shut the store down when the state’s dispensary law went into effect March 1, and waited for the state to approve his facility registration. The shop, and many like it around the state, had previously existed in a sort of legal grey area, neither explicitly authorized nor banned under state law. Releaf’s state certificate came in the mail Monday afternoon, he said, and
Effect of older population on So. Oregon Ainoura Oussenbec, a workforce analyst with the Oregon Employment Department Economic Research Division, said about 20 percent of the population in Jackson and Josephine counties are 65 or older.
Comics . . . . . . . . . . A6 Puzzles . . . . . . . . . . A6 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . B1 Classifieds . . . . . . . B4
SEE BOOMERS | A8
Fay Baarstad, Coos Bay Joanne Kerttula, Coos Bay Patrick Vaughnn, Reedsport
Water for elephants
STATE
KOBI
DEATHS
BY CHRISTINE PITAWANICH
Pot stores go legal, despite uncertainty
Obituaries | A5
Need to sell something?
Wildlife Safari in Winston is constructing a new watering hole, which will include an observation deck. Page A5
FORECAST
BY RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR
INSIDE
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NB City Council opts in to SCCF
Health insurance deadline extended
Police reports . . . . A2 What’s Up. . . . . . . . A3 South Coast. . . . . . A3 Opinion. . . . . . . . . . A4
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now hangs on the shop’s wall. But the store could be shuttered again soon, this time for more than a year, if the Umatilla County Commission enacts a moratorium on dispensaries when it meets next week. “How do I look my patients in the eye and say, ‘There’s nothing I can do for you,”’ Ruhe said. “It’s a terrible feeling.” George Murdock, vice chairman of the Umatilla County board of commissioners, said the commission will consider the issue at its April 2 meeting, but “whatever way we go, it’s going to be painful.” Murdock said it’s the commissioners’ job to uphold the law, but a conflict between the federal prohibition on marijuana and the state’s law allowing registered facilities to sell the drug creSEE POT | A8
Rain 55/47 Weather | A8
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