BEAT DOWN Heat eliminate Pacers with blowout, B1
SATURDAY, MAY 31, 2014
Serving Oregon’s South Coast Since 1878
Reconfiguration shakes up North Bend School District’s budget BY CHELSEA DAVIS The World
By Thomas Moriarty, The World
Detective Staff Sgt. Dan Looney of the Coos County Sheriff’s Office explains theories of Jeremy Bright's 1986 disappearance on Friday morning at a pond on Rock Creek Road, southeast of Myrtle Point. Looney identified the pond as a popular party spot for teenagers around the time of Bright’s disappearance.
Time to do the right thing Jeremy Bright
NORTH BEND — Districtwide changes will be felt at every level in North Bend schools this fall. The district is closing in on a final budget for the 2014-2015 school year, totaling around $45.4 million, a nearly 3 percent increase from the current school year. The bump works out to approximately an extra $358 per student this fall. Most of the changes stem from the school board’s decision to switch the district to a K-5 model, moving fifth grade from the middle school to Hillcrest and North Bay elementary schools. The reconfiguration will level out class sizes in the two schools, handing the district a one-time bill of $115,000. The change means a shake-up in See the full story online at administration. Bruce Martin, currently Hillcrest’s theworldlink.com principal, will become the director of elementary education, a new position that will oversee both elementary schools. He will focus on instruction, scheduling, collaborative hiring, observations, evaluations and working with Title I and III. Jon Davison, currently the middle school’s dean of students, will take Martin’s place at the helm of Hillcrest. Lighthouse School, the district’s K-8 charter, is moving to the former ACS/Xerox call center, meaning the district will lose $255,000 in monthly income next year. But officials say that loss will be offset by additional revenue from charter agreement negotiations, cuts to the Positive Educational Alternatives for Kids, or PEAK, program and an additional $374,000 in state funding. During a special session last fall, the Legislature approved
Almost 28 years have passed since Jeremy Bright disappeared and investigators say the truth is out there BY TIM NOVOTNY AND THOMAS MORIARTY The World
Coos County Unsolved
MYRTLE POINT — It was “kids day” at the 75th Coos County Fair and Rodeo, Aug. 14, 1986. The morning clouds were burning-off to make way for a beautiful summer day in Myrtle Point. Johnny Limbo and the Lugnuts were going to be playing a couple sets on the midway, and Jeremy Bright, 14, was taking his 10-year-old sister S’te (pronounced ess-tee) once again. The siblings, along with their mother, Diane Beatty, had moved to Grants Pass the year before, but still had family and friends in the area. Jeremy and S’te were allowed to come back in the summer, staying with family so they wouldn’t have to miss out on their annual fun at the fairgrounds. Sadly, a day that started out with so much promise, soon turned into a tragic mystery that would span nearly
This is the first in what will be a continuing series titled “Coos County Unsolved.” World reporters Tim Novotny and Thomas Moriarty will take a new look at some of the unsolved major crimes that are still on the books for local investigators in the hopes of creating renewed interest and new leads three decades. After leaving his sister near the Ferris wheel, Jeremy went off on his own. Leaving behind a promise to meet up with S’te again at 5 p.m. That was the last she ever saw of her big brother.
A different era It was a different time in the world. Kids that didn’t come home right away did not raise the same level of concern then that it would today. When S’te found a Myrtle Point police officer, after her brother failed to show up, she was told not to worry.
Afterall, “he was probably just off with friends” was the thinking at the time. Not much more was done the next day either, after the family contacted police again to say he had still not returned from the fair. In fact, nothing about the missing teen even appeared in the newspaper until five days later, on Aug. 19. A short news brief on page 2 that probably did not attract much attention from the public. Before the Coos County Major Crimes Team came along, these kinds SEE BRIGHT | A8
SEE BUDGET | A8
Alzheimer’s patient goes missing from Bandon home THE WORLD BANDON — Coos County law enforcement agencies are asking for the public’s help in locating a missing Alzheimer’s patient. Ted Rogers, a 78-year-old Bandon resident, went missing from his home Thursday night sometime before 8 p.m. He had last been seen in the home on Christopher Road around 3:30 p.m. Coos County sheriff’s deputies and Bandon police officers searched the area throughout the night. Deputies and Coos County Search and Rescue volunteers continued the search Friday morning, but hadn’t found
Rogers as of 11 a.m. Rogers is described as 5foot-9 and about 185 pounds in weight. He has brown hair with gray sides, brown eyes and a mustache. He wears glasses, and was last seen wearing blue jeans, boots and a dark baseball cap with a fish Ted Rogers on it. He may have been wearing a flannel shirt or just a T-shirt. Anyone who has seen him is asked to call the Sheriff’s Office at 541-396-2106.
NB school year winds down with annual Outdoors Day BY CHELSEA DAVIS The World
By Lou Sennick, The World
NORTH BEND — North Bend middleschoolers left their classrooms behind Friday during the school’s annual Outdoors Day. Nearly 200 students participated in horseback riding, archery, rock wall climbing and video for this more, winding down See story online at before their last day of theworldlink.com/video school June 10. The school will have a different feel when they return this fall. Due to reconfiguration, fifth-graders will move from the middle
Sports . . . . . . . . . . . B1 Comics . . . . . . . . . . C5 Puzzles . . . . . . . . . . C5 Classifieds . . . . . . . C6
Winifred Pitsenberger, North Bend Kenneth Tanner, Coquille Dr. John Flanagan, Coos Bay Jerry Lee Galloway, Myrtle Point Margarita Jasso, Coos Bay Ricky Whited, Coos Bay
Juan Santana, Reedsport Vivian Riter, Coos Bay Elizabeth Bates
Obituaries | A5
SEE OUTDOORS | A8
FORECAST
Police reports . . . . A2 What’s Up . . . . . . . Go! South Coast. . . . . . A2 Opinion. . . . . . . . . . A4
DEATHS
INSIDE
Four girls try their hand at aiming a fire hose Friday afternoon with the help of the North Bend Fire Department.The department was one of the local groups helping out for the day at North Bend Middle School’s annual Outdoor Day for sixth-graders.
Mostly sunny 62/53 Weather | A8