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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2014
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Changing for the better Southwest Oregon Regional Airport celebrated two recent upgrades Tuesday night ■
BY TIM NOVOTNY The World
By Tim Novotny, The World
Prior to Tuesday’s ribbon cutting,a crowd casts shadows over the schematic drawing of the recently unveiled 30,000-square-foot hangar building at the Southwest Oregon Regional Airport in North Bend. The Coos County Airport District will now ramp up efforts to find a paying customer, or customers, to utilize the structure.
NORTH BEND — When dignitaries gathered at Southwest Oregon Regional Airport on Tuesday night, the only thing missing was the shades. Because, for those involved in the latest upgrades, the future hasn’t looked this bright in quite a while. The airport makeover included a 30,000-square-foot hangar, an
additional 85,000 square feet of space in front of the hangar, and office space. The project, which originally included the demolition of the old World War II-era hangar that sat on the same site, included a grant of more than $2 million from Connect Oregon. But, Murphy’s Law being what it is, the project ended up getting delayed after the old hangar caught fire during its demolition in December of 2012. The blaze caused some breaks in construction as insurance payments needed to be sorted out among a number of companies. So, the prevailing emotions this week were relief and optimism. “I think that is kind of our atti-
tude,” said Helen Brunell Mineau, one of the Coos County Airport District commissioners. She explained that the relief is from the project being finished, but they now have a great opportunity lying before them to help benefit the local economy. “It’s $2.2 million worth of an investment,” she said, referring to the grant funding. “We are now celebrating the fact that we have a brand new hangar that you could put a 737 in. We are kind of excited about that, the possibilities of somebody locating a plane here, leaving it here, having it based here, would be fabulous. It would be a boost to our SEE AIRPORT | A8
Attorney General Holder resigning
Working and playing on the bay
BY NEDRA PICKLER AND KIM HUHNHENN The Associated Press
By Thomas Moriarty, The World
The Chinese cargo ship James Bay hoists a load of logs from a waiting truck Wednesday as a group of anglers load their own vessel at the nearby California Street boat ramp for an afternoon of fishing on the bay.
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WASHINGTON — The number of people seeking U.S. unemployment benefits increased last week after falling sharply two weeks ago. Despite the rise, the level of applications remains near pre-recession levels, a sign that hiring will likely remain healthy. Weekly unemployment benefit applications rose 12,000 to a seasonally adjusted 293,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. Yet the four-week average, a less volatile measure, fell for the second straight week to 298,500. The figures are “very low ... close to all-time lows when measured as a share of payrolls,” said Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, in a research note. “We expect robust job growth in the months ahead.” Two weeks ago, applications had plummeted to 281,000, near a 14-year low first reached in July. Over the past year, the four-week
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average for applications has fallen 7.1 percent. They climbed above 650,000 during the recession in 2009. Applications are a proxy for layoffs. Fewer applications indicate that employers are holding onto their workers, likely because they are more confident about the economy. It may also indicate they will boost hiring. The total number of people receiving benefits ticked up by 7,000 to 2.4 million. A year ago, 3.9 million people were receiving unemployment aid. That number has fallen sharply partly because of the expiration of extended benefits, a program that ended at the beginning of this year. Applications fell steadily SEE JOBLESS | A8
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Services for female veterans fall short BY MATTHEW DALY The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The Veterans Affairs Department and other government agencies are not doing enough to help women who served in the military, even as their number is rising dramatically, according to a new report. The report, released Wednesday by the Disabled American Veterans, identified serious gender gaps in virtually every program serving veterans, including health care, job training, finance, housing, social issues and combatting sexual assault. The advocacy group’s report blamed most of the deficiencies on a disregard for the needs of female veterans, saying the VA and other agencies focus on “the 80 percent solution for men who dominate (veterans affairs) in both numbers and public consciousness.” A sharp increase in reporting of
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military sexual trauma is an illustration of problems that require “radical change” at the VA and throughout the military, the report says. “At a time when the number of women veterans is growing to unprecedented levels, our country is simply not doing enough to meet their health, social and economic needs,” said Joy Ilem, DAV’s deputy director. national legislative Female veterans “deserve equal respect, consideration and care as the men who served, yet the support systems are ill-equipped to meet the unique needs of the brave women who have defended our country,” she said. The DAV report closely tracks an Associated Press review in June that found serious shortcomings in how the VA cares for female veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, many of them of SEE VETERANS | A8
Growing support Immigrant activist facing deportation vows to stay in a Portland church until his situation is resolved. Page A5
FORECAST
The Associated Press
States with the biggest decreases: Michigan: Down 2,473, due to fewer layoffs by wholesalers. New Jersey: Down 1,573, due to fewer layoffs in hotels, restaurants and construction. States with the biggest increases: California: Up 5,269, no reason given. Missouri: Up 1,810, due to layoffs in manufacturing, retail and auto manufacturing. Oregon: Up 1,691, no reason given.
STATE
BY CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER
Disabled U.S. veterans report
Jobless claims
DEATHS
Unemployment applications in U.S. rise
WASHINGTON — Eric Holder, who served as the public face of the Obama administration’s legal fight against terrorism and weighed in on issues of racial fairness, is resigning after six years on the job. He is the nation’s first black attorney general. The White House said that President Barack Obama would announce Holder’s departure later Thursday and that Holder planned to remain at the Justice Department until his successor was in place. White House officials said Obama had not made a final decision on a replacement for Holder, who was one of the most progressive voices in his Cabinet. Advisers to Obama and Holder said the attorney general had been planning his departure with the president for some time. Some possible candidates who have been discussed among administration officials include Solicitor General Don Verrilli, California Attorney Harris, Kamala General Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, Deputy U.S. Attorney General James Cole and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a former Rhode Island attorney general. Holder, a 63-year-old former judge and prosecutor, took office in early 2009 as the U.S. government grappled with the worst financial crisis in decades and with divisive questions on the handling of captured terrorism suspects, issues that helped shape his tenure as the country’s top law enforcement official. He is the fourth-longest serving attorney general in U.S. history. He also took on questions of racial fairness, working to improve police relations with minorities, enforce civil rights laws and remove disparities in sentencing. Most recently he became the Obama administration’s point man in the federal response to the police shooting last month of Michael Brown, an unarmed black 18-yearold in Ferguson, Missouri. The news of Holder’s resignation came as civil rights leaders and the families of Brown and Eric Garner, who died in a New York City police chokehold this summer, were appearing at a news conference in Washington calling on the Justice Department to take over investigations into the deaths. The Rev. Al Sharpton urged the White House to meet with civil before representatives rights appointing a replacement. “There has not been an attorney general with a civil rights record equal to Attorney General Eric Holder,” Sharpton said. NPR was first to report his departure.
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