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Arrest warrant issued for president, A7
Junior wins at Daytona, B1
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2014
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Ex-director of Ocean Crest to be sentenced
Sochi Olympics come to a close
THE WORLD COQUILLE — The former head of a South Coast senior living facility was scheduled to be sentenced in Coos County Circuit Court on Monday morning on more than 60 felony charges related to stealing from his residents. Gary Brink, formerly the executive director of Ocean Crest Assisted Living in Coos Bay, was set to be sentenced at 8:30 a.m. in the courtroom of Judge Richard Barron on 60 counts of first-degree criminal mistreatment, two counts of second-degree forgery, two counts of first-degree theft, four counts of thirddegree theft, 23 counts of second-degree theft and a single count of aggravated first-degree theft. Under ORS 163.205, a person commits the criminal mistreatment in the first degree if they hide or misappropriate the money of a dependent or elderly person they’re responsible for. The crime, a Class C felony, carries a sentence of up to five years in prison. But the sentencing guidelines for the offense of aggravated first-degree theft require a minimum of 16 months in prison if the victim was 65 or older at the time of the crime. The maximum is 10 years. Brink was convicted earlier this month as a result of an Oregon Department of Justice investigation that began in 2011, after the family members of Ocean Crest residents began reporting suspicious activity with their loved ones’ checking accounts. The case is being prosecuted by Senior Assistant Attorney General Elizabeth Ballard.
Photos by The Associated Press
Athletes walk in the arena during the closing ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics on Sunday in Sochi, Russia. Top, one of the Sochi Olympic mascots sheds a tear after extinguishing the Olympic flame. For coverage of the final weekend, see Sports.
Costly, political and successful The Associated Press
SOCHI, Russia — Flushed with pride after its athletes’ spectacular showing at the costliest Olympics ever, Russia celebrated Sunday night with a visually stunning finale that handed off a smooth but politically charged Winter Games to their next host, Pyeongchang in South Korea. Russian President Vladimir Putin, these Olympics’ political architect and booster-in-chief, watched and smiled as Sochi gave itself a giant pat on the back for a Winter Games that IOC President Thomas Bach declared an “extraordinary success.” The crowd that partied in Fisht Olympic Stadium, in high spirits after the high-security games passed safely without feared terror attacks, hooted with delight when Bach said
Russia delivered on promises of “excellent” venues, “outstanding” accommodation for the 2,856 athletes and “impeccable organization.” The spectators let out an audibly sad moan when Bach declared the 17day Winter Games closed. “We leave as friends of the Russian people,” Bach said. The nation’s $51 billion investment — topping even Beijing’s estimated $40 billion layout for the 2008 Summer Games — transformed a decaying resort town on the Black Sea into a household name. All-new facilities, unthinkable in the Soviet era of drab shoddiness, showcased how far Russia has come in the two decades since it turned its back on communism. But the Olympic show didn’t win over critics of Russia’s backsliding on democracy and human rights under Putin and its institutionalized
Plastic surgeon joins North Bend Medical Center
intolerance of gays. Despite the bumps along the way, Bach was unrelentingly upbeat about his first games as IOC president and the nation that hosted it. One of Sochi’s big successes was security. Feared attacks by Islamic militants who threatened to target the games didn’t materialize. “It’s amazing what has happened here,” Bach said a few hours before the ceremony. He recalled that Sochi was an “old, Stalinist-style sanatorium city” when he visited for the IOC in the 1990s. Dmitry Chernyshenko, head of the Sochi organizing committee, called the games “a moment to cherish and pass on to the next generations.” “This,” he said, “is the new face of
BY EMILY THORNTON The World
COOS BAY — There is one more plastic surgeon in an area that has just a handful of them. Dr. Garrett Vangelisti, who specializes in hand and breast reconstructive surgery, recently joined the team of physicians practicing at North Bend Medical Center. He said he’s looking forward to being part of the team that helps treat cancer. “Before, the ones who wanted breast reconstruction would leave (go elsewhere for treatment). Now, we’re establishing a breast cancer program here. I was kind of the missing puzzle for that. It’s going to be a nice thing to do.” He also was involved in the rural surgery program at Oregon Health and Science University. The program, which begins this spring at Bay Area Hospital, is designed to place Dr. Garrett two fourth-year residents from Vangelisti Oregon Health and Science University in a rural hospital setting for up to one year of training. Vangelisti, originally from Arizona, received his bachelor’s in chemistry from Southern Oregon State College, in Ashland. He then got his medical degree from the University of Alabama, in Birmingham, in 1999 and his general surgery degree from Oregon Health and Science University, in Portland, in 2005. He received his plastic surgery degree in 2008 from Penn State University. He has three children who live in Portland. Reporter Emily Thornton can be reached at 541ext. 249 or at 269-1222, emily.thornton@theworldlink.com or on Twitter: @EmilyK_Thornton.
SEE SOCHI | A8
GOP to highlight health care woes
INSIDE
WASHINGTON — House Republicans intent on highlighting the woes of President Barack Obama’s health care law need to look no further than their own back yards, some of which are traditionally liberal strongholds. Maryland’s online health care exchange has been plagued by computer glitches since its rollout last year, reflected in abysmal enrollment numbers well below projections through
Police reports . . . . A2 What’s Up. . . . . . . . A3 South Coast. . . . . . A3 Opinion. . . . . . . . . . A4
January. The state’s lone Republican in Congress, Rep. Andy Harris, has asked the inspector general of the federal Health and Human Services Department to investigate. In Oregon, the online portal has struggled to sign up a single individual, and Republican Rep. Greg Walden recently sent a letter to the Government Accountability Office pressing for an inquiry. Officials in both states insist they are working to fix the problems. “Everybody’s pointing fingers at everyone else, so we have no idea why this went wrong,” Harris, who was an
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anesthesiologist at Johns Hopkins Hospital for 30 years, said in a recent interview. Unified in their opposition to the law, Republicans have been relentless in focusing on its problems, from complaints of canceled policies to higher insurance premiums and Obama’s unilateral decision to delay for two years the requirement that small businesses cover employees. The GOP effort has intensified this election year as Republicans look to SEE GOP | A8
It’s really dry Thelma Corn, Coos Bay
Obituaries | A5
NATION
The Associated Press
DEATHS
BY DONNA CASSATA
Some California farmers have decided to pull up some of their crops because of the lack of water.
Page A5
FORECAST
BY JOHN LEICESTER
Rain likely 61/46 Weather | A8
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