BLAZERS NEED OVERTIME
AFGHANISTAN VOTE
Milwaukee puts up a fight, B1
Woman is a candidate for VP, A7
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19, 2014
Serving Oregon’s South Coast Since 1878
theworldlink.com
THE WORLD
Ex-Cover Oregon official may sue BY JONATHAN J. COOPER The Associated Press
SALEM — A former state technology manager involved in building the software behind Oregon’s troubled health insurance exchange notified the state Monday that she may file a lawsuit for defamation and wrongful termination. Carolyn Lawson,the former chief information officer for the Oregon Health Authority, alleges that she was asked to resign in December because she objected to making public statements she deemed false. Her claim says managers at the Health Authority and the insurance exchange, known as Cover Oregon, “privately threatened and publicly scapegoated” her. Oregon is the only state that still
75¢
Cancer patients choices limited
Bowman memorial Saturday A memorial service will be held Saturday for a beloved North Bend city employee who died last week in a work accident. Services for Phil Bowman, who died Thursday of injuries sustained in a dump truck accident at Ferry Road Park, will begin at 11 a.m. at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, Phil Bowman located at 1290 Thompson Road, in Coos Bay. Pastor Jon Strassman said he’s secured permission for extra parking at South Coast ESD, South Coast Orthopedic and South Coast Hospice, and that Star of Hope will be providing two buses to ferry people between the parking lots and the church.
■
BY RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR The Associated Press
Photos by Alysha Beck, The World
Barb Shamet asks questions about the increase in carbon dioxide emissions that will be released by the Jordan Cove Energy Project during an Oregon Department of Environmental Quality public information meeting Tuesday at the Red Lion Hotel.
Permit questions DEQ meeting to explain the process draws 200 BY CHELSEA DAVIS The World
COOS BAY — Public comments are welcomed, but when it comes down to it, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality must issue Jordan Cove Energy Project’s permits if all requirements are met — no matter what the project’s opponents may think. DEQ representatives spoke to some 200 people Tuesday night at Red Lion Hotel. The meeting focused on Jordan Cove’s air quality permit application. “Folks assume we’ve got a lot more power and control than we actually do,” DEQ communica- William Knight with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality hangs notes tions manager William Knight of points brought up by the public during Tuesday night’s DEQ information meetpreviously told The World. “In ing concerning Jordan Cove’s air quality permit application. essence, there’s a series of permits we’re required to issue if the emissions than did the former project meets the required conmill, Peterson said. Public comment ditions. We faced right away the “Weyerhaueser went through Public comments about the air quality notion that without some politia similar process in 1995,” he permit application can be submitted to cal intervention ... our agency said. “They were also in compliOregon DEQ until 5 p.m., April 15. isn’t going to be the one to hold ance with standards at that time. Mail them to: up a project by denying a perAs far as keeping track, we will Air Quality Permit Coordinator, DEQ mit.” have a whole list of monitoring, 750 Front St., Suite 120 DEQ’s permit writer for this record-keeping and reporting Salem, OR 97301-1039 project, senior engineer Tom standards in the permit.” Fax them to 503-378-4196 Peterson, will prepare the draft If Jordan Cove gets the green Email them to permit in the coming months. light, it will self-monitor and hamman.patricia@deq.state.or.us If the permit is issued, the self-report emissions, but DEQ Clean Air Act requires Jordan will also conduct inspections Cove to apply for a Title V Weyerhaeuser mill (where the and enforce regulations. Federal Operating Permit within 420-megawatt South Dunes “Any individual person wearone year of start-up (slated for Power Plant is proposed to be) to ing these badges tonight (DEQ 2019). Jordan Cove’s estimated emis- officials) says, you bet we want DEQ officials compared crite- sions. They estimate Jordan Cove ria pollutant levels of the former will produce far fewer gaseous SEE PERMIT | A8
WASHINGTON — Cancer patients relieved that they can get insurance coverage because of the new health care law may be disappointed to learn that some the nation’s best cancer hospitals are off-limits. An Associated Press survey found examples coast to coast. Seattle Cancer Care Alliance is excluded by five out of eight insurers in Washington state’s insurance exchange. MD Anderson Cancer Center says it’s in less than half of the plans in the Houston area. Memorial Sloan-Kettering is included by two of nine insurers in New York City and has out-ofnetwork agreements with two more. Doctors and administrators say they’re concerned. So are some state insurance regulators. In all, only four of 19 nationally recognized comprehensive cancer centers that responded to AP’s survey said patients have access through all the insurance companies in their state exchange. Not too long ago, insurance companies would have been vying to offer access to renowned cancer centers, said Dan Mendelson, CEO of the market research firm Avalere Health. Now the focus is on costs. “This is a marked deterioration of access to the premier cancer centers for people who are signing up for these plans,” Mendelson said. Those patients may not be able get the most advanced treatment, including clinical trials of new medications. And there’s another problem: It’s not easy for consumers shopping online in the new insurance markets to tell whether top-level institutions are included in a plan. That takes additional digging by the people applying. “The challenges of this are going to become evident ... as cancer cases start to arrive,” Norman Hubbard, executive vice president of Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, said. Advocates for cancer patients are in a quandary. SEE CANCER | A8
SEE COVER | A8
Obama sets the record straight with Medal of Honor for 24 vets
Comics . . . . . . . . . . A6 Puzzles . . . . . . . . . . A6 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . B1 Classifieds . . . . . . . B4
SEE MEDALS | A8
The Associated Press
Nancy Weinstein accepts the Medal of Honor on behalf of her husband, Sgt. Jack Weinstein of Saint Francis, Kan., from President Barack Obama during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House on Tuesday.
Following a wolf Betty Scully Phillip Bowman, North Bend
Obituaries | A5
COMPETITION CRUSHER
Wildlife advocates will retrace the nowfamous 1,200-mile trek of OR-7. The journey will raise awareness about wolves.
Page A5
T HE M AT T RESS ST ORE 541.269.0898 253 S. Broadway, Coos Bay
CCB# 184579
Next to the Egyptian Theatre
Your Choice! Plush or Firm Whatever you do in bed NOW up to 12* months Interest Inter est FREE! * see stor store e for details
Chance of rain 55/40 Weather | A8
MATTRESS MATTRESS SALE! SAL ALEE!
Classic Central Falls
B AY A PPLIAN CE & T V
FORECAST
Police reports . . . . A2 What’s Up. . . . . . . . A3 South Coast. . . . . . A3 Opinion. . . . . . . . . . A4
them as equal.” The three surviving recipients — Vietnam veterans Jose Rodela, Melvin Morris and Santiago Erevia — received a prolonged standing ovation at Obama’s side. Rodela,now of San Antonio,was a 31-year-old company commander of a Special Forces strike group Sept. 1, 1969, in Phuoc Long Province, Vietnam, when he and his company of Cambodian soldiers whom he had helped recruit came under fire from
STATE
INSIDE
WASHINGTON — They were heroes who didn’t get their due. On Tuesday, 24 mostly ethnic or minority U.S. soldiers who performed bravely under fire in three of the nation’s wars finally received the Medal of Honor that the government concluded should have been awarded a long time ago. The servicemen were identified following a congressionally mandated review to ensure that eligible
recipients of the country’s highest recognition for valor were not bypassed due to prejudice. Only three of the 24 were alive for President Barack Obama to drape the medals and ribbons around their necks. “Today we have the chance to set the record straight,” Obama said. “No nation is perfect, but here in America we confront our imperfections and face a sometimes painful past, including the truth that some of these soldiers fought and died for a country that did not always see
DEATHS
BY JIM KUHNHENN The Associated Press
supports it.™
FREE
Delivery, Set-up Delivery, and removal r emoval *on q ualified sets
SALE
Queen 2-pc Set
Twin Full King
699
$
Was $1,399
2-pc Set 2-pc Set 3-pc Set
$499 $599 $899