UCONN PREVAILS
DISPUTED ISLAND
Huskies win fourth NCAA title in 15 years, B1
Hagel in China for talks, A7
TUESDAY, APRIL 8, 2014
Serving Oregon’s South Coast Since 1878
theworldlink.com
■
$1
Astoria museum combs through maritime treasures John Clemson, 84, grew up in Coos Bay and has donated items to the museum ■
BY TED SHORACK Daily Astorian
By Alysha Beck, The World
Tim Novotny surprises local Mary Ihry with $20,000 from the Publishers Clearing House on Monday afternoon. The official prize patrol came to her house in March, but Ihry was out of town. So Monday, Novotny took on prize patrol duties for the day.
Prize Patrol always gets their (wo)man BY TIM NOVOTNY The World
CHARLESTON — Most of us, I’m sure, have seen Dave Sayer on television at one time or another. If you have, you have probably also secretly wished for him to show up at your front door someday. Whenever he does, it is memorable. Last month, he came to our Bay Area. But when his trip didn’t go as planned, the opportunity arose for me to become Dave Sayer for a day. Sayer is the founder of the Publishers Clearing House Prize Patrol. His job is to bring oversized checks to unsuspecting people all over the country. Usually a camera is there to record that life-changing moment, which is then shared with television viewers all over the country in one of Publishers’ commercials. It is arguably the most exciting part of the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes, which is a major part of the company’s mailings and website. Serving to draw attention to the merchandise and magazine values that they offer, it is repeated dozens of times a year, with the Prize Patrol traveling for any prize over $10,000. In this case, the winner was getting two checks. One for being a $10,000 winner, and
another $10,000 for being a PCH Facebook Superfan. The whole thing is, typically, very much a surprise for the winner. Sometimes, however, the person is not home when the Prize Patrol arrives. It forces the crew to get creative. Such was the case last month when Sayer came looking for Mary Ihry at her home off Libby Lane in rural Coos County. “We never know when the person is there,” Sayer said, as he prepared to surprise the local winner with flowers, champagne and two big oversized checks. “In some rare, rare, instances we have to just mail them the check. If possible, we like to at least try to leave the flowers, balloons and the big check with a friend or neighbor so they get to keep those.” But, that is only after every effort is made to locate the winner, including finding out if they are at work and heading off to surprise them there. The important thing is that they don’t have to be home to get their prize. In this instance, even with local newspaper reporters joining in on an online scavenger hunt of sorts, the winner could not be found. After one more attempt the following morning, Sayer had to head back for his next mission. SEE PRIZE | A8
From an early age, John Clemson began collecting all things related to the world of maritime travel while growing up in Coos Bay. It was a lifelong passion that filled the closets and spare rooms of his homes over the years. In 2002, he showed up at the Columbia River Maritime Museum with six hand trucks used a halfcentury ago by longshoremen. He also brought dozens of posters of shipping vessels that had long been scrapped. Clemson told the museum he had a lot more that they might find interesting at his Beaverton home. More and more of Clemson’s finds have arrived over the years. The boxes are piling up, each one with an inventory of what’s inside. “At this point, due to a lack of time and resources, we’ve had to
just process it that way,” said Jeff Smith, head curator. Smith said the museum wasn’t sure of their significance at first, but soon realized that Clemson’s donations — now at about 1,000 different items — document a specific period of time when United States shipping was at its height in the mid-20th century. “It’s global in scope, it’s local in significance and it’s comprehensive,” Smith said. “If it had a ship on it, John collected it.” The now 84-year-old Clemson spent his working life at Oregon ports as a longshoreman, and then as a supercargo, the overseer of a ship’s goods while in transit. After he retired, Clemson kept traveling and took trips with his wife on cruise ships, often dining with the captain and getting the menus signed. He kept glass trays, matchbooks, Zippo lighters and every other imaginable cruise ship souvenir. Clemson’s second wife, Bernice Clemson, said when they were in port, while on a cruise, the antique shops always caught his attention. “He’d say, ‘I’ll see you back at the SEE TREASURES | A8
Medical pot shops get added scrutiny BY CHAD GARLAND The Associated Press
SALEM— A line of patients forms in the lobby of a medical marijuana shop called Cherry City Compassion as a worker checks IDs, enters names into a computer system and performs other duties required under a new state law. The extra scrutiny is new to these holders of Oregon medical marijuana cards waiting to enter a room with medicines priced at $140 to $290 an ounce, depending on the strain, grower and other factors. Until now, medical pot shops have operated in a gray area. That’s changed under a law passed last year that legalizes medical marijuana dispensaries as long as they
apply for and are granted a license. Cherry City was among the first dispensaries approved when the state began sending out licenses March 21. So far, the state has cleared 32 of the more than 300 dispensaries that applied to sell medical pot. With the state’s imprimatur come the state’s rules. Customers can’t simply show a medical marijuana card to get in anymore. Now they also have to provide a photo ID before being buzzed through a locked door to an inner sanctum where the marijuana is kept. Security cameras record each transaction. Customer purchases are entered into store SEE SCRUTINY | A8
Mink stink could land one Brookings man in the clink The World
Comics . . . . . . . . . . A6 Puzzles . . . . . . . . . . A6 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . B1 Classifieds . . . . . . . B4
DEATHS
INSIDE
Police reports . . . . A2 What’s Up. . . . . . . . A3 South Coast. . . . . . A3 Opinion. . . . . . . . . . A4
Daloris Peterson, Dora Phyllis Thomas, Reedsport Carolyn Adams, Coos Bay Frances White, North Bend
Obituaries | A5
Setting an example
STATE
Contributed photo
An Oregon State Police photo shows mink carcasses retrieved by cleanup workers from the Port of Brookings Harbor over the weekend. A 48-year-old fishing boat captain faces felony water pollution charges after allegedly dumping the dead animals into the waterway last week.
BROOKINGS — A 48-year-old Brookings man faces felony pollution charges after he allegedly dumped thousands of pounds of skinned mink carcasses into the town’s harbor. According to Oregon State Police, a trooper from the agency’s Fish and Wildlife Division cited Charles Case for first-degree water pollution, a Class B felony. Troopers say Case, captain of the crab boat “Ann Me,” dumped more than 5,000 pounds of animal skins into Port of Brookings’ waters
between the evening of April 1 and the morning of April 2. The vessel is listed as registered to Sea Smith Inc., out of Gold Beach. Authorities say the boat’s crew also took part in the dumping. The small animals — members of the mustelid family that includes weasels and otters — are raised in farms across the northern half of the United States for their fur, are prized in the garment industry. As of 2010, Oregon was ranked third in the country for mink pelt production by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The bulk of those farms are located in the Willamette Valley.
A former undocumented girl now looks forward to college and eventually becoming a police officer. Page A5
FORECAST
BY THOMAS MORIARTY
After the Department of Environmental Quality began an investigation April 2, workers began the smelly chore of removing the skinned rodents. Wearing protective clothing and masks lined with Vick’s Vapor Rub, they managed to remove about 3,000 pounds or rotting mink over the course of the weekend. If convicted of first-degree water pollution,Case faces up to 10 years in prison. Reporter Thomas Moriarty can be reached at 541-269-1222, ext. 240, or by email at thomas.moriarty@theworldlink.com. Follow him on Twitter: @ThomasDMoriarty.
Partly sunny 60/46 Weather | A8
Wow! Classifieds now 5 Days a week!
Service you can count on... Call Valerie Today! 541-267-6278