ON TO GAME 6
SUICIDE BLAST
Blazers miss chance to close out Rockets, B4
Chinese officials call it terrorist attack, A7
THURSDAY, MAY 1, 2014
Serving Oregon’s South Coast Since 1878
The tall ships are here
By Lou Sennick, The World
Daisy Arquero, on the deck of the Hawaiian Chieftain, tosses a line to Jas Malidore as they tie up to the Coos Bay City Dock on Wednesday morning. The tall ship arrived a day earlier than scheduled, with the Lady Washington following into port about an hour later. The boats will take Thursday off for maintenance and crew training and will begin their schedule of activities Friday as planned.
Walk-on tours begin Friday THE WORLD Once again, giant sails have been unfurled over Coos Bay. The Lady Washington and Hawaiian Chieftain, operated by the Grays Harbor Historical Seaport Authority, will be docked on the Coos Bay waterfront through May 11 as part of Tall Ship Days. The Lady Washington, a 112-foot
replica of a 1700s trading ship, has been visiting the Bay Area for more than 15 years. New this year, the ships are planning to offer visitors the opportunity to go aloft in the rigging in a harness, under the supervision of crew members. The ships will hold walk-on tours May 2, 3 and 6-11, and will be offering sails during mock cannon battles on
the bay. The Hawaiian Chieftain will hold adventure and evening sails May 3, 4 and 7, and the Lady Washington will offer the same May 10-11. An organized pub crawl will be held the second weekend. For information on prices, times and ancillary activities, take a look at What’s Up! on Page A3 inside this edition of The World.
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Josephine County will vote on public safety tax GRANTS PASS (AP) — For the third time in two years, Josephine County will vote on whether to raise property taxes to pay for public safety. This time, supporters hope to overcome the distrust of government that has sunk past levies by seeking a smaller tax increase focused on restoring full capacity at the jail, so criminals won’t be back on the street soon after their arrest. “This challenge has to be overcome to keep this community a nice place to live,” said Jay Meredith, city finance director and president of the group Securing Our Safety, which put the $8 million per year levy on the ballot. “I think enough people are fed up with what we have experienced over time to say that’s not how we want to live. We don’t want to live in a community that can’t take care of folks committing crimes against us.” Jim Rafferty is co-founder of the group We’re for Constitutional Government, owns a business selling hardwoods and cabinet hardware, and ran unsuccessfully for county commissioner in 2006. He said people cannot afford the higher taxes, which amount to $238 a year on a $200,000 house. Josephine County has a lot of retired people on fixed incomes, wages are low, and jobs are hard to come by. “If you can afford it, why don’t you go ahead and pay your share over and above the property tax?” he said. “Why not? They’ll take donations.” Josephine County once received enough money from federal logging revenues that it did not have to charge property taxes. That all came crashing down in the 1990s, when the federal government cut logging on federal timberlands to protect the northern spotted owl, salmon and clean water. Since then, one subsidy after another has been provided by Congress to make up for the lost money, but in recent years, the amount has diminished, with no guarantee it will be renewed. Timber counties throughout southwestern Oregon face similar funding problems. Only Lane County has SEE JOSEPHINE | A8
The World
COOS BAY — As darkness fell on Coos Bay on Wednesday evening, the residents of Pine Avenue unfolded lawn chairs and broke out bottles of water, trading stories as their faces were illuminated by flames flickering at the end of the block. By Alysha Beck, The World They weren’t gathered for a Coos Bay fire Battalion Chief Dean Martin watches as a controlled burn is extinguished in a vacant house used spring barbecue, but rather as a firefighting training exercise Wednesday. the destruction of a home that had sat empty for decades. The fire that consumed Andrew Slack 1580 Pine Ave. that night was with the Coos a rare chance for the men and Bay Fire women of the Coos Bay Fire Department Department to hone their uses a chainsaw skills on a fully involved to cut a hole into structure fire. the attic of a “It’s probably been four vacant house years since the last one,” said the fire departBattalion Chief Dean Martin, who added that he’s been to ment used for a about six burn-to-learn exerpractice burn cises since he joined the Wednesday in department 10 years ago. Coos Bay. Martin said the young firefighters working the Pine SEE BURN | A8
Diana Pearson, Reedsport Howard Neideigh, Myrtle Point
Obituaries | A5
NATION
Oil tanker fire
DEATHS
Sports . . . . . . . . . . . B1 Comics . . . . . . . . . . B5 Puzzles . . . . . . . . . . B5 Classifieds . . . . . . . B6
GRANTS PASS (AP) — A city in the heart of Southern Oregon’s marijuana-growing country is asking a judge to decide whether the new state law authorizing the sale of medical marijuana through dispensaries complies with the state and U.S. constitutions. A lawsuit was filed Wednesday in Josephine County Circuit Court by the city of Cave Junction. It names as defendants the state of Oregon, the governor and the Oregon Health Authority. Cave Junction city attorney Ryan Kirchoff said the city wants to resolve the conflict between federal law, which prohibits the sale of marijuana, and the state law authorizing the sale of medical marijuana. He notes that like many other cities, Cave Junction prohibits issuing a business license to anyone violating federal law. “It’s not about the politics of marijuana,” Kirchoff said. “It’s about the rule of law and the status of cities and counties and institutions, many of which are home-rule entities that would like to manage this themselves, but are stuck with the inevitable conflict.” Like Cave Junction, many local governments have federal grants and city charters requiring them to comply with federal law and ordinances denying business licenses to anyone violating federal law, Kirchoff said. The lawsuit argues that federal law pre-empts state law, under the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution, so the city does not have to follow the state law on marijuana dispensaries. The state law also lacks specific language pre-empting local law, which is required by the state constitution, the lawsuit adds. The Oregon Department of Justice has not seen the lawsuit and had no comment, spokeswoman Kristina Edmunson said. The Cave Junction City Council voted Monday night against adopting a moratorium, preserving its legal
Train carrying oil derails and plunges into the James River in Virginia. There were no injuries reported in the derailment. Page A6
FORECAST
BY THOMAS MORIARTY
INSIDE
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Cave Junction sues over pot dispensaries
Burn-tolearn in Coos Bay
Police reports . . . . A2 What’s Up. . . . . . . . A3 South Coast. . . . . . A3 Opinion. . . . . . . . . . A4
theworldlink.com
It’s time to dine! Friday, May 3 – Saturday, May 10 Local restaurants will be featuring special menu items and special pricing during the upcoming Restaurant Week.
Sunny 73/58 Weather | A8
Oregon Bay Area
RESTAURANT
Experience all Coos Bay, Charleston and North Bend restaurants have to offer during this exciting week. Visit www.theworldlink.com/hungrybay for a list of participating restaurants.
WEEK
#hungrybay