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THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 2014
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2 children dead, 1 critically injured in trailer fire BY THOMAS MORIARTY The World
By Thomas Moriarty, The World
Oregon State Police arson investigators change out of protective suits after examining a trailer gutted by a fire that killed two people early Wednesday morning at Rivers Edge RV park in Coquille.
COQUILLE — Tragedy struck early Wednesday morning when a fire ripped through a trailer at a Coquille RV park, claiming the lives of two young boys. According to Coos County District Attorney Paul Frasier, the preliminary determination is that 13-year-old Christopher Thorp and his 8-year-old brother Grayson died of smoke inhalation. The boys had been spending the night with their grandmother, 59year-old Virginia Jennings, in her travel trailer at Rivers Edge RV park off state Highway 42. Another one of Jennings’ grandchildren, 7-yearold Caden Teddleton of Coquille, was also staying in the trailer. About 1:16 a.m., dispatchers took a report of a fire at the loca-
Rotarians raise funds, eyebrows
tion. First responders found the trailer fully engulfed in flames. Jennings had managed to escape, and Caden was pulled from the trailer by neighbors before the fire grew out of control. Christopher and Grayson never made it out. Frasier was called out shortly after firefighters discovered their bodies. Standing by a police cordon after emergency personnel removed the boys’ remains from the trailer, the veteran prosecutor didn’t mince words. “It’s ugly,” Frasier said. Within hours, the number of investigating agencies grew to include the Coos County Medical Examiner’s Office, Myrtle Point Police Department and Coos Bay Police Department, along with Oregon State Police and an investi-
gator from the State Fire Marshal’s Office. As of Wednesday afternoon, Caden remained in critical condition in the burn unit of Portland’s Legacy Emanuel Hospital. Jennings was treated and released at Coquille Valley Hospital. State arson investigators spent most of the morning in protective suits, sifting through debris inside the trailer. Frasier said their presence has been requested “in an abundance of caution,” but the cause of the fire is still under investigation. Anyone with information is asked to call the Coquille Police Department at 541-396-2114. 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.
Seeing green
BY TIM NOVOTNY The World
COOS BAY — Within Rotary International, a global service organization, are local Rotary clubs that serve their communities while also raising funds for projects all over the world. They fund those projects through contributions to the Rotary Foundation. Created in 1917 for the purpose of doing good in the world, Rotary officials say the Foundation is the financial engine that makes Rotary work. This week the Coos Bay-North Bend Rotary Club, one of several Rotary clubs on the South Coast, raised eyebrows within the organization by contributing $26,000 just this past year alone. Dell Gray, a past district governor within Rotary, made the trip over from Roseburg to help underscore the significance of that donation. “I have been in Rotary since 1972, and in all that time I have never, ever seen a club achieve this level of contributions to the Rotary Foundation,” Gray said. After a Rotarian contributes $1,000 to the Foundation they earn the title of Paul Harris Fellow. Harris was the Chicago attorney who created Rotary back in 1905. Every $1,000 contribution beyond that is also commemorated within the organization.
By Alysha Beck, The World
More online: See the photo gallery of summer flowers at Shore Acres online at theworldlink.com.
Lijun Wang snaps photos of the lily pond at the Shore Acres gardens Wednesday. Wang and her husband, from Florida, were visiting the gardens on a trip across Oregon.
SEE ROTARY | A8
Fewer pot measures in Oregon could improve chances
Speaker Boehner says House plans to sue Obama BY DAVID ESPO The Associated Press
BY CHAD GARLAND The Associated Press
“The prospects for
SALEM — With the deadline looming to submit petition signatures to get measures on Oregon’s November ballot, two marijuana-legalization initiatives seem unlikely to make the cut, which could improve the odds for the one that remains. During the last several months, pot-legalization advocates in Oregon have been collecting signatures to put up to three measures before voters. But the sponsor behind two of those measures said last week there’s little hope his proposals will collect the signatures needed to make the ballot by the July 3 deadline. “There’s no way that we could possibly qualify,” Paul Stanford,
the measure increase with the idea that there’s only going to be one of them on the ballot.”
Oklahoma quakes Ted McNair, Coquille
Obituaries | A5
Residents seek answers on rising number of earthquakes that might be connected to oil and gas drilling. Nation | A6
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WASHINGTON — The House will vote next month on legislation authorizing a campaign-season lawsuit accusing President Barack Obama of failing to carry out the laws passed by Congress, Speaker John Boehner announced on Wednesday. In a memo distributed to House members, Boehner, R-Ohio, accused Obama of “aggressive unilateralism” and said if left unchecked, it would give the president “king-like authority at the The Associated Press expense of the American people House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio meets with reporters on Capitol Hill in and their elected legislators.” Washington on Tuesday. Boehner said he’s “all in” to remain as House speaker in the White House press secretary new Congress that will meet next year. Josh Earnest dismissed any suggestion that the president has failed to his authority as the president of the suit in the courts, Boehner’s act within the law in issuing execu- United States to take these steps on announcement guarantees creation tive orders or taking other actions. behalf of the American people,” he of yet another political struggle “We feel completely confident that told reporters. Whatever the outcome of the the president was operating within SEE BOEHNER | A8
Len Bergstein Lobbyist and political consultant
the pot-legalization advocate behind the two measures, told The Associated Press on Wednesday. Stanford, who runs the Campaign for Reformation and Restoration of Hemp in Oregon, SEE MEASURES | A8
Mostly cloudy 65/57 Weather | A8
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