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Lighthouse School calls off move to former call center BY CHELSEA DAVIS The World
NORTH BEND — Lighthouse School’s move has come to a sudden halt. The North Bend K-8 charter school was in the middle of updating the former ACS/Xerox call center building when school director Wade Lester said construction costs became too much to bear. The school will terminate its lease agreement with Southwest Oregon Regional Airport, he said. “It’s disappointing this late in the game,” he said. “We’ll be look-
ing at contingency plans and working with the district on where we can find a new home. “As far as the ACS building goes, it’s kaput.” The North Bend School District’s K-5 grade reconfiguration model will throw 200 more students into North Bay Elementary this fall. That population spike meant Lighthouse had to move its 220 students to a new building. The former call center was a perfect fit, though it needed to be brought up to code. The Coos County Airport District board had agreed to lease
2 die in crash north of Bandon
the building to Lighthouse for $11,000 a month for 10 years. The board also agreed to remodel the building and bring it up to code for up to $500,000; Lighthouse would have had to pay for anything above that. Airport executive director Theresa Cook said estimates came in closer to $800,000. The board approved the lease agreement two weeks ago, as well as an agreement with Tom E. Gayewski Construction Inc. to do the work. Gayewski staff were not immediately available for comment. “Their boards will have to meet
and decide they would like to terminate the agreement by a resolution,” Cook said. “Then we’ll meet to accept the (lease termination) and make a resolution to terminate the agreement.” The airport will then begin preparing the building for another tenant. “It’s unfortunate and disappointing that the charter Lighthouse School won’t be a tenant of the airport’s,” she said. “I know both parties were looking forward to seeing them in the facility.” If Lighthouse were to stay at
North Bay, the building would be crammed with 670 students this fall. Two double modulars and expensive renovations would be needed to accommodate that population influx. Lester said no matter what, the charter school will not disband. “We will continue as one K-8 charter school in a location yet to be determined,” he said in an email. “You can bet all of the folks involved will be working in a cohesive, time sensitive manner, and will do what is in the best interest SEE LIGHTHOUSE | A8
Don’t fret, you’re in good hands
THE WORLD BANDON — Two people were killed in a head-on collision Monday afternoon near Bandon. According to Oregon State Police, the crash occurred about 3:30 p.m. when a southbound Honda Accord, driven by a man from Bandon, crossed over the center line near milepost 253, striking a northbound Honda Element. Both the driver of the Accord and the driver of the Element — a woman from California — died at the scene from their injuries. Troopers are withholding the names of the victims pending notification of their families. The Oregon Department of Transportation closed the highway for about three hours, and later restricted to one lane for an hour during the investigation. The Coos County Crash Team, composed of local law enforcement agencies, the district attorney and chief deputy medical examiner, helped troopers with their investigation at the scene. State police are continuing the investigation, and have yet to determine whether the victims were wearing seatbelts.
By Lou Sennick, The World
Jaamise Huff gets some help with her finger position on the ukulele Monday morning from Lori Shanks. Huff joins about a dozen other youngsters at the Boys and Girls Club of Southwestern Oregon for an hour each week to learn to play the instrument from Shanks and others. Each student has their own ukulele and with the help of the adults (they call themselves “Auntie and Uncle”) they will be getting the help they need at their own pace to learn.The class will finish up with a small concert in August.
Pine cones are a cash crop in Deschutes BY DYLAN J. DARLING Bend Bulletin
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Deschutes. Forest officials sell permits to small collectors like Scoggin and crafts contracts, similar to those for timber sales, to larger operations, said Ryan Grim, special forest products forester for
the Bend-Fort Rock District of the Deschutes. Free permits allow a picker to collect four bushels of cones from the national forest. A bushel of cones is enough to fill a laundry
SEE CONES | A8
City to discuss library smoking ban, pot dispensary moratorium Mayor says they look for public involvement at council meetings ■
BY TIM NOVOTNY The World
COOS BAY — There are a couple of hot-button issues on the Coos Bay City Council agenda for Tuesday night. The council will
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hear from the public about a potential smoking ban around the Coos Bay Public Library, while also getting new information from staff on the medical marijuana dispensary moratorium. While not directly related to the recent banning of smoking on the downtown boardwalk, Mayor Crystal Shoji says there are some similarities. Basically, while health may play a role, it is more about
Florence Olson, Coos Bay Roger Harms, North Bend Edgar Harris, North Bend Lyle Hansen, Myrtle Point
Obituaries | A5
making the library a more enticing place to visit. According to city documents, staff relayed a request from the Library Board last month requesting an ordinance prohibiting smoking in or around the library building. They say that there have been “the regarding complaints unpleasant and unhealthy conditions of walking through those
Individual rights Supreme Court ruling on corporate religious status belittles the definition of being human. Page A4
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The Associated Press
John Scoggin collects ponderosa pine cones Thursday in the forest near LaPine.
OPINION
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama’s abrupt shift from seeking immigration legislation to pursuing a go-italone executive strategy raises expectations among immigration advocates that Obama may have trouble satisfying while setting up a clash with House Republicans who’ve already threatened to sue him. Limited in his powers to ease deportations and under pressure to crack down on a tide of Central American children entering the U.S. without their parents, Obama has only so many options to tackle an immigration conundrum complicated by a midterm election that could cost him Democratic control of the Senate. Obama on Monday blamed Republican resistance for the demise of sweeping immigration legislation and vowed to bypass Congress to patch up the system. “If Congress will not do their job, at least we can do ours,” Obama said.
BEND — Driving from his job in north Bend to his home south of La Pine, John Scoggin stops to pick up ponderosa pine cones in the Deschutes National Forest. While he enjoys doing so, he said he does it for dollars as much as for fun. He can load up four or five 42gallon trash bags full of ponderosa pine cones in a short detour. He then sells them for $5 per sack to a pine cone buyer in La Pine, earning him $20 to $25. “That’s my gas to and from work,” said Scoggin, 67, who works part time assembling display items and customer orders at Lowe’s . Scoggin is not alone in gathering pine cones. In recent years, cones have become a cash crop in the
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Obama goes it alone on immigration
basket. Bags the size that Scoggin uses hold about five bushels. If pickers want to gather more than four bushels, they must pay for a permit. The district has sold about $3,250 worth of permits this year, Grim said. The permits cost 25 cents per bushel of cones, with pickers paying a minimum of $20, good for 80 bushels, and maximum of $300 worth, good for 1,200 bushels. For the past four or five years, the district has also offered cone contracts, he said. This year it set up two contracts at 5,400 bushels apiece, for about $1.30 a bushel. The contracts are worth about $7,000 each and give the contract holder exclusive rights on picking
smoking outside of the entrance.” In addition, some say the smoke from those smoking around the building is seeping into the building. The proposed ordinance would add language to the city’s municipal code to prohibit smoking in or right around the outside of the library building.
Mostly sunny 68/58 Weather | A8
SEE SMOKING | A8