UNREST IN ST. LOUIS
FIELD OF DREAMS
Protests turn violent, A7
Oregon hoops star turns to football, B1
THURSDAY, AUGUST 14, 2014
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Smash and grabs on the rise Beyond thefts from unlocked vehicles, cops see growing trend of smashed windows ■
BY TIM NOVOTNY The World
SEE THEFTS | A8
By Alysha Beck, The World
Coos County Commissioner Bob Main, left, stands up to address Rep. Peter DeFazio at the town hall meeting Wednesday in the Coos Bay City Council chambers.
DeFazio hesitant to cheer LNG Congressman points Jordan Cove opponents to FERC process ■
BY CHELSEA DAVIS The World
COOS BAY — U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio told a Coos Bay crowd there’s nothing he can do to speed up or halt the Jordan Cove Energy Project’s approval process, no matter how much the idea of liquefied natural gas exports bothers him. DeFazio, D-Springfield, spoke to a packed Coos Bay City Council chambers Wednesday night on his town hall tour of the South Coast this week. Anti-LNG advocates tried to present research showing why Jordan Cove should not locate in the Bay Area, but DeFazio wasn’t having it. “Submit that information to the people who
are going to make the decision,” he said. “I’m not making the decision. I have no say on the decision beyond what any individual in the U.S. has.” The LNG export terminal’s approval process is “dictated by federal law,” he reminded the crowd, giving the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission the final say. FERC is expected to release a draft environmental impact statement for Jordan Cove any day, a document the Bay Area has waited years to see. “People think that means something bad, but I think it means they’re taking their time,” DeFazio said of FERC’s lengthy process. “This is a unique proposal. While others are already in refinery areas, this is unique in that aspect. It’s called a greenfield.” The majority of the U.S. House — mostly Republicans — doesn’t feel the same way. They approved the Domestic Prosperity and Global Freedom Act (H.R. 6) 266-150 in June. It’s a bill that would fast-track the U.S. Department of Energy’s LNG exports approval process.
BY CAROLYN THOMPSON The Associated Press
Oregon congressman
That bill’s passage doesn’t mean much to Jordan Cove, which already received approval to export LNG to both Free Trade Agreement and non-FTA countries. Even if it hadn’t, the facility has to be built from the ground up, which will SEE DEFAZIO | A8
Group challenges legal immunity for pesticide sprayers BY JEFF BARNARD The Associated Press
The Associated Press
Conrad Bassett-Bouchard smiles after he won the title at the National Scrabble Championships on Wednesday in Buffalo, N.Y. He led for most of the match, winning by a score of 477-350.
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20-somethings at an old-fashioned board game. “These guys have all played thousands of games on the Internet to hone their skills and meet each other before they’ve ever met in person,” said Anderson, of Croton-on-Hudson, who SEE SCRABBLE | A8
William Mason, Coos Bay Douglas Fletcher, North Bend Don Adams, Charleston Harold Conrad, North Bend
Obituaries | A5
GRANTS PASS — A group of people whose families, homes and pets came under a cloud of herbicides meant for neighboring timberlands is challenging the constitutionality of the Oregon Right to Farm and Forest Act. The lawsuit filed Wednesday in Curry County Circuit Court in Gold Beach argues that immunity the law grants to pesticide sprayers treating farms and forests violates the Oregon Constitution’s guarantee of the right to seek a legal remedy to violations of property rights. “If you are a commercial farmer and your corps are sprayed, you can sue the person who sprayed your crops for damages,” said attorney Chris Winter of Crag Law Center in Portland, which is representing the plaintiffs. “But if you are just a regular person, if you get sprayed, or your pets get sprayed, you can’t sue the person who sprayed those pesticides.” The law carries an extra deterrent to lawsuits, by awarding legal fees to defendants who claim immunity, Winter said. The lawsuit was brought by 17 residents of the Cedar Valley area north of Gold Beach, who were victims last fall of herbicides meant for neighboring timberlands. People reported respiratory problems, headaches, balance
Education self-assessment
STATE
Meller, from Bedford, is 14. Tournament favorite and fivetime champion Nigel Richards, 47, described by one competitor as the Michael Jordan of the game, finished a surprising 16th. “All these younger players are avid online players,” said Will Anderson, 29, trying to explain the success of the tournament’s
DEATHS
INSIDE
U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio
John Burns, plaintiff
Oregon man crowned Scrabble champ
Police reports . . . . A2 40 Stories . . . . . . . A2 South Coast. . . . . . A3 Opinion. . . . . . . . . . A4
about the pipeline and the impact on property owners. I’m not a big fan of people pre-empting someone’s private property.”
“We have the right to defend our families and our private property from chemical trespass.”
W-I-N-N-E-R! BUFFALO N.Y. — Conrad Bassett-Bouchard started his championship Scrabble game Wednesday with the word “zilch” and finished with the opposite — the $10,000 prize and the title of national Scrabble champion. The 24-year-old player, from Portland, Oregon, beat 29-yearold Jason Li, of Montreal, in the final round of the five-day 25th National Scrabble Championships played at the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center. Bassett-Bouchard, the tournament’s second seed, said he knew luck was with him when he drew a wild-card blank tile and an “s” on his first seven-tile rack. He led for most of the match, winning by a score of 477-350. Li, the 18th seed, said, “I was playing catch-up right to the end.” Li had the letters to play an obscure but potentially highscoring word but didn’t see it, creating a buzz among experienced onlookers. “He’s going to be kicking himself for missing ‘gramarye,”’ tournament director John Chew said after the play. Chew, co-president of the North American Scrabble Players Association, the event’s sponsor, called Li’s presence in the final round the biggest surprise in the tournament, which saw an emerging group of younger players edge out the old guard. Six of the top 10 finishers are in their 20s, and one, Mack
“I’ve had some concerns
Three years after it was created, state’s Education Investment Board evaluates where it stands. Page A5
FORECAST
COOS BAY — Thieves who target vehicles in the Bay Area have, unfortunately, been as much a part of summer as picnics and fireworks. But, this year something about the way they are breaking the law is unique. Coos Bay police Sgt. Mike Schaffer says that, over the last three or four months, they have been seeing a more aggressive and risky kind of car clout. “Typically, our UEMV’s (unauthorized entry of a motor vehicle) are where they are looking for easy targets, you know, easy opportunities, where the vehicle is unlocked,” he said Wednesday. “Typically, they don’t want to make noise, but here, they are in and they’re out.” Another change in how the thieves are committing their crimes is that they are not afraid to break-in in broad daylight. Police in North Bend and Coos Bay have seen these types of smash-and-grabs in different neighborhoods and different times of day. A Coos Bay officer’s family member even became a victim while at work, in a public location, in the middle of the day. “We’ve got some leads that we are working on,” Schaffer said. “We had a recent case where we got some photos of the vehicle, so
problems, swelling of eyes and hands, and stomach cramps. The lawsuit seeks a ruling that the immunity granted to pesticide applicators is unconstitutional. It also asks a judge to bar defendants from claiming immunity and to award unspecified damages. “We have the right to defend our families and our private property from chemical trespass,” John Burns, an assistant chief of the local volunteer fire department and one of the plaintiffs, said in a written statement. “Nobody should have to live through what we’ve experienced over the past several months. These irresponsible practices are making us sick, killing our pets and interfering with the use of our land.” The lawsuit was filed against the pesticide applicator, Pacific Air Research Inc. of White City; Crook owners timberlands Timberlands LLC of Coos Bay and Joseph Kaufman of Gold Beach; the Barnes and Associates logging company of Roseburg; and Pro Forestry Consulting LLC of Coos Bay. Defendants did not immediately return telephone calls seeking comment. In April, the Oregon Department of Agriculture determined the Pacific Air Research helicopter pilot “more than likely” allowed herbicides to fall over the
Partly cloudy 68/55 Weather | A8
SEE HERBICIDES | A8