PRACTICE BEGINS
VIOLENCE CONTINUES
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TUESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2014
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Murder, suicide at the beach THE WORLD
BY CHELSEA DAVIS The World
COOS BAY — Veresen Inc., Jordan Cove’s parent company, has been thrown into a legal scuffle with another company that says it has the right to a stake — up to 20 percent — in the liquefied natural gas export terminal. Veresen Inc., a Canadian energy infrastructure company, was named as a respondent in an application by Energy Fundamentals Group Inc. in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on Aug. 14. EFG is a “sustainable energy investment and advisory services company,” according to its website. EFG says that in a June 27, 2005, letter agreement between itself and Fort Chicago Energy Partners LP (Veresen’s predecessor), EFG was given the option to acquire up to 20 percent of Veresen’s equity interest in the Jordan Cove liquefied natural gas terminal and its related assets. At that time, though, Jordan Cove was winding its way through the permitting process as an LNG import terminal. In 2009, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission gave the Jordan Cove import terminal the go-ahead, but U.S. natural gas prices plummeted soon after. The project changed course to an export terminal in 2012, and FERC vacated the import terminal’s approval. In May last year, Jordan Cove filed its application with FERC again, this time as an LNG export terminal. Veresen says that according to the 2005 agreement, EFG’s option
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A dancer’s sole The World’s Chelsea Davis puts her tap shoes back on for classes at Pacific ■
BY CHELSEA DAVIS The World
COOS BAY — I hated my first dance class. At only 8 years old, I was already years behind my peers when I stepped into the studio at Robert Thomas Dancenter in Ames, Iowa. I fumbled through steps everyone else knew by heart and instantly felt out of place. I hopped into my mom’s car after class and burst into tears. But she didn’t let me quit. I went to a second class, then a third, and all of a sudden I was catching on faster than the other dancers, building my strength and flexibility until I wanted to be front and center, gobbling up every second of choreography my teachers threw my way. I kept up that drive through high school, spending hours in the studio, tapping until the taps almost flew off my shoes and my toes nearly burst through the box
York City this summer after extensive dance training nationwide since he graduated from Marshfield three years ago. ■ Nick Peregrino just renewed his contract with BalletFleming in Philadelphia and recently signed with The Suzanne Farrell Ballet in Washington, D.C. (Peregrino’s nephew starts dance classes at Pacific this fall). ■ This summer, six Pacific dancers attended intensives in San Rafael, Calif.; Lindon, Utah; Philadelphia; and Beaverton. All have their sights locked on professional dance careers. Dance doesn’t just teach you technique and poise (I was teased Lindsay Haney, center, and students (left to right) Abby Wilson, Chelsea Davis, Iris in elementary school for walking Schrag, and Kira Bjernerud tap across the floor in the Tap 2 and 3 class. with a ram-rod straight back). I learned respect, discipline, Pacific School of Dance and of my pointe shoes (it’s true: teamwork and creativity in the Ballet are not small-town. The dancers’ feet are gnarly). I was studio. dancers graduating from the good, but I knew I wasn’t desSome dancers learn these lesschool hold their own in intentined to be a dancer. sons the hard way. sives and companies across the This spring, I helped out in a When I was 9, I landed a part nation: couple classes at Pacific School in The Nutcracker: Clara’s of Dance in Coos Bay: a prepara■ Kim Prosa filled in as Natalie friend. It’s a small role, one tory class full of giggling, Portman’s body double in “Black beginners always get, but I was rambunctious 3-, 4- and 5-year- Swan” and is now launching the ready for my few minutes of olds and a tap class of sassy 8- to Humanistics Dance Company, fame. 12-year-olds who can swing their what she sees as a merger of But a few weeks before the hips better than Shakira. It was dance and peace-building. show, I got chickenpox. My immediately obvious that there ■ Trevor Miles was signed by are professionals in the making. BLOC Talent Agency in New SEE DANCERS | A8
Plan would upgrade Campaign for legal pot announces $2.3M in TV ads schools at risk in quake SALEM (AP) — The campaign behind an Oregon ballot measure that would legalize marijuana for adults said Monday it will buy $2.3 million worth of television advertising in what is shaping up to be a lopsided debate. The former head of addictions and mental health for the Oregon Health Authority urges voters to support marijuana legalization in a YouTube video that proponents say will form the basis for their first television commercial. Richard Harris says marijuana “is a pretty benign drug” compared with drugs like alcohol and heroin, and efforts to control it through the criminal justice system have failed. Support from addiction experts like Harris can help legalization advocates rebut charges that decriminalizing the drug would fuel addiction problems. Marijuana has been legalized in Colorado and Washington state. Other mental health experts and the law enforcement community
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oppose legalization, but nobody with deep pockets has stepped forward to make the case against it. The proposal will appear on the November ballot as Measure 91. It would allow adults 21 and older to use marijuana recreationally and give the Oregon Liquor Control Commission the job of creating a regulated system to distribute the drug. Peter Zuckerman, a spokesman for the Yes on 91 campaign, said the ad will first appear on the Internet,at the start of online videos. Records submitted by television stations to the Federal Commission Communications indicate the ads will start airing on broadcast stations on Sept. 22 in Portland and Eugene, and a few weeks later in Medford and Bend. The records show the campaign has reserved at least $1.3 million worth of television time out of the $2.3 million the group says it’s spending. The records exclude cable television.
Bud Baird, Coos Bay Mary Ann Desrosiers, North Bend Raymond Crooks, Coos Bay Norman Atteberry, Reedsport Arlene Olson, North Bend Royal Harlacher, Lakeside
SALEM (AP) — The leader of the Oregon Senate says he will propose a dramatic increase in state grants to make improvements at public schools at risk of collapse from powerful earthquakes. Geologists say a magnitude9.0 earthquake is inevitable in Oregon, posing serious risks to roads, utilities and buildings. The last quake of that size in Oregon was in 1700, and both the public and scientists have grown more aware in recent decades about the risk of the next one. A 2007 study found that more than 1,000 Oregon school buildings have a high risk of collapse during a major earthquake. But the state has granted money to only 25 locations for seismic upgrades, the Salem Statesman Journal reported Monday. The study of statewide seismic risk estimated that making all the school buildings in Oregon seismically sound would cost nearly $10 billion.
Murray Day, Reedsport Emilio Santana, North Bend MaryAnn Wilson, Coquille
Obituaries | A5
FORECAST
Veresen denies financial firm has stake in Jordan Cove
Photos by Alysha Beck, The World
Tap instructor Lindsay Haney demonstrates tap moves for the Tap 2 and 3 class at the Pacific School of Dance in Coos Bay on Tuesday evening.
DEATHS
Two men are dead following a shooting at Bastendorf Beach early Tuesday morning. The Coos County Sheriff’s Office identified the suspected shooter as 34-year-old Zachary Levi Brimhall, of Dillard. Deputies found Brimhall dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound in a vehicle. The other shooting victim was not named Tuesday morning. Sheriff’s deputies responded after getting several 911 calls about 1 a.m. reporting multiple gunshots heard in the Bastendorf Beach area. They arrived and found at least five vehicles had bullet holes. They also found the victim, an adult white male, shot to death in a vehicle in a parking lot at the south jetty. According to Coos County District Attorney Paul Frasier, it appeared the victim had been shot while he was sleeping. According to Frasier, preliminary investigation suggested Brimhall had fired several shots from inside his vehicle while driving on the road by the beach area. Deputies found several other firearms in his vehicle. Investigators have no idea of motive, and Frasier said there was no known connection between the two men. Authorities are currently trying to locate Ray Brimhall, 58, the father of the suspected shooter.
President Peter Senate Courtney of Salem said he would release details of his proposal Tuesday, and it would involve borrowing by the state to finance the grants. At a budget committee meeting last week, Sen. Richard Devlin of Tualatin said there is talk of a proposal for seismic upgrades to schools ranging from $200 million to $300 million. “That would be an entirely new responsibility that hasn’t been done before,” Devlin said. Courtney’s proposal comes as the Legislature considers spending $250 million on a three-year project for seismic upgrades to the state Capitol. It faces political pressure amid the perception that lawmakers are prioritizing themselves ahead of children. If both measures passed in 2015, they would eat up a sizable chunk of the state’s bonding capacity, which is set by the state treasurer’s office and amounted to $781 million in fiscal year 2013.
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