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MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2013
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CB schools are not aging gracefully BY CHELSEA DAVIS The World
COOS BAY — Coos Bay’s schools are showing their age. The Coos Bay School District Facilities Task Force formed in August 2011 to start a dialogue with the community about its schools and what they should look like. Task force chair Ariann Lyons said the biggest obstacle is the community understanding the state of the facilities. “We have some facilities that have really served us well, but they’ve far exceeded their life expectancy,” Lyons said. “No matter how well we maintain or upkeep, they don’t function as well
for the district. Some buildings function great, but some, like Blossom Gulch, are standing on their last leg.” Walking through Blossom Gulch Elementary Thursday morning, Coos Bay schools maintenance supervisor Joel Smallwood knelt down, examining the slightly warped hallways and floors. The 59-year-old building was built over the former Mill Slough, which was filled with material prior to construction. Over the years, parts of the school have begun to shift, sink and crack. But structural engineers have come in several times to evaluate the school’s integrity — most recently in 2007 — and found that the building is in no risk of collapse. “There are no problems that are
immediately hazardous to people’s welfare,” he said. “There’s no imminent worry of collapse. The major issues won’t become issues until the day they do. “As it settles, doors stop closing, windows get bound up ... as the floor sinks the sewer lines sink so it doesn’t flow. At one point, it started stretching electric lines through the building, so it’s been 75 percent rewired at one point when we started losing power.” Lyons’ goal is for the task force and community to develop a “cohesive community vision” to address the infrastructure of the facilities, as well as funding and reconfiguration. SEE SCHOOLS | A8
By Alysha Beck, The World
Electrical panels in the Marshfield High School cafeteria are original to the building, built in 1938.
Middle East the big topic at UN talks
Fun was had by all Festivals ‘important for smaller towns, for morale’
BY JULIE PACE The Associated Press NEW YORK — President Barack Obama opens meetings at the United Nations with diplomatic opportunities on three vexing issues: Iran’s disputed nuclear program, Syria’s chemical weapons use, and elusive peace between Israel and the Palestinians. All three pathways are fraught with potential pitfalls and hinge on cooperation from often unreliable nations. Obama also risks being branded as naive and misguided if the efforts fail, particularly in Syria, where he’s used the prospect of diplomacy to put off a military strike in retaliation for a chemical weapons attack. Still, the recent developments mark a significant shift on a trio of issues that have long proved problematic for Obama at the United Nations. His former Iranian counterpart used the annual U.N. General Assembly meetings as a venue for fiery, anti-American speeches. Failed Middle East peace talks led the Palestinians to seek statehood recognition at the U.N. despite staunch American objections. And the Obama administration has been stymied on Syria at the U.N. Security Council due to intractable Russian opposition. But this year, Iran has a new leader who is making friendly overtures toward Obama, raising the prospect of a meeting at the United Nations. U.S.brokered peace talks between the Israelis and Pales-
BY CHELSEA DAVIS The World
COOS BAY — Festival-goers swarmed downtown Coos Bay this weekend, chowing down on food from local vendors and enjoying live entertainment. Bay Area Fun Festival chair Cindi Miller launched the event 39 years ago. The festival, themed “Come Make the Scene” this year, brought people downtown to simply enjoy. “I got the idea that we needed to have a party, something fun for the community that was affordable for families, a place where they could have a good time, laugh, giggle,” Miller said. Five years later, the festival became paired with the Prefontaine Memorial Run, which, at its first race, saw 400 runners. Now, about 1,200 participate in the 10K, high school 5K and 2-mile fun walk every year, said Bob Huggins, executive director of the run. Huggins said while the run and the festival are two separate organizations, they feed off of each other, Photos by Lou Sennick, The World bringing thousands to the South Members of the local the Oregon Army National Guard unit, 1st Battalion, 186th Infantry, Coast. march in the Fun Festival Parade on Saturday. The unit scheduled its weekend duty this “The fun festival itself is a commumonth to coincide with the Fun Fest so they could participate throughout the weekend. nity celebration,” he said. “Most towns on the coast have all sorts of Four youngsters joined celebrations to attract tourists. We hundreds of others along plan the Pre Run around the event the Fun Festival Parade that already existed because lots of route waiting for their people are already coming in to town.” chance to get some candy The festival adds something new thrown to the crowd from every year and people always come back, Miller said. a passing float. See more “It’s grown from an event when the photos from the Fun economy was down and it’s gotten Festival in a gallery at bigger and bigger every year,” she theworldlink.com. said. The weekend was packed with vendors, a food court, tractor show, live music, beer garden, a parade and more. “The more people are involved in it, the more variety of things that people can do,” she said. “It’s a great thing.”
SEE TALKS | A8
Navy Yard shootings
Obama: ‘We’re going to have to change’ BY JESSICA GRESKO The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama memorialized the victims of the Washington Navy Yard shooting as patriots but also individuals — one with a talent for fixing cars,another who coached softball and yet another who loved hockey and her cats. It’s not enough to cry over their deaths, Obama said. “If we really want to honor these 12 men and women, if we really want to be a country where we can go to work and go to school and walk our streets free from senseless violence without so many lives being stolen by a bullet from a gun, then we’re going to have to change,” the president said. Speaking Sunday at the city’s Marine Barracks, just blocks away from where the shootings happened a week ago Monday, Obama called on Americans not to give up on trying to change gun laws that he argued are to blame for an epidemic of violence. Gun control measures Obama had backed failed to
SEE FUN FEST | A8
Church suicide bombing At least 78 people have been killed in Pakistan when a suicide bomber detonated an explosive in a church. More than 100 others were wounded.
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