DUCK WEATHER
BUDGET BATTLE
Rain doesn’t slow down Oregon, B1
Government on the brink of a shutdown, A7
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2013
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Standing up for the bay BY THOMAS MORIARTY The World
COOS BAY — Stiff winds and choppy water weren’t enough to stop the third annual Stand Up! For the Bay paddle in Coos Bay on Saturday. Approximately 40 standBy Alysha Beck, The World up paddleboarders, kayakers Kayakers paddle in the Coos Bay channel towards the Eastside Bridge Saturday morning as part of the and canoers paddled into the Stand Up! For the Bay event, hosted by the Surfrider Foundation’s Coos Bay chapter and the South Slough wind up Isthmus Slough to National Estuarine Research Reserve. clean up the bay as part of the
Special session begins today
2013 celebration of National Estuaries Day. The Coos Bay chapter of the Surfrider Foundation — which began with the first Stand Up! event in 2011 — partnered this year with the South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve. Coos Bay Surfrider Chairman Carmen Matthews said the numbers were about twothirds of those of last years
event, which drew around 60 participants. But he was still pleased with the results of the cleanup, which was a new addition this year. “We carried it all back on paddleboards and kayaks,” Matthews said, standing next to a large stack of debris piled on the Coos Bay Boardwalk. SEE BAY | A8
Rain, wind pound coast
BY JONATHAN J. COOPER The Associated Press
SALEM — Ten months after Gov. John Kitzhaber published a budget that called for cuts in public employee benefits, he may be about to get his wish. Lawmakers return to Salem on Monday for a special session Kitzhaber called after his on-again off-again negotiations with legislative leaders finally bore fruit. On the agenda is a hodgepodge of issues that the governor hopes will be the magic formula to get enough votes from legislators. It includes the pension cuts, along with a variety of tax changes. And, surprising many, an agricultural bill to sweeten the pot for Republicans. The governor and his allies have promised relief for longstruggling schools — more cash in the short term, and lower pension costs in the long term. But the plan has a line of politically connected critics urging lawmakers to vote no, and its success is not a foregone conclusion. “This is really an imperative of our economy,” Kitzhaber told a panel of lawmakers on Friday. Oregon can’t boost high school and college graduation with the large classrooms and shortened school years that have become more common in many of the state’s school districts, he said. Nearly a year ago, Kitzhaber, a Democrat, proposed a state budget that relied on savings from scaling back pension benefits for government workers. Democrats in the House and Senate, without Republican support, approved pension cuts that provided roughly half the savings Kitzhaber sought. The move angered publicemployee unions, which are the biggest financial supporters for Democratic candidates. Kitzhaber — backed by business groups, education advocates, local governments and Republican lawmakers — said he’d keep fighting for more. Tense negotiations went nowhere, one last-ditch effort died in the Senate and lawmakers adjourned in July without SEE SESSION | A8
By Alysha Beck, The World
A man captures a wave crashing against the cliffs at Shore Acres State Park on Sunday as the first major storm system this year hits into the South Coast. The storm is expected to continue into Monday.
Storm causes flooding, power outages BY THOMAS MORIARTY The World
COOS BAY — Downtown Coos Bay roadways flooded on the second night of fall 2013’s first storm, which also caused a road obstruction north of Gardiner for the second time. Sunday evening the Oregon Department of Transportation was reporting hazardous debris on U.S. Highway 101 south of Coos Bay at mileposts 241 and 250, and north of the McCullough Bridge at mileposts 220 and 233. According to ODOT, fallen trees also obstructed a five-mile section of U.S. Highway 101 north of Gardiner between the 204 and 209 mileposts. The same section of highway was also affected by fallen trees Saturday night. By late Sunday afternoon, pools of standing water had begun to accumulate in front of the Egyptian Theatre and at intersections on Commercial, Central and Anderson avenues. The storm — which is being
propelled by a recent typhoon in the eastern Pacific Ocean — overwhelmed city storm drains in both Coos Bay and North Bend when it made landfall Saturday evening. By 9 p.m., the Coos Bay Police Department was handling multiple cases of high water on roadways throughout downtown and Empire. Police and public works officials began detouring northbound U.S. Highway 101 traffic on First Street onto Ingersoll Avenue. North Bend had plenty of flooding problems of its own to deal with. By 8 p.m., officers were reporting more than a foot of water on U.S. Highway 101 near The Mill Casino-Hotel. According to Pacific Power, more than 2,000 of its Coos Bay customers lost power during the night because of fallen trees. As of Monday morning, the utility was reporting no largescale outages in the state and Coos Bay and North Bend schools are open as normal.
By Lou Sennick, The World
About the time of high tide in downtown Coos Bay on Saturday night, northbound lanes of U.S. Highway 101 had flooding problems, including the detour set up between Ingersoll and Elrod streets. High water around the McDonald’s Restaurant and Umpqua Bank flooded both lanes of traffic and had to be shut down. Other high water areas in town included in front of The Egyptian Theater and several spots SEE STORM | A8 along the bay near Koos Bay Boulevard.
Oregon officials preparing for federal shutdown
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income families could be affected. “It’s all about cash flow,” Brian DeForest, the state’s deputy chief financial officer, told the Statesman Journal newspaper. “We can endure a shutdown of about 30 days.” The potential impact was being assessed by officials from the Department of Administrative Services, the Oregon State Treasury, Department of Human Services and Oregon Health Authority.
The human services agency oversees welfare and food stamps, which depend on annual amounts from Congress. The federal transfers to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, as they are known officially, are not made daily. The health agency oversees Medicaid, the joint federal and state program of health insurance for low-income people. Medicaid
Firefighter competition Eastern Oregon firefighter qualifies for national event in Las Vegas after competing in a team relay event in Pendleton.
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FORECAST
need to plan for a “prolonged” shutdown. House Republicans on Saturday moved the government closer to a shutdown, insisting that President Barack Obama’s health care law be delayed a year. Millions of dollars for Oregon programs could be affected if Congress fails to resolve its budget deadlock. State programs such as Medicaid would be shielded, but welfare and food stamps for low-
STATE
INSIDE
SALEM (AP) — State officials are evaluating what impact a partial shutdown of the federal government would have for Oregon. State agencies were asked this week to submit information about cash flows for federally funded programs, and whether they would be affected by a shutdown of less than two weeks. Michael Jordan, the state’s chief operating officer, said he would meet with Gov. John Kitzhaber and others if there is a
also pays nursing home costs for some older low-income people who have drawn down their assets. Like Social Security and Medicare, Medicaid is considered an entitlement program and is shielded from the shutdown. DeForest said state officials will meet Monday, the deadline for Congress to act. “We have three days of severe
Rain 63/51 Weather | A8
SEE SHUTDOWN | A8