LAKERS WIN AGAIN
OFFICER RETENTION
SWOCC stays perfect in region, B1
Sabbaticals help military keep key personnel, A5
MONDAY, JANUARY 13, 2014
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County to get a new probation officer BY EMILY THORNTON The World
COQUILLE — Coos County will receive $278,132 over the next two years to try to reduce recidivism rates and employ another probation officer. It’s the first time the county has had such a program in place, said Kelly Church, business manager for the community corrections department. The county had an officer in place who did similar duties — reducing those who re-enter the court system — about 10 years ago, but it wasn’t quite the same, she said. “Obviously you don’t want people returning to prison,” she said. “It costs more to put them back in prison.” The board of commissioners signed an approval last week to participate in the state Justice Reinvestment Grant Program. The program is a result of Oregon’s House Bill 3194, which was passed in 2012 and aimed to save the state $17 million over two years, as well as hold prison population the same, at 14,600, over five years. The state’s budget was increased from $196 million for 2011-2013 to $215 million for 20132015 to accommodate these goals. The amount awarded to the county increased from 0.168 percent to 0.188 percent. The county approached the local Public Safety Coordinating Council, which deemed the county eligible for the grant from the Criminal Justice Commission. The new officer will oversee no more than 50 people who are on probation, ensuring they receive the therapy needed to avoid getting arrested or addicted to drugs or alcohol again, said Mike Crim, director of Coos County community corrections. The 2012-2013 annual report from the Coos County community corrections department said the percentage of probationers who received a new felony conviction within one year from admission to probation was 11.1 percent, compared to the state’s 11.8 percent. The county’s rate for probationers who received a new felony conviction within three years was 23 percent, compared to the state’s 18.7 percent. In addition, 5.9 percent of parolees in Coos County received a new felony conviction within one year from entering parole, SEE GRANT | A8
By Alysha Beck, The World
Waves crash against rocks near the Cape Arago lighthouse Saturday afternoon as a winter storm hit the coast, bringing high wind and surf advisories over the weekend. The weather is supposed to calm considerably this week, with mostly sunny skies and temperatures near 60 degrees.
Storm blows through BY THOMAS MORIARTY The World
The South Coast’s first storm of winter 2014 only lasted a couple of hours Saturday afternoon, but some North Bend residents will be feeling its effects for awhile. According to the North Bend Police Department logs, police and firefighters responded to five separate calls of lightning damage — two of which were fire calls. The storm front, which had been predicted to produce gusts of up to 60 mph along the coast and 1-2 feet of snow in the Cascade Range, led the National Weather Service to issue high surf and high wind advisories. By 2 p.m., the winds in Charleston were strong enough to support the dozens of tourists leaning back on their heels at
Bastendorff Beach near Charleston. The National Weather Service’s station at Southwestern Oregon Regional Airport recorded gusts as high as 44 mph in town. The accompanying thunderstorm hit the South Coast shortly after 3 p.m, with multiple lightning strikes in residential areas. Fire and police personnel were first dispatched to a report of a lightning-struck See video online at theworldlink.com/video house on fire near 16th Street and Oak Street in North Bend shortly after 3:45 p.m. By 4:55 p.m., firefighters had the blaze under control, but North Bend dispatchers told The World emergency personnel were still responding to several other calls of lightning strikes.
Firefighters took calls of lightning damage to two homes in the 1800 block of Qaxas Street, and responded to a second fire in the 1800 block of Lincoln Street. The lightning strikes had been powerful enough to blow the screen door and upstairs window out of one home, and charred sheetrock on another. Despite the stiff winds, the weather service recorded only 0.17 inches of precipitation in town, and Pacific Power reported no largescale outages in the area as of 7 p.m. Saturday. As of 6 a.m. Monday, a small craft advisory for hazardous seas remains in effect along the South Coast. Reporter Thomas Moriarty can be reached at 541-269-1222, ext. 240, or by email at thomas.moriarty@theworldlink.com. Follow him on Twitter: @ThomasDMoriarty.
Israel says farewell to Ariel Sharon BY JOSEF FEDERMAN The Associated Press
JERUSALEM — Israel said its last farewell to the late Ariel Sharon on Monday with a state ceremony outside the parliament building before his flag-draped coffin was taken on a cross-country procession to its final resting place at his family home in the country’s south. With a high-powered crowd of VIPs and international dignitaries on hand, Sharon was eulogized as a fearless warrior and bold leader
who devoted his life to protecting Israel’s security. U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair headed the long list of visitors. In a heartfelt address, Biden talked about a decades-long friendship with Sharon, saying the death felt “like a death in the family.” When the two discussed Israel’s security, Biden said he understood how Sharon earned the nickname “The Bulldozer,” explaining how Sharon would pull out maps and repeatedly make the same points to drive them home.
“He was indomitable,” Biden said. “But like all historic leaders, all real leaders, he had a north star that guided him. A north star from which he never, in my observation, never deviated. His north star was the survival of the state of Israel and the Jewish people wherever they resided,” Biden said. Sharon died on Saturday, eight years after a devastating stroke left him in a coma from which he never recovered. He was 85. One of Israel’s greatest and most divisive figures, Sharon rose through the ranks of the military,
moving into politics and overcoming scandal and controversy to become prime minister at the time of his stroke. He spent most of his life battling Arab enemies and promoting Jewish settlement on war-won lands. But in a surprising about-face, he led a historic withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in 2005, uprooting all soldiers and settlers from the territory after a 38-year presence in a move he said was necessary to ensure Israel’s security. SEE SHARON | A8
Loss of jobless aid leaves many with bleak options
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and other government programs to get by. They’re people like Stan Osnowitz, a 67-year-old electrician in Baltimore who lost his state unemployment benefits of $430 a week. The money put gasoline in his car to help him look for work. Osnowitz says a continuation of his benefits would have enabled his job search to continue into spring, when construction activity usually
increases and more electrical jobs become available. He says he’s sought low-paid work at stores like Lowe’s or Home Depot. But he acknowledges that at his age, the prospect of a minimum-wage job is depressing. “I have two choices,” Osnowitz says. “I can take a job at McDonald’s or something and give up everything I’ve studied and everything I’ve worked for and all
Transplanting wombs Marie Gordon, Roseburg
Obituaries | A5
Swedish doctors are transplanting wombs from relatives as nine women in their 30s will try to get pregnant.
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WASHINGTON — A cutoff of benefits for the long-term unemployed has left more than 1.3 million Americans with a stressful decision: What now? Without their unemployment checks, many will abandon what had been a futile search and will no
longer look for a job — an exodus that could dwarf the 347,000 Americans who stopped seeking work in December. Beneficiaries have been required to look for work to receive unemployment checks. Some who lost their benefits say they’ll begin an early and unplanned retirement. Others will pile on debt to pay for school and an eventual second career. Many will likely lean on family, friends
WORLD
The Associated Press
DEATHS
BY JOSH BOAK AND SAM HANANEL
the experience that I have. Or I can go to retirement.” Unemployment benefits were extended as a federal emergency move during the 2008 financial crisis at a time of rising unemployment. The benefits have gone to millions who had exhausted their regular state unemployment checks, typically after six months. SEE JOBLESS | A8
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