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WEDNESDAY, MAY 28, 2014
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CB schools are cautious during budget process School district plans to increase funding for arts, music, counseling ■
BY CHELSEA DAVIS The World
Dreams build the Empire City BY THOMAS MORIARTY The World
“I’m sure that originally
COOS BAY — When Eugene resident Stewart Young laid the keel of a 30-foot sailboat in 1969, he likely had no idea the vessel would be his legacy. Over 45 years of painstaking work, Young sought out the finest materials to build his dream boat. From custom bronze fittings to mahogany furnishings he cut and finished by hand, he spared no expense. After Young died in October, his wife, Virginia, heard about the Coos Bay Boat Building Center from a friend who lives in the area. Now the boat, dubbed “Empire City,” is set to become the center’s flagship once volunteers get it finished. The center, started with funds from the city of Coos Bay, is dedicated to building and restoring wooden boats of all kinds.
he thought (the work) would be short term. When we got married, his priorities changed a little.” Virginia Young on her husband’s boat project
On Thursday morning, an army of volunteers rolled the boat and its trailer off a shipping truck into the center’s boatyard. The Empire City is a twin-masted design, analogous to a smaller version of the tall ships that visit Coos Bay each spring. Volunteers say it’s already about 90 percent complete. “It’s got a new diesel engine, a
plumbed-in head,” said Jim Berg, president of the center’s board of directors. “The work on it is just meticulous.” The vessel looks slightly weathered, but that’s because it’s only received a primer coat of paint. Virginia Young said the meticulous bronze metalwork her husband ordered from Washington’s Port Townsend Foundry has never been fitted to the boat. After a stint as a cropduster after World War II, Stewart Young made his living in the sawmill industry as a salesman and consultant. That left little time for shipbuilding. “I’m sure that originally he thought (the work) would be short term,” Virginia said. “When we got married, his priorities changed a little.” Young didn’t start work on the boat in earnest until the mid-1970s. “He built a 38-foot by 42-foot SEE DREAMS | A8
Immigrant driver’s card campaign ramps up The Associated Press
INSIDE
SALEM — A coalition of groups in Oregon is preparing for what they say could be a hard-fought campaign to approve a ballot measure granting driving privileges to people who can’t prove they are legal residents of the U.S. Unions, immigrant-rights groups and a hospitality-industry lobby group have started pouring money into the YES on Oregon Safe Roads campaign account, which launched in early May and has raised $35,000 so far. They want voters to approve a measure, which Gov. John Kitzhaber signed last year, granting four-year restricted
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licenses, called driver’s cards, to people who don’t have documents proving they are in the country lawfully. They say it’s about public safety and access to transportation for all Oregonians, but opponents say it would reward illegal actions and encourage illegal immigration. The bill was set to go into effect in January, but opponents collected enough signatures last fall to put it before the voters on the November ballot this year. It would allow immigrants and others to apply for the driver’s cards if they have lived in Oregon for at least a year and meet other requirements. The cards cannot be used to vote, board a
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DEATHS
BY CHAD GARLAND
plane, get government benefits or buy firearms. Supporters of the measure don’t yet have a campaign budget. But with the May primaries over, they plan to ramp up outreach and fundraising efforts even more. “We are looking at a pretty spendy campaign,” said Jeff Stone, a member of the campaign’s leadership and executive director of the Oregon Association of Nurseries. “We’re going to have to raise a good deal of money.” The campaign brings together many of the same groups that pushed for the bill in the Legislature last year, he said, SEE CAMPAIGN | A8
Wilke Renwick Jr., Florence Patricia Noah, Coquille Winifred Pitsenberger, North Bend James Esycheck, Coquille Kenneth Tanner, North Bend Billie Taylor, Coos Bay
SEE BUDGET | A8
Gas prices hold steady in Oregon Market analysts say annual June price swoon could be next ■
BY TIM NOVOTNY The World
COOS BAY — Oregon reached the highest average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline in 2014, at $3.88, May 2. Now, officials with AAA Oregon/Idaho believe, the cost could start to begin its annual summer descent. “Not much movement in gas prices after the traditional start to the summer driving season,” says AAA Oregon/Idaho Public Affairs Director Marie Dodds. “The national average for regular unleaded gains a penny to $3.65 a gallon this week, while Oregon’s average remains at $3.87 a gallon. Oregon’s average is 8 cents less (than it was a year ago).” Dodds added that Memorial Day travelers probably noticed that difference at the pump. Increased retail demand for gasoline outpaced supplies last week, putting upward pressure on oil prices and preventing gas prices from falling further. Still, she says, prices remain below last year’s peak price of $3.98 a gallon, reached May 22. Barring unforeseen events, such as a major storm, refinery outages or pipeline problems, AAA believes pump prices will soon start their typical June retreat. Prices tend to decline between late spring and early summer. Experts will be keeping their eyes, however, on the tension between Russia and Ukraine, which continue to keep crude oil prices elevated. Investors are concerned that sanctions could impact production or exports from Russia, the world’s thirdlargest oil producer behind Saudi Arabia and the U.S. Although analysts report the probability of a long-term disruption is relatively low, a cutoff of oil supply by Russia could have ripple effects that would be felt in Europe and the United States.
Kristen Schroeder, Graham, Wash. Aldon Lee, North Bend George Miller Jr., Bandon
Obituaries | A5
FORECAST
By Thomas Moriarty, The World
Jim Berg, center, talks with volunteers unloading a 30-foot sailboat — now dubbed the “Empire City” — at the Coos Bay Boat Building Center on Thursday morning. Stewart Young of Eugene laid the keel of the boat in 1969, and his widow offered to donate it to the center after Young died in October.
COOS BAY — The Coos Bay School District is close to wrapping up its $34.2 million budget for next school year. While districts get more money from the state in the second year of the biennium — and even more this year with the legislature’s $100 million added during the Sept. 30 special session — Coos Bay’s funding will barely increase in the 2014-2015 school year. State funding will decrease due to an adjustment for teacher experience, a new student poverty formula, and lower-than-expected enrollment. The district also needs to spend more on special education and full-day kindergarten. The school board is Proposed budget expected to vote on the budget at its June 9 meetGo online to see the Coos Bay ing. School District’s entire proposed 2014-2015 budget in detail at If approved, the district theworldlink.com will post job openings for a first-grade teacher at Blossom Gulch, a technology coordinator, a counselor for grades 4-7, a music teacher to bounce between Millicoma and Sunset, and a mental health counselor for Marshfield High. For the first time, the district’s budget was crafted after polling as many teachers as possible to gauge their priorities. The budget committee had fewer questions, preferring to trust its teachers’ knowledge of the big issues. Teachers said student safety, counseling and the arts need attention. The MHS band has something to look forward to: Band Director John Kruse will return to his full-time position at the high school. This means new courses like orchestra and music theory could be added,“depending on what students
Rain likely 60/48 Weather | A8
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