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TUESDAY, JUNE 10, 2014
Serving Oregon’s South Coast Since 1878
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NB schools ‘controversial issues’ policy changing BY CHELSEA DAVIS The World
NORTH BEND — A North Bend School District policy is going under the microscope after Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye” was pulled from a high school class last month. The North Bend school board reviewed its “Studying Controversial Issues” policy Monday night. North Bend High administrators said “The Bluest Eye” was pulled from the American Connections class because teacher Scott Peters did
not follow the controversial issues policy, though Peters and his students said it was due to the novel’s content, which includes racism, incest and child molestation. Superintendent Bill Yester said the decision to change the policy came out of a meeting with high school principal Bill Lucero, high school librarian Laurie Nordahl, district curriculum director Tiffany Rush and the high school’s English Professional Learning Community. “We’d like the PLC, whichever PLC it would affect, to discuss it and come up with a recommen-
dation if they should or should not present this material,” Yester said of future issues. “Instead of just presenting it to the principal, we would like the recommendation to go to a committee.” Board member Alane Jennings agreed the responsibility of deciding to allow or deny controversial material should be spread out, to “not just have one person making the decisions about what’s OK and what’s not OK.” The committee would include a school’s principal, assistant principal, librarian and the district curriculum director. They would
discuss the issue and accept or reject the PLC’s recommendation. The PLC could appeal the decision to the superintendent or principal. If they’re rejected again, they could appeal it to the school board. “What has to happen is when somebody has their curriculum for the year figured out, (this process) has to happen early in the year so it doesn’t sneak up on us in May or April,” Yester said. “I think ... some of the teachers, and even
Yester contract ratified, 2014-15 budget approved The school board ratified a two-year superintendent’s contract with Bill Yester. Yester has been acting as the interim superintendent since BJ Hollensteiner retired in December. His salary was set at $110,187 for the upcoming school year and will increase to $115,500 for the 2015-2016 school year, as long as he completes several recommended professional development activities. The board also approved the 2014-2015 district budget, adding a renewed charter agreement with Oregon Coast Technology School.
SEE POLICY | A8
Fire season begins
Dusting off their finery for parade
BY THOMAS MORIARTY The World
Photos by Alysha Beck, The World
Sawdusters toss candy from their float in the Gay ’90s parade in Coquille on Saturday. The event also included a vintage car show.
Suzie and Mel Biggs, dressed in 1890s period costume, look at classic cars at the Gay ’90s celebration Saturday in Coquille. See the photo gallery for this story online at theworldlink.com/gallery
Members of the Coos County Mounted Sheriff’s Posse ride on horseback in the Gay ’90s parade through downtown Coquille.
COOS BAY — Starting Wednesday at 12:01 a.m., the South Coast is under fire season restrictions until further notice. According to the Coos Forest Protective Association, that means no unregulated outside burning in Coos, Curry and western Douglas County. Industrial fire restrictions will go into effect at Industrial Fire Precaution Level 1, which bans smoking at industrial operations. Anyone cutting firewood is required to have an 8-ounce fire extinguisher handy. Power saws have to be used with an approved screen. Target shooting with tracer ammunition and exploding targets is also banned. Rules aside, state and federal forestry officials are still gearing up for what could be another busy summer. “I think we’ll probably be having an active fire season,” said Rod Nichols, a spokesman for the Oregon Department of Forestry. The National Interagency Fire Center also predicts above normal fire potential in southern and central Oregon this summer. Western Oregon experienced one of its driest winters on record in 2013. What snowpack accumulated melted very quickly, and federal climate scientists considers the region to be in the middle of a persistent drought. Early June numbers put moisture levels in live fuel plants at or below normal. Moisture levels in dead fuels are also dropping. The fire forecast comes one year after a series of major fires devastated western Oregon, burning more than 100,000 acres of state land. Officials say it was the worst fire season in more than 50 years. Forest users are asked to call CFPA at 541-267-1789 for more information on closures.
Problems continue to mount for veteran’s clinics
INSIDE
WASHINGTON — A top Veterans Affairs Department official is acknowledging “an integrity issue here among some of our leaders” as the embattled agency reels from mounting evidence that workers fabricated data on veterans’ waits for medical appointments in an effort to mask frequent, long delays. “It is irresponsible,” Philip Matkovsky, a top VA official who helps oversee its administrative operations, told the House Veterans Affairs Committee at an unusual Monday evening hearing. “It is indefensible, and it is unacceptable. I apologize to our veterans, their families and their loved ones.”
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Matkovsky’s apology, rendered hours after his agency released fresh revelations about slow-moving care, echoed acting VA Secretary Sloan Gibson’s contrition shortly after he replaced Eric Shinseki atop the agency. President Barack Obama accepted Shinseki’s resignation on May 30, but that has not stopped the uproar over veteran’s care from becoming an embarrassment for the Obama administration and a potential political liability for congressional Democrats seeking re-election in November. Matkovsky did not specify which VA officials had questionable integrity. The agency has started removing top officials at
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SEE INTEGRITY | A8
DEATHS
BY ALAN FRAM The Associated Press
Rudolph Bjorkquist, Coos Bay Wayne Scherer, Bandon Bonnie Furgason, Meridian, Idaho Elizabeth Bates, Reedsport Marjorie Bonewitz, Eugene
State clinics fare poorly in national audit BY NIGEL DUARA The Associated Press PORTLAND — Oregon Veterans Administration medical centers fared poorly in a national audit, with the state’s facilities recording some of the nation’s longest wait times for primary care, specialist care and mental health care. In Oregon, the Portland VA Medical Center had the nation’s fifth-longest wait time for new patient primary care. New patients had to wait an average of 80 days before they could be seen, far longer than the department’s stated 14-day goal. The audit also said further reviews are necessary and the Portland and Vancouver campuses of the Portland VA Medical
Wayne Hammar, North Bend Johnnie Hair, North Bend Earnest Williams, Coos Bay
Obituaries | A5
FORECAST
Official concedes ‘integrity issue,’ apologizes
Center and the Roseburg VA Medical Center. Portland VA Medical Center public affairs officer Dan Herrigstad said Monday that the delay in primary care is not a systemic issue, but one of staffing. The facility had 21 physician vacancies in May of a total of 75 primary-care physicians. “This isn’t new to us,” Herrigstad said. “It’s been a challenge for keeping primary care providers. It’s a competitive market.” Herrigstad said the delays should be eased by seven temporary “gap providers” who will serve while another 17 physicians are hired within the next six months. Herrigstad said the facility’s average ranking reflects both “challenging” clinics in SEE OREGON | A8
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