TURNING DOWN THE HEAT
GOP PRIMARY LOSS
San Antonio rolls to take 2-1 lead, B1
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 11, 2014
Serving Oregon’s South Coast Since 1878
Freshman killed in Troutdale shooting
Cantor can’t keep pace in Virginia, A7
theworldlink.com
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CB parents: Put the joy back into learning
New Pharaoh in town
BY CHELSEA DAVIS BY NIGEL DUARA AND JONATHAN J. COOPER
The World
The Associated Press
COOS BAY — A child’s love of reading starts at home. The Oregon Education Investment Board is planning a statewide early reading and literacy initiative focusing on children ages 3-9, gearing them up for the critical third-grade reading level milestone. On Tuesday, several Coos Bay parents got their say during a meeting with OEIB representatives at Oregon Coast Community Action. The Coos Bay/North Bend area is one of five communities providing input for the initiative. It’s no surprise that the parents who showed up to the meeting are already vocal advocates for their children and their education. They told OEIB reps about gaps in the system and what’s happening to families who don’t advocate for their kids. “You can be anything you want to be,” children are told. Great — now what? their parents ask. That’s the disconnect between many families and their children’s education, the parents said Tuesday. They want better lives for their children, but they don’t have the tools to make that happen, or the knowledge of where to begin. Communication is decreasing as class sizes increase, said parent Nicole Norris. “Unfortunately we’re moving into an era where schools are no longer listening to parents,” she said.“They’re so overworked that they’re having a hard time meeting the needs of the parents.” ORCCA Executive Director Mike
TROUTDALE — They stopped in fire lanes, on medians, in spaces so tight one man wedged his sedan between two cars and climbed out of his sun roof. They double-, triple- or quadruple-parked, spilling into driveways and crosswalks, disregarding every traffic law. The loved ones of the children at Reynolds High School in the Portland suburb of Troutdale knew that a student was shot to death during the second-to-last day of school. And they knew the shooter was dead. They also knew that the 3,000 children who survived would be waiting for them at a grocery store parking lot a mile away. Details spilled out in fits and starts on Tuesday. The shooting started in a gym detached from the main school building. A 14-yearold boy named Emilio Hoffman was fatally shot in the boys’ locker room. Physical education teacher Todd Rispler also was in the gym and was grazed by a bullet. But he escaped serious injury and managed to alert school officials of the shooter. “This is a lockdown,” the school announced over the speaker system, according to junior Andrea Chanocua. “This is not a drill.” Locked in a classroom, sophomore Dominic Senarsky, 16, said he followed the police response by listening to scanner traffic with a phone app. “I was scared, because we were listening directly to it, so we knew everything that was going on,” he said. The shooting broke out as the school day started and students prepared to take final exams. Senarsky was studying for his test in health class when he heard teachers yelling to get into a classroom. “I didn’t think this was how I was going to end the year,” he said. Nearby, in the grocery store parking lot, parents waited for
SEE READING | A8
By Lou Sennick, The World
While the finishing touches to the Egyptian Theatre renovations are being done, Kara Long is now the new Pharaoh for the historic theater in Coos Bay. The grand reopening is scheduled for June 20.
Egyptian Theatre gets new executive director
Ensuring speedier care for veterans
SEE SHOOTING | A8
BY TIM NOVOTNY
Push for new quake warning system BY THOMAS MORIARTY The World
COOS BAY — The South Coast’s man in Congress is joining colleagues in a push for an earthquake early warning system. In a hearing Tuesday morning, Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Springfield, who chairs the House Natural Resources Committee, criticized legislators for not acting sooner. “It’s pretty pathetic when countries like Romania, Mexico and now Mongolia are doing more to protect their citizens (from) severe damage in the case of an earthquake then the United States of America,” DeFazio said. The U.S. Geological Survey’s budget is already overstretched, and can’t build the system without more congressional funding. DeFazio had co-signed a letter in April with more than 20 other colleagues asking for more fund-
The World
“So, from pajama
COOS BAY — She has movie theater operation in her blood, along with a healthy dose of good business sense. That combination of skill sets, and a historic theater in need of guidance, is what brought Kara Long to Coos Bay. The Egyptian Theatre Preservation Association decided in April to make Long their first full-time paid employee. The 44-year-old Ohio native officially assumed the role of executive director after Memorial Day weekend, and is now busy preparing for a “film” cutting ceremony to celebrate the Egyptian Theatre’s Grand Reopening on June 20. “I’m just thrilled to be here in Coos Bay,” she said recently, as she overlooked some lastminute projects through the projection room windows. “I mean it is beautiful, and we are really excited about the opening.” Since closing its doors to the public, due to structural concerns, in March of 2011, the historic theater’s board has been stabilizing more than just the bricks and mortar. They have also been working hard on the foundation of a new business model. Greg Rueger, president of the ETPA, says the board realized
parties to beach parties with ‘Jaws’ and treasure hunts with the kids, (to) beer and movie nights, we can do it all here.” Kara Long Egyptian Theatre executive director
there was a need to have an experienced hand to focus solely on running the theater. “We utilized the League of Historic American Theatres, on their website, to be able to go to their members and see if anyone was interested,” he recalled. “And we got some fairly good resumes from that.” From those resumes the board whittled it down and came up with Long, who had been operating the historic Strand Theatre in Delaware, Ohio, since 2002. Rueger says Long brings not only a lot of experience, from her years at the Strand, but also a knowledge of the numbers associated with running a business. After working as an usher
and projectionist as a teen, Long spent some time in banking and real estate before returning to her theater roots. Asked why she decided to leave her home state for a rebuilding effort out west, Long says location helped but passion ruled the decision. “I just saw the passion this community has for this theater,” she said. “It’s by the ocean. You know, if this was in the middle of Oklahoma I might not be here right now. But, just the passion of this community and the fact that they needed a theater. And my theater was safe, my theater has a business operating plan that anybody can pick up and run with, and this one didn’t. I thought, let’s give it a shot.” The city of Coos Bay still owns the building, but the dayto-day operation now falls to Long, with oversight from a 12member ETPA board. Both Long and Rueger say the goal is to become self-sustaining and, someday, take the last of the ownership burden from the city. It starts with booking events that fill the seats. “Program it correctly and they will come,” Long says. The possibilities with this theater, she adds, are endless. “Here we can be as creative as we want to,” Long said. “So, from pajama parties and beach SEE LONG | A8
BY MATTHEW DALY AND ALAN FRAM The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — United in response to a national uproar, Congress is suddenly moving quickly to address military veterans’ long waits for care at VA hospitals. The House unanimously approved legislation Tuesday to make it easier for patients enduring lengthy delays for initial visits to get VA-paid treatment from local doctors instead. The Senate was poised to vote on a similar bill within 48 hours, said Democratic leader Harry Reid. The legislation comes close on the heels of a Veterans Affairs Department audit showing that more than 57,000 new applicants for care have had to wait at least three months for initial appointments and an additional 64,000 newly enrolled vets who requested appointments never got them. “I cannot state it strongly enough — this is a national disgrace,” said Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Jeff Miller, R-Fla., chief author of the House legislation. Miller made his comments minutes before the House completed the first of two votes on its measure. Lawmakers approved the bill 421-0, then re-voted a little over an hour later, making sure no one was left out on the politically important vote, with five more in favor and no one against. Miller sheepishly admitted the reason for the second vote: He was in his office and missed the first tally. Rep. Mike Michaud of Maine, top
Earnest Williams, Coos Bay Don Waggoner, Tacoma, Wash. Byron Hudson, Coos Bay Karry Titus, Coos Bay
Obituaries | A5
Two Bulls fire The fire northwest of Bend is now 40 percent contained and 50 evacuated homeowners are being allowed to go home. Page A5
FORECAST
Comics . . . . . . . . . . A6 Puzzles . . . . . . . . . . A6 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . B1 Classifieds . . . . . . . B5
STATE
Police reports . . . . A2 What’s Up. . . . . . . . A3 South Coast. . . . . . A3 Opinion. . . . . . . . . . A4
SEE VETERANS | A8
DEATHS
INSIDE
SEE WARNING | A8
Mostly sunny 62/52 Weather | A8