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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2014
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again the third most expensive in the country.” Marie Dodds, AAA Oregon/Idaho Public Affairs Director
Relief on the way
BY JONATHAN J. COOPER The Associated Press
South Coast motorists soon should see lower fuel prices ■
By Lou Sennick, The World
World newspaper carrier Ric Seavello loads his Wednesday papers into his rental car.The day before, he and a Coos Bay Rail Link train on Front Street collided, totaling his car.
The World
COOS BAY — As always, fingers must remain crossed, but experts say the price of a gallon of gas should start to drop a little bit faster in the weeks to come. Pump prices typically fall during this time of year due to decreased demand and the transition to winter-blend gasoline. Starting Sept. 15, retailers can begin selling a blend of gasoline that is less expensive to produce because it does not have to meet the same federal emissions reduction requirements that are required during warmer summer months. That is likely one reason the cost of a gallon of regular unleaded in Coos Bay has dropped from an average of $3.96 last week to $3.89 this week. AAA Oregon/Idaho Public Affairs Director Marie Dodds says it remains a good news/bad news storyline for the state. “Retail gas prices are moving down in most markets, however the Oregon average is once again the third most expensive in the country after spending the last two weeks in fourth place,” Dodds said. “For the week, the national average for regular unleaded falls a nickel to $3.38 a gallon while Oregon's average loses four cents to $3.82 per gallon.” While overseas struggles are always something to keep an eye on, particularly as to how they influence oil prices, one of the success stories this year has to do with how little those tragic events are impacting prices at the pump. Speaking by phone on Wednesday, Dodds says it would have been a different situation even a couple of years ago. That is because the U.S., she says, is producing more domestic product these days. So, with more domestic gas being produced, why has the west coast struggled to keep up with the rest of the nation? “Persisting regional refinery issues and the resulting
$1
Federal rule challenges Oregon home care system
“… the Oregon average is once
BY TIM NOVOTNY
■
Newspaper carrier OK after collision with locomotive BY THOMAS MORIARTY The World
COOS BAY — Just to let everyone know — Ric is OK. One of The World’s more well-known newspaper carriers is shaken but unharmed after a chance encounter with a locomotive Tuesday morning. Ric Seavello’s Toyota Matrix was dragged more than 100 feet by a locomotive that collided with the car Tuesday morning on Front Street in Coos Bay. Seavello has a newspaper delivery route that covers much of downtown Coos Bay. According to the Coos Bay Police Department log, officers were dispatched to the crash at 11:27 a.m. Seavello said that as he turned onto Front Street from Date Street off U.S. Highway 101, he found a commercial truck blocking his view. As he navigated past the truck, he
said, he was suddenly confronted by the lights of a train bearing down on him. On instinct, he pulled as far to the side of the road as possible, but the train caught the front left side of his car, dragging it along the roadway. “The cop said (I'm) lucky to be alive,” Seavello said. His Matrix, however, is totaled, and he’s currently waiting to hear back from his insurance company. He’s currently delivering papers in a rental car until his claim is resolved. World Publisher Jeff Precourt said Seavello is one of the company’s most reliable and enthusiastic carriers. “When I heard this news, I immediately wanted to know if he was alright,” Precourt said. “I’m happy to see him back to doing what he loves.” Reporter Thomas Moriarty can be reached at 541-269-1222, ext. 240, or by at thomas.moriarty@theemail worldlink.com. Follow him on Twitter: @ThomasDMoriarty.
SALEM — Federal rules will likely force a major overhaul of Oregon’s groundbreaking system for providing publicly funded caregivers to elderly and disabled people, state officials said in a report presented to the Legislature’s budget committee on Wednesday. The rules adopted last year extend minimum wage and overtime requirements to 20,000 home care workers paid through the state’s Medicaid program. That will mean a massive increase in costs unless the state curtails services for certain clients, officials say. Gov. John Kitzhaber has asked the U.S. Department of Labor for a delay, saying in a letter to Labor Secretary Thomas Perez that Oregon hasn’t had enough time to negotiate changes to the program. “These issues quickly become quite personal for consumers,” the governor wrote in his letter dated Aug. 14. The Labor Department has not formally responded. Complying with the federal rule would cost the state $18 million during the first six months of next year, an amount that hasn’t been budgeted. The price tag for the next two-year budget cycle, which begins next summer, would be $75 million for the state and $168 million for the federal government, according to a report prepared for Legislature’s Ways and Means Committee. In Oregon’s Medicaid-funded home care system, workers help 21,000 elderly and disabled Oregonians with chores such as cooking, bathing and taking medications. The program saves money by avoiding more expen-
SEE GAS | A8
SEE CAREGIVERS | A8
Senate next after House backs Obama on rebel aid
More emergency water releases for Klamath salmon
BY ANDREW TAYLOR Associated Press
pledged airstrikes as well but is adamant that he won’t send U.S. combat troops to battle the Islamic extremists. “We must pursue a comprehensive and sustained counterterrorism strategy, and a bipartisan coalition in the House voted to support a critical component of that strategy,” Obama said after the vote. The Senate was to vote Thursday on the measure, which
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was added to a must-pass, stopgap spending bill to keep government agencies operating into December. The measure is the last major business on Capitol Hill before lawmakers depart this week to return to their districts and states to campaign for re-election. The new authority is part of $500 million that Obama requested in May to train and equip Syrian
Robert Putman, Eugene Jeani Davis, Veneta Virgil Conley, Coos Bay Dennis Snell, Coquille
SEE MILITANTS | A8
GRANTS PASS — For the second time this year, federal officials are releasing additional water from a Northern California reservoir to combat a parasite that threatens to kill thousands of salmon in the drought-parched Klamath River. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation says it doubled the outflows from Lewiston Dam into the Trinity River on Tuesday, and will keep them up for seven days. The decision was made following the discovery of a parasite known as Ich, which attacks salmon in stagnant water conditions. The agency increased flows last month to combat the same problem. Sampling this week found the parasite in nine of the 20 fish tested. “This is the only possible means of preventing or reducing the
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The Associated Press
Secretary of State John Kerry points Wednesday on Capitol Hill in Washington to a newspaper photo of the recent Arab summit in Saudi Arabia as an example of the kind of coalition he expects in combating Islamic State extremists in Iraq and Syria.
DEATHS
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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama’s request for congressional backing to train and arm Syrian rebels battling Islamic State group militants is halfway home, after approval by the GOP-controlled House sent the issue to the Senate, where leaders in both parties say it’s expected to pass handily. Obama won support from staunch Republicans who typically are reflexively against him and lost the votes from some of his most loyal Democratic allies in the 273156 House tally. Republicans backed Obama by a more than 2-1 margin; Democrats backed him as well, but to a lesser degree. Top leaders of both parties stood with the president despite reservations that his strategy of arming moderate rebel groups could backfire or won’t be enough to blunt the advance of Islamic State group forces. Obama has
BY JEFF BARNARD The Associated Press
Josephine Linder, Bandon Gerald Drumheller, North Bend
Obituaries | A5
severity of a parasite outbreak,” David Murillo, the bureau’s regional director, said in a statement. He added the agency was concerned about the effect on water levels in Trinity Reservoir, which also sends water into the Sacramento River for salmon and agriculture. A federal judge denied an irrigation district’s bid to stop earlier releases for Klamath salmon. Yurok Tribe Chairman Thomas P. O’Rourke Jr. said in a statement there have been no confirmed salmon deaths linked to the parasite, but the tribe is very concerned. Tribal biologists last week delivered imprints of the gills of fish believed stricken by the parasite to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Fish Health Center, and federal biologists sampled fish Monday. SEE WATER | A8
Mostly cloudy 66/54 Weather | A8
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