Vote f favoroir your Ballo tes! t insid e!
LAST DAY LETDOWN A’s knock Mariners out of playoffs, B1
201 BES 4 T MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2014
Serving Oregon’s South Coast Since 1878
Weighing in on Coos Bay wastewater
Standing up for Coos Bay
City is holding a special meeting Tuesday to give the public a chance to learn about a new treatment plan in Empire ■
BY TIM NOVOTNY The World
Photos by Lou Sennick, The World
Above, the brave water knights do battle for the honor of staying on their paddleboards Saturday afternoon. On the boards for this joust is Mike Schleis, left, and Craig Lontobarti. During the Stand Up for the Bay on Estuary Day, people spent the earlier part of the day paddling around on the water. There was also entertainment and food on the boardwalk. The culmination of the day’s event was a paddleboard joust in front of the Coos Bay Boardwalk. Top, visitors watch the water jousting action from the boardwalk.
COOS BAY — Coos Bay is putting a new wastewater treatment plant in the Empire district, but how that plant will look is still to be determined, and the public can offer their opinions on the matter. The city is hosting a special meeting at Sunset Middle School on Tuesday regarding the façade and the architectural features for the new Wastewater Treatment Plant No. 2. The expansion site for Plant No. 2 will be located on the property east of South Empire Boulevard, west of South Marple Street, and north of Fulton Avenue. Jim Hossley, public works and development director for the city, says the meeting will focus on the aesthetic options available to them. “We’re almost done with our final design, and this is the time where we need to put the finishing touches on the plan,” he said. “Hopefully, that night, we’ll get a decision from the city council on what they would like to see.” This wastewater plant project expansion will provide Coos Bay with an upgraded treatment plant that will satisfy current state and federal water quality regulations. “The old one is old, and the old site is just a little too small for the volume of water we need to deal with,” Hossley said. So, they are moving it across the street. The special council meeting will allow the public to view architectural renderings for the new plant, ask questions and make comments. The meeting is open to the public and will begin at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 30 at the Sunset Middle School Gymnasium, 245 S. Cammann St., Coos Bay. SEE WASTEWATER | A8
Groups launch campaigns on GMO labeling
The jousting knights hear the rules of the battles on Coos Bay on Saturday afternoon before the start.
BY GOSIA WOZNIACKA The Associated Press
Minor-party candidates make case to be governor BY JONATHAN J. COOPER The Associated Press
EUGENE — Three minor party candidates for Oregon governor got a chance to make their case Saturday as they shared the stage with Gov. John Kitzhaber and state Rep. Dennis Richardson for a debate in Eugene. It was the only debate to which they were invited, and they made the most of it. The Democrat and Republican candidates stuck closely to their scripts, and it was their lesser-known rivals who produced the debate’s most enlightening moments.
taken control of large sections of Iraq and Syria. The Khorasan Group is a cell of militants that the U.S. says is plotting attacks against the West in cooperation with the Nusra front, Syria’s al-Qaida affiliate. Obama was asked how Islamic State fighters had come to control so much territory in Syria and Iraq and whether it was a surprise to him. The president said that during the Iraq war, U.S. military forces
PORTLAND — In a TV ad paid for by advocates of labeling genetically modified foods in Oregon, voters are told 64 countries have such requirements and labels didn’t lead to an increase in their food costs. Opponents of GMO labeling have released an ad that says the opposite: Labels would be costly for food producers and consumers and would not show which ingredients in a product are modified. With a decision on the Nov. 4 ballot measure just five weeks away, the two opposing camps combined have reported contributions of nearly $3 million and expenditures of more than $2 million, including advertising. It’s a sign of what’s still to come. This is round three in the GMO labeling match in recent years. Similar measures in California and in Washington state failed narrowly after millions of dollars were spent, mostly by labeling opponents. If adopted, the initiative by Oregon GMO Right to Know would require manufacturers, retailers and suppliers to label raw and packaged foods produced entirely or partially by genetic engineering. The measure would not apply to animal feed or food served in restaurants. It would be effective January 2016. The Unites States does not require labeling of genetically engineered foods. Three states — Vermont, Maine and Connecticut — have passed labeling laws, although they don’t take effect immediately. A similar measure also recently qualified for the ballot in Colorado. Labeling supporters say there aren’t enough studies on the impacts of GMOs, so consumers have a right to know if they are eating them. Gov. John Kitzhaber, who is running for reelection, recently came out in support of the
SEE OBAMA | A8
SEE GMO | A8
Richardson calls for highway from Coos Bay to Ontario Constitution Party nominee Aaron Auer, a traveling preacher who says “we must return to our roots and the God of the Bible,” advocated an armed citizenry and suggested reassigning street workers to new duties. “Let’s put some of these workers in the cities for dispensaries of guns and ammunition to protect and defend ourselves,” Auer said. “I think that’s a higher priority” than
many of the topics brought up in the debate. The debate, sponsored by the League of Oregon Cities, focused heavily on issues that affect local governments, and the candidates were given the questions ahead of time. Pacific Green Party candidate Jason Levin advocated a single-payer health care system that would cover everyone in the state and suggested breaking up large school districts. He
was a strong advocate for legalizing marijuana and said it would open the door for a commercial hemp industry. “I believe that we’re seeing a lot of the same old, same old from the supposedly only viable candidates, and I think it’s time for a credible third party to be given a shot,” Levin said. Chris Henry of the Progressive Party said he’d be a strong advocate for working people. A truck driver who said he’s working toward a degree from Portland State University, Henry said repeatedly that he’d face a steep learning curve. SEE DEBATE | A8
INSIDE
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is acknowledging that U.S. intelligence agencies underestimated the threat from Islamic State militants in the Middle East and overestimated the ability and will of Iraq’s army to fight such extremists. Obama described the U.S. intelligence assessments in response to a question during a CBS “60 Minutes” interview that
Police reports . . . . A2 What’s Up. . . . . . . . A2 South Coast. . . . . . A2 Opinion. . . . . . . . . . A4
aired Sunday, in which he also conceded that the U.S. led military campaign against that group and an al-Qaida affiliate in Syria was helping Syrian dictator Bashar Assad, a man the U.N. has accused of war crimes. But Obama said he had no choice but to order U.S. air strikes on Assad’s enemies, the Islamic State and the Khorasan Group because, he said, “those folks could kill Americans.” The Islamic State group, which derived from but has broken with al-Qaida, has
Sports . . . . . . . . . . . B1 Comics . . . . . . . . . . B7 Puzzles . . . . . . . . . . B7 Classifieds . . . . . . . B8
New president
WORLD
BY KEN DILANIAN The Associated Press
Afghanistan swears in its first new president since the transfer of power in 2001 when the U.S. toppled the Taliban. Page A5
FORECAST
Obama: US ‘underestimated’ Islamic State threat
Rain likely 64/55 Weather | A8