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Wednesday, April 2, 2014 | Serving the Reedsport area since 1996 | theworldlink.com/reedsport | $1.00
Grubb dispatching musical prowess STEVE LINDSLEY The Umpqua Post
On any Sunday, you can see Reedsport’s Sean Grubb playing with “Strange Brew” at Jitterbug ‘N’ Java from 1:30 to 5:30 p.m. He also does a solo gig at the same venue on Tuesdays. The band, and Grubb, is making the rounds of local gigs, including a show on New Year’s Eve at the Lakeside Lodge. The band already has other gigs lined up. They were the “house band” at this year’s talent show. They may be playing at a patriotic concert during Reedsport’s Memorial Day celebration. They’ll be featured at Riverfront Rhythms at the
Umpqua Discovery Center on Aug. 7. Grubb is fairly well known in the area. He won the Reedsport Rotary’s “Coastal Douglas Has Talent!” last year, and was asked to perform again this year. He was a one man band for part of his February performance and also did an operetta. He is also a dispatcher for the Reedsport Police Department, sometimes working the overnight and late shifts. Grubb sings, he dispatches, plays a variety of instruments and said he loves doing it all. “I’ve been doing it for as long as I can remember,” he said. “As long as anybody who
SEE GRUBB, PAGE A6
Contributed photo by Reedsport Rotary/Gary Goorhuis
“Strange Brew,” the house band at Reedsport’s Jitterbug ‘N’ Java, also participated in the Rotary’s talent show at Pacific Auditorium in February. Sean Grubb, center, is one of the five members of the band. He is also a dispatcher for the Reedsport Police Department.
Meeting the top cop
New schools budget similar to the last one STEVE LINDSLEY The Umpqua Post
By Steve Lindsley, The Umpqua Post
New Reedsport Police Chief Duane Wisehart meets with the public in his first “Coffee With A Cop” at Leona’s Sugar Shack Bakery. The chief said he’d like to have a get-together at least once a month at a variety of coffee spots.
Wisehart greets residents at “Coffee with a Cop” event STEVE LINDSLEY The Umpqua Post
He’s been on the job two months and Reedsport Police Chief Duane Wisehart spent Thursday morning meeting with residents. It was the first “Coffee With a Cop,” at Leona’s Sugar Shack Bakery. It’s something the chief wants to do once a month to get a feeling for his new community. “Most of the people who came, who I didn’t already know, came specifically to meet me and
say hi,” Wisehart said. “I don’t know that I learned a whole lot ... maybe just kind of expanding what I already knew. There are just a bunch of nice people here who are interesting in knowing people.” Wisehart, who came to Reedsport from his long-time job in Hemet, Calif., is already feeling comfortable with the smaller town. It’s his first job as a chief of police. He replaced the late Mark Fandrey, who died of a heart attack in July after three years on
the job. Wisehart began his new position January 27. Wisehart had been with the Hemet Police Department for 27 years. He worked his way to lieutenant and oversaw the investigations bureau. Now, he’ll move his family to Reedsport this summer. He hopes they’ll thrive in a smaller-city atmosphere. He said nobody actually expressed a lot of concerns about problems in Reedsport during the coffee get-together.
SEE WISEHART, PAGE A6
Reedsport man’s trial delayed again The trial of a Reedsport man has then the trial is set to start on been set back to August, two years August 5.” Hinds was originally charged after an incident of alleged sex with rape, kidnapabuse. ping and sodomy Timothy Hinds was originally in an August 2012 scheduled to go on trial in August incident allegedly of last year. That trial was set back at Hinds’ Cedar to February and now has been set Avenue home. The back again. grand jury only “Essentially the defense filed a indicted Hinds on motion regarding their expert wastwo counts of sex n’t available at that time,” Douglas when it met abuse, Hinds County Deputy District Attorney in October 2012. Steve Hoddle said. “There’s a preHoddle said it’s unusual for a trial conference on August 4 and
case like this to take two years to come to trial. “That’s longer than the typical case,” he explained. “Because there have been two continuances, that is longer than normal. “The overall length of the case would not be typical.” The trial was set back the first time because Hoddle said he was not available at the August trial date due to training. Hoddle said they have tried to
SEE HINDS, PAGE A7
About two dozen people came out to Reedsport Community Charter School on Monday night o hear about, and comment on, a proposed 2014-2015 school-district budget. The district is expecting $6,033,525 in revenue, and has proposed expenditures of $5,739,001. “It’s based on the following assumptions:” Thomas said. “One, keeping the current programs we have. Secondly, it does not include any adjustments based on the collective bargaining going on now between our classified and certified.” So far, there are no proposed salary/step or insurance increases. The proposal keeps the fourday school week and proposes no furlough days for staff. Superintendent Jim Thomas said some additions proposed for the next school year include
adding a RCCS dean of students, adding two periods of math at RCCS, a .50 FTE library instructional assistant and a .80 nurse at Highland Elementary School. It’s proposed the district lose an special education instructor and instructional assistant at Highland. Other possible additions include a .50 Highland principal, counselor and dean of students. Another proposal is taking the .50 counselor at RCCS to full time. A highlight of the night was two Highland fifth-graders, Elsa Frakes and Jensen Mast, who presented a list of wants from Mrs. Wright’s class. Those wants included more physical education and music, more time to eat lunch, better food in the cafeteria, more playground equipment, more library time and bringing back the science class. The district’s next regular board meeting is April 16. The first budget committee is scheduled for April 30. The fiscal year begins on July 1.
Reedsport to discuss pot dispensary ban The Reedsport City Council is expected to make a decision at its April 7 meeting about whether to restrict medical marijuana dispensaries in the city. Legislature The Oregon approved a bill in February that would allow cities and counties to temporarily ban such dispensaries if they decide by May 1. If they decide to ban them, it would only be in effect for a year. City Manager Jonathan Wright said the discussion is likely to include land use ordinances. “In the commercial zone, it does allow pharmacies,” he explained. “But, it does not allow for the compounding of pharmaceuticals, which is an industrial use.” Wright said such dispensaries might be more suited for the industrial zone near the waterfront. “However, if they were to just do a retail setup, where (marijuana) was already prepackaged somewhere else and they just got it and then distributed to the public ... then that could be considered commercial and that could probably fit in one of our commercial zones,” he said. “If somebody were to ask me where the best place was to locate one of those, I would say it would
be in the city’s new mixed-use zone, which is located on the block just behind Highway 38 to the north.” The Oregon Health Authority has begun considering applications for medical marijuana dispensaries. As of Friday, a total of 22 dispensaries had been approved. The newly approved facilities are located in Portland, Corvallis, Bend, Salem, Eugene and Springfield. A spokeswoman said none had been approved for Reedsport, although 20 provisional licenses have been granted. Dispensaries with provisional licenses may not open for business, she said, until they have a security system in place that is approved by the Oregon Health Authority. Because the licenses are provisional, OHA will not be releasing their names or locations. Nineteen applications were denied last week for reasons ranging from incomplete information to
SEE DISPENSARY, PAGE A7
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