AN EDITION OF
Bandon
WESTERN WORLD Thursday, February 6, 2014
theworldlink.com/bandon ♦ $1.00
Outstanding teen:
Playoff bound:
Inside this edition:
Bandon’s Basey is Miss Coos Teen runner-up, see A2.
Tigers beat Glide, G.B., see page A10 for the full story
Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A2 Bandon Police Log. . . . . . . . A9 Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A4
Arts and Entertainment . . . A5 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A10 Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A7-8
Council rolls out pot dispensary moratorium By Amy Moss Strong Bandon Western World
BANDON — Following a similar action by the Coos Bay City Council and to give the city time to set up guidelines on where to locate medical marijuana dispensaries, the Bandon City Council voted unanimously at Monday’s meeting to put a moratorium on such requests. Bandon’s moratorium, unlike Coos Bay’s, is for 120 days, not a year. “We’re not against medical marijuana,” said Councilor Brian Vick after resident Rob Taylor told the council he has a medical marijuana card and would file a referendum to put forth a ballot measure to repeal the moratorium if they approved the motion. “What we’re trying to do is find a responsible place for it,” Vick said. “Right now, it’s allowed anywhere, in almost any residential neighborhood.” Vick then asked Taylor if he’d like one located next door to him. Taylor said he would be fine with that. House Bill 3460 was signed into law in 2013 and authorizes the siting and operation of marijuana dispensaries for medicinal uses. No dispensary can be licensed before March 1. Local governments are debating over what kind of authority they have to regulate the dispensaries. Within the last two weeks at least one proposal was put forth to make the Oregon Legislature clarify the issue. “This is a temporary thing for the council to set up guidelines,” said Councilor Claudine Hundhausen. “I’ll give you 120 days,” Taylor said after realizing the moratorium would not permanently prohibit dispensaries within city limits. Vick said the Legislature has given guidelines for what the dispensaries will look like and that they will require 24-hour surveillance and maximum security. “If we do it, we want to do it right,” Vick said. Since the law was passed, several cities have taken action on a variety of ways to regulate or even prohibit the siting of dispensaries. Medford has prohibited the siting of them by requiring a business license, then denying the request by saying it violates federal law. Bandon’s zoning code does not have a provision for the facilities, nor any regulations, which gives the Planning Commission authority to identify the
■ See Pot, A6
Photo by Amy Moss Strong
Pool spot The Bandon swimming pool development board, friends and family pose on the lot purchased as the future site of a community pool. From left, Viola Reed, Zita Ingham, Astrid Diepenbroek, Myra Lawson, Chris Bentein, Dave Reed with daughters Olwyn and Rowan and Mike, Teagan and Marin Sterling. On left, behind trees is the City Park softball field.
Pool committee clears property, forges ahead By Amy Moss Strong Bandon Western World
BANDON — The Bandon Community Development Pool Swimming Corporation has not given up its goal to build a pool for residents and visitors, and has purchased and cleared property adjacent to City Park to further its endeavor. That lot — 10 acres within city limits south of the softball field that cost the nonprofit organization $180,000 — was recently cleared of gorse and other brush by All-Terrain Brushing & Mowing. The gorse, which was 10 to 11
feet tall, was shredded and left on site as a more economical approach, said pool board president Dave Reed. Reed said the board paid $90,000 up front for the property and negotiated a land lease for the remaining $90,000. There is still approximately $300,000 in the board’s account, raised over several years from individual and corporate donors, grants and fundraisers. With the property in city limits, it means it could possibly be included in the city’s Urban Renewal boundaries in the future, which might result in additional funding. Previously, the pool board leased for
$1 a year property from the school district just off 11th Street across from the district track. The school board was unwilling to commit to selling the property, saying they might need it for future school district expansion. That’s when the pool board decided to find land elsewhere. “The board is being good neighbors by removing all the gorse (from the new location),” Reed said, adding that they will keep it mowed to make sure it doesn’t become overgrown again. “What we’re doing right now is taking
■ See Pool, A6
Fishing plan remains controversial By Thomas Moriarty Bandon Western World
SOUTH COAST — The South Coast’s future lies with the fish. At least that was the sentiment expressed last week in North Bend at the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s public input session for the Coastal MultiSpecies Management Plan. More than a hundred people packed the North Bend Community Center to weigh in on the controversial proposal, which state managers say is intended to
balance the needs of sportsmen with wild fish conservation by shifting releases of hatchery fish in river systems including the Coos, Coquille and Elk. Among the proposed changes is ending the release of hatchery-raised Chinook salmon on the West Fork Millicoma River. Many audience members held small signs that read “Stop CMP,” and the attitude of most commenters toward the plan was decidedly negative. Bruce Bertrand, president of the South Coast Anglers STEP Association, told ODFW staff that the group wanted
implementation of the plan suspended until more research could be done on its impacts. “We’re not asking for some huge, expensive socioeconomic impact statement,” Bertrand said. “But we need you to go through what the law says.” Bertrand was referring to a requirement that state agencies study the potential impacts of such a plan on small businesses. The South Coast Anglers have been
■ See Fishing, A6
Former Bandon teacher found guilty of sex abuse By Amy Moss Strong Bandon Western World
COQUILLE — A former Bandon middle school teacher and coach was found guilty Jan. 29 of sex abuse involving a relationship with a 16-year-old female student. Charles Eugene McLauchlin, 56, showed little emotion as he sat silently with his attorney Nick Nylander in a Coos County Circuit courtroom where Judge Martin Stone found him guilty of 25 counts of second-degree sexual abuse and two counts of online sexual corruption of a minor. Stone dismissed eight counts of online sexual corruption because they allegedly occurred after the victim turned 16. Each count could yield a maximum
sentence of five years in prison. However, Coos County Assistant District Attorney Mark Monson said after the trial that the judge takes into account whether the defendant has a prior criminal record and other mitigating factors such as psychological evaluations. Nylander said he planned to submit such an evaluation to the court. Monson said he would seek the maximum sentence for each count. “I’m going to ask for as much time as I can legally ask for,” he said. “I hope and expect the judge to impose a lengthy prison sentence. In my opinion, he deserves all the time he gets.” The state argued that McLauchlin groomed the victim starting when she
■ See Guilty, A6
By Lou Sennick, Bandon Western World
Charles McLauchlin, right, listens with his attorney, Nick Nylander, to testimony during his bench trial on charges of sexually abusing a student in Bandon.
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