AN EDITION OF
Bandon
WESTERN WORLD theworldlink.com/bandon ♦ $1.00
Thursday, September 19, 2013 Serving the Bandon community since 1912
Inside this edition: Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A2 Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A4 Arts and Entertainment . . . A5
Kitzhaber: Small ports to be dredged Bandon Western World
BANDON — Gov. John Kitzhaber, the Oregon Legislature’s Coastal Caucus and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have announced an historic partnership to fund critical dredging projects for Oregon’s small coastal ports. Under the new agreement, dredging is scheduled to begin as early as this weekend at the ocean entrance to the Siuslaw River near Florence, followed by the entrance to the Umpqua River and the Port of Port Orford this fall and winter. Dredging will continue at other small Oregon coastal ports in 2014. “Our South Coast Ports Coalition, consisting of Bandon, Brookings, Gold Beach, Port Orford, Siuslaw and Umpqua,
brought the attention of our plight to the Coastal Caucus and the governor,” said Port of Bandon General Manager Gina Dearth on Monday. “Without their support and understanding of how crucial it is to keep our bars dredged and safe, this would have never happened.” When nearly all dredging funds for Oregon’s coastal ports were cut in the 2013 federal budget, the Coastal Caucus, the governor and the Regional Solutions Team worked together to secure state funding for these vital infrastructure projects, according to a press release from the governor’s office. Oregon state lawmakers and the USACE then entered into an agreement that allows the federal agency to accept state funding for the express purpose of
dredging the federal navigation channels into Oregon’s small coastal ports. “Faced with a major budget shortfall, a lot of individuals and organizations stepped up to move this exceptional effort forward quickly, with the Corps, Regional Solutions, the Coastal Caucus and Congressman DeFazio all providing critical leadership,” said Kitzhaber. “This kind of diverse collaboration is the most effective way to build a stronger economy for the entire state and a great example of how we get things done in Oregon.” Ironically, Bandon’s notorious Coquille River bar was not dredged this year for the first time in the Port of Bandon Commission’s collective memories and
■ See Dredging, A7
USFWS commits to abatement plan By Amy Moss Strong
Bandon Police Log. . . . . . . . A8 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .B1 Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .B2
Crum nets 30 days for menacing By Tim Novotny and Amy Moss Strong Bandon Western World
COQUILLE — A Bandon man was sentenced to 30 days with three years of probation after being convicted last month of pointing a weapon at law enforcement on Christmas Day. Charles Crum, 52, was found guilty by a six-person jury on four counts of menacing after it ruled that he had leveled a pellet gun at four officers outside his home on Dec. 25, 2012. The prosecution said that act prompted the officers to open fire. The sentence could have netted Crum a year in jail and a
Bandon Western World
BANDON — The Coos County Board of Commissioners last week reversed a decision to spray insecticide to kill adult mosquitoes on 10,000 acres in and around the Bandon Marsh Wildlife Refuge. But the county did hire a professional to apply a larvicide on about 300 acres of the Ni-les’tun Unit of the marsh. That application was dropped by fixed-wing aircraft from an elevation of about 40 feet Thursday afternoon. Costs to apply the larvicide, which is ingested by and fatal to mosquito larvae, were paid by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The decision not to spray an insecticide came two days after local cranberry growers, bee keepers and organic gardeners, among others pleaded with the Coos County Board of Commissioners to reconsider at a lively meeting Sept. 9 at the Sprague Theater in Bandon. Coos County Commissioner Melissa Cribbins said it came down to a concern for the local cranberry growers and conflicting information about whether
■ See Crum, A7
DeFazio schedules town halls Bandon Western World
By Lou Sennick, Bandon Western World
Mosquito Control A small plane from Vector Disease Control International crisscrosses a little more than 300 acres to kill mosquitoes Sept. 12. The aircraft, with the words “Mosquito Control” on the bottom of the wings, applied a larvicide, MetaLarv, in the Ni-les’tun Unit of the Bandon Marsh. Other aerial spraying for the bothersome insects around Bandon was called off. the insecticide Dibrome would prevent farmers from selling their crop due to chemical residue. “(The question is) would we be solving one economic problem to cause another,” Cribbins said last week. Meanwhile, the adult mosquito population has abated
somewhat, but the results of the larvicide won’t be seen for several weeks. “The theory is that the larvicide application will prevent new hatches of mosquitoes for the next 45 days or so and that the existing mosquitoes will be dying off from old age relatively soon, hopefully within a few
weeks,” said Commissioner John Sweet. “If we can prevent new hatches for the next 45 days, mosquito season should be over.” The current risk for disease transmission due to a mosquito bite remains low and there
BANDON — Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Oregon, will hold 16 town hall meetings across Southwest Oregon from Sept. 23 to 26. Throughout his time in Congress, DeFazio has held more than 300 town hall meetings across Southwest Oregon and developed many legislative initiatives based on conversations with Oregonians at these meetings. A full schedule is posted at http://defazio.house.gov.
Monday, Sept. 23: Reedsport, 10-11 a.m., Umpqua Discovery Center, 409 Riverfront. Coos Bay, noon to 1 p.m., Coos Bay Public Library, 525
■ See Mosquitoes, A7
■ See DeFazio, A7
67th Cranberry Festival deemed a majestic success By Amy Moss Strong Bandon Western World
BANDON — It was a moist, misty morning Saturday, but crowds still gathered to watch the annual Cranberry Festival Parade, which was deemed by many onlookers as the best ever. The parade lasted more than an hour and was full of floats, school children, animals, classic cars and various and sundry entries, including a larger-thanlife mosquito, unicyclers and two trucks carrying harvested old growth logs from a burn. “I think we executed a great event this year,” said Chamber Executive Director Julie Miller of the Cranberry Festival weekend. “I was pleasantly surprised at how many people stayed despite the wet weather we had on Saturday. And it did not seem to dampen their spirit.” Friday night at the Queen’s Coronation at the Sprague Theater Bandon High School senior Emma Wampler was crowned as the 2013 Cranberry Queen as well as Miss Bandon Cranberry Festival. The second title allows Wampler to compete in the Miss Oregon pageant next June if she chooses. Wampler’s platform was about emergency preparedness. She told the audience she plans to complete Community Emergency Response Team training this fall and organize a student CERT group. She emphasized that the city and schools need to be more prepared in the event of a disaster. She sang “I Dreamed a Dream,” from the musical “Les Miserables” as her talent.
Photos by Amy Moss Strong, Bandon Western World
A crowning weekend Above: Paul Fisher won a first-place ribbon for his float, “Royal Pain,” featuring Queen Marsha Mosquito in the parade Saturday morning. Right: Bandon High School senior Emma Wampler was named Cranberry Queen 2013 and Miss Bandon Cranberry Festival Friday night. Princess Kimberly Carrero was given the Congeniality Award and Princess Ariel Elstad received the Steve Underdown Memorial Director’s Award. Also at the coronation, Kathleen Stadelman was named Queen of the Kitchen for an unusual cranberry soup she entered into the Food Fair, which this year
■ See Festival, A7
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