AN EDITION OF
Bandon
WESTERN WORLD Thursday, December 12, 2013
theworldlink.com/bandon ♦ $1.00
Wearing new belts:
Jingle jangle:
Inside this edition:
Ten martial artists advance, see page A2.
Winners of holiday jog, see page B2.
Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A2 Bandon Police Log. . . . . . . . A3 Shop Bandon . . . . . . . . . . . . .A8
Arts and Entertainment . . . A5 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .B1 Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .B3
Trying to keep the buzz at bay By Emily Thornton Bandon Western World
COQUILLE — Most of the buzzing has stopped now, but talks have begun for next year’s mosquito season. Nikki Zogg, administrator for Coos County Public Health, said last week that U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service asked her to come up with a budget by Dec. 12 for mosquito monitoring and abatement next year at the Bandon Marsh National Wildlife Refuge.
She must budget for a seasonal worker to monitor the land three days per week during peak season, which runs between April and October. The worker will monitor the mosquito breed and population, as well as diseases. The county could begin some kind of eradication efforts in April, which would be done by a contractor, she said. The Fish and Wildlife Service hopes to have some plans approved in January or February, but won’t be able to begin creating about five miles of tidal chan-
nels until June or July, Zogg said. The timing didn’t seem ideal, but there wasn’t another option. “The mechanical pieces aren’t going to be in place anytime soon,” she said. Part of the reason was because Fish and Wildlife cut 6 percent of its workforce, she said. The agency also had to get required permits from the National Environmental Protection Agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, she said. The county must foot the bill again
Bandon Western World
Bandon Western World
Photo by Amy Moss Strong
Bus Jam From left, Bandon High School seniors Shawn Peters, Elle Iverson and Evan Henson with the BHS Leadership Class and the BHS Rotary Interact Club help out with the second-annual Bus Jam on Saturday at the Bandon Shopping Center by weighing food and tallying gifts donated. The local event raised more than $600 in cash, 479 pounds of food and 202 toys, all of which, plus some, will benefit local families. The Coos Bay event, held in front of the Bi-Mart stores in Coos Bay and North Bend, raised even more and exceeded this year’s goals, according to Stephanie Kilmer, Bus Jam organizer. The event is sponsored by K-DOCK and local partners include US Cellular and Rosey Thomas, Bandon Rotary, Bandon School District, BHS Interact Club and Bandon Western World and The World newspapers. See more photos on page A2.
$6K grant for museum upgrades
Old Town Marketplace concludes successful season o n d g rW lA tn So m M re W n y B BANDON a d so tn yse — The Old Town Marketplace has been
Bandon Western World
BANDON — Trust Management Services recently granted $5,989.91 to replace and upgrade the computer system and peripherals the Bandon Historical Society uses to manage its photo collection. The grant will allow the museum to replace its central processing unit, scanner and printer as well as purchase software and digital photo supplies. The museum uses its computer system to digitize, restore, print and archive the photographs in its collection. The digitized photos are also posted on web sites, used to publish books and displayed to support educational presentations. Museum volunteers use the system to print the photographs displayed in the museum. The museum will sell prints of most of the images in its collection. The computer equipment the museum has been using is nearing 12 years old, the storage capacity of the CPU is nearly full, and the computer has had to go into the shop twice in the last year to fix breakdowns.
■ See Mosquito, A7
Medical marijuana dispensaries in Bandon?
Population of Bandon unchanged BANDON — People come and people go, but the population remains the same in Bandon. That’s according to the preliminary 2013 population estimates from the Portland State University Population Research Center that were provided to the city of Bandon recently. The July 1, 2013 population estimate for Bandon is 3,100, which is identical to the 2012 population estimate. The 2010 Census count for Bandon showed a population of 3,066 as of April 1, 2010, which was 233 people above the 2000 Census count of 2,833. So, if the latest estimate is accurate, Bandon’s population has only grown by 267 (9.4 percent) over the last 13 years, for an annual average growth rate of less than 1 percent per year. According to those figures, the annual growth rate slowed to 0.37 percent — approximately 1⁄3 of one percent — over each of the last three years and to zero percent during this last year. The Portland State University Population Research Center was formed in 1956 for the purpose of preparing annual population estimates for cities and counties to provide the basis for the distribution of state taxshared revenues.
next year and will be reimbursed by U.S. Fish and Wildlife, Zogg said. Commissioners felt no one else would help. “There’s no other government agency around that can do what the county can do,” said Commissioner John Sweet. The county was slated to spend $5,000 from its economic development fund in 2013 eradicating mosquitoes in the Bandon Marsh National Wildlife
Contributed by Bandon Historical Society
Girls team circa 1923 This photograph of the 1923 Bandon girls basketball team is one of several thousand images in the Bandon Historical Society Museum’s photograph collection. A recent grant from Trust Management Services will allow the museum to upgrade the equipment it uses to manage its image collection. Volunteers Andy Christensen, Dean Conyers and John Gamble are at work purchasing new equipment and trans-
more successful this year than last, according to Port of Bandon General Manager Gina Dearth. The marketplace had brought in a little more than $50,000 in revenue for the port this season. That’s just the amount the port has earned from table rental fees and compared to $29,000 last year and about $5,400 a year before the port purchased the building, Dearth said. There are about 55 vendors registered, though not all of them are there at the same time. “It’s been a successful run and several vendors are doing quite well,” said Trudy Spanier, port administrative assistant. During December, the Old Town Marketplace farmers and crafters market turns into the Holiday Marketplace. Fresh produce, baked goods, smoked meats, seafood, nuts, fudge, cranberries, cheesecake, tie-dye, scrapbooks, hand-carved wooden items, crafts and jewelry are just some of the items offered. All purchases are eligible to be used to redeem the Bandon Chamber of Commerce Shop Bandon holiday glasses. The Old Town Holiday Marketplace is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, Dec. 13, and Saturday, Dec. 14, then will close for the season. It is located in the former Bandon Fisheries building at 250 First St. SW on the waterfront in Old Town. Santa and Mrs. Claus will arrive on the charter vessel Prowler at 1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 14. Everyone is invited to stroll with Santa through Old Town, visit Bandon merchants and the “Shop Bandon” campaign as he makes his way to the marketplace to visit with children for photos taken by Cardas Photography from 1:30-3:30 p.m. The port hopes to reopen the Old Town Marketplace next April, as it did this year.
BANDON — Gov. John Kitzhaber signed House Bill 3460 into law on Aug. 14, authorizing the Oregon Health Authority to establish procedures to license and regulate medical marijuana dispensaries. Those regulations go into effect on March 1, 2014, and have specific requirements for licensing, locating and operating medical marijuana dispensaries. The subject of whether and how the city should regulate, license, and/or otherwise control or prohibit the location of medical marijuana dispensaries was discussed by the City Council at a work session last month. The city has not yet received any applications for medical marijuana dispensaries, but it is anticipated that such applications could be received after the March 1, 2014, effective date of House Bill 3460 and its implementing regulations, said City Manager Matt Winkel. Some cities control them under their business license program, many of which prohibit anything that is illegal under either state or federal law. “So, since marijuana dispensaries are still illegal under federal law, those cities maintain they would not allow them since they would not be able to obtain a business license,” Winkel said. “The city of Bandon, however, does not require business licenses, so that avenue is not available here.” But, Winkel said, depending on one’s interpretation of Bandon’s existing
■ See Marijuana, A7
Commercial crab season opens Dec. 16 BANDON — Fresh Dungeness crab is back on the menu for holiday feasts after fishery managers determined the fishery was ready to open Dec. 16 on the Oregon Coast. The commercial Dungeness crab season on the Oregon Coast is scheduled to open Dec. 1 each year, but was delayed this year because crab on some parts of the coast did not measure up during pre-season testing, according to a press release from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. Hugh Link, executive director of the Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission, said there were three areas of concern, including Astoria and Newport, but that recent testing showed “nice, full crab for all of the Oregon Coast.”
■ See Museum, A7
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■ See Crab, A7
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