MIDWEEK EDITION
Tuesday March 3, 2020
www.currypilot.com
SERVING CURRY COUNTY SINCE 1946
Brookings, Oregon
Officials: Third positive case of COVID-19 in Oregon T
he Oregon Health Authority confirmed Monday, March 3, the third case of COVID-19 in Oregon. The third case is an adult Oregon resident from Umatilla County who is hospitalized in Walla Walla, Wash. The second presumptive case, announced Sunday, March 2, is a Washington County resident who is an adult household contact of the initial presumptive
positive case. State and local health officials are moving quickly to contact people who may have been in close contact with the third individual who tested as a presumptive positive case. The third case is not linked to travel to a part of the world with known cases of COVID-19. It is considered a case of community transmission. Preliminary reports
indicate the Oregon resident attended a youth basketball game at a gymnasium at Weston Middle School, 205 E. Wallace St. in Weston, Ore., on Saturday, Feb. 29. Under federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Prevention (CDC) guidelines, other spectators who may have been in a closed environment with the individual would be
considered “low-risk” exposures. Athena-Weston School District officials have closed the gym and will conduct a deep cleaning out of an abundance of caution. The gym is physically detached from the rest of the school. Health officials do not consider the separate school building to pose any risk of exposure. Oregon and Washington health experts are working
together to determine if there are other locations where the individual may have interacted with other people in recent days, after symptoms of COVID-19 first appeared. Health officials will announce if there are any additional locations where people may been exposed, if they are determined. The second adult did not require medical attention. The individual was identified as a
contact of the first person during the public health investigation. The individual remains isolated at home. This presumptive positive test result was one of nine total tests completed Sunday by the Oregon State Public Health Laboratory. Eight other tests were negative. When a positive More COVID-19 on Page A4
Police warn of phone scams
Roadside reptillians
Linda Pinkham Staff Writer
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The Stegosaurus was an armored vegetarian dinosaur from 120 million years ago that was 26 feet long and weighed 8 to 10 tons, with a brain the size of a walnut. Photo by Linda Pinkham.
Prehistoric Gardens - still a modern wonder Linda Pinkham
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Staff Writer
inosaurs lurk in an old-growth rain forest with 350-year-old trees, lush ferns and foliage plants. Kids, trailed by parents taking photos, excitedly follow a hand-drawn map from 40 years ago through the park that contains 23 life-size, prehistoric reptiles tucked amidst and sometimes towering above the abundant growth of native plants. Both plants and dinosaurs have a long history at this place located halfway between Gold Beach and Port Orford on U.S. Highway 101. Prehistoric Gardens, after 65 years in business, is still a famous road-
side attraction that is now owned and managed by Kiki McGrath. The site is a labor of love of McGrath’s family since opening in 1955. Her grandfather, Ernie Nelson, at the age of 47, and his wife Kari sold his accounting business and their Eugene home in the early 1950s to purchase the original 77 acres, according to the documentary “Strange Inheritance: Dino Park.” Nelson dreamed of creating a roadside attraction filled with dinosaurs. “When you have an absolute passion for something, you think other people feel the same way you do,” said his daughter Bennie Worthington (now deceased) in the documentary. The gamble paid off as the U.S.
highway system was developed, travel by auto became popular, and roadside attractions were prolific and popular. McGrath says during the summer season, visitors still number 200 a day. The life-size dinosaurs are constructed with steel frames with metal lathe that is molded over the frame, then they are plastered with cement and painted. The first sculpture Nelson made, and the largest, is a Brachiosaurus that is 46 feet tall and 86 feet long. It took him 4 years to build it and required constructing a scaffold to do the work. “The Brachiosaurus was his pride and joy,” said McGrath, pointing to a framed photo of him standing beneath
the creature between its front legs. An interpretive sign informs guests that the largest dinosaur’s live weight was estimated to be 85 tons, and he was a plant-eater from the Cretaceous period — about 125 million years ago. The park signage provides fun facts about each of the sculptures, as well as all the indigenous plants. A spring-fed creek meanders through the grounds, with an accessible path that winds past each vignette. Nelson engineered the sculptures based on his drawings of skeletal remains and fossils found and placed in natural history museums. “He always drew,” Worthington More Dinosaurs on Page A2
Chetco Historical Memorial Project nearing completion Linda Pinkham
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Staff Writer
he Chetco Historical Memorial Project could be ready for an opening ceremony as early as mid-May or June says spokesperson Adrienne Crookes. The group received a $9,917 grant from the Siletz Tribal Charitable Contribution Fund on Feb. 7. The grant will be used to cover a portion of the costs to erect a permanent entrance sign for the memorial, which is located in the Port
Index
Weather
Classifieds.................A7 Crosswords...............A4 Calendar....................A6 Comics......................A4
HIGH LOW
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of Brookings Harbor, on the historic site of a Chetco Indian village. The large sign will direct visitors to the site and will include an embedded donor recognition plaque where every donor and partner who contributed to the project will be listed. The site is located on nearly a half-acre of land donated by the Port of Brookings Harbor, past the Port offices near the end of the boardwalk, heading toward the commercial More Project on Page A5
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5-day forecast, tides and complete weather: Page A 8
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Call us 541-813-1717
Chetco Indian Memorial board members, Maggie Mann and Milo Mann, receive a check from the Siletz Tribal Charitable Contribution Fund. Photo courtesy of Adrienne Crook.
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Fax 541-813-1931
ast week, Brookings resident Cliff Weeks received a phone call from an unknown caller, who went through a scripted spiel, and then asked him, “Can you hear me?” Weeks was already suspicious because it was the second call of the day that was from someone he did not know. He didn’t want to say, “Yes” in answer to the question because he worried his answer would be recorded and used to sign him up for something he had no interest in, so he replied instead with, “Can you hear me?” The caller eventually hung up on him. Weeks reported the call to the Brookings Police Department and let the Pilot know about the call. Brookings Chief of Police Kelby McCray offered a link to the FCC’s Scam Glossary, where a user can click on the scam name, read further about it, as well as recommend precautions (see the link below). The site lists the “Can You Hear Me” scam, and describes exactly what Weeks was worried about. “Scammers open by asking a yes-or-no question, such as: ‘Can you hear me?’ or ‘Is this X?’ Their goal is to record you saying, ‘Yes’ in response. They then may use that recording to authorize charges over the phone.” Another popular scam on the site includes Credit Card/Interest Rate Scams, where callers pretending to represent banks and credit card companies use a variety of tactics, such as bogus fraud alerts or promises of lowered interest rates, to steal your personal information and your credit. For people who own businesses, beware of Google Listing Scams, where the caller claims they can add or remove you or your business from Google searches or similar services. These callers, unaffiliated with Google, seek payment for services they can't deliver. Visit the FCC Scam Glossary website to learn about more than 60 other popular scams: https:// www.fcc.gov/scam-glossary
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