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MIDWEEK EDITION

Brookings faces Hidden Valley page A5 Wednesday October 30 2019

www.currypilot.com

Brookings, Oregon

SERVING CURRY COUNTY SINCE 1946

Fishing for a Chevy, but he caught a one-ton Ford Linda Pinkham Staff Writer

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hen Everet Amos puts his line in the water, he hauls out big ones - this time, a one-ton Ford van. “Went fishing for a Chevy and caught a Ford,” Amos said. Initial reports said the vehicle was a Chevy, but it would be hard to tell the difference when it’s underwater, Curry County Sheriff John Ward said. Ev’s Hi-Tech Towing company came out last Sunday at mid-day to pull the vehicle out of the Rogue River, about three miles up North Bank Rogue River Road outside of Gold Beach.

The van, driven by Gold Beach resident Roger Augur, had ended up in the river at around 4 p.m. on Saturday after it went off the edge of the road, then tumbled down a steep, 50foot bank. After hitting a tree halfway down, the vehicle came to rest in the water, upright but completely submerged, according to Curry County Sheriff’s Marine Sgt. Ted Heath. The driver was able to get out of the van. Witnesses who were fishing from a private boat nearby witnessed the crash and called 911. The boaters picked Augur up from the river More Ford on Page A4

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The van is a total loss after a rough ride into the Rogue River. Photo by Linda Pinkham.

Come ‘String the Joy’ this Saturday S

Nature’s Coastal Holiday traditionally invites the public to “String the Joy” the first Saturday of November. Photo courtesy Leslie Wilkinson.

Leslie Wilkinson For The Pilot

ince 1997, the Festival of Lights, a month-long holiday light show, has been a popular tradition unique to the Brookings area. From just 20,000 lights strung in the bushes along the pathways in ‘97, this year the Festival is set to boast over 2 million LED lights. “It’s our goal this year to be seen from the Space Station,” Nature’s Coastal Holiday secretary Susan Dunn said. “We want to really put Azalea Park on the

map and make it the best show ever!” The nonprofit Nature’s Coastal Holiday partners with the community to string the holiday lights. “First, we need to get the lights strung in the bushes,” Dunn said. “That happens Nov. 2. We meet at the Kids Town parking lot at 9 a.m. with open arms to welcome all the people who answer our call to help, rain or shine. “There’s so much to do and the public is how it gets done,” Dunn said. “Without their help that More String on Page A4

2nd Gold Beach pot store wins approval C

Linda Pinkham Staff Writer

lub Sockeye will soon open Gold Beach’s second marijuana retail location. La Mota, part of an Oregon retail cannabis chain, opened its store earlier this month. The approval for a conditionaluse authorization turned out to be mostly procedural during the Oct. 21 special council meeting. The conditional-use request came from Earl Crumrine and Cory Talbot of Sockeye Farm, LLC to open Club Sockeye in the building they had just purchased at 29970 Ellensburg Ave,, near the Port of Gold Beach. Club Sockeye previously operated its business on North Bank Rogue River Road in Wedderburn, but had outgrown that location, according to Talbot. Councilors Summer Matteson, Larry Brennan, Becky Campbell and Tamie Kaufman unanimously approved the application after adding a handful of conditions for the business to meet. Councilor

Index

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Anthony Pagano was not present at the meeting. City Administrator Jodi Fritts explained that land-use hearings are a “quasi-judicial” process that have stricter protocols than regular council sessions. Fritts noted that they had “quite a bit less people than what we have had on previous hearings, so this is actually kind of good. The hearing might go a bit quicker.” Previous hearings for similar businesses had a number of people come to object, according to Fritts. She made it clear that at this meeting, they were not there to “discuss the merits of whether marijuana is good or bad, because the State of Oregon has already decided that. The meeting is only for the purpose of discussing this particular application.” At the meeting, one witness came forward to testify in favor of approval, stating in part that a second shop in town creates competition, which is good for consumers, and the city could use the tax revenue. No one came

Past four days

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5-day forecast, tides and complete weather: Page A8

Fire’s cause still a puzzle

Call us 541-813-1717

he cause of a fire Oct. 23 that destroyed the Pac-Nor Barreling plant at 99299 Overlook Rd. in Brookings may not be known for months, according to Harbor Interim Fire Chief Thomas Sorrentino. Harbor Fire is the lead investigating agency. Specific details about the investigation have not yet been released. Brookings Fire Operations Chief Jim Watson said such an investigation will be meticulous and detailed. “We start from the outside and go from there to trace the point of origin.” he said “A lot of data needs to be established.” Plant owner Chris Dichter said members of his crew had been working on a lathe inside the building when the fire erupted inside an adjacent wall. “I’d never seen anything go like that,” Dichter said. “It blew up with smoke and fire. It sounded like a tree fell on the plant.” As the fire erupted, all of the employees escaped from the 7,000-square-foot facility safely. After several hours, the fire was out, but the plant was destroyed. Fire crews were able to keep the fire from spreading to nearby structures and an adjacent forest. There were no injuries reported. Some 45 firefighters were on-scene, according the Watson, including Gold Beach, Cape Ferrelo, Coos Forest Patrol, Smith River, Crescent City, Harbor Fire and Brookings Fire and Rescue.

More coastal quakes T

The new location for Club Sockeye will be at the old Sportsman’s Realty. Photo by Linda Pinkham. forward to object to the council granting authorization. Crumrine said following the meeting that he wasn’t surprised his conditional-use application was approved. He has opened four different recreational or medical marijuana businesses, with two inside the city limits of Gold Beach, over a span of 10 years, he said. However, when he made a $100,000 down payment on the current building, he wasn’t sure the neighboring businesses would

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Jeremy C. Ruark Pilot Editor

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Fax 541-813-1931

sign the necessary paperwork that they didn’t object to him opening his cannabis business. But they did sign, he said. The location of the new business met all of the standard criteria set out for the city’s conditional-use standards for a cannabis business, which include not being within 1,000 feet of another marijuana business or a school; needing to comply with state regulations; lo-

Staff Report

he U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) reported three small undersea earthquakes occurred along the Oregon-California coast Monday morning. The first, a 5.3 tremor, struck at 4:01 a.m. 109 miles west of McKinleyville. The two other tremors occurred off the coast of Curry County. A 5.2- magnitude tremor struck west of Brookings at about 4:30 a.m. Then, a 3.6-magnitude quake occurred at about 4:46 a.m. west of Gold Beach. There have been no reports of injuries or damage. The USGS reports no tsunamis were generated by the quakes.

More Approval on Page A3

Sunrise/Sunset RISE SET

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