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Fire heavily damages manufactured home By DAVID RUPKALVIS The World
A working smoke alarm may have saved a woman’s life when her home caught on fire Wednesday night. Coos Bay Fire Chief Mark Anderson said his department was called to a fire at a single-wide manufactured home at 520 Shoreline Ave. just after 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. When firefighters arrived, heavy smoke was billowing out the home. The first responding crew quickly pulled hoses and entered the home, extinguishing most of the blaze within minutes. Backup crews also responded as two engines, more than a dozen firefighters and four chiefs worked into the night to make sure the fire was fully contained. “There was heavy smoke from the back of the house,” Anderson said. “It didn’t even extend to the whole house. It was a very good response.” Anderson said after talking to the homeowner, it was clear the smoke alarm did its job. “The occupant didn’t even know,” Anderson said. “She said she was out in the living room, and the smoke alarm went off. Please see Fire, Page A9
Photo by David Rupkalvis/The World
Firefighters from the Coos Bay Fire Department keep a close eye on a manufactured home that caught on fire and burned Wednesday night. The fire was started due to an electrical shortage and heavily damaged the home.
Mingus Skatepark open for all riders COVID
cases surge as Omicron arrives By DAVID RUPKALVIS The World
Contributed photo
Tom Schaar rides in the Coos Bay skate park. This photo was used in an advertisement in Thrasher Magazine. The Coos Bay City Council decided to open the skatepark to BMX riders and scooter users.
BMX riders, scooter users now welcome at park By JULIE AKINS For The World
Mingus Skatepark and the nonprofit Coos Bay Skatepark Association are welcoming not just skaters but BMX riders and scooter users as approved by the Coos Bay City Council on Tuesday. The park originally built by association founder Tristen Rea-
sor in 2009 reached fame among skatepark riders and writers who featured it in Thrasher Magazine twice. “I have talked to people from all over the country who come here,” Reasor said. “Oregon is a mecca for skateboarders. People come from all over to skate in Oregon.” But the skatepark fell into disrepair when the tile or coping
at the top of the bowls at the park crumbled apart due to use by BMX riders and scooter users. It closed for a month last year while Reasor patched it up using his expertise as a long time skater. “It needs a skatepark builder, and I guess I’m the one with the knowledge,” Reasor said at the time. After the closure, some argued
that the skatepark should only allow skateboarders due to the heavy damage at the top of the bowls. The city’s Parks Commission even considered operating a second park for non skateboarders, but it was deemed impractical. “There has been a huge effort by volunteers to repair the park Please see Skate, Page A9
Police keep an eye on Neighborhood Watch group By JULIE AKINS For The World
“I don’t know if you’ve heard about a Coos County Neighborhood Watch program, but I’m concerned about it encour-
aging vigilantism against the homeless,” Kamryn Stringfield told the Coos Bay City Council during public forum on Tuesday at their first meeting of 2022. Stringfield said the group has a publication and social media
presence which refers to “drug abusers and common criminals” which she said appears to label all homeless residents as one or the other. “I’m just concerned the group will encourage violence against
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an already vulnerable group. And they imply the police are overwhelmed so they have to step in,” said Stringfield while asking police if it’s true that they
Omicron has arrived in Coos County, and the number of COVID infections shows the stark reality of the new, highly-contagious variant. Dr. Eric Gleason, assistant director of Coos Health and Wellness, said the first confirmed Omicron case was revealed Wednesday, but the number of infections began rising a few days earlier. On Thursday, 219 new COVID cases were confirmed, bringing the active case count to 594. A week earlier, there were less than 300 active cases in Coos County. As of Thursday, there were 11 COVID patients in the hospital. The last report from Bay Area Hospital a few days earlier showed 12 people in the hospital with COVID, eight unvaccinated and four fully vaccinated. Three were in ICU, two unvaccinated and one fully vaccinated. Of those in the hospital, one was between 30 and 39 years old, four were between 50 and 59 and four were between 70 and 79. “We have officially been notified Omicron is in Coos County,” Gleason said. “I don’t have any doubt that it’s here. That’s the reason the numbers are this high in the last two days.” Gleason explained the new variant is highly infectious, with most studies showing it twice as infectious as the common flu. He said Omicron
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