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North Bend to wait on camping ordinance By DAVID RUPKALVIS The World
North Bend could take its time before creating a camping ordinance to limit the time, manner and place where homeless can camp. City Administrator David Milliron told the city council during a work session last week that after digging further into the two state laws regarding homeless camping, it is probably best
to wait until the League of Cities can come up with sample ordinances that can be used to build a city ordinance. Milliron explained that during a town hall the city held about the issue, Councilor Susanna Noordhoff mentioned the state laws do not mention RVs as part of the legislation. When city staff dug deeper into the issue, they finally connected with an attorney who is considered one
of the foremost attorneys on the legislation. “Yes, the bill itself does not refer to RVs,” Milliron said. “However, whenever applied, if someone is sleeping in a car, a camper or RV, they are asserted to be camping.” Milliron explained the two state laws have different requirements of cities when it comes to homeless camping. House Bill 3115 allows cities to set the time,
manner and place camping is allowed. It also mandates cities set aside a “reasonable” amount of space for the homeless to camp. “The more restrictive we are with how we interpret this ordinance, the greater danger we are for litigation,” Milliron said. “That’s the path we were headed down, where after we surveyed citizens where they basically said, not my backyard. For instance, we had put on the drawing board,
Radio Rescue: KDUN going ‘full-tilt’
several parking lots. You will absolutely be sued for bad things that happen in the parking lot, if thats the way you go.” Milliron said if a lot is not big enough and fills up even one time, cities can be sued. If you designate a single spot and a crime is committed there, the city could be liable as well. There was some good news Please see CAMPING, Page A10
Cases begin to drop as state looks to ease mandates By DAVID RUPKALVIS The World
Courtesy photo
ABOVE: KDUN owner Delilah and her station engineer and radio host Bob Larson. RIGHT: The KDUN Studio in Reedsport.
JEREMY C. RUARK The World
It’s full-circle for Delilah. The national syndicated radio host has purchased KDUN Radio, a 50,000-watt AM station in Reedsport. It is the station where Delilah, as a teenager, got her start after accepting a job by the then-station owners Jerome and Steve Kenegy. Today, Delilah is heard by
over 12 million listeners weekly on over 160 radio stations across the United States and internationally on the Armed Forces Network in Japan, Korea and Central Europe, on the iHeart Radio app, and through her podcast. “My whole professional life has been amazing and has allowed me to have an amazing opportunities and to go to great places, meet wonderful people and it all started here,” she said.
“And when the opportunity came to buy the station I couldn’t say no.” Community connector As a 40-year radio broadcast veteran, Delilah acknowledges that radio has been challenged over the past few years. “But nationally, over 85% of people still listen to radio at least one a day,” she said. “It is the most used media in America, so we have had some challeng-
es, but we are still growing. In communities like Reedsport, especially, radio is vitally important, so important that people have a voice, so important that they have a way to connect, so important that they have an opportunity to communicate with each other and radio is the way that can happen and is going to happen.” Please see KDUN, Page A10
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Both Gov. Kate Brown and Oregon Senate Republican Leader Tim Knopp are calling for the state to use the excess revenue to make critical investments.
Revenue forecast shows Oregon kicker now at $964 million JEREMY C. RUARK The World
The latest Oregon Revenue forecast signals a promising economic outlook. The current forecast projects a Personal Income Tax kicker credit of $964 million and a Corporate Kicker of $634 million. The kicker tax credit goes into effect when the actual state revenue exceeds the forecast-
ed revenue by at least 2%. An amount then returned to the taxpayers through a credit on their tax returns. Overall, gross general fund revenues have doubled since the Great Recession and took a big step up after the pandemic hit. Revenue growth has continued, even as large kicker credits have been paid out, according to the forecast summary released Wednesday morning, Feb. 9,
by the Oregon Department of Administrative Services. “Today, households are flush with cash and rising wealth,” the summary reads. “Consumers have the ability and are showing the willingness to pay higher prices for goods and services. Business can pass along production cost increases as a result, maintaining or even increasing profit margins.” According to the summary,
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the biggest economic challenge remains the supply side of the economy. “Supply chains are not broken but are overloaded due to strong consumer demand. Given that labor runs through everything, it is the single biggest constraint on the economy today. Labor supply is increasing. Oregon added a
As the Omicron variant begins to wane, the state of Oregon is preparing to scale back COVID-19 mandates. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown announced last week the mask mandate would be lifted no later than March 31, putting Oregon in line with many other states like California, New Jersey and Connecticut that announced plans to lift the mandates. Dr. Eric Gleason, assistant director of Coos Health and Wellness, said he understands why those decisions are being made, but he added people can and still should take precautions. “I think it’s absolutely fine to take preventive measures after the mask mandate is lifted,” he said. “While the mandates are being lifted, COVID is still here. It’s not miraculously going away April 1. It’s going to take us some time to get to that endemic state.” Gleason said in Oregon public health officials are looking less at case count and more at hospitalizations and deaths. While Omicron has led to record cases, the impact has not been felt as much in hospitals. Gleason said a combination of more people being vaccinated and more people getting natural immunity has played a role in that. “The immunization aspect is better than at any point in the pandemic,” Gleason said. “That being said, we’re still going to see numbers. We might see a bump in cases.” As of Thursday, Coos County passed the 10,000 mark in total cases over the last two years, with 10,069 total cases. There were 877 active cases Thursday, with 14 people in the hospital. In the last week, four new COVID-linked deaths have been reported, bringing the total since the pandemic began to 136. Gleason said while the governor is planning to lift the mask mandate at the end of March, there are still some uncertainties related to her announcement. One area he said is not so clear is whether mandates will be lifted in schools. “I think there’s a lot to be decided in the next month and 18 days,” he said. He explained due to the close contact many students have in class, fully lifting the
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