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CB City Council sends library bond to voters DAVID RUPKALVIS The World
The future of the Coos Bay Public Library is now in the hands of the voters. With a unanimous vote last week, the Coos Bay City Council agreed to ask voters to support a $20 million bond to build a new library at John Topits Park. If approved, the bond will add 45 cents per $1,000 of assessed value to property tax bills for the first four years, with an addition-
al 50 cents being added after for the fourth year. At the same time, the additional tax bill will be added, a bond issue that paid for construction of the new fire department will be paid off, limiting the impact on taxpayers. Mayor Joe Bennetti was unable to attend the meeting last week, but he sent a message in favor of the bond. “He fully supports putting this before the voters and asking for their decision to either fund or
not fund the construction of the needed new library,” City Manager Rodger Craddock said. The council members voiced strong support for the new library, which would also include a new 9-1-1 dispatch center for the police department, which was also fully supported by staff. “For me, it’s not if, but when,” Councilor Lucinda DiNovo said. “When there is the big earthquake, the fact we have 9-1-1 dispatch with the library makes a lot of sense. I think libraries
are community gathering places, and we can bring people together there. I’m fully supportive of this bond.” DiNovo said the library is vital to Coos Bay, pointing out 300,000 visitors a year come to the library. “We’re only talking about 97 cents per thousand,” DiNovo said. “This is a library where if we don’t fix it, it will close. I know it’s a big expense, but it’s so vital and so important to this community. This library is so
Girl Scouts honor local senior citizens
incredibly vital to this community and combining the 9-1-1 dispatch to it makes that much more sense” Councilor Stephanie Kilmer said she is happy with the plans and hopes it will receive voter support. “I think it takes our park to the next level,” Kilmer said. “Seeing what they doing, the plans and how that can expand the programs at the library and what it
Please see LIBRARY, Page A2
Health department transitions away from COVID lead DAVID RUPKALVIS The World
For the second year in a row, local Girl Scouts are teaming up with Wish of a Lifetime from AARP, an organization dedicated to celebrating older adults’ stories and forging intergenerational connections, for their Cupid Crew 2022 campaign. The campaign is a volunteer-driven effort to safely create heartfelt cards for older adults who are socially isolated. Building on last year’s momentum, Wish of a Lifetime hopes to send nearly a quarter million cards through the Cupid Crew campaign. On February 12, Amanda Moore, service unit manger 62 and troop leader 30490 invited local girls to participate in the Cupid Crew National Service Project. The Coos Bay area Girl Scouts made a total of 92 valentines and decided to split them up between two different senior centers. Photos by Kari Sholter/The World
Oregon Supreme Court upholds decision to keep Nick Kristof from running for governor JULIA SHUMWAY AND ALEX BAUMHARDT Oregon Capital Chronicle
Kristof didn’t prove he lived in Oregon by November 2019, court said Secretary of State Shemia Fagan was right to keep former New York Times columnist Nick Kristof off the ballot for governor, the Oregon Supreme Court ruled Thursday.
In a 33-page unanimous opinion, the court affirmed Fagan’s early January decision that Kristof hadn’t lived in Oregon long enough to run for governor. The Oregon Constitution requires candidates for governor to live in the state for three years prior to their election. That meant Kristof needed to establish residency by November 2019. He voted in New York in November 2020 and didn’t register to vote in Oregon until a month later, which convinced Fagan and nonpartisan staff in the Secretary of State’s Elections Division that
he didn’t meet the constitutional requirement. Kristof has maintained that he has been a resident of Oregon since childhood, and that maintaining a home in New York didn’t mean he gave up Oregon residency. He pointed to the property he owns in Oregon and the family farm he manages as further proof that he has lived in the state. “We recognize that [Kristof] has longstanding ties to Oregon, that he owns substantial property and operates a farm here, and that the secretary did not question his current Oregon residen-
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cy,” the justices wrote. “Moreover, he has thought deeply and written extensively about the challenges faced by those living in rural areas of Oregon – and the rest of the country. But that is not the issue here.” In making his case to both state election officials and the Supreme Court, Kristof largely relied on legal arguments about Oregon history and the meaning of the word “resident.” He didn’t provide documents, such as tax returns, that could prove his presence in Oregon to Please see KRISTOF, Page A2
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There are some big changes in store for how information related to COVID-19 is spread in Coos County. Coos Health and Wellness, which has been the primary source of local information such as daily cases, hospitalizations and deaths, announced last week that it would be changing its mission due to the ever-changing world of COVID. Basically, rather than having the county’s health agency continue to remind people to take precautions, Dr. Eric Gleason said it is time for individuals to take personal responsibility. “Starting in March, the public health department is going to be shifting from a lead role to a community support role,” a press release signed by Public Health Director Anthony Arton read. “Most of us have either had the virus or have had the vaccine that helps protect against the most severe impacts of COVID, we all know the basic safety protocols and the risk. Therefore, it is time for YOU to take the lead with your life and your family. We will continue to post information and spread awareness. We will continue to assist high risk facilities so we can continue our mission of protecting the most vulnerable. COVID is here to stay, and it will continue to mutate and disrupt our lives, but the hope is our immune systems have encountered the virus/vaccine enough to reduce the severe impacts and more treatments are coming in the near future to assist those that do experience severe symptoms.” Gleason, who serves as assistant director, said after two years of COVID, Coos Health and Wellness is ready to move on to something else. “All of us are extremely tired, extremely stressed, extremely burned out at this point,” Gleason said. “I don’t think we can let our guard down. It’s not over for us by any stretch.” As of Thursday, Coos Health and Wellness reported 10,289 total cases since the pandemic began. There are 570 active cases, 12 people in the hospital and 138 people have died after contracting the Please see COVID LEAD, Page A2
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