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Candidates file for commissioner, clerk, sheriff By DAVID RUPKALVIS The World
Two county commissioners with their seats up for election in 2022 are vying for additional terms, but they will both face stiff challenges. In Position 2, Commissioner John Sweet filed for re-election and will face a challenge from two candidates, Pam Lewis and Cristina Bettesworth. In Position 3, Melissa T. Cribbins filed for re-election and will face a challenge from Chase Carlson and Rod Taylor. Two other local races on the May 17 primary ballot will be county clerk, where three candidates have filed for the seat and county sheriff, where two candidates have filed to replace Sheriff Craig Zanni, who announced he is retiring at the end of the year. In the race for Position 2 commissioner, Sweet has the experience in county government, but he will face a stiff challenge. Lewis brings no governmental experience to the race, but the Coquille resident brings a background in healthcare. She graduated from Coquille High School before earning her RN from Southwestern Oregon Community College. She has worked at Coos Health & Wellness, Southern Coos Hospital and Coquille Valley Hospital. Bettesworth brings a background in education to the race. She lives in Coos Bay and has taught in Reedsport and at the Umatilla School District. In the Position 3, Cribbins is running for another term as commissioner. But she will also face
By DAVID RUPKALVIS The World
Melissa Cribbins two challengers in the race. Carlson lives in Coquille and attended Coquille High School before a career in the timber industry, including time as president of James Forest Products. He has no political experience. Taylor is a political activist from Bandon who works as principal of U.S. Survey Supply. He is an elected member of the Bandon Port Commission and a Coos County Area Transit District Board of Directors. In the race for county clerk, incumbent Dede Murphy will not seek the seat after being appointed to fill a vacant seat. Instead, three candidates, Diane Rich, Matthew Borgens and Julie
John Sweet
Brecke, filed to run. Rich is from North Bend and has had a successful career in sales. She is currently the president of ACTNow Retention Services and has experience as a contract administrator for two GSA projects and as publicity manager for the Bonneville Salt Flats Welcome Center. Borgens comes from Coos Bay after graduating from North Bend High School. He is employed at Bay Area Hospital and has not political experience. Brecke also comes from Coos Bay and graduated from Marshfield High School. She has been a teacher in the North Bend School District for 14 years and
has held no political offices. The race for sheriff could be the most interesting as two men experienced in the department run for the open seat. Michael Kinnaird lives in Coquille and graduated from Bandon High School. He has worked with the sheriff’s office for more than 17 years and has served as a precinct committee person for the Coos County Republican Central Committee. Gabriel Fabrizio also works with the sheriff’s office, serving as a captain of the administrative division. Fabrizio retired from the U.S. Army before joining the Coos County Sheriff’s Office. He has no prior political experience.
Soaring pump prices, no end in sight JEREMY C. RUARK Country Media
From the coast to the metro areas and into Central and Eastern Oregon, we are paying record high prices for gasoline, according to the Oregon/Idaho American Automobile Association (AAA). A quick price survey finds unleaded regular at $4.89 for the high in Tillamook and Coos Bay, $4.49 in Lincoln City and $4.39 a gallon in Newport as of March 9. Russia’s unprovoked and violent invasion of Ukraine has sent crude oil prices skyrocketing above $120 per barrel (bbl), the highest price since July 2008, according to the Oregon/Idaho AAA. The soaring oil prices have sent gas prices to new record highs, breaking records set in 2008. All 50 states are seeing dramatic increases in gas prices. For the week, the national average for regular jumps 54 cents to $4.17 a gallon. The Oregon average shoots up 55 cents to $4.59. These prices eclipse the old record highs set in 2008 when the national average peaked at $4.11 on July 17, and the Oregon average peaked at $4.29 on July 3. President Biden on Tuesday,
Mandate is lifted, but COVID remains a threat
Metro Creative Connection
The average price in Oregon reached $4.59 for a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline on March 8. March 8, announced a U.S. ban on Russian oil imports. Biden said the move has strong bipartisan support in Congress as Americans rally to support the Ukrainian people, and that
this and other sanctions have wreaked havoc on the Russian economy. But Biden cautioned that there will be costs as well here in the U.S., including even higher gas prices which hurt
American families. The United Kingdom also announced it will phase out Russian oil imports by the end of the year. The European Union has
Please see Gas, Page A2
For many, the COVID-19 pandemic ended late Friday night when the state lifted the indoor mask mandate. But Dr. Eric Gleason has a message for the community. “It’s not over,” Gleason said. “We’re nowhere near the end of this. It’s frustrating from our point that so many feel that way. We’re in a position that we’re starting to move about like it’s over. Granted, we’re not in a place where we’re staring down a new variant like we were last time.” Gleason, the assistant director of Coos Health & Wellness, said the numbers show there is still a risk from COVID even as the Omicron variant wanes and many mandates are lifted. In the last week, Coos County reported for additional deaths linked to the virus, bringing the total to 150 over the last two years. As of Thursday, 10 people were in the hospital with the virus, despite hospitalizations dropping rapidly across the state. “I think we still have a pretty steady clip,” Gleason said. “We’ve always been behind the urban areas.’ Gleason said he understands why the mask mandate is being lifted, but he is still concerned. “I’m concerned with the cases kind of where they’re at with the mask mandate being lifted,” he said. “It will be interesting to see what happens in the next couple of weeks. The preventative measures are still a good thing to do if you have people in your lives that are at risk.” Gleason said he is especially concerned about the mandate being lifted in schools, although he admitted the school children were at the lowest risk in the pandemic. “Who are the ones who get most impacted by those kids getting sick at school,” he asked. “It’s the parents, in some cases, it’s the grandparents. “That’s one thing we could see when kids are back in school when they’re not masked and not socially distanced.” While the mask mandate has gone away, Gleason said some people will continue to wear masks and their choice should not be looked down on. “We need to promote that and we need to normalize that after the mandate is lifted,” he said. “People that continue to wear masks are doing it for a reason. Wearing a mask is not something we should chastise people for going forward.”
Merkley: Federal spending bill will benefit Oregon By DAVID RUPKALVIS The World
Millions of dollars will soon be headed to Oregon as Congress closes in on passing an omnibus spending bill to fund the federal government through September. Sen. Jeff Merkley discussed the spending bill during a conference call with media Thursday, saying the bill will help communities throughout the state. “We continue to fund the government,” he said. “We now have the spending bill. This takes
us from continuing the Trump budgets to transitioning to the first Biden budgets.” Merkley said one thing he was excited about was a new element called Community Initiative Projects. The CIPs basically replaced earmarks and are a way for lawmakers to fund projects in their home states and districts. “I’ve had the privilege of traveling throughout the state, gathering information about what people care about,” Merkley said. “Both in terms of the normal spending and a new
category, community initiative projects.” Merkley said one percent of funding was set aside in many categories for the CIPs, and lawmakers can get them secured for their states. “We were able to secure about 140 projects through the Senate bill which has survived into the omnibus,” Merkley said. “There’s a whole lot of community projects in this bill.” Merkley focused on four key areas when discussing the omnibus bill - drought, forest health
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and firefighting, economic issues and housing. For drought, Merkley said the budget has tens of millions of dollars set aside to deal with drought nationwide, much of it in western states. “We’ve been suffering from year after year of drought,” the senator said. “This is a very big deal having secured money to address that issue.” When it comes to forest health and fire issues, Oregon is one state that needs a lot of help,
Sen. Jeff Merkley talks to constituents in a town hall in Coos County. Merkley said the omnibus spending bill that is expected to be approved in Congress will Please see Merkley, Page A11 bring millions of dollars back to Oregon.
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