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Coos County removes COVID death
Death was not COVID-related, county says in split with state ZACK DEMARS The World
Coos County health officials on Friday removed one individual from the county’s COVID-19-related death count. The man, a 46-year-old who died March 11, died from circumstances that “really had nothing to do with
the fact that he’d had a positive COVID test,” Coos Health & Wellness spokesperson Dr. Eric Gleason said Friday. “While the individual may have had COVID-19 when he passed, that wasn’t the reason he passed,” Gleason said. Gleason didn’t share specifics about how the man died, but said
CHW investigators looked into the circumstances regarding his death and determined they weren’t sufficiently linked to his positive test result. Still, health officials at the state level are keeping the man on their count of virus-related deaths — meaning the Oregon Health Authority will report a count that’s one
death higher than CHW’s. Currently, CHW is reporting 23 deaths in the county, after another death was reported Friday by the agency and later by OHA. That individual was a 75-yearold male with underlying health conditions, according to CHW. An OHA spokesperson didn’t comment on the specifics of the
individual whose death had been re-characterized by local officials, saying instead the state defines the figure differently. “The definition of what OHA’s Daily Coronavirus Updates refer to as a ‘COVID-19 related death’ includes the death of any person Please see COVID, Page A10
More than a playground: Waterfall brings Oregon therapy services to youth with autism speeds up
vaccine timeline
ZACK DEMARS The World
Swing sets, slides and climbing walls abound in an unassuming office building on Elrod Avenue. Foam tiles of every color cover the floor, and monkey bars crisscross the ceiling. Tracks run from wall to wall, with a set of swings to attach to trolleys which slide from end to end. On one wall, climbing handholds and lighted tunnels lead to a platform, culminating in a leap towards a pit filled with foam cubes. But it’s not just fun and games at the Starfish Therapy Youth Center in Coos Bay. The new program set to open April 1 is Waterfall Community Health Center’s response to a lack of therapy services for youth diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, and it includes the oneof-a-kind sensory gym as its key feature. “It looks like play, but we’re working on so many other skills as well,” said Stefanie Austin, the center’s occupational therapist. “It can help stimulate the senses and challenge the sensory systems.” According to Austin, time in the sensory gym — the only one in the state built by Fun Factory, which bills itself as the leading manufacturer of the systems — can be used as part of therapy to provide the sensory stimulation youth with autism are seeking. What’s more, time in the gym can be used to familiarize clients with sensations they might struggle with. Certain swings, for example, can help a child who has gravitational sensitivity get used to the feeling of having their feet off the ground, Austin said. Time in the gym is paired with
By ZACK DEMARS The World
Zack Demars
Above: The sensory gym provides a chance to literally climb up the walls. Below: Occupational Therapist Stefanie Austin moved from Salt Lake City to help start the Starfish program. She says time in the sensory gym is coupled with other services, like feeding therapy and socialization.
In a quick about-face from just a week earlier, Oregon health officials announced Friday they would be meeting President Joe Biden’s May 1 deadline to open COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to all adults. “My team is in touch with the White House for more specifics about when vaccine shipments to states will increase,” said Gov. Kate Brown in a press conference. “We have always attempted to align our vaccination timelines with available federal supplies. And so far, it’s been really encouraging to see so many Oregonians eager to get the vaccine when it’s their turn.” The news came informally earlier in the week, when Oregon Health Authority Director Patrick Allen told Oregon Public Broadcasting the agency had determined the president’s timeline was an order, not just an optimistic suggestion. Just a week prior, Allen and other state officials were hesitant to embrace the president’s timeline, concerned about whether or not vaccine supply would be available to meet it. “The answer is yes, if the federal government comes through at the levels of vaccines we’ve projected based on the national numbers the administration has released,” Allen said. “We know it will take a couple of weeks to get through the surge. But we can keep pace.”
Please see PLAYGROUND, Page A3
Please see VACCINE, Page A2
CB considers modifications to Urban Renewal programs ZACK DEMARS The World
The city of Coos Bay is considering possible technical changes to its Urban Renewal Areas in support of two key city projects. The city’s Urban Renewal Agency, made up of the city council and mayor, gave City Manager Rodger Craddock the go-ahead to work with a consultant to move forward with several plan amendments to the policies which govern how the agency works. In the city’s Empire renewal area, the changes would be meant primarily to bolster a key city project: The construction of a new library on a parcel of land at John Topits Park. “While a lot of progress has been made in Empire, there’s still far more that needs to be done,” Craddock said during a meeting Tuesday night. “We believe it might be wise to consider increasing your maximum indebtedness, but we also believe it would be wise to expand the plan area to include that acreage of John Topits Park which could be where the new site of the library and other amenities which could
include a sports park and other things.” While the parcel is just outside of the renewal area, city leaders want to change the boundaries to bring it inside the renewal area, and want to increase the area’s maximum indebtedness (or how much it’s allowed to spend on projects). That’ll allow the city to use urban renewal money to help fund the project. “Doing so would allow us to include that with the plan to maybe help defray costs to the voters by taking on necessary preparations for land development and for any roads or utilities in there,” Craddock said. Those funds are designated for projects aimed at development, rehabilitation and growth of blighted areas. Funding comes from property taxes — though the agency doesn’t increase property taxes, it receives the revenue resulting from property value increases that would have gone to other taxing districts. Since the urban renewal agency’s revenue comes from tax dollars that would have gone to other agencies — like the Coos Bay School District, library district, Please see RENEWAL, Page A3
By Zack Demars
A portion of John Topits Park, near the National Guard Armory on Norman Avenue, will be the home of Coos Bay’s new library building.
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