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Cleaning up

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FRIDAY, JULY 15, 2022

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Homeless discussion gets serious in front of council BY DAVID RUPKALVIS The World

The Coos Bay City Council got an earful from a disgruntled resident who said the homeless problem is impacting almost every facet of his life. During public comment, James Johnson told the council he lives three blocks from what he called a "crack house," and the result of the drugs and homelessness is devastating to his life. "We've called the police multi-

ple times, we've met with Officer Babb, the resource officer," Johnson said. "We understand his hands are pretty tied. But we do have a house down there where there's a lot of traffic going in and out, there's a motor home parked on the side for about a week. These people chased my wife on a motorcycle. They're knocking on people's doors. We just want to know when something's gonna be done about it?" Johnson said the increase in the homeless population in Coos

Bay is not by accident. "Ya'll don't know about this. Somebody from Salem or Portland is bringing homeless people down to Captain's Cabin," Johnson said. "They've been dropping them off every week for some time. Curious as to why this council would allow this to happen. I work in a lumber yard. I have customers coming in buying windows, buying doors. A customer came in today. He had to run out in his shorts because a guy is kicking is his door and

an alarm's going off. Why is this happening?I pay $1,000 a month for my mortgage and a third of that is going for taxes. I want these people out of my neighborhood. This is wrong. If you guys don't understand, we can take them to your neighborhoods and you can see what it's like." Johnson said the homeless are easy to find, and, frankly, he is fed up. "You got them outside here, outside your building right now," Johnson said. "But they are

coming up into our yards, into our houses, breaking in, and we can't do anything about it. If I do something about it, I'm gonna go to jail. They won't. I would like to hear somebody's answer on this. How come they're being allowed to come into this city from Portland or Salem? I'm just at a point, where I'm shaking. I'm very upset. Our houses are in jeopardy, our families are in jeopardy. A little 2-year-old boy Please see HOMELESS, Page A11

Kotek may become the nation’s first lesbian governor in true-blue Oregon, but it won’t be easy BY ELLIS CONKLIN For The World

Photos by David Rupkalvis/The World

Above: Sophie Emas, 3, gets her first hands-on fishing lesson while taking part in a class hosted by the Coos Bay Public Library. Right: Morgan Davies with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife demonstrates how to cast a fishing rod.

Despite wind, children learn basics of fishing BY DAVID RUPKALVIS The World

After days of warm, still, clear weather, high winds and cooler temperatures hit the area Tuesday. But that didn't stop close to a dozen young children from venturing out to John Topits Park to learn how to fish. The Coos Bay Public Library partnered with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to offer the opportunity for children to learn the basics of fishing from an expert. Morgan Davies, who works with the ODFW, brought dozens of fishing poles, a variety of bait

and a lifetime of knowledge to share with the children. "It's a little windy, so it might be hard to cast, but we will do our best," Davies told the children as the program began. He then explained step by step how to cast a pole, setting each child up with a pole rigged for fishing. For the younger children, the setup was without a hook, instead having a rubber fish at the end. For those ready to try, a hook and bait was available. While the most of the children were excited to learn the basics, 14-year-old Jackson Daniels had another goal in mind. "I want to know how to catch

one," he said. "Patience is really hard for me." Jennifer Knight, the children's librarian with the Coos Bay Public Library, said the program is part of the library's Summer Reading Program. She said the theme for the summer is "Off the Beaten Path," which includes a variety of outdoor activities. Knight also said the library will soon be receiving a fishing pole to loan out to the people of Coos Bay. As she was helping children bait up, one young girl turned to Knight and said, "This is hard to fish." "It is hard to fish," Knight responded.

As the children cast into the open water, one girl wanted to be strategic, so she turned to Davies and asked where the best spot to find a fish was. He explained fish often try to hide to avoid birds and other predators. "When you're fishing, you want to look for place they can hide," Davies said. "It's going to be harder to cast there, but that's where you'll find fish." While few fish were actually seen Tuesday, the children dd get a lesson on enjoying the outdoors. And a few did make catches, although they hooked up with trees and rocks, rather than a wiggling trout.

Local brothers turn hot idea into coffee empire BY DANIEL GOUDELOCK Country Media

It has been 30 years since dairy farmers Dane and Travis Boersma started slinging coffee from their pop-up stand along the highway in Grants Pass, Oregon. Since the early 1990s, Dutch Bros Coffee has grown to more than 500 shops drive-through outlets in 14 states. Dutch Bros continues to make a splash in small and big communities while growing its next generation of workers and leaders. In 2004, Grants Pass native Tony Jantzer started working at a Dutch Bros in Woodland California. “Growing up and seeing what Travis and Dave did in the drive-thru coffee business was amazing, especially since a lot of people were skeptical of it because it was such a new concept,” Jantzer said. Jantzer knew once he started working there that becoming a franchise owner for Dutch Bros is what he wanted to do. After a few years of working to get the Please see DUTCH BROS, Page A2

Photo by Daniel Goudelock/The World

Thirty years after brothers Dane and Travis Boersma started Dutch Bros, the company is thriving, including at its locations in Coos Bay and North Bend.

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Tina Kotek is trying to make political history – again. If elected in November, she will become America’s first lesbian governor, this, after becoming the nation’s first lesbian speaker of a state House of Representatives in 2013, a job she held longer than anyone in Oregon history. The 55-year-old Kotek also seeks to keep one of the country’s longest streaks by electing a Democrat to a state’s highest office. Not since incumbent Gov. Victor Atiyeh crushed Ted Kulongoski in a landslide 40 years ago has the Republican Party won the governorship in Oregon. That’s 10 gubernatorial elections ago. Utah is tied with the Beaver State, having also chosen a governor from the same party – albeit the GOP – since 1982. In an interview recently at a picnic table in northeast Portland’s Columbia Park, not far from the home she shares with her wife Aimee Kotek Wilson, Kotek said, “I am running because I want things to work in Oregon.” A public advocate for the Oregon Food Bank before being elected to the state House, Kotek went on, “None of us are outsiders. We’ve all worked for a longtime in Oregon politics, but the question is, ‘Who has style and the persistence to get things done?” She added: “Housing and homelessness are by far the biggest concerns Oregonians have,” and will likely be the driving force – particularly finding solutions to building affordable housing, as well s workforce housing in the heavy tourist-driven areas of the state – when the campaigns move into high gear after Labor Day. Kotek, gets high praise for her legislative know-how. Under her leadership, Democrats were able to pass a school funding increase they had been looking to do for 30 years. Born and raised in York, Pennsylvania, Kotek headed west in 1987, attending the University of Oregon, where she earned her degree in religious studies. Asked how being a lesbian might influence her governing if elected, Kotek said, “I know what it feels like to be left out, and I want to send a message to our young people that you can do anything. I want every child in this state to feel like they can celebrate their authentic selves.” Kotek realizes Portland and her deep ties to the embattled Please see GOVERNOR, Page A2

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