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Attempted murder suspect captured by deputies By DAVID RUPKALVIS The World

Less than three hours after the Coos County Sheriff’s Office asked the public to help locate a man suspected of attempted murder, the man was in custody. Capt. Gabe Fabrizio reported Thursday afternoon that deputies were looking for 46-year-old Robert Elliott Danford. Fabrizio said the sheriff’s office had probable cause to charge Danford with attempted murder, kidnapping and assault.

After the request was made to the public, officers received a tip from a community member, and the sheriff’s office, North Bend police and Coquille Tribal Police worked together to take Danford into custody. Fabrizio reported the sheriff’s office received a 9-1-1 call at 10:42 p.m. Wednesday from a citizen who found a bloody and bruised woman at the South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve. Deputies responded to the scene and met with a 43-year-

old woman from North Bend who told deputies she had been badly beaten by Danford. The woman said Danford kidnapped her when she got off her shift at the 7-11 in North Bend. Before the incident, the woman had a restraining order that prohibited Danford from coming within 150 feet of her. The woman told deputies she escaped at the South Slough Reserve and hid in the woods for a couple of hours before being found by someone in the area. The victim was taken by

ambulance to Bay Area Hospital in Coos Bay and later flown to Riverbend Hospital in Eugene. Sheriff’s deputies and K9 officers searched the area but were unable to locate Danford. Fabrizio said at one point, Danford was armed with a knife. A detective from the Coos County Major Crimes team assisted deputies on scene with the investigation. Danford was transported to the Coos County Jail and booked for kidnapping and assaulting the woman.

Ghouls, goblins come downtown

Robert Elliott Danford

Changes needed to protect ocean, world By DAVID RUPKALVIS The World

Photos by David Rupkalvis/The World

Hundreds of children and many adults dressed up in the Haloween best to participate in the downtown trick or treating event Friday. Stores opened and gave out candy and other gifts to everyone who participated.

COVID levels off, but no time to relax

By DAVID RUPKALVIS The World

The recent COVID surge that more than doubled cases and deaths over a two-month period is finally slowing, but health experts say it is not time to relax. “While we’re going down from where we were the last couple of months, we’re still going to be pretty high,” said Dr. Eric Gleason, assistant director of Coos Health and Wellness. “Our number of unvaccinated is still high enough, we’re going to cycle through. We can’t relax.” With the federal and state governments approving booster shots for those who received Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, Gleason said there has been a marked increase of vaccinations in the county. A drivethrough clinic hosted by FEMA and the Oregon Health Authority last week attracted more than 150 people each day. “I think that’s great,” Gleason said. He added seeing so many people who were previously

vaccinated lining up for extra shots is a sign the community as whole believes the vaccines are safe and effective. “They do work,” Gleason said. “The data shows the vast majority who are getting it are unvaccinated. They do work. It does show there is obviously a demand for it.” While the FEMA clinic has moved on to Reedsport, Gleason said there are many ways to get vaccinated, whether it’s a first shot or a booster. “You can talk to your provider, you can get on our schedule at our website,” he said. “You can pretty much trip into a vaccine.” In Coos County, 67.5% of adults have been vaccinated as of Tuesday, with 57.5% of the entire population. Gleason said there have been breakthrough COVID cases, even some that ended with COVID-linked deaths, but the people at most risk remain those who have chosen not to get a vaccine.

Please see COVID, Page A9

Photo by David Rupkalvis/The World

As climate change begins to impact the ocean, legislative action could help the ocean be one of the ways to solve the problem. That’s the message Jean Flemma, director of the Ocean Defense Initiative, shared last week during a discussion with the Oregon Shores Conservation Coalition. And the rest of the country would be better off if it followed Oregon’s lead, she said. “Oregon was ahead of the curve when it came to ocean planning,” Flemma said. “As much as Oregon was a leader in ocean planning 30 years ago, the state is still a leader today.” Flemma said as the climate changes, the ocean is overwhelmingly impacted. “The climate crisis is an ocean crisis,” she said. “The ocean has been capturing our global climate emissions, and it has been absorbing the heat.” Flemma listed ways the ocean has struggled due to climate change, pointing to rising sea levels, coral bleaching, toxic algae, acidification and struggles in the fishing industry. But as much as the ocean has changed, it can be a part of the solution, if local, state and federal politicians are willing to act. “Here in the U.S., integral ocean policy was somewhat stymied the last four years at the political level,” she said. Flemma said politicians need to act on several different levels, the first being harnessing the ocean’s power to address climate change. She specifically pointed to the prospect of expanding win energy in the ocean in an effort lessen the demand for fossil fuels. Second would be to increase the ocean’s resiliency to climate change, and finally, protect the ocean’s ability to capture carbon. “To put any of these policies in place, Congress, administration, state and local Please see OCEAN, Page A10

A FEMA employee helps register a person at a drive-through vaccine clinic at the Pony Village Mall.

Photo gallery: Hundreds line up for vaccines Photo gallery: Dean Creek worth the stop AT THEWORLDLINK.COM THE WORLD  •  Serving Oregon’s South Coast since 1878  •  A Country Media Newspaper  •  Copyright 2021

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