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SERVING CURRY COUNTY SINCE 1946

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2023

Proposed wind farm met with opposition

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ELLIOT SCHWARZ Country Media, Inc. ALEX BAUMHARDT Oregon Capital Chronicle Federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) officials held the first of three in-person meetings with residents potentially affected by their decision to create floating offshore wind energy projects approximately 20 miles offshore extending from Coos Bay to Brookings. About 115 people attended the first hour of the four-hour open house Sept. 26, where scientists and other officials from the BOEM and the National Centers for Coastal We want Ocean Sciences to protect our described the fishermen. We processes and want to protect impacts involved our fish. We in the massive want to protect project that, our whales. according to the Windmills are BOEM Visual not right for the Simulation Fact Oregon Coast. Sheet, would “place 262 Diane Rich, turbines [over ONRI President 219,568 acres of ocean.] Each turbine would have a hub height of 725 feet, rotor diameter of 935 feet, and maximum height at the blade tip of 1,171 feet. The turbines are modeled in a grid pattern, one nautical mile apart.” Those attending were greeted at the entrance by a small phalanx of a group in opposition to the project holding signs with “No Windmills” logos. Many of those signs were obvious throughout the inside of the Gold Beach Community Center where the meeting was held. Thena Lyons, a Brookings resident who came up for the meeting in Gold Beach, had addressed the city council at its monthly meeting Sept. 25, and who quote, “took a day off, watched the virtual meeting from 9 to 3 to get a feel for it. There are a lot of questions they can’t answer,” she said. Lyons expressed her opposition in Gold Beach by walking through the community center with a “no windmills” sign she got from ONRI, the Oregon Natural Resource Industries, an advocacy group that describes itself as “the working men and women whose livelihoods are based on natural resource industries, including foresters, loggers, ranchers, truckers, miners, fishers, and farmers.” Lyons stated that she was not allied with the ONRI. ONRI President Diane Rich was one of those at the entrance to the Gold Beah meeting. She described her opposition to The Plot. “Windmills are the most expensive electrical generating process known to man, and we don’t want them on our coast,” she said. “We want to protect our fishermen. We want to protect our fish. We want to protect our whales. Windmills are not right for the Oregon Coast.” Both Curry County and Brookings elected officials have

Brookings, Oregon

Happy trails

Wild Rivers Coast Food Trail introduced at new Southwestern Oregon Community College speaker series

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he bounty of the Pacific Ocean, its tributaries and the fields along the temperate coast of Oregon offer up a harvest that will be explored during the upcoming Speaker Series at Southwestern Oregon Community College. The Wild Rivers Coast Food Trail is the topic Oct. 11, presented by local mushroom maven Kathleen Dickson Wild Rivers Coast Food Trail is a coalition of nearly 40 businesses from Brookings to Reedsport that feature local food and locally crafted products, sourced from within 150 miles of the business

location. These encompass farms and ranches, eateries, seafood, craft beverages, artisan products, and food markets. There are three itineraries available to peruse the trail. The Berry Byway - from Port Orford to Bandon You can pick your own strawberries in season at Valley Flora Farm in Port Orford, or if you prefer blueberries, they’re available for picking at Jensen Blueberries in Langlois, Valentine Blueberries in Bandon, or Twin Creek Ranch in Bandon. In season you can tour Bowman Bogs

cranberry farm in Bandon, or pick up a jar of cranberry syrup and concentrate a at Dragonfly Farm & Nursery in Langlois where they offer lush grounds for picnicking and the largest selection of plants on the southern Oregon coast. The versatility of cranberries is also on display at Stillwagon Distillery where they offer the Devil’s Own Cranberry Rum, and many other varieties of rum, or unique to Oregon, cranberry cider at Bandon Rain craft cider brewery.

See TRAIL, Page 12

Church abatement order appeal denied The Brookings City Council appears ready to affirm the abatement order against St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church holding the church out of compliance with the city’s municipal code and land use laws. In a unanimous decision, at a special meeting of the council they voted to have staff review the planning commission’s September 5 decision denying the church’s appeal of an order that stated, “The Church is required to abate the types and level/scope of ‘social service’ activities that it is currently providing and apply for an amendment to its conditional use permit to conduct such activities at the Church location. Deep contentions

This has been a deeply contentions and ongoing battle between residents neighboring the church, city officials, church congregants and its officials surrounding the services St. Timothy’s provides to those in need, including its benevolent meal services. A recent city ordinance, prompted by neighbor’s complaints approved unanimously last fall limited meal service to two times a week, and required a permit. St. Tim’s, as it’s commonly known, was serving meals to the needy up to six days a week. The New York Times in an article on the controversy described the church “shouldering some of the load as other parishes scaled See OPPOSED, Page 12 back their programs.” In that

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article the Rev. Bernie Lindley, vicar of St. Timothy’s called the ordinance “short sighted and pointed out that at the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial in

Oregon has joined with Lindley and St. Timothy’s in a lawsuit asking the U.S. District Court in Medford to declare the ordinance unconstitutional and block its

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I’m in a difficult position where I must choose between my faith and compliance with an abatement order that prohibits me from living into my faith.

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ELLIOT SCHWARZ Country Media, Inc.

Rev. Bernie Lindley

Washington, there are statues of people waiting in line at a soup kitchen.” Lindley, talking to the Pilot said, “I’m in a difficult position where I must choose between my faith and compliance with an abatement order that prohibits me from living into my faith.” Which he explained calls Christians to serve others in need. This position appears to be well supported by both the congregation of St. Timothy’s congregation and the church hierarchy. Prominent on the homepage of the church’s website are the biblical citations, one from Isaiah, “If you offer your food to the hungry, and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness, and your gloom shall be like the noonday.” The other is from Proverbs, “Those who oppress the poor insult their Maker, but those who are kind to the needy honor him.” In Court The Episcopal Diocese of

enforcement. in a statement announcing the suit, the diocese wrote, “The restrictions imposed by the city target and interfere with the congregation’s free expression of their Christian faith which calls them to serve others in need.” It is about more than meals though. St. Timothy’s. The Washington Post, in an article about the suit, notes that “St. Timothy’s has served the Brookings community of 6,431 people for decades, providing health clinics, a food bank and social services for those most in need, including showers, Internet access and meals, according to its website. When nearly every other church in the area suspended their free-meal services during the pandemic, St. Timothy’s expanded its program and provided coronavirus testing and hosted vaccine clinics, according to the statement.” The Post also mentioned that “Following a request from the city government, it offered its parking lots to residents who needed a safe place

to sleep in their vehicles…We’ve been serving our community here for decades and picking up the slack where the need exists and no one else is stepping in… said St. Timothy’s vicar, the Rev. Bernie Lindley, called “Father Bernie.” Lindley has often pointed out the difficulty caused by current high housing prices, “Housing is really impossible in our area. If a place comes up for rent, it gets rented within, like, 20 minutes of being advertised. It’s just ridiculous.” Seeing the ongoing financial impact of the pandemic, along with worsening mental health crises, he said “We have no intention of stopping now and we’re prepared to hold fast to our beliefs.” City’s perspective The city sees the problem differently. As previously reported in the Pilot, “City officials have made every effort to work with St. Timothy’s to ensure they comply with the City’s municipal code,” City of Brookings Public Works Director Tony Baron said. “Unfortunately, St. Timothy’s continues to choose not to comply with multiple parts of the City’s code. Despite our best efforts, significant public safety problems remain at and surrounding St. Timothy’s, including impacts on neighbors, countless police calls, vandalism, property damage and other serious public safety concerns…The City Council worked tirelessly with five other providers of benevolent meal services See CHURCH, Page 12

Phone Number: 541-813-1717 • Address: 519 Chetco Ave, Ste 7, Brookings, 97415 • Email: Circulation@CountryMedia.net

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