SERVING CURRY COUNTY SINCE 1946
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FRIDAY, JULY 16, 2021
Brookings, Oregon
Treasurer's lawsuit against Boice dismissed
Judge rules county treasurer did not have standing to file suit board. They also alleged he had gone over-budget on his allotted travel expenses for the year. After hearing the case, Circuit Judge Andrew Combs ruled in favor of Boice, with no costs or fees being awarded to either side,
according to court documents. After the decision, Boice requested a payment from the county totaling $3,288 for legal fees associated with the suit. Af-
Middle school students become authors
Board votes to eliminate director of operations
Knox Keranen The Pilot
A Curry County judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by County Treasurer David Barnes against Commissioner Court Boice.
The suit alleged Boice improperly requested a payment of more than $3,000 from the county for the reimbursement of legal expenses he accrued in a previous lawsuit between him and the county, which was decided in
2018. In the previous suit, other members of the board of commissioners and the former director of operations claimed Boice had travelled on business without first getting approval from the
More Lawsuit, Page A8
Knox Keranen The Pilot
Photo by Knox Keranen/The Pilot
Kayliegh Hall's short story "Time Zone" for the Mismatched Mysteries collection is a science fiction tale about a young girl who takes an adventurous trip to outer space to find a lost friend and watch time stand still.
Azalea students partner with Forecastle Books to publish short stories
Knox Keranen The Pilot
Not many children can say they are published authors; but Kayliegh Hall and other students at Azalea Middle School can, after their collection of short
stories, Mismatched Mysteries, was recently released. Hall’s short story, “Time Zone” is a science fiction tale about a young girl who takes an adventurous trip to outer space to find a lost friend and watch time stand still.
“I kind of wanted something fictional and fun,” said Hall about her story. “I thought it would be easiest to create something fictional that’s not from Earth.” Mismatched Mysteries is the third edition of student-produced
books through the Writer’s Block program — an after-school initiative created by Mark Gautreaux, owner of Forecastle Books, for middle school students interested in creative writing. Each year, More Authors, Page A12
Digging to piece together local history Site near Bandon could put Coquille Indians in area 13,000 years ago By David Rupkalvis The Pilot
Almost everyone agrees, ancestors of the Coquille Indian Tribe were the first settlers in what is now the Coos Bay-Bandon region of Oregon. What we may be learning is how long the Tribe has had a presence in the area. For the last three weeks, archeology students from Oregon State University have been excavating a site near Devils Kitchen beach in Bandon. The excavation More Digging, Page A2
Photo by David Rupkalvis/The Pilot
Loren Davis, right, a professor of anthropology at Oregon State University, removes dirt while conducting an archeological study at Devils Kitchen in Bandon.
Massive offshore windfarms coming to Oregon? Legislature invests in wildfire prevention AT CURRYPILOT.COM
The Curry County Board of Commissioners has eliminated the director of operations position from the county. At a Wednesday meeting, the board voted 2-1 to eliminate the position. Brad Rueckert, who was the director of operations, will be transferred to a new role as the director of finance, and his salary will remain unchanged. As the director of operations, Rueckert oversaw all of the departments in the county, including economic development, parks, public health and roads, with a special focus on finance. Additionally, he served as the go-between for the commissioners and the leaders of each department. Since the position was created in 2017, it has been somewhat of a revolving door, with four different employees in just four years, as well as a couple of name changes. Rueckert was hired in the fall of 2019. Commissioner John Herzog said he was keeping a campaign promise in moving to eliminate the role. As a recently elected commissioner sworn in during January, Herzog said he wanted to wait six months before making a decision. “I didn’t have a huge platform, but one of them was that I’m not a proponent of having a director of operations for the county or a county administrator,” said Herzog. Despite the move, Herzog said Rueckert has done a good job. He emphasized the change in roles was not a demotion, but a transfer. Herzog and Commissioner Court Boice voted in favor, while Commissioner Chris Paasch was the lone holdout. Paasch said he was concerned the move would increase the workload for County Counsel Anthony Pope, who would be responsible for some of Rueckert’s former duties. Paasch also said this may create a void between the commissioners and the department heads. “I just don’t know who is going to pick up that slack, and how much of it is going to fall through the cracks,” said Paasch.
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