CCP617

Page 1

SERVING CURRY COUNTY SINCE 1946

www.currypilot.com

FRIDAY, JUNE 18, 2021

Brookings, Oregon

Commissioners struggle but approve budget Knox Keranen The Pilot

What might have been a tame adoption of the yearly budget, turned into a heated debate about county spending and workplace culture during a board of commissioners meeting Wednesday. The fallout began after county

Roadmaster Richard Christensen laid out his concerns about borrowing $2.2 million from the road fund to balance the county’s budget deficit. Christensen said the road fund reserve money will dry up soon if the county continues to take from it each year without identifying new revenue sources. “Commissioners, today it’s your

choice; to decide if you will be the ones to start the end of the road fund or preserve it for what it was legally intended to be used for,” said Christensen. State law does allow counties to borrow from road funds to fund budget shortfalls in the general fund and portions of the sheriff’s departments. Currently, Curry County has

about $28 million stashed in the historically wealthy road fund. Nevertheless, Commissioners John Herzog and Court Boice echoed Christensen’s concern over balancing the county’s budget deficit by drawing from the road fund. Boice recommended the board take another look at the budget, potentially to make more cuts and

reconvene later in the month to officially approve it. Commissioner Chris Paasch said concerns about the budget should have been discussed during several previous budget committee meetings. “Our budget was dealt with over More Budget, Page A3

Brookings debates homeless at St. Timothy’s Oregon

moves closer to lifting COVID restrictions

Knox Keranen The Pilot

Every Friday morning, Rob Barker opens up the community kitchen at St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church and starts to make sourdough crusts for their homemade pizzas. Last Friday, the special was a bacon and blue cheese pizza, served with a pasta salad dense with vegetables. Barker said his only goal is to fill hungry stomachs, including homeless individuals, people on fixed incomes, the working poor and anyone else who stops by. He said he often loses sleep over feeding people. “The idea is to get ’em some food man, that’s the baseline thing,” said Barker. However, a recent neighborhood petition to “remove homeless from St. Timothy church,” may put the community kitchen, and other services offered at St. Tim’s, in jeopardy. The petition garnered 29 signatures from concerned neighbors of St. Tim’s, and led to a workshop meeting with the Brookings City Council last week. During the meeting, St. Tim’s supporters debated with concerned residents about the church’s role in the community. Neighbor Brandon Usry created the petition. At the meeting, he showed a clip of a presumed guest of St. Tim’s having a jarring mental breakdown. The man was shouting in the street around 10:30 p.m. on a weeknight, waking up many households on the street, Usry said. Usry said some threatening individuals who receive services from the church are alarming him and others in the area. “I feel like people are trying to find a solution to homelessness, that’s not why I’m here today,” said Usry. “I’m here today because I don’t feel safe in my house.” In conjunction with the petition, a Brookings city staff report claimed St. Tim’s has been operating as a “mission,” rather than a church, by offering their guests showers, clothing and hygiene kits three days a week, as well as haircuts during their free meal services.

By David Rupkalvis The Pilot

Photo by Knox Keranen/The Pilot

Rob Barker looks on as Jean Obrion, Susie and Janet Hursh prepare a take-out pasta salad dish for a person at the door. Mike Nash, Michael Rezendes, Bert LeMuiex and Carlo Pelaccio were also helping out in the kitchen Friday. Below, Machell Carroll, community health worker at Brookings CORE response, said they identified 120 homeless individuals in the community during the most recent survey — about 70 of which use services at St. Timothy’s.

More Homeless, Page A8

Abblitt returns home for first time since accident Knox Keranen The Pilot

Zac is back. It’s been more than 200 days since Zachary Abblitt dove into shallow water at Sporthaven Beach and shattered two vertebrates in his neck, partially paralyzing him. Since then, Zac and his mother Kristi have traveled to several hospitals in different states — most recently at Craig Hospital in Englewood, Colorado — undergoing surgeries and doing extensive rehabilitation work. On Monday, though, Zac finally returned to his home in Brookings. Before sitting down with the Pilot for an interview, Zac revisited the beach where his life changed forever. “It was so amazing...I was able to kind of cruise across the sand. First time in seven months that I was there...Out of everything to see, that was the one spot I wanted to go More Abblitt, Page A8

Contributed photo

For the first time since he was paralyzed last year, Zachary Abblitt returned to Sporthaven Beach. Abblitt said he was eager to return to the beach where he was injured.

Oregon is closing in on reopening the economy. Last Friday, Gov. Kate Brown announced that more than 67% of Oregon residents have taken at least one dose of the COVID vaccine, leaving fewer than 100,000 more vaccines needed to reach the 70% threshold Brown set to fully reopen the economy. “Thanks to the vaccine, our case rate and hospitalizations continue to decline,” Brown said. “As of today, at least 2.3 million Oregonians have received at least one dose of the vaccine. We are so close to reopening our economy.” State Epidemiologist Dr. Dead Sidelinger said that cases in the state are directly in line with the increase in vaccinations. “Daily cases, COVID-19 related hospitalizations and the percentage of people testing positive continue to decline,” Sidelinger said. Over the last week, 1,725 new COVID cases were announced in the state, the lowest number since September. Hospitalizations were down 24 percent and only 20 new deaths linked to the virus were reported. “The landscape of the virus has shifted dramatically,” Sidelinger said. “The virus is overwhelmingly impacting those who are not vaccinated when those who are vaccinated are safe. Virtually every person infected right now is not fully vaccinated.” Sidelinger said the vaccines are all proven safe and effective, and the best way to beat COVID is to get the vaccine. “In order to decisively defeat the virus and avoid a future outbreak, we must get more people vaccinated,” he said. “There’s no substitute for the vaccine.” Sidelinger said modeling in Oregon continues to show decreasing cases, hospitalizations and deaths. On the current trend, cases will fall to around 100 a day with only five new hospitalizations. Brown echoed that sentiment, saying those who have taken the vaccine deserve praise. “We still have more work to do to ensure all Oregonians are safe from COVID-19,” Brown said. “Thank you to everyone who’s gotten the vaccine. Thank you to all Oregonians who are making it easier for their employees to get vaccinated. Thank you to everyone who’s taken the time to drive a family member or friend to an appointment or had More COVID, Page A8

INDEX

A look at the 2021 graduating classes Oregon faces dangerous wildfire season AT CURRYPILOT.COM

Crosswords.............................................. A10 Crossword Answers............................ A7 Classifieds.......................................... A5

$1.50 Call us: 541-813-1717 Fax: 541-813-1931

Online: www.currypilot.com


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.