Lawmakers rely on reserves in Special Session BY MAX KIRKENDALL Country Media
The Oregon Legislature met for a Special Session that lasted late into the night Monday, Aug. 10, as lawmakers from the Oregon House and Senate passed a dozen bills to address a $1 billion shortfall in the state budget. Throughout the session, the House and Senate passed bills that will provide funding to Oregon public schools, tighten restrictions on police and corrections officers’ use of force and help unemployed Oregonians.
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown addressed the media today (Aug. 11) in regards to the Special Session. To start the press conference, Gov. Brown spoke on the lawmakers’ approval of using $400 million in emergency dollars from the Education Stability Fund to keep K-12 funding stable. “First, I appreciate that lawmakers decided to continue our investments in K-12 public schools and early childhood education,” Gov. Brown said. “For a generation, we underfunded our schools, that changed last year
with the passage of the Student Success Act.” Gov. Brown stressed the importance of funding for public schools during this time, especially, as Oregon tackles the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) crisis. However, Gov. Brown stated she does have some concerns about the use of one-time funds approved in the budget. “We have spent a number of years building up a rainyday fund and state reserves in order to weather this kind of economic downturn. But that savings account is only so big,”
Gov. Brown said. “If we use a substantial portion of it now, the budget decisions next year become even harder. We already know there are more challenges ahead of us.” Gov. Brown also expressed her disappointment in lawmakers for not following through on a plan to close two rural Oregon prisons, that she described as being in “more challenging conditions.” “For the first time in many years, Oregon prison projections are down,” Gov. Brown said. “We can safely close prisons,
Ready to dredge
keep our communities safe and reduce taxpayer expenses.” Gov. Brown also noted that a single prison bed costs the state between $39,000 and $50,000 per year and stated that she’d like to use those funds elsewhere, such as early childhood education. Additionally, Gov. Brown said her administration would like to see an increased focus on crime prevention, drug and alcohol treatment and other strategies involved in the criminal justice system. More Session on Page A3
COVID cases go up by 3 BY CLAUDIA ELLIOTT Editor
At this time last week Curry County reported five active positive COVID-19 cases and nine recovered cases — a total of 14. As of the Thursday morning deadline for this edition, the county showed the total was up to 17, with three active cases. According to Public Health Administrator Sherrié R. Ward, one on the new cases was reported by Curry General Hospital on Aug. 6 and on Aug. 11 a non-resident who was identified to be a close, prolonged, workplace contact of the positive case reported on Aug. 6 tested positive and was said to be self-isolating, along with his wife. Curry’s data is not as specific as that provided by Del Norte (below) and Ward does not include non-residents who tested positive while visiting in the county’s totals. She also does not appear to have added the Curry County residents who tested positive in staff testing at Pelican Bay, so the actual number of people in the county who tested positive since March is not as low as the totals suggest.
Del Norte County
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Equipment was in place in the Port of Brookings Harbor early Wednesday to prepare for dredging. Earlier this summer the Yaquina dredge was at the port. But the Yaquina is too large for the smaller channels in the harbor, so the clam-style dredge will be at work this week removing silt.
CASA: Curry, Coos merge organizations THE PILOT The southern region’s two Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) programs that provide support and advocacy for children in foster care are merging, according to an announcement made last week. CASA of Coos County and CASA of Curry County will become one, said Kim Brick, executive director of Oregon Coast Community Action (ORCCA). The mission of CASA is to recruit, train and supervise volunteers who advocate for the best interest of abused and neglected children. These court appointed volunteers within these counties serve more than 175 children each year. “Creating a regional CASA program just makes sense, this is our region and our kids” Brick said.
ORCCA is the backbone agency supporting these programs, she noted. This merger will allow for greater utilization of resources, which ultimately will provide increased support for volunteers and the children they advocate for throughout Coos and Curry Counties. “We look forward to working closely with the volunteers and community supporters in Curry” said Greg Dalton, CASA Director, adding that “CASA programs across the state serve more than one county and we have seen other CASA program merge.” CASA volunteers are always needed. According to the Department of Human Services there are over 350 kids in foster care across the two counties. More CASA on Page A3
At this time last week, Del Norte County reported two active COVID-19 cases in self-isolation and 88 inactive cases, but by Monday the 100th case was recorded and as of Wednesday there were 104 with one person hospitalized. This remained the total as of Thursday morning, the deadline for this print edition. More COVID on Page A3
Kerr Ace Hardware closed Thursday
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A downtown Brookings staple since 1953, Kerr Ace Hardware was set to close for the last time at 5:30 p.m. Thursday. The business is expected to reopen next week as Cascade Home Center, according to new owner Ryan Ringer, who is also the owner of Gold Beach Lumber. See next week’s edition for a complete story.