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FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2022

Brookings, Oregon

Community weighs in on cloud making machine on the Southern Oregon Coast – speciﬁcally in Gold Beach or Brookings. According to the corporation, the machine, called an Aquaelicium, can add rain into the atmosphere by producing clouds. The corporation also claims the machine can separate salt out of ocean water, purify contaminated water and provide drinking water.

BY BREEANA LAUGHLIN The Pilot

A “Weather Modiﬁcation Machine” is being proposed in Curry County. Oannes Research and Development Corporation reports they have patented the world’s ﬁrst effective cloud making machine – and they want to build one

In order to move forward with the project, the corporation will need a license from the Oregon State Department of Agriculture to be permitted to artiﬁcially modify the weather. The public was invited to comment on the proposal on Aug. 22 at the Curry Soil and Water Conservation District Ofﬁce in Gold Beach – as well as through

a virtual meeting. Eric Nusbaum was the public hearing official from the Oregon Department of Agriculture on-hand to take comments. He directed the public to make comments pertaining to the qualification of the applicant, whether or not it would benefit agriculture Please see CLOUD Page A9

Mother and son complete long-distance bicycle trek BY BREEANA LAUGHLIN The Pilot

Provided Photo

10-year-old Shep Colver said the favorite part of his trip across Oregon was spending time with his mom, Liz

Provided Photo

Shep Colver enjoys the view after a steep ascension on the way to Nehalem Bay State Park.

A mother and son duo from Washington completed an adventure of a lifetime last week, cycling across the State of Oregon from Astoria to the California Border along Highway 101. The trip was literally full of ups and downs. Mom, Liz Colver, and her son, 10-year-old Shephard Colver, from Kenmore, Washington peddled up steep stretches of highway while shrouded in fog, cycled through winding mountain roads and trekked over monumental coastal bridges. They were able to complete the full 370 mile route in 18 days – all while managing 10-year-old Shep’s Type 1 Diabetes. It was mom, Liz’s first long-distance bicycle trip. Shep completed his first long ride – pedaling 3,300 miles across the US to New York City – with his dad, James, in 2021. This 18-week trek was a mission years in the making, and it was all Shep’s idea to fulfill a dream of seeing the Statue of Liberty in New York City. After the father-son duo completed that ride, Shep decided he wanted to do a long-distance bicycle trip with his mother, too. “It was wild, when he got asked what he wanted to do next and he said he wanted to do a bicycle trip with me. I was startled,” Liz said. “I didn’t know it was something he had ever really thought about. But because he said he wanted to, and because he asked, I decided to say yes.” Liz said she has never really been a bicyclist. But she said she was glad to take the lead from her son – who has learned a lot from his experiences with long-distance bicycling. “He was coached last time, and this time he got to be the coach. So, I was able to follow his lead and pay attention to what he says about bicycling – and that was really cool,” Liz said. On the final leg of the trip through Brookings to the California border, Shep said his legs felt like jelly and he stopped for

a short break to eat a snack to bring his blood sugar up. In spite of this, he was in good spirits. “My blood sugar is a little bit low right now, but it feels pretty great to say that now I have done this with my mom and one with my dad,” Shep said. Shep said his favorite part of the bicycle trip was spending time with his mom. “We’ve gotten to talk a lot about a lot of things and see lots of great things. There is a lot of pretty viewpoints – and we got to see whales for the first time,” he said. The hardest parts of the trip were the more physical parts, he said. “There was a lot of constant uphill climbs and a lot of ups and downs that were pretty annoying at some points,” he said. “But really, not much bad things happened on this trip.” The mother and son were happily surprised not to have to deal with flat tires or mechanical issues with their bicycles. They also expected to come across a lot of different weather conditions – and packed accordingly. “Being from the Pacific Northwest, we were prepared for different weather, but we didn’t even get one drop of rain the whole 18 days we were on the road. I thought that was pretty crazy,” Liz said. The mother and son documented their trip for their family, friends and others on Facebook as a sporting event called Trek 2022. The page has 1,400 followers. Liz said she and her family did a scoping road-trip prior to embarking on their cycle trek. This gave them a good idea about how many miles they could complete each day. They also bought an Adventure Cycling Guide to help plan for different legs of their journey. “They have excellent tips for the routes including spots for food and groceries, where you can sleep and camp and all of that kind of stuff – so we really spent a lot of time studying those maps,” Liz said. Please see TREK Page A2

Skarlatos makes his case to South Coast happened to me, I came home and saw a great need." That need led to Skarlatos running for Congress in the Fourth Congressional District two years ago, where he finished five points behind longtime incumbent Peter DeFazio. After finishing closer than many expected, Skarlatos decided to try one more time, announcing his candidacy as a Republican in District Four before DeFazio decided to retire. "I had already announced, but when I saw what happened in Afghanistan, that pissed me off and made me want to do something about it," Skarlatos said. "Since then, we've had runaway inflation and gas prices above $5 a gallon." That combination makes Skarlatos feel Oregon is primed for a change, in the Fourth District and across the state. In his district, the biggest

BY DAVID RUPKALVIS The World

Alek Skarlatos has already lived life most people would envy. A true American hero after fighting in Afghanistan as part of the Oregon National Guard and later helped stop a gunman on a train from Amsterdam to Paris and later a celebrity of sorts after he starred in a movie depicting the train incident and finished third in Dancing with the Stars, Skarlatos had no dreams of being in politics. That was until he came home to Oregon. "Nothing made me feel like I wanted to run," Skarlatos said while visiting Coos Bay and North Bend last week. "I felt like I had too. I never would have thought I would have run for office. After everything that

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Please see SKARLATOS Page A2

North County residents oppose zone changes BY BREEANA LAUGHLIN The Pilot

Curry County commissioners adopted multiple amendments to the county zoning ordinance at their meeting on Aug. 17 although several community members from Port Orford asked them to hold off and provide more time for public input. The community members said the majority of residents in the north part of the county had been unaware about the slew of changes being made to their zoning rules. Most public comments made to commissioners were in reference to changes in the short term rental regulations (or lack thereof) and a change that allows more density in residential neighborhoods outside city limits – the urban growth boundary. Port Orford residents and those who live in the outlying communities said they should have been included in the decision making process because they will be the ones most-impacted by these changes. Gregory Tidey, a Port Orford city council member, read a letter prepared by the city. “Unlike Brookings and Gold Beach, Port Orford has an unusually large urban growth boundary – actually two-times the size of the city – therefore increasing the density of this boundary would have a significant strain on the city and its’ resources,” he said. The council member said Port Orford’s comprehensive plan considers the city's urban growth areas – and the county's zoning changes will have unintended consequences. “It was felt throughout the community that the changes to the urban growth boundary don't adequately address the city's concern regarding housing and short term rental density, fire suppression or water use,” he said. The councilmember said the city of Port Orford has the goal of first adding density to the areas within the city limits, and then would look at ways to annex surrounding areas into the city to ensure smart-growth. Kim Foster, said she and others were upset when on Monday, Aug. 8 Curry County planner Becky Crockett came to Port Orford for a workshop with the council, “she openly admitted she had never bothered to come north to engage with us before, yet Port Orford has the largest (urban growth boundary) in the state – and as a result is the primary target for zoning changes.” Foster said she, as a board member of Port Orford main street, encourages responsible eco-tourism to bring more folks to these south coast to ride bikes, kayak and other recreation. “However, I also know that this tiny town runs almost entirely on volunteers, does not have enough volunteer firefighters, is in the midst of a water crisis, and we cannot handle an influx of boutique motels in the urban growth boundary,” Foster said in an email to The Pilot. “It would destroy the DNA of a town that has kept the same population since the 1960s. There is a crisis of affordable housing here, and Please see ZONING Page A4

Phone Number: 541-813-1717 • Address: 15957 Highway 101 S STE 1, Brookings, OR 97415 • Email: Circulation@CountryMedia.net A4

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