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Serving Oregon’s South Coast Since 1878

Honoring Reedpsort grads

NB teams get back to practice

A look back at RCCS graduation ceremony, A6, A7

Bulldogs return to courts and fields this week, B1

RAIN 61 • 51  FORECAST, A8  |  SATURDAY, JUNE 13, 2020  |  theworldlink.com  | $2

Honoring Alonzo Tucker Increased conversations about honoring man who was lynched in 1902 ZACH SILVA The World

COOS BAY — In the wake of national protests of the deaths George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, who were both killed at the hands of the police, there has been a heightened level of unrest across the country. These protests, also seen in Coos Bay last weekend, have been an effort to bring about justice in addition to fighting against

systems of oppression that have been woven into the fabric of the country. One action that is being taken in Coos Bay is a renewed interest in memorializing Alonzo Tucker, a black man who was lynched in 1902 in what was then Marshfield. The lynching of Tucker is, according to the Equal Justice Initiative, the only documented lynching to have taken place in Oregon. “Everyone says, ‘Oh Coos Bay, it’s known for its beautiful coast.’ No it’s not, not in the black community. It is known for being the only city in Oregon that lynched a man,” said Jay Brown, a leader at last Sunday’s

protest in Coos Bay that drew over 300 people. “That is what it’s known for, the only documented lynching. This is so important so don’t sit here and tell me your town is not racist: yes it is. You’re the only documented lynching, how are you not racist?” Brown is calling for a statue honoring Tucker to go up sometime in the next year. A petition urging support for this issue is set to be released soon. At an event earlier this year remembering Tucker the City of Coos Bay said it would pay for a plaque to act as a historical marker. Please see Tucker, Page A8

Zach Silva, The World

Bittin Duggan holds a sign remembering Alonzo Tucker, a Coos Bay resident that was lynched in 1902, at last week’s protest.

Testing accuracy questioned after false positive

Ship docks in North Bend

AMANDA LINARES The World

Amy Moss Strong, The World

A ship from Hong Kong is docked at the Ocean Terminals Co. dock at the end of California Street in North Bend, ready to be loaded with logs on Wednesday evening.

DA asks witnesses of gun Supreme Court sides with incident to step forward governor on virus restrictions The World COOS BAY — Coos County District Attorney R. Paul Frasier is asking anyone who witnessed an incident at the Black Lives Matter rally in Coos Bay on Saturday, June 6, to come forward to be interviewed. In a press release Friday afternoon, Frasier said he received police reports prepared by the Coos Bay Police Department on Thursday, June 11, regarding the incident involving Brandon Moore, 36, of Coos Bay. Moore was arrested after allegedly pointing a handgun at Black

Lives Matter demonstrators on Saturday afternoon along Broadway (U.S. Highway 101) in downtown Coos Bay. According to a press release from Frasier’s office on Monday morning, Moore was transported to Coos County Jail on Saturday and was released on his own recognizance. He was set to appear in court on Monday. Frasier called for a thorough investigation of the incident. At that time, Frasier said in a press release that he had not yet received the police reports. Please see Witnesses, Page A8

SALEM (AP) — The Oregon Supreme Court on Friday upheld Gov. Kate Brown’s shutdown orders aimed at stemming the coronavirus pandemic and she prohibited county officials from loosening restrictions for at least a week amid a spike in virus cases. The Supreme Court overturned a ruling by a judge in a conservative, rural part of the state who had determined that Brown’s restriction of activities during the coronavirus pandemic was “null and void” because it was subjected to a time limit. But the high court said Brown’s powers under the state

Photo gallery: South Coast graduations Photo gallery: Black Lives Matter rallies

of emergency she declared March 8 continue until it is ended by her or the Legislature. The Oregon Health Authority reported 178 new confirmed coronavirus cases Thursday, marking the highest daily count in the state since the start of the pandemic. On Friday, another 142 new cases were reported. Brown late Thursday put a week-long hold on authorizing counties to lift restrictions. The new order immediately affects Multnomah County, the state’s most populous that includes Portland.

AT THEWORLDLINK.COM

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COOS BAY — A patient at Bay Area Hospital, who had not been exposed to or had many symptoms related to COVID-19, surprised healthcare officials earlier this month when she unexpectedly tested positive for the new coronavirus. Taken aback by the result, healthcare providers at BAH ordered another test, which was evaluated using the hospital’s newly-acquired Abbott ID NOW testing machine, a rapid, molecular point-of-care test that detects COVID-19 in about 13 minutes or less. Doctors questioned the accuracy of the initial positive result, which was also evaluated on the rapid testing machine, as they reviewed the patient’s condition. She had not been exposed to any other known coronavirus cases and had only one symptom consistent with COVID-19, which was a fever. Kelli Dion, a public information officer at BAH, said the result for the second test, which was returned within about an hour of the first test, came back negative. In an effort to confirm the negative result, Dion said a third test was ordered and sent to the Oregon State Public Health Laboratory which has testing equipment with higher sensitivity rates to detect positive cases than the Abbott rapid testing machine. According to Dion, the timeframe for receiving results from the state lab is a bit longer as the facility is located outside of the county. Last Friday, BAH announced in press release that the patient was indeed negative for COVID-19 as confirmed by the state lab. The accuracy of tests are typically measured through its sensitivity and specificity rates as ways to identify whether a patient is positive or negative, said Dion. At BAH, the Abbott rapid testing machine has a sensitivity of about 60% to 70% depending on how the sample is gathered, said Dion. The specificity rate of the machine, which determines how accurate a test identifies negative cases, also impacted a patient’s results.

Please see Restrictions, Page A8

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Please see Testing, Page A8

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