Oregon’s re-employment ............... PAGE 4 Treating canine cancer . . ............ PAGE 12
August 30, 2022
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Gun sales rise following sheriff patrol reductions JEREMY C. RUARK jruark@countrymedia.net
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on’t be surprised to see several customers in line in front of the gun sales counter inside Lincoln City Sporting Goods and Electronics. The store, at 800 SE Highway 101 in Lincoln City, is seeing a rise in firearms sales, according to owner Bruce Poovi, following the announcement by Lincoln County Sheriff Curtis Landers that LCSO patrols would be reduced due to staffing and budget constraints. “We’ve definitely seen an increase in sales in home defense firearms such as shotguns and certain handguns,” Poovi told The News Guard. “People from the outlying areas in the county have been worried about responds time (from LCSO) because of the increased crime rates already from the pandemic, and they don’t seem to be going down, they seem to be going up. And with them not putting people in jail these days from property crimes and so on, people are really concerned about their own safety.” On July 31, Landers reduced patrol deputy response to non-criminal calls for service and certain lower-level criminal complaints. Deputies are
“People are really concerned about their own safety.” Bruce Poovi, Lincoln City Sporting Good and Electronics
now focusing primarily on responding to emergency and in-progress calls for service. Read the full story at thenewsguard.com “If the deputies aren’t going to show up, unless it’s a life-threatening emergency, people are worried about finding an open door at their house when they come home, or worried about what the response time is going to be, if there is going to be a response,” Poovi said. Customers are seeking short barrel shotguns and certain handguns that could be easily used by the elderly for home defense, according to Poovi. “A lot of people are also asking about (firearms) training and concealed weapons permits just mainly for protection,” Poovi said, adding that firearm training is essential. “There are a lot of good safety
See GUN SALES, Page A12
JEREMY C. RUARK / THE NEWS GUARD
Sales of certain handguns have increased at one local firearms store following the reduction of deputy patrols by the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office.
Team Rubicon joins local wildfire recovery
JEREMY C. RUARK jruark@countrymedia.net
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he veteranled global “It is the ability to come disaster response together and work organization Team together as a team and Rubicon (TR) has being a beacon of hope.” launched a wildfire recovery operation Matt Akers, Team Rubicon to support Lincoln County residents who continue to endure impacts of the September 2020 Echo Mountain Fire. The operation was scheduled to begin Thursday, Aug. 25 and run to Wednesday, Aug. 31. TR Echo Mountain Incident Commander Matt Akers said the group has come to Otis to support the wildfire recovery effort in Lincoln County. “Our objectives are to help remove some of the downed trees in the Otis area and our goal is to get through as many as we can in the six days that we will be here,” Akers said. “Our hope is just to help the community get back to some of the normalcy that they might have experienced before the fire hit.” To date, about 135 families have returned to their Otis properties, but more than 160 families continue to live elsewhere, some in hotels, shelters, or temporary rentals, and others with friends and family, according to published reports. About the operation Akers said Greyshirts (highly skilled volunteers) are deploying from all over the West Coast. Responders include a team of sawyers (chainsaw operators) to remove dead, down, and down-hazard trees from over 20 properties. “We understand the road back home has been a long one for so many families displaced by this wildfire,” he said. “The Greyshirts deploying this week are well trained, prepared, and mission-focused on serving the community of Otis.” The Cascade Relief Team has been a critical part of the Otis recovery since the 2020 fire. The group was founded and is led by Executive Director Marc Brooks. “There’s one critical thing we don’t have – that’s sawyers who can come in and safely remove these trees so we can get on with the recovery,” Brooks said. “We’ve worked with Team Rubicon on a number of operations and this is one of their specialties. They come in and get it done.” “We understand the volunteer base has been working
COURTESY PHOTO
Samaritan North Lincoln Hospital faces serious staffing shortages that ultimately impact patient care and nurse burnout, according to the Oregon Nurses Association.
Nurses seek union representation JEREMY C. RUARK jruark@countrymedia.net
COURTESY PHOTO FROM JEFF MARKHAM FEMA
A toy fire truck seen at the site of a home destroyed by the Echo Mountain Complex Fire near Lincoln City. pretty tirelessly for the last couple of years following the fire,” Akers said. “Additional assistance and some of our specific skill should help accelerate the recovery process. The additional resources give Otis and the county the ability to get all the work done efficiently. Our main objective is to support the homeowners and their properties.” Akers told The News Guard that the recovery work can be dangerous. “Yes, it is dangerous,” he said. “We mitigate that with a lot of our safety protocols and training programs.” Project cost Akers describes Team Rubicon as a donation driven organization with donors ranging from corporate sponsors to individuals. “One story I like to tell is of a grandmother who has donated a portion of her social security check each month,” he said. That’s a pretty common thing so we are able to raise money that way. The efforts here are all volunteer, so every Greyshirt that is here is here to serve the community free of charge and there is no cost to the homeowners.”
See RUBICON TEAM, Page A12
urses at Samaritan North Lincoln Hospital in Lincoln City have filed with the National Labor Relations Board for union recognition through the Oregon Nurses Association (ONA.) The 70 hospital nurses are seeking an election through the NLRB for the union representation. Samaritan North Lincoln is currently the only Samaritan facility in Oregon whose nurses are not represented by a union. If the union representation is approved, the nurses would focus their collective bargaining power on addressing burnout, understaffing, safe patient care and ensuring nurses have a voice in decision-making that impacts their working conditions and wages, according to a release from the ONA. “Decisions are being made at the management level that have a huge impact on nurses, on the way we do our work, and on how we deliver care
Classifieds..................... 8 Police Blotter ............... 2
VOL. 95 NO. 33
See NURSES, Page A7
TheNewsGuard.com
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to our patients,” RN Kati Carnahan said. Carnahan works in both operating room and post anesthesia care unit at Samaritan North Lincoln Hospital. “I don’t understand why we aren’t invited to be a part of that decision-making process, and why those decisions aren’t transparent to the staff,” she said. “Joining a union will give us a voice at the table, allow us to be a part of those decisions, and let us bring our knowledge and experience to solve problems for the benefit of our patients.” Like all hospitals in the state, Samaritan North Lincoln Hospital faces serious staffing shortages that ultimately impact patient care and nurse burnout, the ONA release states. “Joining ONA will allow nurses to have a direct influence on how the hospital operates, how they treat their nurses, and how the best
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