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Homelessness still an issue DAVID RUPKALVIS The World

COOS BAY — As winter begins to bring colder weather to Coos Bay, hundreds of local residents are wondering where they might be laying their heads at night. Coos Bay City Manager Rodger Craddock said homelessness continues to be a major problem in the city. Craddock said several years ago a survey estimated around 1,200 homeless in Coos Bay. “It’s a daunting number,” he said. While the 1,200 estimates the number of homeless, Craddock said the definition of homeless is fluid. He explained technical-

ly, one is considered homeless if they don’t have a permanent home. That includes people living in their cars, in hotels and even couch surfing with friends. Regardless, Craddock said there are people in Coos Bay who need help and currently are not receiving it. Tara Johnson, director of the Nancy Devereux Center in Coos Bay, said she agrees with the estimate of 1,200 homeless. While the city and Devereux Center agree that around 1,200 homeless are in the area, Johnson said that includes up to 300 children. A recent McKinney-Vento survey of local school districts identified 200 to 300 homeless children ranging in age from birth to 18.

David Rupkalvis, The World

Blake Wright works on a computer while visiting the Nancy Devereux Center in Coos Bay. “There’s a fair number of she said. those that are on their own, She said the Devereux Center they’re unaccompanied youth,” sees approximately 300 home-

less each month. The center offers free breakfast and lunch along with services like showers, laundry, access to computers and assistance with things like getting doctor’s appointments and qualifying for government assistance. Despite the work being done at the Devereux Center and other organizations in Coos Bay, the challenges facing the homeless population and the community are not easing. “We know that something more has to be done,” Johnson said. “We’re happy to step up and do what we can. It has to be the community stepping up and helping organizations like the Devereux Center.”

Please see Homeless, Page A8

Second vaccine successful in trials

John Gunther, The World

Lloyd Pedro tries out the grader simulator in the Winter Lakes High School simulator room during a recent open house for area businesses.

Winter Lakes aims to boost workforce JOHN GUNTHER The World

COQUILLE — One of the big focuses of Winter Lakes High School is training students for futures in construction or technical fields. That was on display on a recent evening when the school invited leaders in those industries on the South Coast to see what the school is teaching the students through the Career and Technical Education program. Brian Bergstedt, the CTE Construction instructor for Winter Lakes, told the guests the

school’s goal is to provide those companies workers while giving the students a chance to be successful after high school. “The thing that is really neat about this program — everyone knows how hard it is to find people to work,” he told the industry leaders. “We get the kids when they are younger. They can dabble at things.” Winter Lakes offers 20 different construction trade skills the students can learn. The guests had a chance to tour the three rooms in the school where the students get practical experience.

In some ways, the most impressive is the simulator room, which has simulators of four different construction vehicles — a front loader, an excavator, a bulldozer and a grader — completely with steering wheels, foot pedals, hand levers, screens that show the views the driver would have and seats that vibrate like real tractors would. In addition to giving experience, the simulators grade the operators on how they do, keeping track of what they do right and wrong. A fifth simulator is on the way, scheduled to arrive later this

month, that might prove most popular of all — a truck driving simulator that includes several different types of trucks and can show driving in city or rural areas, all kinds of weather and various terrain including steep uphills or downhills. The truck simulator normally would cost $350,000, but Winter Lakes got it for $67,000, said Tim Sweeney the superintendent for the Coquille School District, which includes the Winter Lakes schools. Tony Jones, who oversees the technical training for the school

Please see Workforce, Page A8

Coos County seeing record new cases ahead of holidays ZACK DEMARS The World

COOS BAY — Coos County’s COVID-19 case numbers are “obscene,” Coos Health & Wellness officials say. If current rates continue, the county could see over 200 new cases of COVID-19 just this month — nearly double what the county saw in October, and the county’s highest month of cases since the pandemic began. The county’s increase means that it’s critical for residents to

follow precautions and restrictions, like wearing face masks and cancelling large holiday plans, in order to slow the spread of the virus which threatens to close schools and take up hospital capacity. “I think that we don’t truly understand the severity of the situation,” said Eric Gleason, CHW’s assistant director. “It’s obscene, the numbers that we’ve had in the last few months, and it’s frustrating that something as simple as putting a mask on has become a divisive topic.”

The weekend was a busy one: Coos County saw 14 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday alone, the county’s highest daily case count since the pandemic began. Sunday saw five new cases, and Monday’s four cases brings the county’s total to 342 since beginning of the pandemic. 70 of those cases came in the past 14 days, a sign that those cases are still considered infectious and active. That’s the most active cases the county has reported. Douglas County’s weekly data

report shows the stark figures it is facing: The county had more cases last week alone (148) than it did in the first 152 days after its first reported case in March. It’s had 632 cases of the virus since the pandemic began, and 10 people in the county have died with the virus. Curry County reported two new cases of the virus over the weekend, bringing its total to 83 since the pandemic began. Two people in the county have died with the virus. Please see Restrictions, Page A8

Photo gallery: Home for veterans nears completion Photo gallery: Trick-or-treaters find new fun amid pandemic AT THEWORLDLINK.COM D  •  Serving Oregon’s South Coast since 1878  •  A Country Media Newspaper  •  Copyright 2020 Follow us online:

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(AP) - Moderna said Monday its COVID-19 vaccine is proving highly effective in a major trial, a second ray of hope in the global race for a shot to tame a resurgent virus that is now killing more than 8,000 people a day worldwide. The company said its vaccine appears to be 94.5% effective, according to preliminary data from Moderna’s ongoing study. A week ago, competitor Pfizer Inc. announced its own vaccine appeared similarly effective — news that puts both companies on track to seek permission within weeks for emergency use in the U.S. The results are “truly striking,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the U.S. government’s top infectious diseases expert. Earlier this year, Fauci said he would be happy with a COVID-19 vaccine that was 60% effective. A vaccine can’t come fast enough, as virus cases topped 11 million in the U.S. over the weekend — 1 million of them recorded in just the past week — and governors and mayors are ratcheting up restrictions ahead of Thanksgiving. The pandemic has killed more than 1.3 million people worldwide, over 245,000 of them in the U.S. Stocks rallied on Wall Street and elsewhere around the world on rising hopes that the global economy could start returning to normal in the coming months. Moderna was up 7.5% in the morning, while companies that have benefited from the stayat-home economy were down, including Zoom, Peloton and Netflix. Dr. Stephen Hoge, Moderna’s president, welcomed the “really important milestone” but said having similar results from two different companies is what’s most reassuring. “That should give us all hope that actually a vaccine is going to be able to stop this pandemic and hopefully get us back to our lives,” Hoge told The Associated Press. He added: “It won’t be Moderna alone that solves this problem. It’s going to require many vaccines” to meet the global demand. The National Institutes of Health helped create the vaccine Moderna is manufacturing, and NIH’s director, Dr. Francis Collins, said the exciting news from Please see Vaccine, Page A8

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