Serving Oregon’s South Coast Since 1878
Spreading holiday cheer
Wastewater future
Billy Smoothboars hosts Santa event, B1
Coos Bay ponders taking over control, A3
RAIN LIKELY, MOSTLY CLOUDY 53 • 37 FORECAST, A8 | SATURDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2020 | theworldlink.com | $2
Council considers homeless campground ZACK DEMARS The World
COOS BAY — Coos Bay city officials may soon move forward with a plan to give some individuals experiencing homelessness a place to get back on their feet. At a city council work session Tuesday, leaders from the Nancy Devereux Center shared a proposal they say could be the next step in helping the city’s homeless residents: A staffed, referral-only community camp-
ground. The proposal asks the city council to allow the center to use a piece of city property for the campground, as well as set up water, electricity and possibly sewer service to the site. Operations would start with 12 managed campsites, and increase every three months, if successful, to up to 72 campsites at most. “We would provide 24-7 on-site security. Our admission would only be through the Devereux Center, with refer-
rals from law enforcement and community partners,” said Tara Johnson, the center’s director. “We would provide on-site case management, and our clients would be required to participate in that case management.” After-hours admission wouldn’t be allowed, and residents would be required to commit to community expectations like remaining nonviolent and a prohibition on drugs and alcohol. Council members were Please see Campground, Page A7
Zack Demars, The World
Cityleadersareconsideringaproposaltoputamanagedcampgroundonthesiteof the city's former wastewater treatment plant.
Powers appoints interim chief ZACK DEMARS The World
Zack Demars, The World
MaryKnutson,aBAHnurse,administersaCOVID-19vaccinetoDr.LeahCelyonTuesday.Knutsonhadgivenoutaround10shotsbythetimeCelygothers.
Health workers get vaccinated ZACK DEMARS The World
COOS BAY — The announcement in a lobby of Bay Area Hospital was long awaited, and met with applause Tuesday afternoon. “We have COVID vaccine here at Bay Area Hospital,” hospital CEO Brian Moore told a masked and socially distanced crowd of hospital staff. After a countdown by the group, it was official: The hospital’s COVID-19 vaccination clinic was open. Moments later, nurses stationed around the room began preparing doses of the vaccine from red-topped vials and administering them to hospital employees in freshly opened needles.
Zack Demars, The World
Dr.IanCely,anemergencyroomphysicianatBayAreaHospital,looksonasMary Knutson prepares a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine for him. “I started tearing up a little bit when we started counting down,”
said Steve Wilson, a registered nurse at the hospital who was
tasked to set up the clinic. “We’ve finally been given the advantage.” The shots administered Tuesday were the first of the 1,300 doses of the Moderna vaccine the hospital had received the day before, reserved for hospital employees and other front-line health care workers in the region. Sandra Lucatero, a charge nurse in the hospital’s emergency room, received one of those first shots. “It’s a day to help protect family, and the community,” Lucatero said. Often in contact with COVID-19 patients, Lucatero said she worried about how her job could impact her family if she got the virus. Please see Vaccination, Page A6
One voice is trying to change the world By David Rupkalvis The World
BROOKINGS - Jessica Garcia’s life changed forever six years ago when she was violently sexually assaulted in her own home. After surviving the attack, she quickly realized the worst of it wasn’t over when she tried to go to the hospital. What followed was an ordeal Garcia believes no one should have to endure. So, she’s trying
to change it. And she just might succeed. Garcia has already made big strides thanks to a partnership with State Rep. David Brock Smith’s office. In 2019, House Bill 2375 passed the legislature and was signed into law by Gov. Kate Smith. The law requires district attorneys and hospitals to have a plan to treat sexual assault survivors or a plan to quickly transfer them to a facility that does.
Garcia pushed for the law because she felt the way she was treated after her rape was an ordeal no one should have to experience. To understand, one has to go back to 2014. Garcia remembers meeting a man at a local business and agreeing to have a drink with him. After one glass of wine, the two went to her house. While things were great at first, the man, Lorenzo Ignacio King, quickly changed and violently
Photo gallery: Bus Jam 2020 Photo gallery: North Bend, Empire celebrate the season
attacked and assaulted Garcia for hours. Once he left, Garcia was like many assault survivors. “After I was assaulted, first, I didn’t want anybody to know,” she said. “I was embarrassed. When I went to the hospital, I didn’t want anybody to know. At first, I wanted to say my ribs were broken.” A nurse at the hospital knew differently after seeing obvious
AT THEWORLDLINK.COM
W • Serving Oregon’s South Coast since 1878 • A Country Media Newspaper • Copyright 2015 Follow us online:
Please see Change, Page A8 OPINION A4 OBITUARIES A5 WEATHER A8
facebook.com/theworldnewspaper
POWERS — After a turn of events nearly identical to what took place in January, the Powers police department is staffed once again. On Monday, the city council approved a contract appointing Rhett Davis as the city’s interim, part-time police chief. Davis held the same role earlier in the year before the city council hired Kevin Macho, the city’s most recent permanent chief who resigned from the role in October after just seven months on the job. The contract was the only agenda item during a special city council meeting held Monday. A motion made by Wanda Blanton and seconded by Jim Clauson to approve the contract was approved by the council 4-2. The appointment puts an officer in the department for the first time since Macho's departure. Without a chief — the department’s only full-time officer — the city’s law enforcement has been left to the Coos County Sheriff’s Office, at least 30 minutes away. Davis has had a long history with the department. He was the city’s police chief between 1998 and 2004, and he was rehired in 2007, continuing with the department until 2018. Then, in January of this year, Davis took over as interim chief after then-chief Robert Baker’s firing by the city council. Once the city hired Macho as chief, Davis continued working in the department as a part-time reserve officer “He wants to be retired, but he’s offered to help,” said Mayor Robert Kohn in an interview Monday. “He’s been kind enough to keep helping the city out.” His newly approved contract is for $31 an hour at 20 hours per week, and expires July 7, 2021. City leaders hope hiring Davis will give the city some public safety coverage while they work to hire a permanent chief. “We’re certainly looking for someone that’s going to stick
Please see Chief, Page A3
WESTERN WORLD B1 CLASSIFIEDS B6 SPORTS B8
twitter.com/TheWorldLink
instagram.com/theworldlink