Deputy hikes into the sand dunes for over a mile to locate a missing person.
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Coos Bay creating blueprint to revitalize Empire By DAVID RUPKALVIS The World
As the city of Coos Bay works to plan for improvements to the Empire District, the city is asking those who live and work in Empire to share what they want to see in the district. Last week, the city’s Planning Commission held a second meeting to discuss the Empire Area Blueprint, a year-long effort to make plans for Empire. The Planning Commission meeting is not the last step for those who wish to share
their views. The Planning Commission will hold a formal public hearing next year and the City Council will hold a public hearing before any proposal is adapted. Public input can also be given online by visiting https://empire-area-blueprintdeagis.hub.arcgis.com/ pages/contact-us Planning Administrator Chelsea Schnabel told the Planning Commission the goal of the year-long effort to create a blueprint is to help revitalize the area. She said the goal is come up with a
plan similar to what the city did with Front Street. Jim Hencke, the project manager with David Evans & Associates, said the process will give the community many opportunities to share their input. “The purpose of this project is to address the study area’s vision and transportation needs with recommendations regarding development and circulation management,” Hencke said. “A classic land-use transportation project is really what we’re trying to clarify.”
The blueprint will make plans for primarily the commercial district of Empire, running along Newmark Avenue from Norman Avenue to Empire Boulevard and then along the waterfront of North Empire Boulevard. During the process, the city will look at what is in the area, what is needed along with specific things such as transportation, bike lanes, pedestrian walkways, sidewalks and much more. The blueprint will tie in with the Empire Urban Renewal Plan, Hollering Place Master
Plan and Transportation Plan to create a thorough blueprint that will hopefully revitalize Empire. The blueprint will look primarily at the commercial and industrial zones along Newmark and Empire Boulevard. Residential areas will not be included in the blueprint. Hencke said there are around 10 vacant parcels in the area with several more that need to be revitalized. To learn more, visit https:// empire-area-blueprint-deagis. hub.arcgis.com/
Republican North Bend pushes in new fire engine Senators petition By DAVID RUPKALVIS
to overturn disqualification under 113
The World
After more than a year of waiting, the North Bend Fire Department celebrated its new fire engine with a timehonored tradition. North Bend firefighters gathered with members of the community to celebrate the big day with a push in, a ceremony that ended with all in attendance working together to push the new fire engine into the station. “We’ve never done it before, but we’re doing it now,” Fire Chief Jim Brown said. “The push-in ceremony is more of an East Coast trend.” Brown said the tradition began in the 1800s when fire departments used horsedrawn engines that had to be pushed into the station after every run. Brown said in the fire world, honoring the old traditions remains important to the men and women continuing to serve and protect. Outside of the tradition, the new fire engine was a monumental moment for the North Bend Fire Department. For the first time ever, the department now has an engine that was designed and built specifically for them. “There was a lot of hard work that led to getting the fire engine here,” Brown said. “Everything we have at North Bend Fire was a demo unit, so we didn’t get exactly
By WILL CHAPPELL Country Media
North Bend Fire Chief Jim Brown, right, and Councilman Pat Goll discuss the new fire engine North Rend started using last week.
what we needed. This is the first time we’ve made a fire engine that was for North Bend Fire that was the way we wanted.” Brown said after the city council decided to purchase a new engine ahead of schedule, a three-person team was put together to design exactly what North Bend wanted. The design team began working to create the dream engine in April 2021, and the engine was ordered in January 2022. The new
engine carries 750 gallons of water and can push out 1,500 gallons of water per minute. It has significantly more hose than the older engines and can be plugged into a hydrant at the front of the engine, allowing it to be driven to any hydrant and connected in seconds. Brown said the way hydrants are set up in North Bend, there is no location in the city that the engine cannot be used to fight fires. Assistant Fire Chief Brian Waddington led the design
Photos by David Rupkalvis / For The World
team, and he said he was thrilled with the finished engine. “It’s been a great project,” Brown said. “From not knowing even what we wanted, we came up with this. It was a great process for us to be involved in to come up with this.” Firefighter Luke Rector was also part of the design team, and he said the new engine will make things easier and faster for firefighters. Please see FIRE ENGINE Page A3
Photos by David Rupkalvis / For The World
Community members joined the North Bend Fire Department to help push in the new fire engine. The ceremony marked the end of a multi-year effort to purchase a new engine.
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State Senator Suzanne Weber and four of her republican colleagues filed a petition in Oregon’s Court of Appeals on August 25, challenging Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade’s exclusion of their candidacy in their next elections under Measure 113. Passed by a more than two-thirds majority of Oregon voters last year, Measure 113 sought to disqualify legislators who accrued ten unexcused absences in a session from serving in subsequent terms. Weber, 10 other Republican senators and two independents walked out of this year’s legislative session in May, with Weber missing her tenth meeting on May 18. “In my conversations with so many constituents during and after session this year, I’ve had numerous people tell me that had they known what Measure 113 really did, they never would have supported it,” Weber wrote in a statement to the Herald. “The measure was poorly and unclearly written and presented to the public in simplistic and misleading terms. Should the courts find it unconstitutional, which I believe they likely will, Oregonians will be able to have an honest debate over clearly written legislation. I think we owe them at least that.” Weber was joined in the petition to the court of appeals by four other Republican senators: Minority Leader Tim Knopp of Bend, Daniel Bonham of The Dalles, Dennis Linthicum of Klamath Falls and Lynn Findley, who represents a district in eastern Oregon. Senators David Brock Smith and Dick Anderson, who represent Coos and Douglas counties, did not participate in the walkout and are eligible to run for Please see WALKOUT Page A2
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