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Three new deputies join the Coos County Sheriff’s office.

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Coos County gets state funding to house some homeless By DAVID RUPKALVIS The World

Coos County will be receiving just short of $2 million to continue to work to find homes for the homeless, but the funding is short of what is needed to complete a major project set by the Coordinated Office on Houselessness. That was the news

shared by North Bend City Administrator David Milliron, one of six members of the board that oversees the office. Milliron explained Gov. Tina Kotek’s office announced it was granting $26.1 million in state funds to 26 rural counties to help address the homeless crisis across the state. In Coos County, the

county and the cities of Coos Bay and North Bend work together in the Coordinated Office of Houselessness. When the state announced it was making funding available to rural counties, the Coos County group jumped at the chance. “The group made a submission,” Milliron said. “Ultimately, the state made a decision on the funding

Photo by David Rupkalvis/For The World

Andrew Brainard, center, the executive director of the Coordinated Office of Houselessness, discusses ongoing projects with the board members, from left, David Milliron, Jessica Engelke, Nichole Rutherford and David Geels.

formula. We were advised there was about $6 million in capital funding that could be used.” The funding released by the state is designed with two specific goals - increasing temporary shelters and securing permanent housing for the homeless. Milliron said about $1.2 million from the state will be set aside to move families into permanent housing, with just under $700,000 available for capital projects. “In our funding request, we put in three capital funding requests,” Milliron said. “We actually were rejected on all capital requests. Twelve hours later, we were at a breakfast with the governor. Shortly after the governor’s visit, we immediately reached out to stakeholders across the state. We continued a full-court press as a group.” Milliron said the pressure made a difference, and the group quickly learned the state was considering funding a portion of the county’s Please see HOMELESS Page A3

Cemetery shows off repaired gravesites By DAVID RUPKALVIS The World

Generations of Coos Bay residents have buried their loved ones in Marshfield Pioneer Cemetery, beginning in 1891 and continuing through late last year. While the cemetery has always been a majestic place to lay a loved one to rest, its age and extreme weather conditions have played havoc on the aging headstones that honor many of the communities pioneers. But thanks to a project led by volunteers who now oversee the cemetery, many of those aging headstones are getting a second lease on life. Last week, Cricket Soules, who has overseen the volunteer effort for many Please see CEMETERY Page A3

Photo by David Rupkalvis / For The World

Cricket Soules explains what steps have been taken to repair Marshfield Pioneer Cemetery during an open house at the cemetery last week.

Gizmo’s Angels works to feed all pets By DAVID RUPKALVIS The World

When Samantha Milton faced one of the hardest times in her life, she quickly learned having her dog made the hard days so much easier. Since then, she has turned that memory into a mission to help others keep their animals no

matter how hard things may be. Milton, who proudly says she is nothing special, used her struggles to start Gizmo’s Angels, a nonprofit that provides food and other care to veterans and the homeless who need a hand up to care for their pets. “Gizmo was my

Gizmo’s Angels has brought dog and cat food to the veterans standown for many years.

golden retriever,” Milton said. “He passed away two years ago. We got him when he was 6 weeks old. He was my service dog. We became homeless in 2016, and we had a cat and dog. Fortunately, we were only homeless for a short time.” Despite being Please see GIZMO Page A10

Contributed photo

Contributed photo

Gizmo’s Angels is named after Gizmo, a golden retriever that served as Samantha Milton’s friend and service animal its whole life.

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CFTLC meets with governor’s reps to discuss HCP By WILL CHAPPELL Country Media

The Council of Forest Trust Land Counties met twice last week with representatives appointed by Governor Tina Kotek to address the potential economic impacts of a new habitat conservation plan on trust counties’ revenues. The meetings were focused on bringing the governor’s representatives up to speed, and now they will work with the counties to come up with a plan to present to the legislature to alleviate the concerns. “The economic impacts of that need to be brought into focus and we need to figure out how to address that,” Geoff Huntington said at the second meeting on September 13, referring to the impacts of the habitat conservation plan (HCP). Huntington is Kotek’s senior natural resources advisor, and one of the three people the governor appointed to work with the trust counties. The other two are Department of Land Conservation and Development Senior Policy Adviser Palmer Mason and ex-Coos County Commissioner Melissa Cribbins. Kotek appointed the three after the development of the HCP became fraught in the first half of this year as new harvest projections showed substantial cuts, threatening the trust counties’ revenues from those sales. Huntington said that Kotek had been planning to wait until the conclusion of the process to address those issues, but when the plan was delayed and became enmeshed in controversy, she moved that timeline forward. Huntington said that the top priority was understanding the difference in revenues that would be caused by the implementation of a new HCP before devising a legislative plan to account for any lost revenues. Commissioners from the 15 counties that make up the council shared their concerns about the new plan’s economic impacts on their counties as well as other issues with the process and proposed plan. Tillamook County Commissioner Erin Skaar said that the fundamental issue was that if the HCP causes major cuts in timber revenue, the Please see FOREST Page A2

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