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Players on the field
Standoff
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No timeline for library reopen Coos Bay library offers digital services during extended closure Cheryl Upshaw The World
COOS BAY — While the county waits to see how Phase 1 of reopening progresses, the Coos Bay Public Library continues to offer as many services as it can from afar. For right now, the library does not plan to open its doors to
the 600-plus daily patrons that frequented the space prior to the pandemic. According to Coos Bay Public Library Director Sami Pierson, there are likely many steps between the services being offered now and a complete reopening. “We miss our patrons and we hope they miss us too, but right now for everyone’s safety we’re doing what we can do,” Pierson said. The first step to reopening the library will be offering curbside pickup for library materials once again. The service was offered in
the early days of the pandemic but had to be discontinued to comply with state orders. Curbside service will depend on how Coos County performs in Phase 1. However, Pierson was careful to point out that there is no exact timeline or date for this step, or for the library’s actions as the county moves into Phase 2. “After that, the timeline gets squishier. It will depend on how things are in the county. We don’t want to be closed forever,” Pierson said. The next step to reopening
after curbside pickup would likely be opening certain sections of the library to patrons. This would involve allowing patrons to physically browse some sections and not others, in an effort to limit exposure and the amount of cleaning that would need to occur each day. While some sections would be closed to physical access, library staff would still be available to retrieve materials in closed sections for patrons. Which sections might be left open and which might be temporarily restricted has not been decided yet.
A large consideration for opening portions of the library is access to cleaning supplies and masks. Presently, the library does not have consistent access to these supplies. “That’s a biggie,” Pierson said, “We want to make sure we’re able to clean thoroughly and keep as safe as possible.” In the interim, library staff has worked to bring services into the digital space. For example, the summer reading program that has been traditionally held in the library Please see Library, Page A9
Fishing workers to be tested
Kayaking Empire Lake
OHA will be providing testing in Charleston on Wednesday and Thursday ZACH SILVA The World
Zach Silva, The World
A kayaker cruises through Upper Empire Lake last week. Recreational enthusiasts have a few more days of good weather.
2 more churches sue governor PORTLAND (AP) — Two additional churches are suing Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, saying her social gathering restrictions because of the coronavirus pandemic violate their constitutional right to the freedom of religion and assembly. The Edgewater Christian Fellowship in Grants Pass and the Church of God of Prophecy in Roseburg on Tuesday filed a federal suit in U.S. District Court in Eugene against Brown, the Oregon Health Authority director, Oregon state police
superintendent and the Josephine and Douglas county sheriffs, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported. Both churches believe they are “called to’’ resume in-person worship services after suspending them in compliance with the state’s “Stay Home Save Lives’’ orders, according to the suit. They want to resume in-person worship services on May 31 with social distancing, hand-washing and other sanitary protocol, their lawyer Steve Elzinga wrote in the suit. Attorneys from Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative
Christian nonprofit organization, are representing the two churches and their pastors. It comes as the state Supreme Court prepares to decide whether a Baker County judge’s May 18 preliminary injunction, which found the governor’s emergency coronavirus order restrictions “null and void,” should stand or be dismissed. The injunction stemmed from a lawsuit filed in rural Baker County Circuit Court by 10 churches and 21 other individuals. According to the suit, the
Edgewater Christian Fellowship on March 17 suspended in-person worship services and began conducting services online. As of Sunday, Josephine County had no active COVID-19 cases and had recorded 25 total cases since the outbreak, the suit says. Roseburg Church of God of Prophecy on March 16 suspended in-person worship services and began conducting services online. Between March 8 and Sunday, there have been 25 known COVID-19 positive cases in Douglas County.
Police investigate arson in Powers AMANDA LINARES The World
POWERS — Authorities responded to reports of a vehicle fire on Memorial Day. The vehicle fire was declared the work of arson and, according to Powers Police Chief Kevin Macho, this is the second vehicle that was reported on fire in the same area over the past few weeks. In partnership with the Oregon State Police Arson Agency, the Powers Police Department and personnel from the Powers Fire Department are looking into what led to the fire and finding those involved. The fire has been Please see Arson, Page A9
Contributed photo
A vehicle fire was reported early morning in Powers on Memorial Day.
Photo gallery: Marshfield Junior High School construction Photo gallery: Face of Coronavirus
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CHARLESTON — Those working in the fishing or fish processing industries are being tested for the novel coronavirus. The effort is being made to hopefully prevent the pandemic from interrupting the time-sensitive fishing industry. The tests are to be offered on Wednesday and Thursday at no cost. From 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., on both days, there will be a tent set up near the corner of Eel Avenue and Guano Rock Lane where tests will be available. The Oregon Health Authority is providing the tests and is working with Coos Health and Wellness to perform them. Those who are taking the tests have been asked to bring some sort of identification as proof that they work in the fishing industry. “We don’t want COVID-19 to interrupt the fishing industry,” stated Coos Health and Wellness in a press release about the testing effort. The OHA reached out to Coos Health and Wellness last week about making sure this specific group of workers was tested. “The main reason is because they are a vital part of our food supply and also our economy. If there is an outbreak among the fishing workers’ industry then it disrupts the whole supply chain of seafood,” said Phillip Nel of Coos Health and Wellness. “These guys are in close quarters when they work. Unlike a lot of other industries, it’s not possible to do social separation on a fishing boat.” Between 600 to 700 tests will be available for fishing industry workers to take over the course of two days. “It’s only a few minutes,” Nel said. “You sit down — and have got to do the paperwork, because if we test you we’ve got to know who to get a hold of also. There’s some paperwork and then the test itself: you sit down and the practitioner will swab you and once that’s done, it’s put in a medium and then in a bag. After that, it goes up to the state lab.”
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