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About Port Orford news. (Port Orford, Curry County, Oregon) 1958-current | View Entire Issue (July 29, 2009)
Port Orford News THE MOST WESTERLY WEEKLY IN THE CONTIGUOUS 48 STATES Volume 53, No. 30 Wednesday, July 29, 2009 Inside New foal Price - Fifty Cents Port outlines progress, process ‘Now more difficult work is ahead’ cautions Port president Process to demand substantial staff time By Ed Dowdy For the Port Orford News Itʼs been a bountiful spring/summer at the Marsh Ranch on Elk River, as this beautiful new filly attests. — Page 4 The Commissioners of the Port of Port Orford are gratified that Governor Kulongoski has endorsed our project, Sustainable Fisheries, Sustainable Ports: The Port Orford Marine Economic Recovery Plan, for special con- siderations and support from the State of Oregon. So, the ini- tial and costly effort of the Port and the Ocean Resource Team has been rewarded with the Governor’s endorsement fol- lowing the recommendation of his Oregon Way project-vetting group. Now more difficult work is ahead. The support from the State of Small ... Photographer Lance Nix has two seperate photo layouts of “A small world” for PON readers to enjoy. — Pages 4 & 5 Port Orford, Curry County, Oregon 97465 Oregon will come chiefly in the form of endorsements of pro- posals we submit to Federal Agencies for funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, otherwise known as the ‘stimulus.’ Each of the Agencies that has a potential interest in seeing the Port Orford project come to fruition must be petitioned for funding in the form of grants. Some of the grants might come with no strings attached (preferably), and some might require our commitment of matching assets. The process for competing for these funds will require a substantial commitment of staff time and significant expendi- ture of funds, with no assur- ance of successful outcome. We are hopeful that Oregon State Agencies will follow the Governor’s encouragement and assist in this grant-seeking process. We wish it were as easy as some in the Community have come to believe. However, the endorsement of the Governor, though ‘golden,’ is just the first step in attempting to capture part of the ARRA funds. It is likely that proposals to a number of Federal Agencies will be required as each Agency individually might not have programmatic responsibil- ity for more than small compo- nents of the project. In the days ahead, we will have to explore all possible funding avenues. We would be remiss in our exercise of due diligence in fol- lowing our fiduciary responsi- bilities to the taxpayers of the Port District if we didn’t also alert the taxpayers of the increases (perhaps substantial) in the maintenance and opera- tions expenses, the cost of insurance, salaries of additional staff, and depreciation set-aside that will all follow the con- struction of the additional buildings of the project. These are exciting times, and like all exciting times, characterized by both joys and pain. We’ll need everyone’s assis- tance in ‘pulling this off’, working together to maximize the joys and minimize the pain. If these new buildings come to fruition, the Port will be be an even more attractive site to all who treasure our ocean beauty and bounty. ◆ Ed Dowdy is the President of the Port Commission Board and will report periodically on the progress of the Port Orford Marine Economic Recovery Plan. Tales of strange, but heroic, travels From Georgia to Port Orford’s beaches - by dirtbike Scary ... By Sherry Johnson For the Port Orford News Nothing to yell about, just a fun picture of some of the locals showing teeth. — Page 5 Coming up Port Orford Rotary Club The Port Orford Rotary Club meets each Thursday, at noon, at the Port Orford American Legion Hall. Vacation Bible School Kids 6-12 can sign up for Vacation Bible School for the week of Aug. 3-7 at POCC. See page 4 for details. Saturday childrenʼs art Enjoy Lavendar Winds with Kelly Fleming this Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the library. Also inside Rays Food Place, McKayʼs Market & Hennickʼs “Do It Best” Home Hardeware News briefs Congratulations on a baby boy Kampbell Grant Kudlac, weigning 10 lbs., 6 1/4 oz., was born July 20 at Bay Area Hospital. The proud parents are Grant and Shala Kudlac, the grand- parents are Robert and Gloria McKenzie and Phil and Pam Kudlac. The great grandparents are Beverly McKenzie and Harry and Leta Strain. Pastor Mark Newman to take new post Pastor Mark Newman of Port Orford’s First Community Church is reportedly going to take the Senior Pastor position in the Powellhurst Baptist Church in Portland. As a result the Newman family is leaving on Tuesday, July 28. ‘Free Flight’ to hold major fundraiser “Mending Wings and Songs to Sing,” a fundraiser variety show and silent auction for Free Flight Bird and Marine Mammal Rehabilitation Center will be held at 7 p.m., Thursday, July 30, at the Sprague Community Theater, 1202 11th St. S.W. in Bandon’s City Park. The event is funded and organized by the Bandon High School Ecology Club and other local volunteers. The doors open at 6:30, at which time the opening band will provide entertainment for people who wish to browse the silent auction or find their seats early. Tickets are avail- able at Bandon True Value Hardware in Bandon or Shark Bites in Coos Bay and cost $5 for students and $8 for adults. All proceeds of the event will go to Free Flight, a private, nonprofit wildlife hospital which provides medical attention and rehabilitation to Oregon’s orphaned birds, mammals and marine mammals. Since its inception, Free Flight has cared for thousands of animals, from raptors to bear cubs, and focuses on public education and awareness. See BRIEFS page 4 Last Saturday night in Pitch’s Tavern, two road weary dirt bike riders celebrated the end of their journey, and the attainment of a life long goal. Frank Mann and Elton Mile road their dirt bikes from Georgia across America to Port Orford, that is 5,300 dusty miles off road, in 25 days, staying all the time on dirt roads and trails. Frank said he was so thrilled when he came over the last mountain and saw the Pacific ahead of him and the rocks that lay offshore south of Port Orford. When they reached town Saturday afternoon, they took their bikes down onto Battle Rock Beach just so they could say they had reached the Pacific Ocean. Frank laughed when he told the crowd at Pitch’s, that when he parked his bike on the edge of the surf and backed up to take a photo of it, a wave snuck in and the bike started to sink in the sand and it wasn’t easy getting it out. Both the men were riding for charities, Frank, who is 40, was riding for AFLAC Children’s Cancer Center and Elton, who is 25, and served in the Marines in Iraq, was riding for the Wounded Warrior Project. See DIRTBIKE page 2 Photo by Sherry Johnson Frank Mann is shown celebrating the end of his journey at Pitchʼs Tavern. In this picture local Carla Hensley shows Mann what one of the local agates looks like. CCEC board of director OKs rate increase A 7.5 percent increase will take effect on October 1, and that might not be all The Coos-Curry Electric Cooperative, Inc. (CCEC) board of directors approved a 7.5 percent overall increase in the cost of elec- tricity at their regularly-scheduled meeting last Friday. The increase will take effect October 1. Another 7.5 percent overall rate increase is forecasted for next April. For residential consumers, the monthly minimum charge will remain at $22.75 for the October rate adjustment and the kilowatt hour charge will increase from 6.3 cents to 6.9 cents. The winter declining block rate of 5.3 cents per kilowatt hour was eliminated in a move toward more conservation-based rates. The average monthly increase for a res- idential consumer is between $6.79 and $8.10. The monthly minimum charge will be evaluated again prior to the April rate adjust- ment. The decision came after months of discus- sion about the cooperative’s finances, pro- jected revenue needs, cost of service study data, wholesale power rates and economic times. The cooperative last raised rates in 2004 and decreased rates nearly three years ago. “Even though we projected a need for a 15 percent increase in rates over the next couple of years, implementing the rate increase in stages is consistent with the board’s philoso- phy of only collecting enough revenue from the membership to meet financial parameters and maintain reasonable margins,” General Manager/CEO Roger Meader said. “The sec- ond half of the rate increase is a forecasted amount because there are still a lot of unknowns out there such as what Congress might impose on electric utilities under cap- and-trade legislation, what the state of Oregon might require us to do to address cli- mate change or what our own revenue needs will be based on the local economy.” Staff presented numerous scenarios for the board’s consideration based on the discus- sions held over the past several months and the cost of service study information. The main driver, representing over 5 percent of the October rate increase and what is See CCEC page 2 Demonstration garden has led to a ‘very busy spring, summer’ By Jennifer Ewing For the Port Orford News It's been a very busy spring and summer, and I have neg- lected to let the community know what is going on in the Port Orford Educational Demonstration Garden (POEDG) behind the Senior Center. As a project of the Sunset Garden Club of Port Orford, the POEDG was honored with a grant of $3,070 by the Meyer Memorial Trust in October of 2008. Those funds have allowed the Garden to reach out to the county with workshops that were well attended, providing information on a wide variety of garden topics. The grant money also allowed us to build two of the beds higher to demonstrate how they will accommodate garden- ers in wheelchairs, and let gar- deners with knee, hip or back problems garden while standing up. Through the winter, the gar- den flourished with kale, chard, onions, beets, arugula, garlic and herbs. If you visit the POEDG now, you will find salad greens, strawberries (a new addition!), tomatoes, potatoes, kale, chard, squash, onions, pole beans and bush beans, beets, and four kinds of radishes. All of the gardens are covered in netting to keep the deer from munching, and the tomatoes have a covering of plastic to give them a warm, greenhouse-like structure to grow in. All of this is supported by an easy to build and easy to use hoop system. See GARDEN page 2 Garden tour Photo by Donna Smith ʻI was on the garden tour Saturday and this is a shot of Kirk Johnson's lily/fish pond, it was just lovely,ʼ wrote Donna Smith.
