As I See It
by Mary Schamehorn

November 26, 2014

This week's history segment contains three pictures . . . all taken in the latter half of 1956.

The first one, taken in November, features a large deck of Moore Mill logs alongside the Port of Bandon dock, ready to be loaded on the barge, part of which can be seen in the upper left-hand corner of the picture. You can see the mill in the background. At the far right is the Port of Bandon Tug Active (at least I think that is the Active).

Moore Mill logs alongside the Port of Bandon dock
The second and third pictures, from different ends of Second Street (now Old Town), were taken in December 1956 after a "snow storm." The first one shows the Bank of Bandon/Masonic Building, now The Cobblers Bench and Spirit of Oregon. The small building adjacent to it houses the new candle shop, Esscents. Note that there are no buildings beyond the bank building.

Masonic Building on a snowy day, Dec 1956
The woman in the picture, busy sweeping snow off the sidewalk, is Marge Cook (wife of long-time firefighter Ivan Cook). The Cook family lived in the two-story house which now belongs to Penny and her wonderfully eclectic shop (next to the bakery).

The third picture, taken minutes later (Mrs. Cook has swept all the snow off her sidewalk), looks east. At the left you can see The Golden Rule Department Store (now the Continuum Building), Croxall & Perry Grocery (now Dave's Radio & TV), Erdman's City Market, and the smaller version of Lloyd's Cafe (which now occupies the Erdman's spot). At right, next to the Cook's building is Carr's Variety Store (now the Bakery) and the barely visible Rexall Drug Store sign. Note the parking meters, which were finally removed some years later.

The Continuum Building on a snowy day, Dec 1956
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Be sure and mark your calendar for Bandon's Night of 10,000 Lights, which is occurring this Saturday, Nov. 29, with the tree-lighting ceremony at the visitor center at 5:30, sponsored by the Greater Bandon Association. Santa, Mrs. Claus and the elves will be there for pictures starting at 3 p.m. Across the street at Washed Ashore, the musical duo Riptide will play from 2 to 4.

Irish coffee mugs with iconic Bandon images, which will be part of the Chamber's Shop Local program this year (with $85 worth of receipts), can be purchased for $10 at the visitor center Saturday for the nog/cider walk. After you see them, you will definitely want to start shopping at home so you can get a full set. Receipts dated between Nov. 28 and Dec. 22 qualify. I do know that grocery store receipts, utilities, pharmacy and filling station purchases don't count as it is designed to encourage shopping locally for Christmas gifts.

The Second Street Gallery will feature beautiful harp music by Candace Kreitlow, in addition to wine tasting.

Bandon's museum will have a 25 percent off sale in their gift shop Saturday night from 4 to 8, and they will also be offering holiday goodies and beverages. You can also purchase a Don McMichael professionally framed collector's Oregon Coast Music Festival poster for 25 percent off , and between Nov. 29 and Dec. 23, there will be a special holiday price book sale of up to 75 percent off.

Also, 346 Riverside Studio & Gallery, 3 blocks north of the harbor on Riverside Drive, will host Shayla Van Tassel and her acrylic paintings of her encounter with a near death experience and portraits. Joining in the evening will be John Butler with his recent oil paintings and giclee prints. John Bealey has newly fired coffee cups, bowls and vases to show.

Lots of merchants will be staying open, offering specials, and some will serve nog or cider, so you won't want to miss Bandon's Christmas kickoff.

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Not sure if you read the letter in the W. W. public forum this week headlined "Cemetery should be cleaned up." If you did, you were probably as confused as I was. The writer, a Virginia Mouzakis, said she traveled up the coast (101) highway, through the redwoods, en route to Port Angeles, Wash. And when she entered Bandon, she was appalled at the condition of the cemetery.

As most people know, there is NO cemetery at either end of Highway 101, and since she clearly states that she was coming up the coast from the redwoods, there would have been little reason for her to have veered off to Highway 42S. I visited both cemeteries on Highway 42S recently searching for the graves of family members and could see nothing that would generate such an ugly letter. Something else didn't make sense; why would she mention the incoming city manager and the mayor (but not the council) unless somebody else helped her write that letter. Maybe she spent the night in Bandon. Certainly a causal passer-through would know nothing about an incoming city manager.

I plan to dig a little deeper to see who helped her write this letter . . . and why.

I have my suspicions and I'll let you know what I find out ...

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There are a lot of reasons not to simply roll through a stop sign even if you can see for miles that there are no cars coming. No. 1: you never know when an officer will be hiding in the shadows . . . and we all know what that means.

A friend of mine found out the hard, and expensive, way a couple of weeks ago. She is 65 years old and had never been stopped in her life, let alone had a traffic ticket. She is financially not very well off and the $260 stop-sign ticket was a big blow ... as was the fact that she learned from AARP that her insurance would increase $230 a year because of the ticket.

She received the ticket at the three-way stop on Oregon Avenue (or in that vicinity) near the Catholic Church. We later learned that a man headed to do a heating job for a friend had been stopped shortly after . . .but instead of receiving a $260 ticket, he received a warning.

Just so you know, officers do "sit" on stop signs, so even if you think no one is around and it's safe not to come to a complete stop, it may be costly.

It's obvious that safety was not the issue here since there were no other cars in the area ... but it was a costly lesson for one who can ill afford it.

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There have been lots of positive things posted on the Bandon, Oregon, Facebook page lately, especially after we learned that Martin Ruiz had applied for his liquor license ... to reopen La Fiesta, the popular Mexican restaurant on the waterfront.

The beloved eating spot has been closed most of the year because Martin has been helping his family in Mexico after his sister was killed in a tragic auto accident, which seriously injured her husband and two children.

Everyone has been waiting for this news ... and it looks like we may soon be enjoying big margaritas and delicious Mexican food ... with a view of the harbor.

Welcome home, Martin.

*           *           *
A reward of $1,000 from an anonymous donor is being offered for the arrest and conviction of the person or persons who set fire twice to the softball dugout on Eleventh Street last month, according to Police Chief Bob Webb.

The fire first broke out about 7:30 in the evening, and the fire department arrived on the scene and put it out. But the person allegedly returned to the scene several hours later and lit the fire again, and this time it did extensive damage to the dugout.

Bandon has had its share of arson fires over the years, and no one wants to see this sickness start up again.

Hopefully someone will come forward with the information needed to arrest and convict the responsible person.

Contact Chief Webb at the Bandon Police Department (below City Hall) if you have information about this case.

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Carol Acklin, a member of the Southern Coos Health District board of directors, often shares information about the state of the hospital. This month's report was brief because her son, David, is here from Hawaii and she understandably did not want to miss a minute of his visit.

She said the new clinic building, on the hospital grounds, is on track to open about Feb. 1, with the new Foundation/Business building to follow shortly.

"Look at the financial page and you will see that nearly all departments are showing steady growth; days cash on hand is 60 days. All in all, the hospital is on a solid footing."

That is definitely good news. Thanks, Carol, for the update and your service to the community.

*           *           *
After reading the editorial in The World last week lamenting the fact that only 52 percent of the registered voters in Oregon cast their ballot on Nov. 4, I thought "wait a minute" because I had read several articles in various papers indicating it was more like a 70 percent turnout.

So I went on the Oregon Secretary of State's website and discovered that 70.22 percent of Oregonians turned out to vote, and in Coos County it was even higher at 73.49 percent (probably based primarily on the two controversial ballot measures ... marijuana and GMO labeling).

The editor (who earlier complained that there were so many mayors and councilors in the county who ran unopposed) added that when people send in letters to the editor to The World, he will put down whether they voted or not, if they so desire.

I did send in a letter explaining that his 52 percent figure was based on an estimate, and added: "No need to add to the bottom of my letter whether or not I voted ... since nearly three-fourths of the registered voters in Coos County really did vote ... even for uncontested candidates like me."

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There was a 5.4 magnitude earthquake off the coast of Oregon shortly before 1:30 a.m. Sunday, some 205 miles west/northwest of Bandon and 10 kilometers deep. It may be wishful thinking, but we can always hope that these quakes are lessening the pressure on the Cascadia Subduction Zone plates, which we are repeatedly warned could someday be the site of "The Big One."




As I See It
by Mary Schamehorn

November 19, 2014

The three pictures I've chosen to share this week are all at least 50 years old (or so I think), even though one of them wasn't dated, so I'm just guessing.

The first picture, taken during the 1963 Cranberry Festival parade, features Thelma Chandler's first-grade float passing the Bandon Shoe Repair Shop and McNair's Hardware (which is on the same site as the new McNair building). The children on the float would be about 56 or 57 today, so maybe some of them can be identified.

1963 Cranberry Festival parade
The second picture of Panter Feed Store was probably taken in the '60s, but I'm not sure. Parked in front of the building, which is now The Big Wheel, is a van (probably not the correct name for it) belonging to Howard Kehl of Kehl Electric. After Ernie Panter owned the business, it later was operated for many years by Rick and Rosalie Smith and now belongs to the Whitmer family.

Panter Feed Store, now The Big Wheel
The third picture was taken from about where Bank of America now sits (at the left), looking north. The 76 station is now the site of Banner Bank, and across the street was Van Auken Realty, a vacant building now owned by Dave Reed. At left you can see Ralph's (later Frasers and now the Asian Garden) and at right is McKay's Market, now Price 'n Pride.

1960 paving project
This picture was taken in August of 1960 and the envelope reads: "Highway hill project." It may have been when the road was widened to four lanes, but it is most certainly a paving project.

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I never knew it would be such "big news" for at least three newspapers . . . that some of us ran unopposed in the last election. The first one titled "Take a leap and get involved," written by World editor Larry Campbell for the World, appeared a few days later in Western World.

The editor saw one of the most dismaying aspects of the election "was the long list of uncontested races. By default many city council members and mayors were granted another term in office with barely a whit of challenge."

That may have been true on a county-wide basis, but in Bandon, there were four people running for three council seats . . . so I guess it was pretty much directed at me.

But it was the next paragraph that was the shocker: "Time was when only politicians in third world or communist regimes enjoyed that kind of unquestioned power." (By the way, the AP Stylebook says Third World is to be capitalized).

WOW. That's a pretty strong statement . . ."communist regimes" "third world countries . . . ."

What the writer forgot to mention, or probably didn't know, is that I have had an opponent three different times.

Then the editorial goes on to point out that the "city of Bandon often has openings on its city commissions and committees . . . ."

That's true, and when our dedicated water resource committee worked countless unpaid hours on trying to convince the public how important it was that rate-setting authority be returned to the council . . . guess what, that same editorial board said that the city hadn't studied the issue long enough and failed to support the measure.

Now we have lost at least one very dedicated public servant . . . and probably others who took that lack of support as a real slap in the face.

Oh yes, he ends it by saying the editorial "is not meant as an indictment against this year's uncontested candidates. They've shown their commitment by being on the ballot. But we suspect they wouldn't be offended by a little healthy competition." Actually what offended me was the editorial.

Since Larry Campbell lives in Bandon . . . we'd welcome his involvement.

But that was tame compared to the remarks of The Sentinel's publisher Jean Ivey. She mentions that five mayors in Coos County ran unopposed ... but I am the one who got more ink. "Bandon mayor Schamehorn (who steadfastly maintains her cities mosquito problem has been solved) won her unopposed race with 88 percent of the vote. There was a 12 percent write in and about the same number who voted but just didn't vote for mayor. Add that 24 percent to the registered voters who didn't bother to vote and Schamehorn may have lost without an opponent."

What the poor woman failed to understand is that of the 12 percent of write-in votes, it's most likely that they were for a number of different people . . . which would make it virtually impossible to unseat someone running unopposed, who polled 88 percent. I know many people who simply don't bother to cast a vote in an uncontested race (thanks to those of you 811 who did). She also mentioned that the "mayor of Coquille did only a little better with about 8 percent writing in a candidate," adding:

"The same comparisons can be made at the county and state levels, but I have already spent more time than is mentally healthy going down this rabbit hole," said Ivey.

I think she needs to dig a little deeper in that rabbit hole (to understand the write-in vote) . . .

*           *           *
It appears that Price 'n Pride has a new policy . . . it doesn't matter how old you are, you are being required to show your identification to buy either alcohol or cigarettes.

I generally take only my debit card into a grocery store . . . along with my reusable bag . . . so it was pretty embarrassing to hold up a long line of customers when the checker made me show ID to buy a bottle of wine. I ran as fast as I could out to the car, grabbed my driver's license and returned to the antsy people waiting in line. I explained to them what had happened and they were shocked to see that a person my age would be required to show ID.

I can assure you this is not a state law . . . and it appears to me to be an easy (for them) answer by management versus requiring employees to check the ID of people they think aren't old enough to purchase these items.

I guess it's not much different than frisking a 90-year-old woman as she prepares to board a plane. No profiling here . . .

Frankly, neither make much sense . . .

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Kristy Bowman posted recently on Facebook about a former Bandon family. "You may remember Paul Pokorny, who once owned Bandon Wayside Motel. His son, Paul Pokorny III, is awaiting a bone marrow transplant to treat AML (acute myeloid leukemia). Please keep him in your thoughts, and check out Friends Helping Paul Pokorny."

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We often hear about Oregon's pension fund, PERS (Public Employees Retirement System), and how it's underfunded . . . but it appears that Chicago has a much larger problem.

In fiscal 2013, Chicago contributed $476 million toward its pension obligations while it paid out $1.8 billion in benefits. The city's $23.1 billion in total unfunded liability is nearly three times its $7.8 billion in 2013 revenues.

"Chicago's pension debacle was large precipitated by the fact that the payment schedule is determined by the state legislature rather than by complying with Government Accounting Standards Board requirements. The state has a long history of exempting itself and Chicago from annual pension-contribution requirements."

The article, which appeared on the Governing website, adds: "It is hard to imagine how Chicago can avoid a full-blown Detroit scenario . . . within the next 10-15 years unless the city both 1) finds a way to cut existing benefits and obligations and 2) starts contributing substantially more to its pension plans right away." Detroit, as we all know, ended up in bankruptcy.

The writer adds that the police and fire pensions are less than 30 percent funded.

*           *           *
I learned recently that the Bandon Aero Club has a new website, which can be accessed at www.bandonaeroclub.com. I have quite a few old pictures of the airport at the time it was dedicated back in the '60s and I plan to share them with the webmaster. It surely looks different now out there . . .




As I See It
by Mary Schamehorn

November 12, 2014

I'm doing something a little different this week with my old pictures. True, they are old and are something that very few people ever saw . . . which is what it took to put out a newspaper in the mid-1960s. I found an envelope of pictures of Western World employees, dated October of 1965, and while I expected to see familiar faces, it was what we were doing at the time ... just to put out a paper . . . that would amaze people in this digital age.

I will start with a picture of me setting type on a Justowriter (not sure that is the correct spelling). I would type on paper that would spit out a yellow tape about an inch wide (you can barely see it coming out of the machine next to the phone). The tape would be put into the machine next to me, and out would come galleys of type, ready to place on the page. If a tape broke or got tangled, you either started over again or prepared to insert the missing words or lines once it got onto the page. Journalists do not realize how lucky they are today!

Mary Schamehorn 1965
The second photo was our pressman Bob Turner, who is in the basement of the bank/Masonic building (now Cobbler's Bench and Spirit of Oregon) where the paper was located until we moved up on the hill to a space now occupied by Price 'n Pride's produce department. The press was below street level in a dirty, dark dungeon (as you can see Bob's head is nearly touching the concrete above him). It was amazing that we ever got the paper out on this very old equipment.

Pressman Bob Turner
Although we had "graduated" to setting the type on a Justowriter, the linotype (in picture 3) was used for headlines and setting ads, and before my grandfather died in 1962, he taught me how to use it. Here, Bob is busy setting ads.

Bob Turner setting ads with a Linotype
Employee Pat Barr is addressing the finished papers on an Addressograph machine, which required first that each address be stamped onto a metal plate (I started doing that when I was 11), and each group had to be inserted into the machine Pat is using to label the papers.

Pat Barr using Addressograph machine
I was able to read the front page of the paper, which pictures Bill Wehner, and his parents Ernie and Anna, as he is honored for having achieved the highest honor in Scouting. I can barely see the picture on the side that Pat is stamping, but I think it was Mary Strain, who won an award (maybe Queen of the Kitchen) at the Cranberry Festival that year.

Next week I will return to my series of old pictures that may interest more readers than learning about the newspaper business of old . . . but I couldn't resist sharing . . .

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A lot of you may not have read Francis Stadelman's stinging remarks about the defeat of the bond issue in this week's Western World, but for those of you who did, I couldn't resist responding.

He basically says that the City should not do "things like fancy sidewalks or the turnaround at the Face Rock Creamery. Those things are an absolute waste of the taxpayers' money. If you've got problems, fix them first. The council needs to get its priorities straight."

His remarks were way ahead of mine in the article, so you may not have bothered to turn the page.

Here is my response: Mr. Stadelman is a very smart man and I am fond of him and his family. But he knows very well that it was Urban Renewal dollars that went to developing the property where FRC built their cheese factory. And that those dollars cannot be used to operate or maintain our utilities, which are enterprise funds and need to be self-supporting. He, of all people, understands that.

I decided to see what kind of an impact even a small rate increase might have on Mr. Stadelman, members of his family or his tenants/renters.

So I turned to the very public Coos County Assessor's website and put in the name "Stadelman."

I was shocked by what I found.

The Stadelmans own 115 properties in Coos County alone, which filled nearly six complete pages on the assessor's website. And that does not include members of the family whose last name is not Stadelman nor properties they may own in Curry or other counties. This was simply Coos County properties.

You see, behind every noble gesture to protect the people of Bandon, there could be a hidden agenda.

We will continue to emphasize the importance of the council having the authority to set its own rates (first and foremost to protect the community's valuable assets of water, sewer and electricity).

Hopefully the opponents will stick to the facts . . . and stop using scare tactics. But I am sure that's wishful thinking.

*           *           *
I know my NRA friends will probably see the approval of I-594 as an assault on their right to bear arms, but to me it was a huge victory for a commonsense gun law, which the voters of Washington State overwhelming approved. The law expands backgrounds checks in the state, the only place in the country where background checks were on the ballot.

That means virtually anyone who wants to buy a gun in Washington will have to go through a background check. Because voters stood up for this commonsense solution, criminals and the severely mentally ill will have a much harder time buying a gun in Washington.

I would be the last person who would want to give up my right to own a gun, but this certainly seems to make sense.

*           *           *
I found a copy of the Coos Bay Times (now The World) dated July 3, 1976. But while reading through it, I realized that most of the articles were about 50 to 60 years old, so I am assuming it was some kind of a special section.

If you've ever wondered what the Fourth of July was like in Bandon more than 85 years ago, here's what I found in an article dated July 3, 1928.

"At Bandon the celebration opens this evening with a dance at the Silver Spray Gardens. Manager Topping's eight piece band will furnish the music. Dances will be held July 4, 5 and 6.

"At 2 p.m. July 4 a postponed league baseball game between Coquille and Bandon will be played at the Bandon ball park. Both Bandon and Coquille have defeated the Marshfield Pirates, leaving Coquille in a tie for top honors and Bandon running a close third. This should be one of the best games of the league season.

"The Westmost golf links will be another attraction. The course was recently opened and is declared to be in excellent condition. Another sports attraction will be a fast boxing card with Frankie Burnell matched with Billy Willborn of Eugene. Water sports, including Coast Guard drills, will be staged tomorrow. There will be band concerts during the day and picnicking in the Bandon park."

The only thing I didn't see was any mention of fireworks . . . so that might have been a later addition to the annual celebration.

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I am spending so many hours downloading and trying to identify old negatives that it has begun to affect my sleep . . . or at least my dreams. I found some negatives from November 1970 when the Church of God had an Old Fashioned Day celebration. One negative of two older women particularly interested me; I got one name (Ebba McCartney Coon) but try as I might I couldn't put a name to the other face. But while sleeping soundly, I dreamed that I was talking to someone about the picture, and I said, "Oh yes, that's Mrs. Hutton." Then I realized that was wrong, and all of a sudden blurted out to the imaginary person that it was actually Ola Mae Heaton . . . which is pretty close if not correct. The more I look at the name Ola Mae, I am not sure it was spelled that way, but maybe tonight it will come to me in another dream.

That's what's called "taking your work seriously."

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Lately it seems that no matter what I write about, there is always at least one person (and often the same person) who takes me to task. I almost decided to stop writing my column so she would have to look for other people to criticize but then I stopped to think about all the people who tell me how much they enjoy my column and decided to keep writing . . . at least for now.

I just read an interesting article in today's Oregonian about pit bulls, and the latest attacks in Portland . . . but maybe I'll let you read it for yourselves and see what conclusion you come to.




As I See It
by Mary Schamehorn

November 05, 2014

The pictures I have chosen to share in this week's column were all taken in the 1960s.

The first one, taken in 1960, features the Bandon Lions and their families during one of their service projects, cleaning the South Jetty. Sitting on the sand at far left is Velda Ellis, and Dorothy Waldrop can be seen sitting on a log. George Kronenberg, with his back to the camera, and long-time school superintendent Rollie Parks (in white hat) were the chefs, with the help of Eddie Waldrop. At the right, I can identify Lions Howard Kehl, W.H. Johnston, Bill Ellis, Don Potterf and Mel Boak. In another shot, Howard Tucker can also be seen.

Lions jetty cleanup July 1960
The second picture is the "new" Shell Station, taken in June of 1966, at Highway 101 and Fillmore Avenue, where the Station Restaurant now sits. At far right you can also see George Chappell's Chevron Station. Both are long gone.

New Shell station June 1966
The third picture shows members of the Bandon Jay-Cs (their spelling, not mine) collecting for the March of Dimes in January of 1961. Chuck Hiley is pictured at right. The roadblock was set up alongside LaKris Motel at Ninth and 101. You can see the hardware store (now Bandon True Value) and Golden Eagle (now the Chevron station) in the background.

Bandon Jay-Cs January 1961
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I have been busy trying to identify who is in the pictures that Jim Proehl and I are busy downloading, and I often turn to Bill Smith and Jill Chappell Sumerlin. My biggest problem is that while I have most of the high school annuals from the 1950s, and several from the mid-70s ('74, '77 and '78), I have none from the 1960s. If anyone out there in readerland happens to have a Bandon High School annual from the '60s or those other '70s years that they would be willing to part with, or even loan to me, if would definitely help as I attempt to track down the identifications of the "kids" in those pictures. I can depend on my sisters, Maggie and Molly, for '65 and '68, but I don't have the yearbooks . . . just their memories to rely on.

*           *           *
I was shocked when I turned to CNN the other night to discover that Turner Broadcasting has replaced it with MSNBC. Headline News has suffered the same fate, as have Cartoon Network and Tru TV. All say they have been removed by Turner.

If those channels can be replaced so easily, I am guessing that others will follow. A long website appeared on the channel where CNN should have been . . . for a few seconds so I didn't have time to write it down. I think it was the Dish network address.

Monday I plan to call the Dish guy (satellite) in Coquille to find out what is going on and how soon I may lose some of the other channels, besides CNN and Headline News, that I watch. I am not even sure what Tru TV or Cartoon Network are because I've never watched them, but I certainly didn't expect to lose CNN or even more important, Headline News.

I'd be curious to know if people who have Comspan, Charter or DirecTV have the same problem. That's what happens when you sign up for a two-year contract . . .your are stuck no matter what happens to the programming.

*           *           *
One of my readers, Bob Campbell, surprised me with a beautiful DVD shot during a minus tide at the Bandon Beach, complete with peaceful background music. I loved it so much that I tried to make copies (which is legal as long as you are copying home-made DVDs), but I couldn't figure it out, so I emailed Bob to find out how to do it. I wanted to share them with my three sisters, who are absolute beach "nuts" (in a positive way).

To my surprise, he said they are easy to make and he brought me three more, which I've put away as Christmas gifts for my sisters. I always like to give them a little surprise (often pictures from the past out of my collection) to go along with the store-bought gifts (from Bandon merchants).

It never hurts to put a little plug in for the local merchants who mostly stay open for us year around . . . and really appreciate it when we shop at home.

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When I was checking the channels for CNN, and was forced to watch MSNBC, I became glued to the TV by a series of videos . . . drunk drivers, stunt plane crash, and, really interesting, a video of a huge bulldozer-turned-tank, which literally began destroying a Colorado town.

Although it occurred 10 years ago, I had not heard about it, but my ears definitely perked up when I learned that the dozer-operator (incased in layers of impenetrable steel) was after members of the town council.

Marvin Heemeyer was a welder and a muffler repair shop owner who went on a rampage with a modified bulldozer, ultimately demolishing 13 buildings, including the City Hall, the former mayor's house and other buildings in Granby, Colo.

The rampage ended when the bulldozer got stuck in the basement of a Gambles store he had previously destroyed. The frightened townspeople and police officers, who watched in horror for nearly two hours, finally heard a single gunshot and once they were able to break into the dozer, they found he had committed suicide.

His hatred for the City Fathers stemmed from a zoning decision that allowed the construction of a cement manufacturing plant on adjacent property, which he had used for years as a way to get to his muffler shop.

You absolutely cannot believe the destruction he caused until you see the video as he targeted specific businesses and homes to demolish.

The local sheriff's office had called for backup, but by the time help arrived with the equipment necessary to stop the carnage, the damage had been done.

Fortunately, no one else died.

Officials later found a note he left, which read: "Sometimes reasonable men must do unreasonable things."

I surely hope our city council never makes anyone that mad . . .

*           *           *
I've learned that Jennifer Malody (Kincaid) and her daughter Olivia and son Jack Kincaid have moved to Billings, Montana, to be near Jennifer's sister as Jennifer works to recover from a brain tumor operation.

Although 14-year-old Olivia and her brother were home-schooled, Olivia definitely made her mark in both theater (New Artists Productions) and dance (MarLo Dance Studio). I will never forget her performance as a lead in The Secret Garden.

Anyone who would like to send Jennifer a card may do so at 1136 Yale Avenue, Billings, MT 59102. I know she would appreciate hearing from people.

They've been good neighbors, and I'll miss them.

*           *           *
You can imagine my surprise when I saw a picture on the front of the Coastal Living section of the Brookings newspaper (Curry Coastal Pilot) a couple of weeks ago of Brookings resident Skip Tyler presenting a balloon to a man who had turned 100 years old.

To most of you, the name Skip Tyler won't mean much . . . but to me it brought back the painful memories of being recalled from the Bandon City Council in the mid-'80s after we fired Tyler, who was then Bandon's police chief. He led efforts to recall four members of the council (Ray Hallinan, Brian Vick, Mayor Ray Kelley and me) . . . and all but the mayor were recalled.

Tyler was never in police work again, and I learned a lot more than I really wanted to know about him after he and his wife, Terri, divorced and she and I began corresponding.

Years later he went to prison after embezzling funds from a non-profit ranch for boys in the Redding, Calif., area . . . and now he is representing Gideons International.


previous columns by Mary Schamehorn