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State ofﬁcials update COVID cases prior to new Skarlatos: Oregon is ready for change school season Former teacher pleads guilty to child sex charges BY DAVID RUPKALVIS The World

Kory Lee Sturgess

A former Coquille High School math teacher will spend close to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to encouraging child sex abuse. Kory Lee Sturgess, 32, pleaded guilty to multiple counts of encouraging child sex abuse in the ﬁrst degree and encouraging child sex abuse in the second degree in exchange for a 115-month sentence in prison. The case stems from an arrest in October 2021 after the Coquille Police Department served

a search warrant at Sturgess’ home in Coquille. The warrant was signed by a judge after police found evidence Sturgess was involved in the manufacture and distribution of child pornography, the Coquille police said at the time. At the time, Sturgess taught algebra and geometry at Coquille High School. Sturgess was ﬁred by the Coquille School District shortly after his arrest. At the time of his arrest, police said there was no indication Sturgess had committed crimes against local children. Miller reported Sturgess was

cooperating with police after his arrest. In May, Sturgess was indicted by a Coos County grand jury on 30 counts - 15 counts of encouraging child sex abuse in the ﬁrst degree and 15 counts of encouraging child sex abuse in the second degree. After the indictment was released, Sturgess was arrested in Springﬁeld and returned to Coos County on a $200,000 bond. He will get credit for time served when he is transferred to the Oregon Department of Corrections to serve his 115-month sentence.

BY DAVID RUPKALVIS The World

Alek Skarlatos has already lived life most people would envy. A true American hero after fighting in Afghanistan as part of the Oregon National Guard and later helped stop a gunman on a train from Amsterdam to Paris and later a celebrity of sorts after he starred in a movie depicting the train incident and finished third in Dancing with the Stars, Skarlatos had no dreams of being in politics. That was until he came home to Oregon. “Nothing made me feel like I wanted to run,” Skarlatos said while visiting Coos Bay and North Bend last week. “I felt like I had too. I never would have thought I would have run for office. After everything that happened to me, I came home and saw a great need.” That need led to Skarlatos running for Congress in the Fourth Congressional District two years ago, where he finished five points behind longtime incumbent Peter DeFazio. After finishing closer than many expected, Skarlatos decided to try one more time,

BY HERBERT SWETT Guest Article

separates Oregon from others. To preserve this advantage, Oregon needs to invest across the talent continuum, from entry-level positions to PhDs. • Land: To attract and retain semiconductor research and development and manufacturers, we need more buildable industrial land proximate to infrastructure, talented workers, and specialized suppliers. Oregon’s land use system and infrastructure investment programs need urgent legislative attention and investment to address this need.

Oregon Health Authority and Oregon Department of Education have provided updates about the status of the COVID-19 pandemic and efforts to ensure Oregon schools can maintain in-person instruction during the 2022-2023 school year. OHA State Health Officer Dr. Dean Sidelinger and Oregon Deputy Superintendent of Public Instruction Colt Gill briefed reporters during a Zoom meeting Wednesday afternoon, Aug. 17. The state reported 1,406 COVID cases July 20 and 852 Aug. 17, Sidelinger said. Grant County, in eastern Oregon, has had the most cases per 100,000 people, more than 40,000. Sidelinger noted that many people have been taking home COVID tests without reporting the results. He said that the omicron strain remains the most prevalent, and that COVID hospitalizations statewide dropped from 464 July 20 to 328 Aug. 17. The latest forecast by the Oregon Health and Science University for emergency room visits, he added, dropped from 6.4% to 2.4%. Sidelinger said that everyone from the age of 2 months up is eligible for booster shots. “If you are eligible, get your booster now, and do not wait,” he said. He urged going to the OHSU website to learn about effective treatments. Noting that August is National Vaccination Awareness Month, Sidelinger said the Oregon Health Authority has a prevention program for children. Gill, saying the 2022-23 school year already has started in some districts, mentioned a new resource, Oregon Classroom Wise, is addressing specific school needs. Monkeypox Just a few hours before the Wednesday afternoon, Aug. 17, media briefing, the OHA announced the first pediatric case of moneypox in the state. The case is linked to an adult monkeypox infection that was confirmed last month. “We have a known connection to a previously diagnosed case,” Sidelinger said. “This child did not get the virus at school, child care or another community setting.” To protect patient confidentiality, OHA is not disclosing the child’s sex, age, county of residence or how the child is connected to the previously diagnosed case, according to Sidelinger. “School settings present low

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Alek Skarlatos, a Republican running for Congress in the Fourth Congressional District, right, talks to voters during a stop at North Bend Lanes last week. announcing his candidacy as a when I saw what happened in “Since then, we’ve had runaway inﬂation and gas prices above $5 Republican in District Four beAfghanistan, that pissed me off fore DeFazio decided to retire. and made me want to do somePlease see SKARLATOS, Page A9 “I had already announced, but thing about it,” Skarlatos said.

An ‘extraordinary opportunity’ for Oregon BY JEREMY C. RUARK Country Media

A new report finds the semiconductor industry expansion presents Oregon with an ‘extraordinary opportunity’ to intentionally create jobs and investment the state needs to emerge from the pandemic with a stronger, more deliberately equitable economy. The report’s executive summary, from the Oregon Semiconductor Competitiveness Task Force, states the global semiconductor industry is investing billions to fill a worldwide chip shortage and the U.S. government is taking strong action to secure the nation’s semiconductor supply chain. In July, Congress passed the $52 billion CHIPS Act to boost domestic semiconductor manufacturing and design. “This creates a huge opportunity to solidify Oregon’s position as a world leader in semiconductor innovation, dramatically expanding our base of semiconductor design and manufacturing,” the report’s summary states. “The benefits in equitable economic development will be transformational. Billions in capital investment will create tens of thousands of high-paying construction jobs, many of them held by black, indigenous and people of color.” Once the facilities are operational - thousands of additional semiconductor manufacturing

and supply chain jobs will be created, where nearly 50% of positions require no more than high school or community college training, according to the report. “The public revenues generated will be in the billions, providing needed ﬁnancial resources to support critical community priorities such as homelessness, affordable housing, and education,” the report states. The Semiconductor Task Force was convened to develop a strategy to secure this once-in-a-generation opportunity for all Oregonians. The Task Force organized ﬁve subcom-

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mittees to explore and make recommendations on key factors inﬂuencing the industry’s growth in Oregon. These are the subcommittees’ ﬁndings and broad recommendations to date: • R&D Strength: Semiconductor research and development is Oregon’s competitive advantage. Our strategy to secure chip investment should focus on solidifying a world-class innovation ecosystem around chip research and production. • Talent: Premier access to talent and a robust, private sector-led innovation ecosystem

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