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ARK Project keeps in touch with students through summer lunches BY DAVID RUPKALVIS The World

For most employees of local schools, summer time means some well-deserved time off and a break from students. But for the ARK Project, there is no break. And Melinda Torres wouldn’t have it any other way. While Coos Bay and North Bend schools are closed over the summer, Torres continued to work to make sure homeless students received a hot meal each week, and, more importantly, to

make sure those students saw a friendly face from someone who cared. Torres said over the summer, the ARK Project served hot meals one day a week, usually on Wednesdays, by taking the food to the students considered most at risk. “We do 50 hot lunches for at most at-risk kids, like our houseless kids and our at-risk kids,” Torres said. “In Coos Bay, we have our kids we want to check on weekly during the summer time. If they have any questions

about school, we want them to know they will see us.” While Torres has led the ARK Project at Coos Bay schools for years, this summer she also became the homeless liaison for the North Bend School District. With that, she expanded the lunch program to North Ben students. “We asked the secretaries who they would like us to check in on each week, so we did that,” Torres said. “We know if something happens during the school year, they will say we saw you over the summer. We already have

that connection.” The connection is one of the biggest bonuses of offering the summer lunch program. Torres said homeless students need to know there is someone they can trust and count on at school. This year, the ARK Project partnered with the Coos County OSU Extension ofﬁce to create healthy, simple meals to be delivered to students. “We tried to make affordable meals,” Torres said. “We got all Please see ARK, Page A3

Father and son bring small part of North Bend history to life BY DAVID RUPKALVIS The World

In 1933, during the Great Recession, North Bend made history when it created its own wooden coins to keep the local economy afloat. Almost 90 years later, a father and son who live in the city turned their interest in local history and a hobby engraving objects into a history lesson of sorts honoring the North Bend coins and benefiting the Coos History Museum. Bob and Jonathan Schalck said the idea of engraving replicas of the North Bend coins was almost by accident. “I guess it started when we first got our laser,” Jonathan said. “I was looking for a project to do, and I remembered, ‘Oh yeah, we had the wooden currency.’” Jonathan said he searched online for pictures of the coins and tried to make a version himself, but he struggled. Later, his dad found a book on myrtlewood that had a clearer picture of the coins,

and Jonathan was ﬁnally able to get a good replica. When the Coos History Museum decided to have an exhibit about myrtlewood that includes both the original coins and a later version printed by the state to showcase the historical time, the Schalcks approached the museum. “When the coin show came to town, he showed it to her and she said can you do something for us,” Bob said. “So, we started printing them out.” The museum is offering the replica coins for sale as a fundraiser. Each coin, made out of myrtlewood, showcases a replica $5 coin on the front with a Coos History Museum on the back. The Schalcks said they put the history museum logo on the back to make sure their replica coins could not be confused with the originals. There are also some other differences. While the original coins were printed in black ink, the replicas are engraved into the wood with the laser.

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someday soon the father and son duo hope to make it more proﬁtable. They cut the coins into myrtlewood to keep them as close to the original as possible, but can also cut into other woods. Bob said they found a place to get myrtlewood almost by accident

BY DAVID RUPKALVIS

the November election. While Engelke said nothing negative about Briggs, she believes she is the person to lead North Bend right now. “I am so invested in this community being someone who was raised here and seeing ﬁrsthand with my own eyes the ups and downs the community has been through,” she said. “It warms my heart to see all we have done. When the council came together right after the election, we developed four main goals we wanted to work on. One of those was to support, maintain and succeed in economic development for our local businesses.” Engelke said the city started a Main Street Program and began offering facade repair grants over the last two years, both which are making a difference. “If you drive through downtown North Bend, you can see it and you can feel it,” she said. At her campaign kickoff, the crowd included Republicans, Democrats, business owners and friends. Engelke said the mix in the crowd shows the leader she can be. “One of my strengths is bringing all the partners to the table,” she said. “I work with everybody. This is a non-partisan position. So you’ll see people from both sides of the aisle.” Reaching out for North Bend often means reaching past the city borders, Engelke said. Please see ENGELKE, Page A2

Please see DEFAZIO, Page A3

North Bend Mayor Jessica Engelke kicked off her campaign for a second term as mayor with a meet and greet with friends and supporters last week. Engelke hosted the event to officially begin the campaign for a second term, saying her work as mayor is not done. “In two years, you barely get your feet wet,” Engelke said. “It’s just not enough time.” Engelke became the first female mayor in North Bend when she was elected two years ago, two years after winning a seat on the city council. She said she is proud of the work the council has done over the last two years and believes progress is being made in the city. ‘The very first thing we did as a council was we established our strategic goals,” Engelke said. “We have worked very hard with city staff and did a lot. But I want to see them through. I knew the vision I had for North Bend was going to take a few years to develop.” Engelke cited things such as the city’s Urban Renewal Agency buying the old county annex downtown, with plans of demolishing the building and having a mixed-use development built in its place as a project she wants to see completed. Only one challenger, former Mayor John Briggs turned in paperwork to oppose Engelke in

Please see NB COIN, Page A2

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In addition to cutting coins for the museum, the father and son have done projects for 7 Devils Brewery, the Oregon Coast Railroad and others. “The whole idea is we’re trying to tie this to the community as much as possible,” Bob said. Building what they call a hobby-business has been more about fun that money so far, but

Photos by David Rupkalvis/The World

The original myrtlewood North Bend coins are on display at the Coos History Museum.

The World

Photos by David Rupkalvis/The World

BY DAVID RUPKALVIS For the first time in almost four decades, Peter DeFazio is not campaigning for office, but that doesn’t mean the long-time congressman has stopped campaigning. These days, with retirement looming in January, DeFazio has focused much of his efforts on getting the federal government to support a proposed container shipping facility in the Port of Coos Bay. “I’m putting on a major push for the container port,” DeFazio said Thursday while visiting Coos Bay to get a close look at where the shipping facility would sit. “I talked to (Pete) Buttigieg yesterday, probably for the fifth time. I’ve brought it up with the president twice, I’ve brought it up with Buttigieg many times. I’m doing everything I can. It has bipartisan support.” DeFazio said he is trying to get the federal government to give a major grant to the port project, which would then open it up for additional private funding. “I think it’s a very strong ask,” he said. “It would add 10 to 12% to west coast shipping capacity. I don’t see any other way to do that. Here, we’re going ship to rail, the only port of ship to rail.” DeFazio said using the rail line to move containers from the port is a big benefit because rail is cheaper and much friendlier to the environment than moving containers by truck. He said he wanted to come to Coos Bay and see the exact location the port hopes to build the facility because seeing it with his own eyes will give him a greater understanding as he fights for the project. “We’ll know in about a month, probably,” the congressman said. “They’re going to do mega grants every year and they want to allocate it all by the end of the fiscal year, which is October 1. There’s a lot of competition nationwide, but this is a unique project.” The Port of Coos Bay has already bought the land for the shipping terminal and has signed an agreement with North Pointe to develop it. DeFazio said if the federal grant is approved, progress could be seen quickly. “I think North Pointe has some interested clients, people who are big in shipping,” he said. As DeFazio looks at retirement in a few months, he said one more major win for the Southern Oregon coast would be a nice way to cap his career. “I’ve done a lot down here on the coast,” he said. “We wouldn’t have railroad if I hadn’t intervened. I’ve tried to put an emphasis on Coos Bay and the coast. This would be big. This would be the biggest thing on the South Coast.” While the container port would be a major coup for the area, DeFazio continues to work

Engelke kicks off second mayoral campaign in North Bend

North Bend Mayor Jessica Engelke meets with supporters during a meet and greet Thursday at the Wildflour Cafe during the official kickoff of her second campaign for mayor.

DeFazio continued to push for port container project

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