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Protests continue on Coos Bay boardwalk BY NATE SCHWARTZ Editor

Another protest against the current administration took place on the Coos Bay Boardwalk on Tuesday, February 4th. Organized by Coos County Democrats, the demonstration took place the same day as President Trump’s first joint address to congress. This is the second protest in as many weeks along Highway 101 in downtown Coos Bay. “You don’t change minds in a day. You plant seeds and water them until they become something,” said Greg Chisholm, a local member and one of the youngest folks among the protest. “This is either planting a seed or watering it for someone. The Coos County Dems are welcoming anyone with open arms, once they see the light.” In the wake of the President’s uncomfortable meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and waves of tweets and comments that seem to attempt to rewrite the narrative of the Ukrainian-Russian conflict, many Ukrainian flags and signs were present. Despite the misinformation, many maintain support for the nation of Ukraine, who’s national sovereignty was first violated (in this most recent conflict) by Russia in 2014 with the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula. In February of 2022, the Russian military would use Crimea as a launching point for a mainland invasion of Ukraine that has seen mass destruction of the country’s infrastructure. According to a report from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), a total of 41,783 civilians have been injured or killed during

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as of January 31, 2025. However, OHCHR speciﬁed that the real numbers could be higher. This is on top of military casualties estimated in the hundreds of thousands. With the heaviest losses sustained by the Russians, whose military and population is much larger, including an injection of reinforcements from North Korea. Despite President Trump calling Zelenskyy a “dictator without election” in February of 2025, Zelensky was elected in a fair election in 2019 to the tune of 73% of the vote. A Survation poll from last week indicated that his approval rating is still high in Ukraine, at 52%, which is higher than President Trump, for whom the most recent Gallup poll shows a 41% approval rating averaged across his two terms. Trump later walked back See PROTEST Continued on Page 9

Offshore Coos Bay Police Chief gives Wind Survey shows annual report to City Council Oregonians

BY NATE SCHWARTZ Editor

Coos Bay Police Department Chief Chris Chapanar gave the annual address to the Coos Bay City council at their meeting on March 5th, 2025, outlining the accomplishments and milestones that 2024 brought for the department. He opened with the CBPD’s mission statement, vision, and core values. Chapanar spoke to the importance of each of them, and how they help inform the departments planning, training, and community engagement. “We really do value our mission statement. We reflect on it each year as we set our goals for the upcoming year. We reflect how we want to set up our patrol and dispatch efforts around our mission statement, and we really do have an emphasis on police-citizen partnership. We wholeheartedly support that,” said Chapanar. The department has 24 employees and volunteers sworn into the department, and a further 20 certified dispatchers. That staff allowed the CBPD to field over 35,000 service calls in 2024, leading to 3,784 case numbers for the department. Those cases led to 1206 arrests and 168 criminal citations. These numbers are generally decreased from 2023. While service calls remained within 1% point of the last year, case numbers decreased by 10.8% percent (4244 in 2024), with arrests decreasing by 9.5% (1333 in 2023), and criminal citations down 27.9% (233 in 2023). In 2024, the CBPD put extra focus on traffic stops following a statewide initiative for enhanced enforcement around seatbelts and child seats. That initiative bore out to a 31% increase in stops, with the department

conducting 4146 in 2024 (3159 in 2023). Chapanar explained that that has a lot to do with a similarly proportioned increase in DUII arrests. In 2024, the CBPD made 104 DUII arrests a 38.7% increase from 2023 (75 in 2023). General crime statistics seem to be down, at least as far as arrest numbers are concerned. Burglaries (43.4% reduction), stolen vehicles (46.6% reduction), and assault arrests (37.2% reduction) are all down by huge margins. Overdoses were also down by 31.8% in 2024, after a nearly doubling each year between 2021-2023. Chapanar cited public information, the availability of Narcan, and the repeal of Measure 110 for that decrease. “In overdoses I would say, I think people are hopefully becoming aware of the dangers of fentanyl and heroin use, and some of those overdoses are just not

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are divided in wake of Executive Order

BY NATE SCHWARTZ

Editor

In a survey conducted by electrical manufacturer Hubbell, opinions on offshore wind (OSW) were polled with 350 Western Oregonians, with an oversample of those living in coastal communities. Speciﬁcally, Clatsop, Tillamook, Lincoln, Coos and Curry County were given extra weight by Hubbell and their partner in the survey, EMC Research. Despite some vocal pushback from locals in Coos and Curry County, BOEM’s leasing of designated wind energy areas off the coast of Brookings and Coos Bay was slated for late fall, 2024. BOEM postponed that lease auction after what they called “insufﬁcient bidder interest”. Likely, the results of November’s election gave companies pause in their hopes for development.

See REPORT Continued on Page 16

See SURVEY Continued on Page 9

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