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Serving Oregon’s South Coast Since 1878

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2025

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Two arrested on felony warrants in connection with West Coast Game Park Safari raids BY NATE SCHWARTZ Editor

As a result of four days of raids and relocations that took place back in May of this year, the two proprietors of the West Coast Game Park Safari roadside zoo were arrested by Bandon Police (BPD). Official BPD communications stated that Brian Tenney, 53, and Edith Beckner, 30, were apprehended on a deluge of charges. Both Tenney and Beckner had felony warrants issued after over 350 charges were brought down on each of them. The bulk of the pair’s charges are made up of 315 counts of second-degree animal neglect, with five counts in the first-degree. This will come as no surprise to those who See SAFARI ARRESTS Continued on Page 3

ODOT to fully close Highway 101, south Coos Bay moving of Bandon, for a weekend in September World office to roadway impassable, so we’ve got to get in there to get it fixed before the winter,” said Denney. Highway 101, about six miles The terrain adds a level of diffisouth of Bandon at Bearhead culty to this project. The highway Mountain Lane, will be closed to is nestled between a mountain all traffic from September 19, at 9 and a creek, which makes stagp.m., until late in the evening on ing difficult. The stream running September 21, in order to replace through the culvert is about twenty a deep and failing culvert. To help feet below the road surface. The reduce costs and overall traffic depth of the culvert is beyond what impacts, construction will require traditional construction methods full closure. can accommodate and extensive “The whole closure should only excavation will be necessary. be through the weekend,” said ODOT will replace the 2-foot Julie Denney, Oregon Department culvert with an 11-foot wide of Transportation’s (ODOT) Public pipe that would meet federal fish Information Officer. “We’ve got a passage requirements. The wider really tight schedule on that project culvert will improve the crossing’s and we’ll be doing a lot of prep capacity to carry drainage from work in the weeks ahead.” large storm events. In most situations, ODOT The culvert, under U.S. 101 at attempts to keep highways open Bearhead Mountain Lane, failed to all traffic at all times; however, as a result of a high-water event a single-lane bypass would need in December 2024. The storm to be constructed either through a washed away the ground under the hillside or over wetlands, relocathighway’s southbound travel lane ing the stream while adding more and required emergency repairs. cost to the project and disrupting The culvert is still at risk of failure, highway traffic for about six which could compromise the roadmonths. way above. According to ODOT, the rapid Prior to full closure, travelers replacement approach is beneficial can expect delays as only one lane because shrinking the total construction window from six months of traffic will be open for a few weeks prior to and a few weeks to six weeks will reduce overall traffic impacts of the project. Also, after the major closure weekend as ODOT will begin construction eliminating the need for a tempreparation and roadway rebuildporary bypass and shortening the ing. construction timeline could save “We know how disruptive highmore than $1 million from the total way closures can be for commucost of the project. nities on the south coast, but we “Additional storms through the believe this is the best approach spring just continued to erode it, so right now it’s safe to drive over, and the least impactful option in the long run,” said Glen Pederson, but if we have more storms this ODOT’s District Manager. “We’re winter it could make the entire

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announcing the closure now because we want to give everybody as much time as possible to plan ahead.” As there is no local detour available, travelers between Crescent City and Coos Bay must use the detour through Grants Pass and Winston. Travelers must use U.S. 199 (Redwood Highway), Interstate 5 and Oregon 42 (Coos Bay-Roseburg Highway) to navi-

The Coos Bay World is moving out of the office it currently leases allowing its employees to work remotely beginning Sept 8. The newspaper will continue to be published each Wednesday, although beginning Sept. 8, its employees will be working remotely from home offices or from other Country Media locations. Country Media is the parent company of the Coos Bay World and based in downtown Salem. “Far fewer of our customers are coming into our local offices to do business,” said Country Media’s chief executive, Joe Warren. “Classified advertising and legal notices, obituaries and subscriptions increasingly are being placed online.” Country Media owns nine community newspapers in Oregon and one in Northern California. “Within our group of newspapers, we’re beginning to create a small number of hub locations where we can produce multiple publications,” Warren said. “In Tillamook, for example, we oversee news reporting and ad sales not only for the Headlight Herald, but also for our newspapers in Cannon Beach and Manzanita.” Meantime, allowing certain of its employees to work remotely “will make it easier for Country Media to recruit new workers and also to share resources within the company,” said Warren. “It’s increasingly hard to recruit new employees and independent contractors to the small towns where we’re located,” Warren said. “Many of them now want to work remotely from home. “As it is, all of the company’s accounting, circulation and human resources functions already are going through our central office in Salem, so this move will be of little disruption to our readers and advertising customers.”

gate around the closure. “We’ll send out more information as we get a tighter schedule,” said Denney. For further information log onto: https://www.oregon.gov/ odot/projects/pages/project-details. aspx?project=M25032 To check road conditions prior to travel: https://www.tripcheck. com/DynamicReports/Report/ RoadConditions.

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