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December SNAP Update Details on page 16

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2025

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Merkley, Kaine:

No Funds for War Against Venezuela Washington, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley and Virginia’s U.S. Senator Tim Kaine today teamed up to introduce the Prohibiting Unauthorized Military Action in Venezuela Act of 2025 to prohibit the use of federal funds for any use of military force in or against Venezuela without explicit Congressional authorization. “Congress cannot stand by while Donald Trump wages war without authorization,” said Merkley. “Nicolás Maduro is a brutal dictator, but that does not provide justiﬁcation for the Trump Administration to ignore U.S. law to carry out these unconstitutional military strikes. Donald Trump cannot be trusted, and we must say no to another endless war, reckless regime change, and lethal operations— which are essentially extrajudicial killings—and do nothing to make the American people safer.” “We shouldn’t stumble into an unnecessary war with Venezuela—risking U.S. servicemembers’ lives—with no congressional authorization and incomplete information about the Administration’s objectives, its legal rationale, and the potential consequences of a long-term conﬂict that could drive migration and irreparably fracture Venezuela,” said Kaine. “This legislation would prevent us from doing that, and I urge my colleagues to support it and reclaim the solemn responsibilities on matters of war and peace assigned to Congress by the Constitution.”

Merkley and Kaine’s bill does not prevent the United States from acting to defend itself or its citizens from an armed attack or threat of an imminent armed attack, pursue lawful counternarcotics operations, or provide humanitarian assistance to the Venezuelan people. The Prohibiting Unauthorized Military Action in Venezuela Act of 2025 is also co-sponsored by Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD). “The Trump Administration has amassed the largest naval buildup in the Caribbean in decades and committed extrajudicial killings in international waters amounting either to murder or war crimes. Congress has not authorized this Administration to take these offensive actions, and with good reason – the American people do not want to start another war. We must put a stop to this by passing this simple measure to prevent U.S. taxpayer dollars from funding the Trump Administration’s manufactured conﬂict with Venezuela,” said Van Hollen. During the ﬁrst Trump Administration, Merkley introduced a Senate resolution prohibiting military action in Venezuela. Kaine has also been a leading voice in Congress raising concerns over presidents’ efforts to expand the use of military force without Congressional authorization.

PCIP Update:

Oregon Department of Education Releases Port Holds First Monthly 2025 Report Card: A Look at Coos County Meeting for Terminal Project STAFF REPORT

The Oregon Department of Education (ODE) recently released an online portal with great ease of access for any district’s statistics. Anyone can now sign on to see in depth indicators for how their community is doing in relation to state averages. Having access to these numbers is incredibly useful for both decision makers and community members concerned about local education. General stats like graduation rates and regular attendances are available alongside granular details like demographic breakdowns and subject-specific proficiency. “These profiles are an important tool that help us understand how our students and schools are doing; where we’re making progress, where we can do better, and how we can continue refining the ways we serve communities across the state,” ODE Director Dr. Charlene Williams said. “Ultimately, this data is not just something to report—it’s an opportunity to respond. It’s a chance to continue implementing the strategies we know are effective and to adjust where needed, so every Oregon student can thrive. ODE will continue to focus on supporting programs that make a difference. Looking across the board,

Coos County’s various districts tend to fall below state averages. Let’s focus in on some of Coos County’s stats and how they compare in the areas of regular attendance rates, 9th graders on track to ﬁnish, and actual graduation rates. Regular attendance is a percentage of students who attend over 90% of their enrolled school days, 9th Grade on Track is a percentage of ﬁrst year high school students receiving appropriate support for graduating on time, the Four-Year Graduation rate is calculated per year (this will be students who started in 20/21 and received a diploma in 23/24).

Coos Bay SD 9 CBSD enrolled 2,914 students in the 2024-2025 school year, with 48% of those students experiencing poverty according to ODE. There are 166 teachers, 5 counselors, 1 social worker, and 3 student psychologists. Regular Attendance Coos Bay: 59.6% State Average: 66.5% 9th Grade on Track Coos Bay: 81.5% State Average: 86.6% Four-Year Graduation Coos Bay: 68.9% State Average: 81.7%

BY NATE SCHWARTZ Editor

In response to calls for further transparency, the first Tuesday of each month has been designated by the Port of Coos Bay for public board meetings specifically regarding the Pacific Coast Intermodal Port Project (PCIP). While this gives the public a recurring chance to sit in for information or lodge a public comment each month, the 8 AM start time will make it tricky for many community members to attend. There is a rather dedicated contingent of detractors, including representatives from the League of Women Voters Coos County (LWV), who still managed to be in attendance for the first of these meetings on December 2, alongside many local union leaders. During the meeting’s normal agenda, the Board received an update on the early survey and report processes that have been commissioned by the Port to gauge the viability of the project and the full extent of the needed modification for the terminal’s three main stages: the channel modification, the railroad upgrades, and the building of the terminal. The recent government shutdown put aspects of the project in a grey area, which PCIP Executive Director Melissa Cribbins cleared up in her management report. Some of the federal partners, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and Army Corp of Engineers, continued their work throughout the shutdown. The latter reviews the Port’s permit requests and is responsible for conducting the engineering studies around the project’s stages. The federal Maritime Administration (MARAD) apparently stopped taking meetings during the shutdown but communications have since resumed, with the project hoping to have the administration help with contracting their $25 million in Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) grants. PCIP Chief Commercial Officer Keith Leavitt presented next with information on the hiring of

Rebel Consultants. The asset management consulting company is working to build and update the case for PCIP’s commercial viability in order to justify to lenders and granters that the project has legs. “We anticipate that this project is going to need significant public and private investment. The case for making that investment is what we are really asking Rebel to do,” said Leavitt. “For example, we know that the rail improvements are going to require a major loan with the FRA. Rebel has a lot of good experience working directly with the underwriters for that kind of financing, to be able to make the case for a loan.” “The market pitch that you make to ocean carriers, to investors, to bankers. There’s that part of it. The other part is to allow us to dig more deeply into where the cargo is going to come from.” According to Leavitt, there is great opportunity in the Union Pacific’s rail route to the Midwest in terms of getting the containers themselves to cities that struggle to bring them in for export. These questions of the project’s business case were raised in our recent coverage of the LWV’s information meeting. Rebel’s report is expected to be finished by the end of the first quarter of 2026, and will hopefully provide robust answers to those questions. Speaking on behalf of the LWV during public comment, Cristine Moffitt presented community questions from the audience in attendance at that recent presentation to the board. She requested that the board provide answers to those questions, in addition to imploring the board to watch the video of the presentation available through their YouTube channel. Port meetings are also available live on YouTube. and on demand after the fact, for anyone curious about engaging further. The next PCIP focused meeting will be January 6, 2026 for anyone who wishes to get more information or have their voice heard about the project.

North Bend SD 13 NBSD enrolls 2,786 students, with 44% of them experiencing poverty. Staff includes 155 teachers, 6 counselors, and just one social worker and psychologist. Regular Attenders North Bend: 64.3% State Average: 66.5% See REPORT CARD Continued on Page 5

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