Cheers and Jeers

Where’s the money?
Seriously? The Oregon Senate wants to mandate all-day kindergarten, while money-strapped school districts are frantically slashing their present programs? It may be a good idea, but the timing is terrible. Jeers for unfunded mandates.

A literary flood
The library calls it Title Wave — bookworms around the Bay Area reading “The Highest Tide” and attending programs about marine biology that the novel explores. Cheers for this free program that fosters learning between book covers and beyond.

Ahoy, and welcome
Speaking of salt water, the tall ships have returned to Coos Bay. Their elegance excites the eye, and their petite dimensions boost appreciation of the 18th-century voyagers who explored Oregon’s coast. Cheers.

In-state tuition? No
First driver’s licenses, now in-state tuition at Oregon universities. Maybe children brought to the U.S. by their illegal immigrant parents deserve compassion. But this is no way to fix a faulty immigration policy. Jeers.

Safety isn’t free
Oregon voters are traditionally skeptical about highway funds to pay for state police. But modern equipment such as in-cruiser computers help keep troopers and citizens safe. Jeers to a tax system that doesn’t properly support Oregon’s finest.

Celebrate!
Come Monday, the Celebration Center will dedicate an addition to replace the gym building that burned last July, eventually producing a landslide across U.S. Highway 101. Cheers for the church’s determination to rise from its (literal) ashes.

Unwanted attention?
From the March 23 police log: A Coos Bay man called the dispatch center to complain about a patrol car parked near his house. Jeers to him. We all should be so lucky.

Pat, can we buy a vowel?

In a two-paragraph letter to the school board, 16 Coos Bay school administrators managed to misspell their boss’s name (‘De Le Vergne”) and his title (‘Superintendant”). No wonder Superintendent Bob De La Vergne resigned. Jears.

Speaking of letters …

On the same issue, school board members voted to release the letter, in response to a public-records request from The World. They plainly understand district taxpayers are the administrators’ and De La Vergne’s bosses. Cheers for their transparency.

Savings time

A bipartisan pair of Oregon legislators have proposed a four-day work week for state agencies. That may be too much curtailment of public services, but at least one Washington state county adopted a 37.5-hour work week several years ago. The savings meant no layoffs. Cheers for considering the idea.

Days of preyers

It takes a special sort of lowlife to con people who want to donate to the victims of natural disasters. Oregon attorney general John Kroger warned of such scams within days of the Japan earthquake/tsunami. Jeers with aftersneers to the grifters.

No ill wind

Crescent City, California’s tsunami damage had a silver lining -- for Coos Bay. The tall ships Lady Washington and Hawaiian Chieftain will spend two weeks in Coos Bay and offer students and adults more opportunities to sample wind power. Cheers to the Grays Harbor Historical Seaport for lengthening their stay.

Sounds of music

A community as small as the Bay Area may not be expected to have a concert band, but that’s exactly what a group of talented volunteers provides for us. Cheers for people with songs in their hearts and the grace to share them.

Don’t laugh alone

Gray days. Wet nights. Natural disasters. Clifford Latta and Ariana Houle want to turn frowns upside-down with a Wednesday-evening laugh-a-thon under the Egyptian Theatre marquee. Cheers.

He won’t dance
Cheers to John Kitzhaber for doing without an inaugural ball after he takes the oath on Monday. Times are hard in Oregon, and frugality is a good gesture. Besides, nobody wants to go dancing while the Ducks are playing Auburn!

Teens to be proud of
Cheers to the candidates for Mr. Marshfield and Mr. Bulldog. The misters and their indispensable helper misses work hard at fundraising — and at raising everyone’s appreciation of the South Coast’s fine local teens.

Belles on wheels
The Coos County Roller Girls don’t mind a few bruises, but breast cancer is another story. They’ll join their Roseburg counterparts in a rolling rumpus tonight at Sunset Middle School. Cheers to them all for “Skating for a Cure.”

Western gum-fighter
According to the Constitution and common sense, Congress should operate by majority rule. Yet filibusters let a minority of senators gum up the works. Cheers for Sen. Jeff Merkley’s anti-gum crusade, which seems to be gaining some traction.

Give it more thought
Cheers to Coos Bay city officials for taking their time on repealing Empire’s historical design rule. The rule may need fixing, to make redevelopment easier for property owners. But the issue deserves further discussion first.

Bigger than Texas? Not
Jeers to environmental Chicken Littles who exaggerated the size of the so-called “great garbage patch.” Research shows there’s far less plastic waste in the ocean than we’ve been told. A phony crisis erodes faith in science.

He laid down his life
Cheers to the memory of Ralph Painter, Rainier’s slain police chief. Any officer’s death is an attack on everyone’s security, and it’s especially unnerving when it happens in a rural Oregon community. We share Rainier’s grief.

A citizen crime fighter
Cheers to an alert employee at Northwest Community Credit Union, who spotted a man behaving oddly. Summoned to investigate, North Bend police made two arrests on identity theft, forgery and drug charges. Cheers to the officers, too.

A fishy campaign
It’s a hard world, when a California conservation group’s online decree can damage the livelihoods of Oregon fishermen. That’s what’s happening, thanks to a “seafood watch” that promotes a boycott of Oregon-caught salmon. Jeers.

Political distractions
Jeers for tiresome posturing about when and how to hold political debates. Savvy voters know: Underdogs always want lots of debates. Frontrunners don’t. Savvy voters focus on substantive issues, instead of the predictable bickering about campaign tactics.

Winning isn’t everything
Local teens who competed in a speed-texting contest fell far short of being national contenders. Cheers for that. Texting is a useful skill, but achieving world-class speed probably requires sacrificing more productive activities.

A happy hayburner
Cheers for second chances. Friday’s paper told about Roudie, a formerly neglected horse, flourishing in the care of a delighted 12-year-old girl. Second chances are blessings for animals, and for people, too.

Steeds in need
Another round of cheers for sheriff’s posse members who cared for the confiscated animals until the horses could be adopted. If you want the true measure of a human, stand the person beside an animal.

Dog tags?
Finally, jeers for jerks who make our world uglier by spraying graffiti. It’s reputedly a way of marking territory, but comparing these guys to dogs that irrigate fireplugs would be unfair to the canines.

Pacific paddling
What’s a New Jersey mom doing in a place like this? Raising environmental awareness. Cheers to Margo Pellegrino for doggedly reaching Coos County on her canoe trip from Seattle to San Diego.

Step up to Stand Down
The South Coat Veterans Assistance Network will host a Stand Down in September, giving homeless vets a place to pick up food, supplies — and help. Cheers to the group for remembering those who too easily are forgotten.

Quack!
Cheers for the UO Ducks football team, the newly anointed Pac-10 favorite. And cheers to coach Chip Kelly, whose dismissal of sullied QB Jeremiah Masoli demonstrates how integrity can coexist with success.

Fair enough
Amidst e-mail, iPhones and Xboxes, it’s great to see that rustic pursuits remain relevant. Cheers to the Coos County Fair for showcasing the hard work of 4-H and FFA members, their animals and their crafts.

Repent at leisure
Jeers to Lakeside city leaders for too hastily adopting a nuisance ordinance their own lawyer admits is flawed. Next time, take a little more time for public discussion and citizen feedback.

Cold water, warm heart
You don’t often meet a genuine hero, but Travis Wendelin is the real deal. The Coos Bay man jumped into the frosty brine to rescue a man whose boat had capsized. Ch-ch-ch-chilly ch-ch-ch-cheers!

Have lawyer, will travel
Jeers to the Center for Biological Diversity, the Arizona group that disrupted off-roading near Coos County’s Riley Ranch for a year and a half. Couldn’t they find any fun to obstruct in their own state?

Music, music, music,
Our area is splendidly blessed by the annual recurrence of the Oregon Coast Music Festival. Few communities our size can match the talent pool that assembles from far and wide each year for our enjoyment. Cheers for a tremendous community asset.

Money well-spent
Cheers for Thursday’s decision by the Legislature’s Emergency Board, restoring $17 million in budget cuts for home care programs. Comparatively modest financial support helps many elderly or disabled people stay at home safely. Imagine what institutionalizing them would cost.

Exploiting veterans
Jeers to so-called charities that mostly help themselves, while exploiting the causes they supposedly support. Oregon’s attorney general is suing Veterans of Oregon, which claimed to be helping homeless vets while spending 80 percent of its income on telemarketing. Shame.

Fishermen’s friends
Cheers, once again, to the U.S. Coast Guard. This time it’s for rescuing a fisherman west of the Columbia River entrance, just before his boat sank. Without the Guardians, the already substantial dangers of commercial fishing might be intolerable.

Truckloads of money
A generation ago, people griped about enormous log trucks that dominated the highways. No one foresaw how much we would miss those trucks, symbols of a booming timber industry. Cheers for the trucks currently lining up to fill Coos Bay’s first log ship in half a decade.

Vive la difference!
When generosity combines with civic pride, wonderful things can happen. Hundreds of volunteers, many of them South Coast Mormons, will gather today to clean up North Bend’s Simpson Park, Ferry Park and the surrounding areas. Cheers for “Make A Difference Day.”

We warned you …
On Monday, readers of The World learned precisely when and where North Bend police were planning to “sting” drivers who didn’t stop for pedestrians. Eight drivers got cited on Tuesday anyway. (Apparently they were non-readers.) Jeers.

Tidings of comfort
Volunteers for Reedsport’s Christmas in July event will fan out this morning to perform repairs and maintenance on the homes of their low-income neighbors. Raise your cup of eggnog (clink!) for a Christmas-y toast to the holiday spirit. Cheers!

Taking a hake break
Cheers for Oregon fishermen who voluntarily stood down from pursuing Pacific whiting. They were catching too many canary rockfish, a protected species. They’ll start again when conditions are better. It’s an environmentally responsible decision, and good business, too.

Try, try again
His perfectly sensible proposal to support end-of-life counseling ran into a buzz saw of partisan demagoguery last year. (Remember the “death panels” nonsense?) But Congressman Earl Blumenaur is ready to try again. Cheers for principled leadership.

Thank heaven for them
What can little girls accomplish? More than you’d imagine. Cheers to the nine Bronze Award winners of Girl Scout Troop 30462 in North Bend. All nine earned their honors by undertaking ambitious community service projects.

Drumstick, please
Jeers to the mushy melodrama of Bend residents who held a memorial service for geese this week. (Park officials had euthanized 109 overpopulated honkers.) In more sensible periods of human history, a goose’s death commonly preceded a happier gathering, known as “supper.”

Start your engines
Cheers and thanks to everyone who donated to the 2010 Food Care-A-Van, and thanks to the Bay Area’s three Rotary Clubs, for providing the volunteer labor. The convoy and weigh-in are this morning. We’re hoping for a big haul.

Farewell, Coach
Cheers for the memory of Bruce Hoffine, Marshfield High School’s respected former coach and athletic director. Winning record? Check. State championship? Check. Coach of the year? Check. A positive impact on many, many young lives? Double check.

A Mensa candidate
No kidding, a green swastika. This was a heartfelt protest against — um, what exactly? Jeers to knuckleheads with spray cans. Taxpayers have enough bills to pay, without cleaning up for angry miscreants with too much time on their hands.

Red, white and true
Cheers for the Fourth of July, and also the Third. Local communities will enjoy fireworks and fun all weekend, while expressing our patriotic pride. Hint: The best way to show your pride in America is to maintain an America to be proud of.

Too much fun?
Who says small towns are boring? Check out the schedule of events on page A3. Even when it’s not a holiday weekend, the South Coast consistently produces more entertainment and recreational activities than any person can consume. Cheers!

Berries and bangles
Cheers for the Coos Bay Farmers Market’s new location. Chased out of Central Avenue by a sagging Chandler Hotel, the market is flourishing behind the Egyptian Theatre. Its ambiance adds spice and a pleasingly cosmopolitan feel to our little burg.

Repopulate the Pedway
But jeers — mild ones — for the vendors’ surprising abandonment of the Pedway. The inviting space along 101 made an enticing entrance to the main market area. Its tables and benches made it a perfect lunch spot. What gives?

No smoking, please
Cheers to Oregon landlords who are banning smoking in their housing units. This kind of voluntary, market-driven trend, independent of government regulation, is an effective and encouraging step in the battle against the world’s deadliest drug.