Deadly Blast in Texas
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C M C M Y K Y K GUN CONTROL MISFIRE PIRATES FALL Measure fails in Senate, A6 Highlanders top Marshfield, B1 Serving Oregon’s South Coast Since 1878 THURSDAY,APRIL 18, 2013 theworldlink.com I 75¢ Coos County adds $320K in timber revenue THE WORLD COQUILLE — Coos County added about $320,000 to its 2013 timber revenue Wednesday with the sale of almost 1 million board feet to Scott Timber. A division of Roseburg Forest Products, Scott bid $331.39 per thousand board feet. It was the sole bidder. Coos County forester Lance Morgan said the county had set a minimum bid of $325 per board feet. The Westside 62 timber that Scott bought was one of two that had attracted no bids when first offered Feb. 27 along with rights to harvest on four other parcels. Har- vest rights on the remaining tract, known as Mary’s Hill, will remain open for bids for another 30 days. Morgan said the Mary’s Hill timber is worth about $215,000. The Associated Press Both it and the Westside tract are Firefighters conduct search and rescue today at an apartment building destroyed by an explosion at a fertilizer plant in West,Texas. A massive explosion at the West Fertilizer located in the Beaver Hill area. Co. killed as many as 15 people and injured more than 160, officials said overnight. Wednesday’s sale brought Coos County’s total timber revenue for 2013 to about $3.8 million. Unless the county receives bids to harvest the Mary’s Hill timber,no other auc- tions are scheduled until early 2014. Deadly blast in Texas I Rescuers search ruins of Texas Patrick Swanton said. He did not know how ment officer.The many injuries included broken many people had been rescued. bones, bruises, lacerations, respiratory distress, Bringing fertilizer plant; 15 may be dead There was no indication the blast was any- and some head injuries and minor burns. Five thing other than an industrial accident, he said. people were reported in intensive care. BY JOHN L. MONE AND MICHAEL BRICK The explosion rained burning embers and In the hours after the blast, residents wan- The Associated Press debris down on terrified residents. It leveled a dered the dark, windy streets searching for health four-block area around the plant, badly damag- shelter. Among them was Julie Zahirniako, who WEST, Texas — Rescue workers searched the ing or destroying up to 75 houses, a 50-unit said she and her son, Anthony, had been at a smoldering ruins of a fertilizer plant Thursday apartment complex, a middle school and a school playground near the plant when the home for survivors of a monstrous explosion that lev- nursing home. explosion hit. eled homes and businesses in every direction All that remained of one home was the fire- The explosion threw her son four feet in the across the Texas prairie. As many as 15 people place and chimney. Several buildings with air, breaking his ribs. She said she saw people were feared dead and more than 160 others smashed roofs and leveled walls still were running from the nursing home, and the roof of I Coos Bay native injured. smoking Thursday morning. the school lifted into the sky. comes back to coast Daybreak revealed a breathtaking band of Firm information was hard to come by in the “Hit the ground, hit the ground,”Zahirniako destruction extending outward from the West hours after the blast, and entry into the town heard a neighbor yell. to ‘make a difference’ Fertilizer Co. in this small farming community was slow-going as the roads were jammed with “The fire was so high,”she said.“It was just as about 20 miles north of Waco. The thunderous emergency vehicles. Authorities themselves loud as it could be. The ground and everything blast was so powerful that it shook the ground had trouble entering the heart of the blast zone. was shaking.” BY TIM NOVOTNY with the strength of a small earthquake and “It’s still too hot to get in there,” said Frances- William Burch and his wife, a retired Air The World could be heard dozens of miles away. ka Perot, a spokeswoman for the Bureau of Force nurse, entered the damaged nursing home NORTH BEND — A Coos Bay Searchers “have not gotten to the point of no Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. before first-responders arrived. They split up, native who honed her skills in return where they don’t think that there’s any- Among those believed to be dead were three Idaho is leading Coos County’s body still alive,” Waco police Sgt. William to five volunteer firefighters and a law enforce- SEE BLAST | A10 Public Health Department. Nikki Zogg became public health administrator following the NB taxpayers retirement of Frances Smith. Bailout starves the poor? Smith had been with the Public to save $300K Health Depart- Anastasia Mares, a ment for 26 years, Seattle-based organizer serving as admin- after refinance for LaRouche PAC, laughs istrator since freely as she hands out 2001. anti-Obama and anti- “Frances has THE WORLD bailout literature outside done a great job the Coos Bay post office setting a founda- NORTH BEND — North Bend taxpayers Wednesday afternoon. Nikki Zogg tion and a direc- can expect a little lighter load this year. New administrator LaRouche PAC seeks to tion for the They will pay lower interest rates on advocate public policy y, and I’m agenc existing school bond measures, the North based on the ideology of excited to come in and continue Bend School District announced Wednes- 90-year-old Lyndon her legacy and move things for- day. ward,” Zogg said as she settled LaRouche, a perennial The district completed a bond refinancing presidential candidate into her office earlier this week. this week. The refinancing, approved by the Zogg will be paid $111,000 per who was convicted of School Board in January, was carried out mail fraud and conspira- year. Her predecessor made through the district’s underwriter, Seattle $70,000 per year. cy in 1988. LaRouche Northwest Securities Corp. Zogg grew up in the Green Acres contends the bailout is area and graduated from Marsh- The original bonds were approved in 2001 an attempt to reduce the field High School in 1994. She and were issued in 2002 to finance addition- world’s population by al classrooms at Hillcrest Elementary and joined the U.S. Air Force a few starving the poor. years after graduation and was construction of a technology building. stationed at Mountain Home Air The district said the agreement does not Force base. There, fate intervened. extend the term of the debt. It only lowers “I was placed into the field of the interest rate. By Thomas Moriarty, The World Taxpayers will save approximately SEE ZOGG | A10 $300,000 as a result of the financing. Out of control Police reports . A2 Comics . A8 William Durschmidt, Coos Bay T S S E Jay Boekeloo, Coos Bay Sheriffs tell lawmakers that dwindling E A H D What’s Up. A3 Puzzles . A8 T I budgets are handcuffing law Danny Farmer Jr., Myrtle Point C T A E A S Mostly cloudy South Coast. A3 Sports . B1 T enforcement in timber counties. E R N S 57/47 I D Opinion. A4 Classifieds . B4 Obituaries | A5 O Page A5 F Weather | A10 Heavy Duty Garden Hose COOS BAY COQUILLE 5/8x50 541-267-2137 541-396-3161 SKU 784470 A FAMILY OWNED BUSINESS SERVING COOS COUNTY FOR OVER 96 YEARS. C M C M Y K Y K C M C M Y K A2 •The World • Thursday, April 18,2013 Y K South Coast City Editor Ryan Haas • 541-269-1222, ext. 239 Weekend theworldlink.com/lifestyles y g a n d i O ISTEN TO THE USIC O IRD ATCHING O EADY FOR UMMER r G ! L M G ! B W G ! R S u m t o a Actors prep for ‘Music Man’ Spot the nesting puffins Learn about canning your garden C S Are you a trivia whiz? 3-5 p.m., April 25, on the FRIDAY near West Fork Millicoma Fish tary.org. THE WORLD Hatchery, Coos River, Coos Bay. second floor of ORCCA’s 11th Annual Trading at the River Logos Players “The Dining SOUTH COAST Adults/seniors, $12; youth/cub, Room” Dinner Theater 7 p.m., The Friends of the Child and Family Resource 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., The Mill $8 and peewee free. Food and Coquille Library Foundation REPORTS Center, located at 1855 Casino-Hotel, 2301 Tremont, Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, beverages available. 541-290- 1290 Thompson Road, Coos host their spring trivia night Thomas Ave., in Coos Bay. North Bend. 7093 Saturday at the Coquille The event will help bring http://onaben.org/index.php/sc Bay. Dinner begins at 5:45 p.m. tonight at 7 p.m. at the Earth Day Cleanup and Eco Car- Community Building. awareness to the many ways hed Cost is $12 or $7.50 ages 12 and Sprague Theatre in Bandon. wash 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., behind younger. Dessert auction The event in the small The next audition will be held our community can help pre- Coos Bay Stamp Club Meeting 2- auditorium starts at 7 p.m., North Bend High School, Pony between acts. Half the pro- April 25 at the Hales Center vent child abuse and neglect, 4 p.m., Coos Bay Public Library Creek/ Crowell Lane, North ceeds go to Maslow Project. with doors opening at 6:30.