City Prepares For Temporary Move; Crash Takes 2 Lives; Coos Bay Man Charged in Murder; Fire Safety

Packing to Move

It is still in the planning stages, but after the first of the year the city will be vacating its offices in order to prepare for a remodel.  This will mean that some services will be relocated temporarily.  Already moving to the new public works facility on Kingwood are some of the vehicles used by code enforcement.  According to City project manager Meghan Messmer some offices and services will be relocated to the justice center and some will go to the Public Works building.  In case you are wondering where to pay your water bill

201: “our utility billing will be there as well so the main point of contact for citizens while we are out of city hall will be at the new public works facility.”

Due to the age of City Hall there will have to be some preliminary work accomplished before actual construction can begin.

201: “We have to do an asbestos abatement in the building so it will probably be in about February when they will start construction.”

The city received three bids for the remodel and is reviewing them.  Messmer says they will present recommendations at the next City Council meeting on Monday the 18th.

Collision Takes 2 Lives

A head on collision on highway 38 just east of reedsport claimed the lives of 2 women yesterday.  Oregon State police say that at approximately 7:26 yesterday morning a 2009 Kia Rio crossed the center line near milepost 12 and hit a 2015 Jeep Cherokee.  The driver of the Kia, 48 year old Lisa Oswell from Tigard and her passenger 21 year old Carly Renee Williams-Oswell were pronounced dead at the scene.  The Jeep’s 2 passengers were taken to the hospital with serious but non life threatening injuries.  Both passengers of the Jeep were properly restrained.  OSP believes that icy roads and speed were a contributing factor to the crash.  State Route 38 was closed for about 3 hours while crews and emergency vehicles secured the scene.

Grandson Held in Murder

Coos bay police are investigating the death of an 80 year old resident.  Elmer Lloyd Dennis was found lying dead on his property Sunday afternoon.  A search of the area found Dennis’ grandson, 29 year old James Jay Thomasson hiding under a deck.  Police had to use a taser to get Thomasson to come out from beneath the structure.  He was booked in the Coos County Jail on a charge of Murder.  An autopsy is being conducted to determine Dennis’ exact cause of death.

Fire Safety

This time of year a lot of focus goes into safe driving as the roads fill up with holiday travel, but State Fire Marshall Jim Walker reminds us that it is also a time to be concerned about fire safety.  In the previous 4 years Walker says there have been over 35 hundred residential fires for the period between November 22nd  through January 15th, resulting in 14 deaths and 194 injuries and 61.2 million dollars in property loss.  Walker says by following some simple safety tips you can avoid a holiday disaster.  If you are using a real tree make sure that you check daily to insure that there is plenty of water in the stand, fresh trees can consume between a quart and a gallon of water daily.  Do not use old lights with frayed wires.  Trim  your trees with non-combustible materials and never place it closer than 3 feet from a fireplace.  Don’t overload your sockets with holiday lights and don’t burn wrapping paper in your fireplace.  It burns at a higher temperature than wood and can cause a chimney fire.  For a complete list of safety tips you can follow the link on our Coast Radio website. (http://www.oregon.gov/OSP/SFM/pages/com_ed_section.aspx)