McKenzie Hubbard, a graduate of Dee LaVon Massage School in Coquille and a licensed Massage Therapist since 2008, is having a grand opening with food and drink and free 5-minute chair massages at her new shop, “McKenzie’s Massage Therapy,” at 183 East Second Street (next to Samm’s Hair Care), on Thursday Dec. 17 and Friday, Dec 18, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. McKenzie became interested in the benefits of massage after being given massage therapy treatments after an automobile accident. She said that’s when she became interested in becoming a massage therapist, because the treatments helped her tremendously. In her previous job as a CNA, she found she enjoyed helping others, and she felt massage therapy was a wonderful way to help make other peoples lives better.

 Besides offering on-site chair massage, deep tissue, and relaxation massage, McKenzie carries a line of health products, including Biofreeze. She also has specials and gift certificates available. Appointments can be scheduled by phone for Tuesdays through Saturdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Walk-ins welcome on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.¤

received a number of calls  about the large tent set up on  the parking lot at the High  School. The main questions  asked by the callers were, laws  about having a religious function  on school grounds and  who would pay to repair the  damage to the pavement by the  approximately 40 spikes driven  into the asphalt. Nana Paluch,  administrative assistant for the  Coquille School District 8  directed us to the Districts’  information web site where  school policies. We were also  told that any damage to the  facilities was the responsibility  of the renter.  According to our sources,  “Heart of Jesus Ministry” is the  group using the High School  parking lot.

 They are sponsored  by the Praise Center Four  Square Church of Coquille.  They were not required to pay  rent for use of the parking lot.  As of Monday at press time,  the tent was still up.  Included in the policy:  Any group using school facilities  shall abide by the following  rules:  a. The use of the facilities  shall not conflict with the use  of the facilities for regular  school purposes;  b. The building shall not  be rented to any individual(s)  where personal interest or personal  profit is involved;  c. When facilities are rented  or used by an outside group,  one individual from that group  will be responsible;  d. No activity shall take  place that will bring discredit  to the schools;  e. Outside groups must  first apply to the building principal,  except in cases where  approval by the Board is necessary;  f. A regularly employed  district custodian or other staff  member must be present during  the time the outside group is  using the building. The outside  group will know the costs and  absorb the costs as part of their  agreement to use the facilities.  (Special consideration is given  to groups practicing for a special  event when supervised by  an approved individual.);  g. The charge may be  waived when use is closely tied  to the school e.g., Cub Scouts.  The administration reserves  discretion to charge for use if  the group is large and/or  extends beyond the individual  school;  The PDF file containing  School District policy regarding  community use of school  facilities can be found by  accessing the District web site  at  http://www.coquille.k12.or.us/

CountyCommissioner Kevin Stufflebean, Commission  liaison to the solid waste department, says that the ash pit at  the Coos County Solid Waste facility at the Beaver Hill  dump site is reaching the end of its life. It is estimated that  the ash pit currently in use will be full by the year 2012.  According to Stufflebean, to date nothing has been done  about how to proceed with the issues facing the Beaver Hill  Solid Waste Facility and there are several issues involved.

“There are a number of scenarios the county needs to look  at.” Stufflebean stressed that time is of the essence at this  point and the county needs to act now to avoid desasterous  problems in the future. For instance, If the county did not  intend to keep incinerating garbage a five year closure plan  should have been done in 2005/2006. Nothing was done.  Stufflebean said even if we ask the voters to extend the life  of the facility with a bond levy, it is going to be in the 10  million dollar range and is going to take four to five years  to get through all that is involved in the permitting process.

Even if the voters approve another bond levy, we are  already up against a time crunch and the clock is ticking.  Commissioner Stufflebean met with the employees of  the solid waste department in June and requested a work  session to lay out the issues to look at all options and factors.  He anticipates it will take four or five months of hard  work to even reach a decision on what to do, whether it is  to extend the ash pit and upgrade the facility or close the it  down, which would then leave the question of how to deal  with our garbage in the future.  A work session is scheduled for July 23rd at 10:00 am at  the Coos County Courthouse. This issue is of critical  importance to the public and the public is urged to attend.

The June 1 regular  monthly city council meeting  was well attended. Most  of the audience were friends  and family of Lee Reeves, a  Coquille High School 2004  graduate and a graduate of  the University of  Washington. Lee was on the  agenda to give the council a  power point presentation of  local economic strategies.  Lee expressed a desire to  give back to the community  where he grew up & said he  had been working on the  information he shared with  the council as a part of his  college studies. In the presentation  he stressed that the  main things we should be  investing in for Coquilles  future are education and  infrastructure.

In a subsequent  discussion, councilor  Loren Wiese pointed out  that Lee's presentation created  more questions then  answers. Wiese commented  that we need more business  and private investment in  the community and that can  not come from us. Lee  Reeves responded that we  already have the things we  need here. He pointed out  we have many small businesses  and good schools  with good teachers. He suggested  we just aren't putting  the resources in the right  areas. He said we've failed  to generate any entrepreneurs  or have not made any  big business out of the small  businesses we have. He also  felt that consolidation  between the School districts  of Myrtle Point and  Coquille was not a good  idea and it wouldn't solve  our problems.

Nancy Keller  co-owner of the new  Downtown Studio commented  that her business is  one of those solutions to the  problems that Lee mentioned.  Nancy said that her  core program was addressing  the issues that Lee  brought up. Nancy described  some of the classes they  were planning to have at the  studio were meant to get  kids enthused and interested  in education, careers, and  business.

Mayor Steve  Britton said the lack of an  adequate sewer system at  the moment was hampering  our citiy’s growth and the  fact that the School system  has suffered massive budget  cuts over the years was forcing  the issue of looking at  consolidation. Bruce Parker  said that he thought it would  be local money that would  make things happen for  Coquille and the attitude of  Seya and Janet Neshi, owners  of the Coquille nursery,  of making do with what  they had and going ahead  with their new business  location in spite of the  sewer problems was spreading  and Coquille was on its  way up.  In other council business  the council approved an  ODOT small city allotment  grant application for  $25,000 to be used for a  project costing $131,880  with the balance coming  from city funds. This project  is for repairs on E. 3rd from  N. Baxter to N. Dean.

City Manager Terence  O'Conner reported that the  Coos Curry Electric Cooperative  board has authorized  the go ahead for the  purchase of the GP site at  the original agreed to price  and terms. CCEC plans to  begin ground work later this  summer pre-loading and filling  the site.  John Higgins reported  that Jim Sanders down at  the Community Building  was working to get the pool  ready for the opening day of  the public swim season on  June 13th.

Two resolutions were passed at the May 4th City Council  meeting. Resolution 08-2009 Amending the License,  Permits and Procedures Book and Adopting New Sewer  Rates for the City of Coquille and Authorizing the rates and  Fees Contained Therein, was passed unanimously by the  council . Simply put this means sewer rates will be going  up $1.00 a month starting in July.

Only sewer base rates  will be affected, water rates will remain the same.  Resolution 09-2009 Amending the Personal and Policy  Manual of the City of Coquille passed five to two with  Bruce Parker and Corky Daniels casting the dissenting  votes. This resolution states that city employees although  encouraged to live within the city limits, residency will not  be a condition of employment, EXCEPT any employee  defined as emergency personnel shall be required to reside  within either a 30 minute response time or with in the City  of Coquille urban study area.

Councilor Corky Daniels, who  was in local law enforcement for years told the Sentinel that  he felt the 30 minute time limit was to far away. He felt  emergency employees should be required to live closer to  have shorter response time.  In the City Managers report Manager Terrence O'Conner  asked the council to consider options on a couple of variables  regarding paving city streets. Number one was the  amount of city funds the council is willing to commit to the  project. The second variable is what streets to consider. In  an interview withO'Conner today, he agreed that many city  streets are in need of repair and the city is working hard to  come up with the funds needed for those repairs and to  match priorities to those funds. The Sentinel willendevor to  keep citizens updated on those decisions.

Jennifer and Larry Rose, proprietors of The Hat Shop at  142 Central in Coquille have informed the Sentinel that  they are officially open. They want to thank everyone who  has stopped by to check out the hats or just take a curious  look around.

We visited The Hat Shop and checked out  their selection of practical and fashionable guys hats, rock tshirts  and beads. Jennifer Rose told the Sentinel they also  want The Hat Shop to be a resource center for local youth  and their parents to go when they have a crisis. After the  tragic death of their own son Clay in 2008, the Rose's  decided they wanted to help teens in crisis. The Hat Shop  was a dream of Clay's, Jennifer and Larry wanted to make  his dream come true. Jennifer has compiled an extensive list  of resources for the teen in crisis and the parents of teens in  crisis. This list is available at the store to anyone who  would like one. The store also has a bookshelf of pamphlets  and books dealing with the subject.

If you want to visit The Hat Shop be warned they have  unusual hours... 5:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. Wednesday  though Friday and 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Saturdays.  Larry said since they both work the only way they can keep  the hat shop open is to work there in the evenings.