Dr. Andrew “Andy” Sapp, a 1993 graduate of Brookings-Harbor High School, was honored this week as a top young professional in Idaho.

Sapp is the son of Lewis and Dolores Sapp of Brookings, longtime owners of Brookings Sports Unlimited. 

As the founder and president of Cherry Gulch in Emmett, Idaho, a therapeutic boarding school for boys ages 10 to 14, Sapp was named one of Idaho’s 40 top professionals under 40 by the Idaho Business Review.

“We are building brighter tomorrows for the boys of today with the wide-open space of country living and the benefit of a metropolitan area,” Sapp told the magazine. 

Health District CEO Bill McMillan announced recently that, effective July 1, Wild Rivers Emergency Physicians, a medical group managed by EM Care, a national emergency department staffing company, will assume staffing for Curry General Hospital’s Emergency Department. 

According to McMillan, Wild Rivers Emergency Physicians and EM Care will allow the hospital to have access to a deeper pool of board certified emergency physicians.

Chetco Federal Credit Union (CFCU) recently announced it has hired Diane Johnson, a nationally recognized credit union consultant, as its new president and CEO.

The announcement was made by Board Chairman Jim Nelson. “Diane is one of the best known experts in this industry and we are very fortunate that she is available and likes the coast. Many of our staff have already worked with Diane, or her husband Tom Glatt, over the past few years when they have worked with CFCU as consultants. There’s no other way to put it, the board is thrilled!”

Slow Children – Bryan Bacci, Caleb Moffit, Kevin Hutman – produced a video with Vincent Gowman and Elmo Williams. The Pilot/Jef Hatch

Oscar award-winning film director and Brookings resident Elmo Williams tosses a book into the fire.

A 9-year-old Brookings boy looking questioningly into the camera.

Lynn Bridges shows pendants her shop offers. The Pilot/Arwyn Rice

Pretty things.

Swarovski crystal earrings and pendants – and pink stun guns and pink pepper spray holsters.

Women need protection, shopkeeper Lynn Bridges said. Why not make it pretty?

Chetco Federal Credit Union President and CEO Stan Baron

Chairman of the Board, Dr. Jim Nelson said, “We hate to see Stan go, but understand his desire to return to the East Coast and spend more time with his family. We will miss him, but we have his phone number.”

Mr. Baron came to CFCU in June of 2000 after more than 30 years in the credit union industry; nearly 20 of those years as a president and CEO. He oversaw the increase of CFCU’s assets from roughly $100 million to a high of more than $370 million, and the expansion of its service area to include Coos County.

SMITH RIVER – The Smith River Rancheria officially opened its new Tolowa Convention Center Thursday by hosting the annual America’s Wild Rivers Coast Five Chamber Mixer.

It reminded Tolowa Tribal Chair Kara Miller, she said, that the site has been a gathering place for the thousands of years for the peoples living between the Klamath River to the south and the Elk and Sixes rivers to the north.

“It gives me goosebumps to know that this place has always been a special place,” she told the crowd of more than 300 people.

Gold Beach resident Reneé Brooks was recently appointed to the Wild Rivers Community Foundation Board of Directors.

The Wild Rivers Community Foundation’s mission is to inspire people and communities by facilitating dialogue and encouraging charitable giving to support the region now and forever.  The foundation serves Curry and Del Norte counties.

“This was a great opportunity to become involved with an organization that focuses on providing communities with the support they need to solve their own problems while linking them to resources in their area,” Brooks said.  

Laurie and Ken Podesta-Daniels have been in the auto repair business in Brookings for five years. The Pilot/Evelyn Cook

“It’s our way of giving back to the community. This town has been amazing to us,” said Laurie Podesta-Daniels who owns and operates Doctor “D” Autocare along with her husband, Ken Podesta-Daniels.

“Ken has always wanted to have his picture on money, so we’re giving out Doctor ‘D’ dollars with his picture on them,” she said.