Submitted photo

The Brookings City Council is considering plans to designate areas in city parks in which dogs can run free, play with other pups and socialize.

The council Monday evening approved a change in city ordinance that will allow such parks.

The Brookings City Council plans to send a letter to the state in opposition to two bills addressing how the state would ensure Curry County stays fiscally solvent if voters defeat the May 21 property tax question.

The question asks voters to increase property taxes $1.84 per $1,000 assessed valuation for those living in cities and $1.97 for those living in unincorporated Curry County to keep county law enforcement at minimum levels.

Port Orford police are investigating the discovery of human bones after a man found a skull under a trailer he was moving from a trailer park Monday afternoon.

The bones were discovered when the new owners of the Anchor Inn RV Park, at 557 9th St., were removing an abandoned trailer. The skull was laying on the ground; other bones were found buried later. 

Curry County Sheriff’s officers Sunday found a 71-year-old Gold Beach man who’d been lost in the woods near the Oregon Redwood Trail for almost 24 hours.

The Sheriff’s Office received a call at 4:38 p.m. Saturday stating that John McDougal had become lost while hiking the trail with his wife, Donna. Sheriff’s personnel and Search and Rescue volunteers conducted a hasty search of the area, but were unable to find the man before darkness fell.

Submitted photo Members of the Crescent City Swim Club at Saturday’s swim meet. Submitted photo

True to its name, approximately 60 swimmers completed a series of strokes and relay events over three and a half hours.

Brandon Thompson, left, and Sam Blosch receive the Coast Guard’s highest qualification Friday. The Pilot/Jane Stebbins

Brandon Thompson, 25, and Sam Blosch, 27,   were given golden “checks” – medallions engraved with a life ring and two oars – for the years of  training spent to earn the certifications, whose holders represent the smallest operating specialty in the Guard.

Sheriff’s personnel display marijuana plants seized in Langlois. Submitted photo

According to Undersheriff Bob Rector, officers seized 23 plants and cited Markwood Scott Hull, 48, at 46248 Highway 101 in Langlois, March 25. 

The Brookings City Council and its budget committee got its first look at a strategic plan proposed to be implemented in the 2013-2014 budget that could affect water rates and development over the next few years.

Details of that, the costs of employee retirement benefits and staffing were also addressed during a work session Wednesday evening. It was the first workshop the city held as it prepares next year’s budget.

Curry County Commissioners David Brock Smith and David Itzen again overrode Commissioner Susan Brown in a decision to Wednesday to approve the annexation of the Brookings Airport into the city of Brookings.

The approval, however comes with the stipulation that if the city decides to put the airport into its Urban Renewal Area (URA), all economic development projects must be approved by both commissioners and the city council.

Authorities seized a 2.5-foot American alligator found in an enclosure inside a home on North Bank Chetco River Road near Brookings. Submitted photo

The alligator is about 2.5 feet long and was living in a series of dog cages attached to a small pond. There were no signs of animal abuse.