Answer: The health center on Woodland Drive in Coos Bay allows its doctors to prescribe whatever medication they think is best for the patient, including medical marjiuana.

Pete Johnson, CEO of North Bend Medical Centers, said the facility does not have any policy regarding prescriptions for medical marijuana

“We don’t tell physicians what to prescribe or what not to prescribe,” he said.

Answer: The Oregon International Port of Coos Bay has tried to deal with the gulls and guano they leave everywhere, said port spokesman Martin Callery.

The port has four full-time maintenance employees for its operations at the Charleston Marina, the Charleston Marina RV Park and the Charleston Shipyard, he said.

Callery explained that the employees, working under the direction of a foreman, handle a broad scope of tasks, which include repair and maintenance of all buildings, roads, docks, sidewalks and other infrastructure.

Ongoing tasks include plumbing, carpentry and electrical repairs, assisting with lifting and moving boats and scraping and washing boat hulls in the shipyard, monitoring daily usage at the marina and shipyard and at upland storage areas, power washing docks, ramps and sidewalks, restroom maintenance, trash collection, sorting recycled materials, and dumpster transport, landscape maintenance, repair and upkeep of all floating and fixed dock structures from both the dock and from work boats, inventory, restocking and transport of all supplies, enforcing marina and shipyard best management practices, customer service and emergency response when required.

The port also hires two or three seasonal employees in summer months to help with the increased workload.

All of the main mooring docks in both the inner and outer boat basins get power washed at least once a year. The launch ramp boarding floats get power washed at least once or twice a month in the summer season, as necessary to clean up droppings from marine birds and mammals that are constant visitors in the coastal region.

The fish cleaning stations get a thorough cleaning in early April of each year to start off the season, and are cleaned at least once a month during the summer; although high usage during tuna season often requires more frequent cleaning. Fish cleaning station users are asked to please be courteous of other users and clean up after themselves.  Running water is available at the fish cleaning stations to help with clean up.

Visitors to Charleston and users of the port’s Charleston facilities are encouraged to contact the Marine Facilities Manager in the marina office to report problems, make suggestions or complement the staff on anything they are doing right, Callery said.

But about the bird poo.

The port’s Board of Commissioners approved a “Pest Management Policy” in April, which provides information and suggested deterrence methods for seals and sea lions, cats and dogs, and ocean birds.

Gulls are the big problem.

Wherever there is a warm open area — specifically the new launch ramp with its plastic wood construction or pilings on docks, especially G dock and H dock in the inner basin — gulls hang out there and, well, do what gulls do.

Callery quoted the port’s “Action Plan: During the peak times, port maintenance staff routinely power wash the docks and ramps.  Last year fake owls were strategically placed to discourage gulls from landing. They were somewhat effective. When the docks are full of moored vessels, and there is activity on the docks, fewer birds settle. Cones put on pilings on the docks discourage them from landing. With the mild success of the fake owls, staff found a source for predatory bird kites. Rotation placements of these bird kites on poles will also be used to discourage them (seagulls).

“Staff continues to explore other opportunities that will discourage gulls from circling and landing.”

Any more suggestions? Share them with port staff.

Answer: The stack of new crab pots are sitting in a portion of the Charleston Marina, awaiting the start of crabbing season come December. The new pots are painted pink, supposedly so the owner can spot them easily compared to the usual black and rust pots colored from several years of Pacific Ocean use. The Dungeness crab fleet typically sets out the pots sometime after Thanksgiving to start the season off on the Oregon Coast, if biologists determine the crabs are ready for harvest.

Answer: The Mill isn’t giving out H1N1 flu shots to its employees. It hasn’t even provided seasonal flu vaccine, said spokesman Ray Doering.

The Mill usually offers seasonal flu vaccine to all of its employees, but it hasn’t been able to get enough to hold a clinic. The Mill still plans to provide the seasonal flu vaccine once it gets enough doses.

“We have a lot of people come through our doors and we try to protect our employees,” he said.

The H1N1 is a whole different matter.

“We can’t offer that to our employees,” Doering said.

The Coquille Tribal Health Clinic has been providing H1N1 vaccines, but only to people in the priority groups identified by the Centers for Disease Control.

“They are following the law,” he said.

Coos County Public Health has received 6,100 doses of H1N1 vaccine as of Monday and is holding immunization clinics at North Bend and Coos Bay elementary schools this week. Health workers will be at The Lighthouse School and North Bay Elementary on Thursday, and Blossom Gulch and Bunker Hill elementary schools Friday. Other schools will have clinics soon.

“We will be scheduling more clinics in the Coos Bay and North Bend schools as soon as we know how much vaccine we will receive in the next weeks’ shipments,” said Lena Hawtin, clinic supervisor at the health department. “When we come to the schools, we plan to have enough vaccine so that every student with a consent form will get a dose.”

Answer: Coos County issued permits for a private wind energy company called Invenergy to begin using the tower for research.

“The purpose is to monitor the wind for potential placement of big wind turbines,” said Coos County Forester Bob Laport.

He said that Invenergy will pay $2,500 per year to have the tower on county land.

The company will not know whether the area will be fit for wind energy for at least two years, said Invenergy spokesman Mike Baird.

“We typically get quarterly reports and analyze them as we get them,” he said.

Should Invenergy install a wind farm in Coos County, the energy likely would be sold to a local power company and consumed by the community, Baird said.

Answer: The orange and black critters, commonly called woolly worm or woolly bear caterpillars, actually turn into yellowish Isabella tiger moths, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Deputy Administrator Rick Hargrave said.

“It’s typically weather that stimulates their movement,” Hargrave said. “Right now, is about the time they are probably out moving around.”

The caterpillars, Pyrrharctia isabella, hatch from eggs during warm weather months, then in autumn seek out shelter to hibernate until spring.

In spring the caterpillars spin their cocoons, and about two weeks later emerge as adult moths.

The moth is found throughout the United States and in parts of Canada and Mexico.

Answer: Employees in the tree farm work for or otherwise provide eyes and ears for the company. They have access to radios and know the rules of what should and should not go on,  Weyerhaeuser spokesman Greg Miller said in an earlier interview.

“It’s private property,” he said. “They are permitted to hunt on company land.”

Miller said the property is not open to the public for several reasons.

“Our chief and principal concern is fire and fire protection,” he said.

This summer alone 818 fires occurred in the state of Oregon and of that 543 were human caused, Miller said.

“It’s not a pejorative thing. It’s a desire to protect our forests from fire,” he said.

There are also a few bad apples who ruin it for other hunters, Miller said. People who vandalize, use drugs or alcohol, or dump garbage illegally.

For more information about access to Weyerhaeuser property, call the company hotline at (888) 741-5403.

Answer: Because only some homes and businesses are at risk of contaminating the water system.

Backflow prevention ensures that contaminated water does not flow back into the general water system, said Rob Schab general manager of the Coos Bay-North Bend Water Board.

That can happen if a water pipe bursts or there is a large demand for water, such as when fire engines hook up to a hydrant. The water pressure drops in the system, resulting in water flowing down pipes rather than up.

Homeowners and businesses with pumps can also have their home pressurized to a point greater than the water system, which also can lead to backflow.

People will commonly have to install backflow prevention devices if they are combining city water with well water or have in-ground sprinkler systems, Schab said.

“If someone has a well on their property as an auxiliary source of water, they could pump untreated well water back into the system,” he said.

The devices can range in price from $50 to more than $1,000 for systems designed for industrial properties. Most customers who need backflow prevention hire plumbers to install the systems, Schab said.

Some of the need for prevention has been overlooked, because it was only two years ago that the water board hired an employee to enforce the rule.

Answer: The U.S. Coast Guard Exchange building in Coos Bay took down its flags because of the harsh Oregon Coast weather.

“The wind and rain destroy the flags,” said manager Ava Moore.

The flags were taken down permanently in August. The Coos Bay office, which has been around 15 years, was previously the only exchange building that actually waves a flag.

After continuously having to replace the weathered flags, it was decided to take them down for good.

“It is more a sign of respect. Not an insult,” Moore said.

Answer: It’s been socked away to earn interest so the city of Coos Bay can pay for street repairs. The problem is interest rates are so low, there isn’t any money to work on roads in Eastside.

The city received $4.8 million from the state when it took over maintenance of Ocean Boulevard and parts of Fourth Street, Central Avenue, Empire Boulevard and the Coos River Highway.

One of the first projects the city tackled was paving on Ocean, which forced the city to take out a loan several years ago, said Jim Hossley, the city’s public works director.

The city is paying about $118,000 a year until 2013 to pay off the debt.

The city had enough interest to do some paving on Ocean last year and Fourth Street the year before, but there isn’t enough to do any projects this year.

Once the interest rate increases, the city plans to repair stretches of Central Avenue and along the Coos River Highway.

“It’s on our radar as the funding increases,” he said.