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North Coast
Citizen Serving North Tillamook County since 1996
northcoastcitizen.com
August 25, 2022
$1.50 Volume 29, No. 16
Buzz around Manzanita with eco-friendly scooter up with the idea after riding EScooters in larger cities. Contributor On a trip back to the Manzanita, Burgan noticed the lack ifelong best friends of mobility services at the Taylor Avritt and beach and Avritt pitched the Danny Burgan are bringing idea of bringing EScooters to a new form of transportation the area. to town. “I thought it was genius,” “Sunsetscootersmz,” an Burgan said. “We grew up eco-friendly scooter rental here; it’s our community and company, allows customers there’s not a better place to to scoot around Manzanita implement this. There’s so and take in the sights. many parts of the city that “We believe that this is you don’t see all the time. something that serves the What we always like to tell community, both the people people is to take some of the that live here and the people backstreets and check out that visit,” Avritt said. the new houses or the state Avritt and Burgan came park; just go down avenues you’ve never been before.” Sunsetscootersmz is located in the parking lot of the NeahKah-Nie Bistro on Laneda Avenue. “Our friend, Eisha Hopper, who owns the Neah-KahNie Bistro, Sunsetscootersmz has eight EScoothas been so ers available for rent from the parkgenerous ing lot of the Neah-Kah-Nie Bistro on of us using Laneda Avenue. the space,”
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Burgan said. “He’s on board with our plan. They supply us with power and storage.” Customers can rent from the eight available scooters in the Sunsetscootersmz fleet. “You rent them for a certain amount of time and then you bring them back,” Burgan said. “Unlike other cities, we didn’t want them just left lying around. We really wanted to make sure that wasn’t our business model.” Riders can take the scooters out for as little as 30 minutes or up to overnight rentals that come with a charger. “The renter can incorporate the scooter into their stay at the beach,” Avritt said. Each rental comes with a helmet and a quick introductory lesson in the parking lot before riders are on their way. Since the business opened on August 1, the co-owners have reported receiving nothing but “interested eyes and smiles.” “We’re really excited that the City of Manzanita, with their forward thinking, is allowing us to do this,” Burgan said. “We’re really, really thankful for the City of Manzanita.” Weather permitting, Sunsetscootersmz is open seven days a week, from 10 a.m. to
OHA reports first pediatric monkeypox case
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Sunsetscootersmz co-owners Danny Burgan (left) and Taylor Avritt (right) have brought an ecofriendly scooter rental service to Manzanita. close (when all scooters are rented out). Reservations can be made by emailing ride@ sunsetscootersmz.com. Residents of the “three villages” (Manzanita, Nehalem, and Wheeler) can also inquire
about a locals discount. Stay up-to-date with Sunsetscootersmz on their Instagram and Facebook pages.
Tea lovers traveling the Oregon Coast have a new place to stop and ‘get their steep on’ G
inger and Brigham Edwards of North Fork 53 Communitea Wellness are now offering farm to teacup garden tours and tea tasting experiences at their river side tea and wellness center in Nehalem. “So many more people have gotten into tea since the pandemic started” observes Ginger Edwards, owner and tea maker. “Since there are lots of new tea lovers out there I thought it would be a fun experience for them to see how we grow our plants and let them taste the tea right in our gardens”. North Fork 53 Communitea Wellness is four acres of trees, herbs, flowers and tea plants nestled between the North Fork of the Nehalem river and Hwy 53 (thus their name). Situated about 9 miles from Manzanita Beach and Hwy 101, the vibe here is all about slowing down and relaxing in an organic way. “Wellness and tea go perfectly together”, notes co-owner and massage therapist Brigham Edwards.
“People who come here for a massage or sauna love being able to relax in the gardens afterwards- now with the tea tours and tasting room we have a new way to let people check out what we do.” The 90 minute Garden tour and Tea Tasting experience is offered every Saturday at 10am and requires a $20 per person ticket be purchased in advance on their website northfork53. com North Fork also offers drop in tea tasting experiences for visitors every Thursday from 10am-2pm and every Saturday following tours from noon-2pm. For art lovers, North Fork 53’s tea tasting room also features a gallery of original work by Manzanita painter Debbie Harmon. “Debbie does all of the art for our tea company. So many people love our brand because of her intricate drawings of plants, gnomes, ravens and all things north coast and magical. It seemed like a perfect fit for our tea
room to showcase her actual paintings and furniture pieces.” says Ginger Edwards holding up one of the colorful tins her tea is packaged in. “I hope people driving the coast and exploring the North Coast Food Trail make a stop
to try out the tea. You can find our teas in local shops and on our website but it’s way more fun to come and taste it in person.” What: Local Tea Farm offers new Garden Tours and
Tea Tastings When: Thursday and Saturday 10am-2pm Where: 77282 OR-53, Nehalem, OR 97131 Who: North Fork 53 Communitea Wellness in Nehalem, OR
Johnson delivers voter signatures JEREMY C. RUARK
jruark@countrymedia.net
Independent gubernatorial candidate Betsy Johnson and her supporters have delivered 48,214 signatures to the Secretary of State’s office in an effort to qualify her for the November General Election. Johnson needs to collect
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23,744 valid signatures to qualify for the ballot. “Coming onto the ballot through the power of people’s signatures is one of the most meaningful – and foundational – elements of my campaign,” Johnson said. “As I’ve been traveling the state talking to Oregonians, one thing is very clear – they are ready for a real change, and there’s no bigger change than electing an independent governor loyal only to the people of Oregon.” Over the past several weeks, Johnson and her supporters have been collecting the needed voter signatures, including conducting such an effort at a community event at the fairgrounds in St. Helens in June. She and her supporters delivered the voter
signatures to the Oregon Secretary of State’s office Tuesday, Aug. 16. “By delivering more than twice the number of signatures needed, we’ve made it very difficult for the political establishment to imagine ways to keep me off the ballot,” said Johnson. “We’re going to put the people back in charge of the state we love.” Oregon law ORS 249.008(2) and OAR 1650110 allow the Oregon Elections Division to verify petitions based on a random or samples of the signatures rather than verifying all of the signatures. The number of random signatures selected is based on the number of signatures turned in for verification.
Independent gubernatorial candidate Betsy Johnson, left waving, and her supporters, deliver boxes containing sheets with voter signatures to the Oregon Secretary of State’s office in Salem. The Oregon Elections Division staff will compare the petition signature to signatures on file in the signer’s voter registration record, according to the Oregon Secretary of State’s Office.
If the signature does not have sufficient points of similarity, it is rejected. The Secretary of State has until Aug. 30 to verify the signatures submitted by Johnson.
regon Health Authority (OHA) officials have confirmed the state’s first pediatric case of monkeypox virus (hMPXV). The case is linked to an adult monkeypox infection that was confirmed last month. “We have a known connection to a previously diagnosed case,” OHA Health Officer and State Epidemiologist Dean Sidelinger said. “This child did not get the virus at school, child care or another community setting.” To protect patient confidentiality, OHA is not disclosing the child’s sex, age, county of residence or how the child is connected to the previously diagnosed case, according to Sidelinger. The Oregon child was tested for monkeypox Aug. 11, and the test results were reported to public health Aug. 15. Since receiving test results, the local public health authority, with support from OHA, has been conducting a case investigation and contact tracing to determine whether there are other exposures. During these investigations, public health provides guidance on how to avoid spreading the virus to others and offers vaccines to close contacts. The pediatric case is one of 116 presumptive and confirmed cases of monkeypox in Oregon, which also includes 112 men and four women. Illness onset ranges from June 7 to Aug. 9. The cases are in seven of Oregon’s 36 counties • 4 in Clackamas • 1 in Columbia • 1 in Coos • 20 in Lane • 1 in Marion • 73 in Multnomah • 16 in Washington About 27.6% of cases identify as Hispanic/Latino. Nationwide, there are nearly 12,700 cases in 49 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. They are among more than 38,000 cases in 93 countries, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Sidelinger acknowledged concerns of parents who are preparing to send their students back to school in the coming weeks, as monkeypox cases continue to rise in Oregon and other states. But he emphasized that risk of monkeypox spreading in school settings is low, since the most common means of person-to-person transmission is direct contact with the rash, scabs or body fluids of a person with the virus. “Monkeypox is not COVID-19,” Sidelinger said. “This virus is not easily spread unless you have that prolonged, close, skin-to-skin contact with an infected person.” Symptoms of the virus can include fever, swollen lymph nodes, chills, headache, muscle aches and fatigue. Not everyone will have these symptoms, but
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