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north coast Volume 21, No. 9

northcoastcitizen.com

May 12, 2016

Clean Slate...

Women’s Club scholarship awarded

Manzanita to host microplastic removal

amey Sherman, senior at NeahJ Kah-Nie High School has been selected to receive the Women’s Club

of Manzanita-North County Scholarship Award for 2016. Jamey has been an outstanding student in her career at Neah-Kah-Nie High School. Jamey is recognized by one of her teachers as having a “tremendous work ethic and serious drive all with a smile.” Another teacher recognized Jamey for her “intelligence, work ethic and communication skills to succeed.” She is a National Honors Society and Leo’s Club member, and has been a teacher assistant for the English Department. She has begun pursuing her passion in culinary arts by taking college courses at Tillamook Bay Community College in Hospitality Management and Culinary Arts. She plans to attend the Oregon Coast Culinary Institute in Coos Bay and receive an AAS degree there. After completing her internship she will attend Southern Oregon University and major in Hospitality and Tourism and earn a Bachelors Degree. She intends to pursue a career as a Pastry Chef either here or abroad. The Women’s Club of Manzanita -North County Scholarship Award was originated by Jan Markle to recognize graduating female students of NeahKah-Nie High School and was established under the Presidency of Chris Bloom in 2007. The Women’s Club of ManzanitaNorth County Scholarship is awarded for accredited vocational, technical/ community college or university to a current female graduating senior of Neah-Kah-Nie High School. The $1,500 award will be forwarded to the school of choice for tuition, fees or book expenses.

NORTH COUNTY NEWS ONLINE

By Jordan Wolfe

jwolfe@countrymedia.net

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Citizen photo by Jordan Wolfe Tom Mock, Val Vines Magee and Lyla Hendrickson completed their first public work party at the Nehalem Historic American Legion Cemetery on May 4. They are receiving donations and grant money to finally add a sign for the cemetery and build a fence along the road. The volunteers plan to work every Wednesday to keep the cemetary clean.

Cemetery cleanup an ongoing effort By Jordan Wolfe

jwolfe@countrymedia.net

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olunteers are invited to grab their favorite gardening tools to spruce up Nehalem’s Historic American Legion Cemetery every Wednesday. And don’t forget the drinking water. “Our mission is to preserve and beautify

the cemetery,” Val Vines Magee, project coordinator and volunteer, said. “What we’re doing is very simple. We want it to be reminiscent of a historical cemetery.” Vines Magee said that the current plan is to clean out invasive vegetation and over-

n See CEMETERY, Page A2

By Jordan Wolfe

jwolfe@countrymedia.net

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hree-hundred and fifteen pounds of microplastic and marine debris was collected from Manzanita’s beach over the course of six days in 2015, according to Kate Eskew, project coordinator and volunteer. On June 18, Eskew and her team will do it again and said she is seeking funding and volunteers to extend the clean up. “I liken it to getting after blackberries,” she said. “Left unaddressed, things build over time, like blackberries. We may never get it all, but we get a more reasonable situation.” Marc Ward of Seaside and president of the non-profit Sea Turtles Forever said, “Microplastics have been ingested at every level of the food web, at this point.” Microplastics are a material that is left over when larger macroplastics are broken down, he added. Bottles, car parts and plastic bags break down to one-half to five millimeters and are consumed by sea life, starving them, he said.

n See PLASTIC, Page A2

Wheeler Post Office still not open after winter floods T

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Citizen photo by Jordan Wolfe Wheeler’s post office, located within the heart of the city, is closed indefinitely following water damage from the December storms that went weeks without being cleaned. The building is environmentally unfit for the employees of the USPS now.

he post office in Wheeler has been closed for five months following the storms in December and, according to city manager Geoff Wullschlager, nobody knows when it will be operating again. “The storms affected our post office in a way that caused water inundation. We knew the longer the water sat there, the worse the situation would become,” he said. And sit there, it did. Wullschlager said that the environmental factors, such as rot and black mold, has caused the building to be unsafe for USPS employees. The responsibility, he added, ultimately falls on the owner of the building. She lives a state away and leases the building to the USPS. Nobody who had legal access opened the building in a timely manner to allow any clean-up, he added. “Why did the building sit for two weeks when it could have been cleaned within 24 to 48 hours?” Stevie Stephens Burden, mayor of Wheeler, said her citizens now have to claim their mail as “General Delivery” from the front desk of Nehalem’s post office. They can only get their mail during operating hours: 8 a.m. to noon and 12:30 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. “This has created a hardship on the com-

munity. A large segment of our population is retired and another portion doesn’t work near their home.” Burden said that residents have had vital pieces of mail and time-sensitive documents sent back or unclaimed. Items such as retirement checks, mortgage statements, insurance information and children’s Christmas presents were returned to sender. Communication has also been an issue for the city of Wheeler, according to both Burden and Wullschlager. Burden said, “We have requested to meet with the Postal Service. We invited them to the city to talk, but we haven’t had much of a response.” Wullschlager adds that the city has not heard from the postal service since February. “We have not had communication that has assisted us to provide up-to-date information for our citizens,” he said. “The city is limited with what we can do because we are not a party in this situation,” he said. “This is a private issue between two private businesses.” Work began on the building, but has since been suspended indefinitely due to escalating costs, he added. “It will now require an exorbitant amount of money to get the building working in a condition suitable for the post office,” Wul-

n See POST OFFICE, Page A2

Local history course returns to Pine Grove T

he Nehalem Valley Historical Society brings back its popular History of the Nehalem Bay Area series at Pine Grove Community House in Manzanita. Sessions focus on themes such as transportation and tourism, and events such as fires and floods. Presentations involve extensive use of historical photos and include time for questions and discussion. Classes with new ideas and photos include “From Indians to iPads” and “Selling the seashore.” The series begins on Monday, June 6, and meets every Monday and Thursday afternoon until June 23. Each session runs from 4-5:30 p.m. The $50 fee includes membership in the

Historical Society, a DVD and map about local history, and all course materials. Current Historical Society members pay $35. Mark Beach leads the course. Mark has a Ph.D. in history, taught at Cornell University and worked at the Smithsonian Institution before moving to Oregon. He has researched north county history since moving to Manzanita in 1992. Classes draw on Mark’s extensive collection of historical photos. You can sign up for the series by calling the Historical Society at 368-7460 or at Pine Grove on the first date, June 6. To see a detailed list of topics, check the events button at www.nehalemvalleyhistory.org.

Mohler creamery 100 years ago, dairy farmers brought milk to the cheese factory at Mohler. Since 1976, the building has been the Nehalem Bay Winery.


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