Lady Bobcats extend win streak
Tillamook Fire settles suit Page A2
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Headlight Herald
TUESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2024
TILLAMOOK, OREGON • WWW.TILLAMOOKHEADLIGHTHERALD.COM
VOL. 136, NO. 3 • $1.50
Garibaldi grade schoolers donate $1,100+ to Tillamook Animal Shelter WILL CHAPPELL Headlight Editor
Students from Garibaldi Grade School raised $1,187.75 in a preChristmas break coin drive, which they donated to a volunteer from the Tillamook Animal Shelter at an assembly on January 11. The students chose which charity they wished to support with the annual coin drive and their donations will be used to help sustain the mission of the shelter just south of Pleasant Valley. “I think there’s a lot of power in letting kids choose where these things go and allowing them to be student leaders,” said Physical Education Teacher Kimberly Baertlein, who organized the coin drive and donation. This was the second year that students were allowed to select the beneficiary of the coin drive and the Tillamook Animal Shelter was chosen after Doernbecher Children’s Hospital received last year’s donation. The weeklong fundraising effort focuses on a different denomination of coin each day, and although there is no formal competition, Baertlein said classes do vie to raise the most money. “So, as they hear maybe one day one class didn’t do so well, you’ll see them bring a lot more money
Students celebrated as the fundraising total from the coin drive was announced in an assembly on January 11.
SEE DONATION PAGE A9
Sheriff discusses homelessness, Measure 110, reelection bid WILL CHAPPELL Headlight Editor
As he prepares for a reelection bid, Tillamook Sheriff Josh Brown recently sat down with the Headlight Herald to discuss challenges facing law enforcement in the county and his bid for reelection. Brown talked at length about the need to increase both accountability of and services available to those experiencing homelessness and substance use disorders in the county and across Oregon. He said that Measure 110 had caused a massive spike in the number of overdoses he had observed and called on state and county leaders to give law enforcement and social services providers the tools to address the crises. “I’m a cop and so my whole life has been about accountability and enforcing the law but I think modern policing is also about empathy and decency,” Brown said. “I don’t believe that the answer is just grab everybody up and throw them in jail. That’s not the answer. The answer is accountability but
assistance.” Brown was elected sheriff in 2020, after serving 15 years with the department, first as a corrections deputy, before moving into patrol after seven years. Prior to his election, Brown had never served in an administrative position and said that he looked to other Oregon sheriffs for help learning the ropes of his new position. From the beginning of his tenure, Brown’s focus has been on improving the department for his deputies so that they can better serve the community. That started with a remodeling of the physical office he would be occupying, which now contains a welcoming set up of comfortable couches and chairs around a coffee table to encourage his deputies to stop in. “If one of my deputies walk in, I drop everything and I visit with them because they’re the most important asset to this office, in my opinion,” Brown said. In the same year Brown was elected sheriff, Oregon voters passed Measure 110, decriminalizing the possession of drugs in
the state. Since the measure’s passage, controversy has swirled around its impacts on the state, with opponents calling for the measure’s repeal. Brown said that in the past
year and a half he believes he has seen more overdoses than he had in his career up to that point. He said that the removal of consequences for drug use had led people from other states to
migrate to Oregon, exacerbating existing issues with substance use disorders and homelessness. “Any problems that we did have is just being magnified because you have all these people that have come in to take advantage of that,” Brown said. Simultaneously, the state lags severely in the services offered to help those experiencing substance use or mental health disorders, or homelessness, ranking at or near the bottom in the number of spots available for treatment. Brown said that this lack of access to treatment was another major factor in the increasing number of people struggling and said that law enforcement agencies needed partnerships with other community organizations to successfully address the issues. “It’s gotta be a holistic approach, it really does,” Brown said. “It’s gotta be CARE (Community Action Resource Enterprises) doing their part, it’s gotta be the county doing their part, it’s gotta be us doing our part. There’s SEE SHERIFF PAGE A10
Garibaldi Fire holds awards banquet STAFF REPORT
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Garibaldi’s Fire Department held its annual awards banquet on Saturday, January 6, at the Old Mill RV Park in Garibaldi. Officers and volunteers from the district were joined by family and members of Garibaldi’s city government for a barbecue dinner from the Portside Bistro before awards were handed out. Garibaldi’s firefighters were busy in 2023, logging more than 1600 hours responding to 305 calls and putting in 4,850 hours training. Ruben Monge was named the SEE BANQUET PAGE A9
The Garibaldi Fire District gathered to celebrate 2023 at their annual awards banquet on January 6. Photo courtesy Garibaldi Fire District