INSIDE
Mooks advance in 4A playoffs to round of eight
INSIDE Jay Verberg Tillamook Co. Firefighter of the month
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Headlight Herald
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2019
TILLAMOOK, OREGON • WWW.TILLAMOOKHEADLIGHTHERALD.COM
VOL. 132, NO. 48 • $1.00
Courthouse Tillamook celebrates Veterans Day Manzanita city closed due hall bond fails to unknown odor M Cody Mann headlightnews@countrymedia.net
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he Tillamook County Courthouse at 201 Laurel Ave. in Tillamook is closed due to an unknown odor, according to a press release from Tillamook County Sheriff’s Office. Courthouse operations are set up temporarily in the Officers Mess Hall at the Port of Tillamook Bay. The Sheriff’s Office said out of an abundance of caution for the health and welfare of the employees and visitors, the courthouse is closed until the odor can be identified and deemed safe. All departments outside the courthouse are unaffected and will operate as normal. The press release said county officials understand and apologizes for the significant inconvenience. And investigation is ongoing and details are limited at this time. Please watch the County’s website at www.co.tillamook. or.us for the most current open/ closure information.
Meningitis at high school
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illamook County Health Department (TCHD) received information that a high school student was being treated at Doernbecher Children’s Hospital. TCHD has been in close contact with the infectious disease doctors on this case. The diagnosis is viral meningitis, caused by the varicella zoster virus (the same virus that causes shingles). This is not contagious. There is no treatment necessary for contacts. TCHD encourages people to be up to date on their vaccines, including the varicella vaccine.
Veterans honored in ceremony A
mong the veterans who were recognized during the celebration at the Tillamook Air Museum were four particularly noteworthy patriots. Ruby June Smith appeared full of vigor as she flexed her arm in the iconic “we can do it” pose of WWII’s women workers. When Smith was 19, she moved Portland from Minnesota. She wanted to pitch-in for the war effort, so she applied to work in at a shipyard where they were assembling the tail ends of flying boats. Of the four women hired that day, two quit under the pressure. Being the stronger of the two remaining, Smith was assigned to the rivet gun. Her partner Frieda was the rivet bucker. The two worked together and remained friends for a lifetime. Smith spent nearly three years as a “Rosie Riveter,” and met her husband of more than 50 years while working at the shipyard.
Jerry Tichenor was honored with a Quilt of Valor. The Quilts of Valor Foundation began in 2003 with the dream of a woman whose son was serving in Iraq. She pictured a man alone in emotional despair who was healed after being wrapped in a quilt. More than 230,000 quilts have been given to veterans since the foundation began. Tichenor comes from Van Nuys, California, and enlisted in the Navy in San Diego the day he turned 18. After training he was stationed in Hawaii. As a boatswain’s mate third class, Tichenor drove landing crafts full of American troops at the Battle of Saipan and at other islands in the Pacific campaign. The crowd gave a thunderous round of applause for Jesse Embum, who worked at the cantina inside the air hangar while it was active during WWII. There was also tremendous applause for Pat Patterson, a WWII Coast Guard veteran.
INDEX Classified Ads....................... B4-6 Crossword Puzzle.....................B3 Fenceposts...............................B3 Letters................................... A5-6 Obituaries................................ A7 Sports................................ A11-12
Portland-based F-15 Eagle fighter jets of the 142nd Fighter Wing conducted a flyover at Tillamook Air Museum on Nov. 11, 2019, as part of Veterans Day ceremonies.
anzanita voters appear to have shot down a tax increase to fund a new city hall project. The vote was 31.5-percent in favor, with 131 ‘yes’ to 284 ‘no’ and nearly 78-percent turnout, according to updated unofficial election results. The $6.5 million bond measure was approved by the Manzanita City Council for the November ballot with support from all five members and the mayor. It was the talk of the town, sparking an opinionated back-and-forth over cost-cutting options and a series of public hearings. “We believe this is a feasible number, but it could be less if needed,” City Manager Cynthia Alamillo said during an August council meeting. The proposed bond’s funding mechanism was a 50-cent tax increase per $1,000 of assessed property value. The project includes construction of a city emergency hub, police office, administrative and workspaces, multi-purpose room and a kitchenette with storage spaces. The funds were expected to pay for demolition and construction. Alamillo said the tax would be for a term of up to 31 years for the citizens of Manzanita. Outside grants to lessen the burden on taxpayers were discussed, but nothing has been secured at this time. There was public speculation regarding unseen additional project costs, with some citizens saying the potential added expenses would be significant. The new facility was expected to be built at 11,776 square feet and designed to meet long-term needs for multiple purposes. The site selected for the project was the Underhill property, featuring a former school building that sits out of the tsunami inundation zone, unlike the current city hall. Much of the public debate centered around remodeling or tearing down the buildings at the site. This past August, Manzanita Mayor Mike Scott penned an opinion column in which he said estimates put the construction cost for a new facility at $500 per square foot. He said additional funds would be required for asbestos abatement, demolition of the existing structure
n See BOND, Page A3
Photos Cody Mann/Headlight Herald
Suspect arrested in multiple storage unit burglaries E
mployees at the Port Storage in Tillamook noticed a suspicious person on their property and called the Tillamook County Sheriff’s Office at around 10:56 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 6. The person had left the area prior to the deputies’ arrival. Deputies circulated the area and located the occupied vehicle at the Safeway in Tillamook and contacted the occupant, Joshua McMinn, 38, from Portland. Through the course of the contact, deputies were able to allegedly connect McMinn to multiple storage unit burglaries in Tillamook County and several other areas. McMinn was arrested on mul-
tiple counts of burglary, possession of burglary tools, theft, and possession of methamphetamine. He was lodged at the Tillamook County Jail. Sheriff Jim Horton said that it was through the alert storage unit employees and the thorough investigation by the patrol deputies that they were able to take McMinn into custody and prevent him from committing additional crimes. The incident remains under further investigation and associated areas have been contacted. Tillamook County Sheriff’s Office was assisted by the Tillamook Police Department.