Mook Wrestlers win Cowapa, three ladies headed to State
Rockin’ it at the Jetty Page 2
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Headlight Herald
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2022
VOL. 134, NO. 7 • $1.50
TILLAMOOK, OREGON • WWW.TILLAMOOKHEADLIGHTHERALD.COM
Nestucca parents protest school board mandates Group asking district leaders to step down
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Ashley Tike Staff Writer
ednesday, February 9th parents along with community members gathered outside the Nestucca Valley kindergarten8th grade school building to protest the lack of community input in school board meetings and decisions. Their message was clear, listen to us. “I don’t see why children should have to spend one more minute in a mask to protect adults at the school who are already vaccinated. It’s just wrong,” said April Bailey, a local concerned parent and co-organizer of the protest. Kaili Jensen, parent leader of the protest, attended Nestucca schools herself and currently has 4 children in the Nestucca School District. “We’re done following blindly, the school board members need to pay attention to us,” Jensen said. The signs held up by Jensen’s children read “Step up for our kids or step down from the board” , “Public Schools deserve Public Input” and “No more Masks.” There were a little fewer than 50 people that attended the in-person protest in front of the school. About 53 community members logged-on to attend the zoom school board meeting. “The school board meetings have been held virtually via zoom so when parents want make comments the board doesn’t agree with, they get muted,” said Shawn Best a Nestucca school parent. At this particular meeting, anyone that wanted to speak was
allowed. Josh Armstrong, a parent, spoke at the meeting about the changes he has seen in his 7th grade daughter since the COVID-19 pandemic hit more than 2 years ago. He said that the school today has a “prison atmosphere” and that his daughter doesn’t even want to go anymore. Jensen said she has seen the same changes in her older kids. Because of vaccine and mask mandates for school employees, the students have lost some of their sports coaches and volunteers. At the meeting parents were voicing their concerns, calling for religious exemptions to be upheld for these coaches and volunteers unwilling to get the COVID-19 vaccine. “These mandates have really affected the older kids that know what school was like before all of this ridiculousness.” Jensen said. “It’s the kids that are suffering,” she added. April Bailey said in her comments to the board, “We will happily take board resignations tonight. Resign, recall or repent.” After what they witnessed at the meeting, Bailey and Jensen plan to start the process of getting the school board members replaced. The Nestucca Valley School District is located in the southern portion of Tillamook County and includes the communities of Beaver, Hebo, Cloverdale, Pacific City/ Woods, Sandlake and Neskowin. The school board consists of 5 elected members who make decisions for the schools. “I appreciated the people being there and voicing their opinions, there’s probably a good chance of
Nestucca School District parents and students protest mask and vaccine mandates the school board are currently following at a rally last week. Photo by Ashley Tike. in-person meetings in the future,” said Bill Hagerty, the chair of the Nestucca school board. “Right
now we are following the laws and doing what is best for all students,” he added.
Comments : headlightreporter@ countrymedia.net
Help wanted everywhere in Tillamook County I
Ashley Tike Staff Writer
f you tuned in to the Tillamook County leadership meeting Monday, February 7th it was clear that almost all government departments are short staffed. From the parks department to the library, practically all Tillamook government departments are hiring. It doesn’t end with government jobs. Staffing issues have become a common theme amongst business across Tillamook County. Erik Knoder, the regional economist for the State of Oregon employment department has been tracking the data and reported, “The current labor market for Tillamook is the tightest it’s been since the year 2000.” According to the data from the Oregon Employment Department, it’s tough right now for businesses to find workers and it’s not going to get easier as we make our way towards the summer season. JoAnn Woelfle, Tillamook County Parks Director said they are so short staffed they don’t have enough employees to answer the phones for summer camping reservations. Because of this, they have been forced to rely more on their online system. On February 1, the system opened to the public, the website shut down twice due to the high number of people trying to pay online at the same time. After all was said and done, the parks collected $170,000 in camping reservations made in 3 days. For Woelfle, looking ahead to July 4th weekend is a little scary because she currently has a to-
tal of 2 janitorial staff on the payroll. Needless to say, the Parks Department is hiring maintenance workers. According to WorkSource Oregon centers, Oregon’s health care and social assistance providers are hiring at an unprecedented rate. With about 15,000 job vacancies in health care, there is an urgent, statewide need to fill health care and other positions that support the health care industry, like food service, facilities, and business administration. The quantitative data is there, but the qualitative data isn’t clear. Job openings are on the rise but we don’t have the data to support exactly why it’s so hard to get the positions filled. “We can only speculate,” said Knoder. It could be that the wages being offered are too low. Maybe it’s because in this post-pandemic season of life, families have found ways to live off of a single income. Is it due to the serious lack affordable housing in this region or the dire need for affordable childcare? Maybe it’s because of the federal pandemic aid dollars, or the state aid money that some receive. The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently reported unemployment rate comparisons for all 50 states. As of December 2021, there were 12 states with unemployment rates at or below their all-time low. While
Oregon has not yet returned to record low unemployment, it is one of four states with a higher labor force participation rate at the end of 2021 than before the pandemic recession. According to an Indeed survey of about 1,000 people who “voluntarily resigned from a job since March 2020,” 92% of them said “the pandemic made them feel life is too short to stay in a job they weren’t passionate about.” Find the latest workforce and economic research at QualityInfo.org Comments: headlightreporter@countrymedia.net
Tillamook County COVID-19 Update: Experts believe this finally moving in the right direction
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Ashley Tike Staff Writer
n the weekly Tillamook County community update meeting held every Tuesday morning at 8am, Eric Swanson from Adventist Health Tillamook reported, “Hospital admissions for Region 1, which includes Clackamas, Clatsop, Columbia, Multnomah, Tillamook and Washington counties, are flat-lining or declining.” There’s a steady bi-weekly decline in hospital admissions for COVID-19 in the state of Oregon overall. “We’re not done with the fight quite yet, but things look promising,” Swanson added. In the meeting Swanson thanked all of the dedicated professionals getting us through the past 2 years. “We just don’t want people to be sick, it’s been a rough 2 years,” he said. Ed Colson from Tillamook County Community Health Center announced they have received even more quick antigen COVID-19 home test kits to distribute to the community. Check the Tillamook County Community Health Center’s website for more information on how to get the free home kits : tillamookchc.org If you’d like to get your COVID shot be sure to visit the health department’s vaccine clinic at the Tillamook County Fairgrounds from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursdays. Vaccines, pediatric vaccines, flu and pneumonia vaccines are also available.
n See COVID, Page A3