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Unofficial election results

Downtown marijuana grow operation approved

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Headlight Herald

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2016

Wetlands project gaining ground and funds By Ann Powers editor@northcoastcitizen.com Harmony between farmers and wetland restorationists made more headway recently with a $30,000 Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB) grant to help fund a 10-year pilot project negotiating future land use under Senate Bill 1517, also known as the Oregon Wetlands Bill (OWB). Taking effect Jan. 1, OWB designates Tillamook County as the site for the decade-long project, creating a land use review process where restoration and agricultural communities partner on preserving high-value farmland in coordination with wetlands restoration. The Oregon Farm Bureau (OFB) and the Oregon Dairy Farmers Association proposed the legislation. “Through this bill, Tillamook County and the local agricultural community will have greater input into the design of wetland projects to ensure that productive farmland is not negatively impacted,” OFB Public Policy Counsel Mary Anne Nash said when the bill was signed by Gov. Kate Brown earlier this year. “State agencies, conservation groups, farmers and other stakeholders will work collaboratively to achieve the goals of fish and wildlife improvements.” In recent years, concerns have grown over conservation groups and governmental entities purchasing prime farmland in the county’s Exclusive Farm Use zone and taking it out of production for conservation purposes. This can alter rain drainage patterns and create serious flooding problems for neighboring farms, according to Chad Allen, Tillamook County Planning Commissioner and dairy farmer. “Our goal in this entire process is to create an avenue for compatibility,” Allen said on “Tillamook Today.” “Certainly agriculture has been the backbone of the history of Tillamook County, but also the

n See WETLAND, Page A13

INDEX Classified Ads....................... B4-6 Crossword Puzzle.....................B3 Fenceposts........................ B1, B3 Letters................................... A4-6 Obituaries................................ A7 Opinions............................... A4-5 Sports................................ A14-16

TILLAMOOK, OREGON • WWW.TILLAMOOKHEADLIGHTHERALD.COM

Thank you, veterans (Clockwise from top left) Dave Gletne, Rudy Fenk, Eileen Blondo-Johnston (seated) and Darin Tone were honored guests during the raising of a 30-by-60 foot flag at Werner Gourmet Snacks on Veterans Day, Friday. Vets were invited to take a turn hoisting the flag to a large crowd. Tillamook County hosted many events for United States servicemembers throughout the weekend. Headlight-Herald photos/ Brad Mosher

Veterans are big in Tillamook By Brad Mosher bmosher@countrymedia.net It is humongous. That is how retired Col. Bill Hatton described the American flag raised at the Werner Gourmet Meat Snacks facility on Third Street in Tillamook Friday. That is also the way he views the response he has seen for Tillamook County veterans on Veterans Day. Tillamook County’s veterans service officer made the rounds of each of the veteran’s events, over the weekend. He spoke at the 20th anniversary Veterans Day event at the Tillamook Air Museum, then at the Swiss Hall luncheon. At the flag-raising, Friday afternoon, of an enormous 30 foot by

60 foot flag on a 134-foot flagpole, Hatton was there as a participant, one of almost two dozen veterans who helped to crank the flag into the sky. He also was a speaker at the Veterans Day spaghetti dinner hosted by the Elks Lodge in downtown Tillamook Saturday evening. “We had close to 400 people there this year,” Hatton said when he recounted the response he saw at the air museum. “We always pack the house. It is amazing how this community comes together and supports our veterans.” The veteran lunches held by the Swiss Hall are very much appreciated, Hatton said, when he stopped by the Swiss Hall shortly after the museum event closed down. Hatton knew he still had a busy

afternoon ahead of him, helping raise a large flag. “This flag is quite humongous. I mean a three-man party doesn’t raise a flag that big. It is going to be quite an event to get that flag hoisted,” he said with a chuckle. When he got there, Hatton found out that he was going to be more than a three-man party hoisting the flag – he would be joined by almost two dozen other veterans. “This is a momentous time. I don’t believe anywhere in history has a flag this big flown on a flagpole this tall. Never, never has the glorious American flag flown so high,” announcer Bill Beck said, before calling a roster of veterans

n See VETERAN, Page A3

VOL. 127, NO. 46 • $1.00

Building futures NKN seniors’ project to offer lifelong benefits By Ann Powers editor@northcoastcitizen.com Tillamook County officials say a recently completed senior project is a “win-win” for students and the general public. Actually, the emergency supplies shed Neah-Kah-Nie (NKN) High School’s Luis Perez Arellano and Jessica Ness finished assembling this week for the Public Works Department (PWD) in Tillamook, is more like a win-win times two… as in winwin-win-win. Win #1: Career and Technical Education (CTE) CTE programs integrate academics with technical skill development. Arellano and Ness are earning CTE credits, and lifelong skills, in Dan Gernert’s Construction Trades class at the high school. PWD contacted Gernert with an offer that the department would furnish the building supplies for an emergency supplies shed/shelter if students wanted to construct it. Arellano and Ness took it on as their senior project - with the fruits of their labor yielding much more than they expected. Arellano is thinking about enrolling at Northwestern College of Construction following high school graduation. He said he’s known since middle school his career calling was in construction. “I’ve been wanting to do it ever since I started a woodshop class in eighth grade,” he recalled. “I had zero experience and ended up building a really cool toolbox for my dad’s birthday.” Which led to building his own future. The Manzanita teenager said CTE courses have been extremely beneficial in applying what he learns in the classroom to the outside world. “I really like hands-on learning,” he explained. “It helps me learn a lot better than just being told something. For example, math is really important and not just for calculating a measurement. It can also help with problem solving.”

n See SHED, Page A2

United Way helping Marie Mills build abilities By Joe Warren jwarren@countrymedia.net The United Way of Tillamook County has some great momentum in their funding campaign for next year. Any support you can afford goes a long way and stays in Tillamook County. One of the longtime benefactors for the funds raised is the Marie Mills Center in Tillamook. Marie mills has come along way in 46 years, where it began in a facility at the Port of Tillamook Bay by parents of intellectually and developmentally disabled individuals and others who wanted to create meaningful opportunities for these adults in Tillamook County. “We’ve been a member agency for at least 35 years,” Ron Rush Marie Mills Director said. “United Way has been very beneficial for us for funding help we use for transportation or to find jobs for individuals with intellectual disabilities. United Way makes a huge difference in the services we can provide people.” Rush said the help United Way provides agencies in Tillamook County often pollenates into other member agencies. “Our individuals are often served by other member agencies as well,” Rush said. “So your donation to United Way really helps multiple member agencies, if you help one, you are really helping

Headlight-Herald photo/ Joe Warren

Gary Mah and Miguel Mendoza stand with their job coach Richard Biggs in the Pelican Brewery in Tillamook where Mah and Mendoza work in the bottling department. many agencies.” Rush added, that’s how any donation can really affect many people in a small town. “The funding we receive from United Way really helps us provide the extra support, and add extra

opportunities for individuals,” Rush said. “Like providing support in the work place for individuals who are placed in jobs in the community.” Marie Mills Center is really focused on placing as many individ-

uals in the community work place as possible, finding the right job for the right person while helping businesses owners and managers

n See MILLS, Page A11


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