Sports
March 12, 2014
Operation Care Package
Taft opens spring practice.
Auto Basic Care Guide.
Helper gets tasty reward for a job well done.
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Lincoln City, Oregon
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Council begins crafting new VRD regulations
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Wall separates at Cultural Center, triggers major repair project
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JEREMY C. RUARK jruark@countrymedia.net
Wednesday Mostly sunny High 56 / Low 41
Lincoln City officials are still looking into how a wall on the southwest corner of the Lincoln City Cultural Center separated last week. “A man who stopped in the Center parking lot to work on his car noticed a portion of the wall flapping in the winds and seagulls pecking at it,” Lincoln City Cultural Center Director Niki Price said. “He came into the building to tell us what he saw.” Price said she immediately went to look at the wall.
Thursday Partly cloudy High 54 / Low 42 Friday Cloudy, showers possible High 58 / Low 44 Saturday Pleasant, warmer High 64 / Low 44 Sunday Partly sunny High 62 / Low 44
“We had a real emergency on our hands,” she said. The area was sealed off for safety reasons. Price said she called Lincoln City Urban Renewal Agency Director Kurt Olsen. The Agency owns the Cultural Center building, the former Delake School, at 540 N.E. Highway 101. Olsen went to the site to inspect the wall. “The exterior panels on the center’s southeast corner settled and separated more than four inches away from the main structure, creating an immediate hazard to the
W
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e had a real emergency on our hands. - Niki Price, Lincoln City Cultural Center Director
entire south parking lot,” he said. Olsen called in Stricker Engineering for an evaluation of the wall issue. See CULTURAL CENTER, Page A8
The Lincoln City City Council began deliberating a set of controversial regulations to deal with vacation rental dwellings at its meeting Monday, March 10. Mayor Dick Anderson said the Council’s job is to find balance. “We have gone through the public process,” he said. “The decision remains with us. For me, part of the process is balance the livability of community and the economic impact. There will not be winners and losers.” Anderson asked the Council to first look at health and safety issues. After considerable discussion, the Council agreed to health and safety regulations recommended by City staff and parking and landscaping regulations recommended by the City’s Consensus Committee. Anderson asked City staff develop an ordinance addressing the recommendations. The Council also agreed to continue deliberating the remaining proposed regulations at its March 24 meeting and at a special two-hour meeting to be determined. The VRDs have been the center of debate for several years. Over the past year, the Council and Planning Commission have been reviewing proposed VRD regulations See VRD, Page A8
School district selects new superintendent Community college narrows list for president
See Sheridan Jones’ weather details Page A3
VOL. 87 | NO. 11
JEREMY C. RUARK jruark@countrymedia.net
The search for a new superintendent for the Lincoln County School District (LCSD) has ended with the selection by the District Board of Steve Boynton. The decision was officially approved at a special board meeting held March 6. “The thing that drew me to this position is how the Lincoln County School District has been successful in building a consortium of small schools to be effective in teaching,” said Boynton. “It isn’t a forced model. That was a huge drawing point for me.” Boynton has been the superintendent at the Arlington School District, east of The Dalles, for the past four years and has gained a national repu-
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tation for developing a proficiency based education system. “It is a system that pinpoints exactly where a child is in his or her learning,” he said. “We aren’t hoping they are learning, we know they are learning.” Boynton said his annual base salary will be $138,000. Under his contract in Arlington, Boynton made $100,000 annually. “We were told from the beginning by our consultant, the superintendent, and screening committee members to stop the process if we identified an individual who fit,” said Ron Beck, LCSD board chair. “After the initial interviews, it was clear that the board and screeners were very impressed with Steve’s credentials. He emerged as the right choice to be our next superintendent.” Current LCSD Superintendent Tom Rinearson See SEARCH, Page A8
Taft High 7-12 senior Cayden Fitch, right, is welcomed as an Eagle Boy Scout by former Scoutmaster Kathy Joy, left, his father, Bryan, and his mother, Sherry, on Sunday at The Eventuary.
Local student flies high as Eagle Scout JIM FOSSUM jfossum@countrymedia.net
Attaining the rare distinction of being an Eagle Scout is already paying dividends for Taft High 7-12 senior Cayden Fitch. Fitch, 18, was honored Sunday by earning the highest rank a Boy
Scout can receive in a crowded main gathering room at The Eventuary. “It means a lot,” said Fitch, who has enlisted in the United States Navy and will enter with a rank of E3, two steps above the normal entry position, meaning more
a lot of work, “It takes almost my whole
junior high and high school career. It took that long of a timeframe to get it.
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Workers began repairs on the Lincoln City Cultural Center’s outside walls last week.
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