www.TillamookHeadlightHerald.com
Jeffrey Hull to release new work at the Spring Unveiling Arts Festival, pg 9
Our Time • 2015 • 1
Our Time 55+
Our Time 55+
Pat Patterson celebrates his 100th Birthday, pg 7 Photo by Lion Daniel Phelps of Tillamook Lions Club
2024
Stay active this spring with Community Events, pgs 3-4. Photo by Katherine Mace Headlight Herald
Special Section Inside
Storytelling in Cannon Beach with historian Peter Lindsey, pg 9
Citizen North Coast
Friday, March 1, 2024 | Vol. 48, Issue 3
www.cannonbeachgazette.com
FTLAC briefed on HCP process WILL CHAPPELL
Oregon State Senator Suzanne Weber
Gazette Editor
Legislative update from Senator Weber WILL CHAPPELL Gazette Editor
Oregon State Senator Suzanne Weber recently sat down for a brief conversation with the Headlight Herald to discuss the ongoing legislative session and what she has been working on. Like many legislators in Salem, Weber is supportive of efforts to recriminalize certain drugs and is also prioritizing maintaining local control of schools, conducting a study of issues with Highway 30 and restoring recreational immunity across the state. Weber, who sits on the senate’s education committee, said that one of her focuses in that committee has been opposing senate bill 1583, which aims to stop school boards from using discriminatory policies when selecting books. Weber said that the bill was redundant with other state laws already on the books and that it raised concerns about diminishing local control of schools, which she opposes. “We still have small school districts, people who are interested in the people who live in their school districts and the people that come to their school districts and I think they need to be acknowledged,” Weber said. “I think that local control needs to be maintained in a lot of different areas, how do you get buy in if you don’t have local control?” Regarding Measure 110, which decriminalized the possession of small amounts of hard drugs in 2020, Weber said that she agrees with her fellow Republican lawmakers’ desire to reinstate criminal penalties. Weber said that she was “completely in line” with law enforcement and district attorneys who wanted to see possession recriminalized. “I think that we have to take a stand rather than just fluff this up and I the way to go is a class A misdemeanor,” Weber said. She also acknowledged that continuing to bolster treatment options for those with substance use disorders was critical. “We have got to continue to build the facilities for addiction,” Weber said. Weber mentioned that she was working to advance a bill to fund a study of Highway 30 that would mirror one conducted last year for Highway 6 to identify issues with the roadway. Restoring recreational immunity was also a priority mentioned by Weber, who said she favored a bill that applied statewide to one that would require municipalities to update their ordinances to fix the issue. Weber also said that she has been trying to impress upon her colleagues the need for infrastructure improvements on the coast to pave the way for new housing to be developed.
Sandcastle Contest Poster Unveiled DEB ATIYEH for the Gazette
The Chamber of Commerce held its 2023 Membership Awards Ceremony on Thursday, February 22 and organizers unveiled the
artwork for the 2024 Sandcastle Contest. This will mark the 60th anniversary of the Sandcastle Contest. The artwork and poster for this year was crafted by local artist, Donald Masterson who drew inspiration
for this piece from the work of local artist Bill Steidel. There will be a limited edition, special edition, and open edition run of the poster that will be available in the coming months at the Cannon Beach Chamber of
Commerce & Information Center. Registration for the 60th annual Sandcastle Contest is now open and can be found on the Sandcastle page on CannonBeach.org under Events & Festivals.
The House of Orange Gallery Opens in Former Miska Studio Gallery DEB ATIYEH for the Gazette
A vibrant new gallery has opened in a familiar mid-town location with new ownership and some longstanding artists. Located on the corner of Sunset and Hemlock, The House of Orange Gallery is now being run by former Washington residents Ginger Gordon-Brownlow and Greg Scott Brownlow in the space formerly occupied by Miska Studio Gallery. The House of Orange connects contemporary collectors to unique abstract and representational art. The gallery continues to represent notable Pacific Northwest artists including former owner Miska Salesman, Carol Ross and sculptor Phil Seder. Co-owner Scott Brownlow offers periodic workshops in illustration, watercolor and color theory. Ginger is excited to be a new member of the Cannon Beach community and to offer a range of original work targeting
The House of Orange Gallery has opened on the corner of Sunset and Hemlock and is now being run by former Washington residents Ginger Gordon-Brownlow and Greg Scott Brownlow in the space formerly occupied by Miska Studio Gallery.
both the budget buyer and sophisticated collectors. “Our goal is to offer inspirational art that beautifies space and makes a state-
ment about the collector, she said.” Ginger took over the gallery just prior to November’s very aptly
named Stormy Weather Festival, and “it was both See GALLERY, Page A4
The Forest Trust Lands Advisory Committee met on February 23, to discuss their testimony at an upcoming board of forestry meeting and hear a presentation about the development of the habitat conservation plan for western Oregon state forests. Oregon Department of Forestry staff detailed the reasons for pursuing the new conservation plan, which they say will give more certainty to the department’s harvest sales and reduce the risk of lawsuits. The meeting began with State Forester Cal Mukumoto briefly addressing the assembled committee members. Mukumoto told them that he was in the final stages of developing his recommendation on approval of the habitat conservation plan (HCP), which he plans to share next week ahead of the board of forestry’s meeting on March 6 and 7. Mukumoto said that during three recent listening sessions he had held with the public to gather feedback on the HCP, responses divided generally into two groups: conservationists in support of the HCP and those who depended on timber revenues and opposed it. Coos County Commissioner John Sweet said that he felt conservationists’ pleasure with the proposed plan signaled that it was not a good compromise and that it should be revised with more consideration given to economic impacts. Mukumoto did not give any indication as to what he was planning to recommend but said that he would share a copy of his recommendation with county commissioners when it is complete. Following the opening remarks, State Forest Division Chief Mike Wilson and Resource Support Unit Manager Nick Palazotto began their presentation about the history of the HCP. Wilson shared a brief timeline of conservational lawsuits and developments that have affected the state forests since the 1980s. HCPs have been a contentious subject throughout that period and there have been three distinct processes involving them, including the current one. An HCP was adopted and in force in the Elliott State Forest in southern Oregon from 1995-2001, before updates to the list of protected species rendered it moot. A proposed HCP was developed for all western Oregon state forests between 1998 and 2009 before its passage eventually failed. That failure left the department operating under employing take-avoidance management style on the forests, which Wilson said leads to significant costs. Take avoidance entails performing regular surveys of forestlands to determine the location of endangered species and create plans to avoid incidentally taking, or harming, them. Increasing protections for the two terrestrial species of See FTLAC, Page A2