A1
T-33 Shooting Star At Air Museum
Mooks Dominate HOCO Game
Page A2
Page B1
Headlight Herald
Tuesday, October 7, 2025 | Vol. 137, Issue 40
Renovated National Bank Building brings new businesses downtown WILL CHAPPELL
F
Headlight Editor
ollowing four years of renovations and remodeling, the downstairs at the National Bank Building on Henson Plaza in downtown Tillamook is now open for business, with five of seven storefronts spoken for. West Elliot Boutique, marriage and family therapist Lacey Hawkins, photographers Natalie Kay and Kevin Hancock, and a Medicare supplemental-insurance guide have signed leases, and building owner Terry Phillips said he hopes the diversity of businesses, which he hopes to expand further, will help draw more people downtown. “The more diversity we can have, the more foot traffic we have downtown,” Phillips said, “the more foot traffic we have downtown, the more clothes Recurrent is going to sell, the more cheeseburgers I’m going to sell (at the Dutch Mill Cafe). The more people we can drive downtown, the better we’re going to be.” Phillips purchased the former National Bank Building on Second Street between Pacific and Main Avenues for around $400,000 in 2021 and has since poured more than twice that into renovating the space, including a total overhaul of the building’s foundation and structure to bring it into compliance with current seismic codes, costing around $250,000. A healthy portion of the renovation budget has been funded by various grants, with the Tillamook Urban Renewal Agency chipping in $95,000 for façade improvement, and Tillamook County contributing $100,000 and Main Street Oregon $250,000 towards the addition of nine one-bedroom apartments.
YMCA welcomes new CEO WILL CHAPPELL
I
The downstairs at the National Bank Building on Henson Plaza in downtown Tillamook is now open for business, with five of seven storefronts spoken for.
Downstairs renovations were completed in August and Phillips has been working with realtor Valerie Schumann to find tenants for the space. The Medicare supplemental-insurance guide service will only be in the space through the Medicare open enrollment period before closing in December. West Elliot Boutique is making the move from another Phillipsowned property, the Cook’s Drug Building on Main Avenue, opening that space up for a nail salon that will be opening following renova-
tions. Phillips said that Kay is planning to use her space as a studio, while Hancock plans to open a gallery and that he was looking forward to Hawkins taking advantage of her affiliation with different community groups to bring activities to Henson Plaza. Work is still progressing on the apartment portion of the project, with planning paperwork being completed for submission to the county later this year. Phillips said that he hoped to have permits in
hand by early 2026 and to complete the eight upstairs apartments and one downstairs by the end of next year. After that, Phillips said that he will shift focus to the Beales Building at the corner of Third and Main Streets, which he also owns. The Tillamook Urban Renewal Agency already awarded a grant of $280,000 to upgrade the façade, and Phillips said that he plans to put apartments upstairs but is still considering what to do downstairs.
Richwine settling into new roll at Nestucca W
$2.00
www.TillamookHeadlightHerald.com
ith more than 30 years of experience in the Nestucca School District, Ken Richwine was well-equipped to take over as acting superintendent, but a transition in the last week before the start of the school year has still proven a challenge. Despite the big adjustment and extensive new responsibilities, Richwine said that he is oddly at peace in the new role and focused on fostering an exciting and welcoming atmosphere for staff and students in the district. “I want people to enjoy their job, love what they’re doing,” Richwine said, “and I want the kids to enjoy coming to school.” Richwine is a lifelong Oregonian, born and raised in Milton-Freewater before starting college at Oregon State University. Richwine had always thought he would take over his father’s furniture and hardware store growing up, but after his dad had some health issues
and encouraged him to explore alternate career paths, Richwine recalled positive experiences as a camp counselor and coach and decided to pursue teaching, transferring to Western Oregon University, whence he graduated. In his first stop out of college, Richwine landed at Beaver Grade School in 1993 as a seventh and eighth grade math and science teacher, thinking he would only spend a few years in the district before quickly falling in love with the local community and putting down roots. “It’s just those kinds of small towns, you know, everybody looking out for everybody, and I just felt like it was a great place to raise a family,” Richwine said. Aside from a one-year interlude as principal of Nestucca Valley Middle School before that school’s closing, Richwine continued teaching until 2016 when he became principal of Nestucca High School. After eight years in that role,
Richwine moved to the district office last year as a district administrator, helping with various needs around the district including professional development, career-technical education and filling in for Superintendent Misty Wharton as needed. When Wharton resigned on August 18, Richwine said that he didn’t immediately think of seeking the acting superintendent position, but when the district’s board of directors asked if he’d take over the role, he agreed. “This isn’t something that I ever aspired to, it wasn’t on my career trajectory,” Richwine said, “but for some reason, when it came up, I thought, ‘well, I can do that for at least a year.’” Since taking over on August 26, just a week before the first day of school, Richwine said he has been focusing on learning the district’s poli-
Headlight Editor
n a busy week for the Tillamook County Family YMCA, new CEO Steve Claus arrived on September 15, just ahead of the organization’s annual fundraiser on September 20. Claus comes to Tillamook after a long career in the private sector and said that he hopes to build on the success of former CEO Kaylan Sisco by maximizing efficiency to provide the best service possible. “We want to honor the donors by managing what they’ve given to the Steve Claus best of our ability,” Claus said, ‘and we can do that through what we call out in the for-profit world, operational excellence, and it’s really about just getting organized, getting clarity and getting everyone marching in the same direction, serving the community.” Claus was born in California but spent most of his childhood in Oregon before joining the United States Air Force after graduating from high school. After a four-year stint in the service, Claus landed in an entry level job with Hewlett Packard as a product tester and put himself through college and a master’s program while working his way up through the company to become a director managing 400 employees around the world. After 22 years with HP, when the company requested, he move to Palo Alto, Claus, who was living in Colorado at the time, declined to uproot his family and transitioned into a consulting role with a company based in Boulder. Claus consulted for Fortune 100 companies with that company and later remotely for one in the Bay Area while living in Silverton but also took a break from the corporate world with three years at Compassion International, a nonprofit focused on food aid for kids around the world. Claus helped the nonprofit with software development and gained an appreciation for the service mentality that characterized work outside the private sector. “That was the first time in my career where I made an impact in a completely different way,” Claus said, “serving a mission that is
See SUPER, Page A3
See YMCA, Page A3
Medicare Annual Enrollment starts October 15 - December 7
Medicare Questions? We make Medicare a piece of cake! Informative & No Obligation
4 Local Medicare Advisors to serve YOU! Charlotte Lehto Insurance Agency Call today 541-994-2884 Email: Charlotte@insurancestores.com
Agency Owner We are not employed by Medicare. Our Agency is appointed with 13 carriers offering 65 plans in Oregon. For a complete list of plan offered in Oregon contact SHIBA at 800-633-4227 or Medicare 800-722-4134
IN THIS ISSUE Send us a news tip at tillamookheadlightherald.com | Your message could be the first thing our readers see! News Opinion Obituaries Sports Classifieds
A2-4 A5-6 A7 B1-2 B3-8
Tuesday
Weather Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Monday
High 69° Low 46° High 59° Low 41° High 67° Low 44°High 72° Low 45° High 62° Low 47° High 63° Low 44° High 66° Low 43°