Seasons Greetings & Letters to Santa
Keepsake Edition 2024
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Citizen North Coast
Tuesday, December 17, 2024 | Vol. 136, Issue 51
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Plea reached in 2022 Trask River murder WILL CHAPPELL
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Alyssa Zippora Sturgill
Headlight Editor
n November 8, Alyssa Zippora Sturgill, 45, pled guilty to one count of manslaughter in the shooting death of Marcus Koops on December 1, 2022, in a campground near the Trask River. Sturgill and her partner, Lisa Marie Peaslee, had been living in their vehicle in the woods, when their situation
Tillamook cheddar awarded best in world T
began to deteriorate, culminating in Sturgill shooting Koops, who was staying at a nearby campsite, before the pair stole his van and fled, eventually being apprehended in Nevada. Tillamook County District Attorney Aubrey Olson said that the case was a tragic story but that the plea represented a just resolution. “Very sad story all around but I think we ended up with a positive outcome,” Olson said. “We got a conviction, that person is in prison for
quite some time but is also going to be eligible for resources so that hopefully this type of thing with never happen again with her.” Sturgill and Peaslee were a couple who lived in the Portland and Beaverton area for several years in what Olson described as a codependent relationship. Both partners suffered from physical or mental disabilities, with Sturgill having a confirmed case of autism and Peaslee relying on a walker to get around.
During the coronavirus pandemic, things began to go downhill for the couple, as they became paranoid about the virus before losing their jobs and eventually becoming homeless. Having visited the Tillamook State Forest previously, Sturgill and Peaslee decided to move there permanently and shelter in their Hyundai Santa Fe, arriving around Thanksgiving 2022, with a dog
Community Chirstmas
File photo
Tillamook County Commissioner Erin Skaar.
Staff Report
he Tillamook County Creamery Association’s Maker’s Reserve 2014 Extra Sharp White Cheddar was named the best world’s best cheddar cheese at the 2024 World Cheese Awards in November. The award marked the second consecutive year when a Tillamook cheddar received a gold medal in the event, with a 2012 extra sharp white cheddar matching the feat last year, and two of the company’s other products took home bronze awards at the 2024 event. Hosted in Portugal on November 15, the competition awarded 27 gold medals to different types of cheeses from around the world, as well as an exceptional contribution to cheese award. The Bayley Hazen Blue from Vermont’s Cellars at Jasper Hill was named the best American cheese, while the Queijo de Ovelha Amanteigado, made by Portuguese produce Quinta do Pomar, was crowned world champion. On its website, the Tillamook County Creamery Association touts the ten-year-aged 2014 cheddar as boasting a sweet flavor profile, including nutty flavors of caramel and brown butter and base notes of sweet custard and mascarpone, as well as flavors of berries and grapefruit and hints of brioche. The company’s Maker’s Reserve product line features cheeses aged a minimum of three years, with the creamery releasing four consecutive vintages each year, in addition to one cheese aged for a decade. In addition to the gold for the maker’s reserve cheddar, the creamery’s hickory smoked extra sharp white cheddar and 2016 English-style sweet cheddar both took home bronze awards.
See PLEA TO, Page A3
Skaar moves up Association of Oregon Counties’ leadership WILL CHAPPELL Headlight Editor
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Photo by Will Chappell
Members of the Tillamook community gathered to celebrate the holiday season on December 7, on Laurel Avenue with the annual Christmas Tree lighting and light parade. Festivities began in the afternoon with a coloring contest and pictures with Santa in city hall and performances from the Living Water Fellowship, Oregon Coast Dance Center, Heather Phillips, Birdsongs and Dr. Douglas on a temporary stage erected on Laurel Avenue. In the evening, a local youth was selected to light the tree and prizes were awarded to randomly selected coloring contest entrants, before the light parade proceeded from Ivy Avenue, down Third Street to Laurel Avenue.
Helping Hands doubles shelter capacity at Port of Tillamook Bay WILL CHAPPELL
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Headlight Editor
elping Hands staff, board members and community supporters gathered at the organization’s Port of Tillamook Bay shelter on December 10, to cut the ribbon on the facility’s second floor. The expansion will add 40 new shelter beds when it opens in the coming weeks and Helping Hands President and Founder Alan Evans said that it will allow the group to
expand the impact of the important work already being accomplished downstairs. “The stories that we hear of the people that are already living in here are transformational for us,” Evans said. “Why we come to work as staff members every day is to learn from the people who come through our doors and that cannot be possible without the support of everybody here.” The 24,000 square foot building housing the shelter was originally constructed in 1942 in 45 days to
serve as a naval command center to support the blimp operations at the two nearby hangars. After the war, the Navy donated the building and its land to the Port of Tillamook Bay, which struggled to find a purpose for the building, leading to the bottom floor being used for storage and the upper floor being largely abandoned. Helping Hands came into the picture after a group of Tillamook See SHELTER TO, Page A2
ith her year as Second Vice President of the Board of the Association of Oregon Counties ending, Tillamook County Commissioner Erin Skaar is preparing for the first vice presidency next year and presidency in 2026. In those roles, Skaar will step up her involvement with the group’s lobbying efforts on behalf of Oregon’s 36 counties while helping to bring Tillamook County’s concerns to the forefront and enhance relationships with leaders across the state. “It’s this opportunity for Tillamook County really to have our voice right up front with what’s important,” Skaar said. The Association of Oregon Counties (AOC) is a membership organization comprised of elected leaders from each of Oregon’s counties that represents counties’ interests at the state and federal level. The organization has a professional staff, including an executive director, and in addition to its legislative lobbying efforts, oversees the distribution of road maintenance funds to the counties. Skaar joined the association when she became commissioner in 2021 and was selected to serve on the board of directors in the same year. In 2023, Skaar was elected to the board’s leadership, which meant serving this year as second vice president before becoming first vice president next year and president in 2026. As second See SKAAR TO, Page A3
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