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Lady Cats hot in league play
Mooks come up short
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Commissioners award tourism facilities grants Page A2
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Headlight Herald
Tuesday, February 4, 2026 | Vol. 138, Issue 5
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www.TillamookHeadlightHerald.com
Weber ready for session
Javadi pushes TLT reform, open primaries in short session WILL CHAPPELL Headlight Editor
WILL CHAPPELL Headlight Editor
13 against Astoria. Students will be selling concessions starting at the beginning of junior varsity competitions at 4 p.m. through the end of the boys’ games, which tip at 7. The overalls said that they were also excited for the princess-for-a-day event being hosted by the freshman class at Hush Salon before the Daddy-Daughter Dance hosted by the sophomore class at the high school on February 7. “Those are my favorite events, the most engaging,” Travis said, with Lancaster adding, “I remember going when I was little with my dad, I thought it was the best.” In a similar vein, the sophomore class will be offering cosmic bowling at the Pastega Activity Center on February 14, and the freshmen will host a skate carnival at the Tillamook County Fairgrounds on February 6, giving younger kids a chance to get in
As the legislative session gets rolling this week, State Representative Cyrus Javadi will seek to pass transient lodging tax reform and advance a ballot measure to open Oregon’s primary elections to the ballot. Javadi said that while he believes the former reform might have to wait until next year’s long session, he is bullish that his and State Senator Suzanne Weber’s joint push to allow jurisdictions freer use of transient lodging tax (TLT) dollars will be successful. “One thing I’ve learned over the last couple of terms is that there can always be last minute hurdles and some of those are not recoverable,” Javadi said. “What happened last time when that bill went to the senate committee and it was in there, it couldn’t come out, not even the senate president could reach in and move it and so we wanted to have a backup just in case something fishy happens at the end.” Javadi’s push to amend the split that currently requires jurisdictions spend 70% of TLT, paid on overnight stays, on tourism marketing or facilities kicked off last year and was nearly successful, passing the house before stalling out in a senate committee amid political infighting. This year, Javadi and Weber are bringing matching bills before their chambers, seeking to reduce the funds required to be spent on tourismrelated expenses to 40%, allowing counties tourism to use the remaining money for whatever they chose. While the bill faced stiff opposition from the Oregon Restaurant and Lodging Association in last year’s session, Javadi said that he feels the group has been less opposed this year and that fellow lawmakers continue to support the change to give localities more flexibility in a challenging fiscal climate. “Right now, I feel like the temperature is everybody’s struggling across the board and giving more local controls and flexibility for local governments to solve their needs is a winning story, winning argument,” Javadi said. For his second sponsored bill, Javadi is bringing forward a proposal to put a ballot measure before voters to change Oregon’s primary elections from closed to open. Javadi is working with Open Elections, a
See CHARITY DRIVE, Page A4
See JAVADI, Page A2
H
eading into her final session in Salem, State Senator Suzanne Weber is ready to tackle several important issues, including transient lodging tax reform and the state’s education funding formula. Weber, who is ineligible to run for reelection following a 2023 walkout, told the Headlight Herald in a recent interview that she would probably stay involved in public life in some way because of her passion and exhorted others to become similarly engaged. “I get involved in these things because I’m interested and I care and I wish there were more people that would get involved in you might say the entry level,” Weber said. “Learn what’s going on in your city, school boards and water boards, find out, because otherwise things happen to you rather than you knowing and being able to influence anything that happens.” With a short five weeks on the legislative calendar this year, each legislator is restricted to sponsoring two bills. One of Weber’s bills will be a renewal of a push she and State Representative Cyrus Javadi led last year to amend the state’s restrictions on spending for transient lodging tax (TLT) dollars. Currently, jurisdictions are required to spend 70% of those revenues on tourism marketing or tourist-related facilities, a percentage that matching bills by Javadi and Weber seek to reduce to 40%. Weber said that the current requirements leave counties like Tillamook and Clatsop that see high numbers of summer visitors underfunded to deal with the impacts those visitors have on law enforcement and first responders, citing a statistic that 34% of Clatsop County’s jail roster in the summer months is made up of people from outside the county. “I need that transient lodging tax fixed so that our local municipalities that are charging that can be able to use it more openly for more of the issues that tourism brings to the area,” Weber said. Last year’s push to amend the TLT fizzled in a senate committee due to political infighting among Democrats, and Weber said that her and Javadi’s tandem efforts this year were aimed at preventing such an issue from recurring. Weber See WEBER, Page A3
Photo Courtesy Tillamook Area Chamber of Commerce
Aufdermauer (left) and Dove with the Community Impact Award presented to Dove on behalf of the Loren E. Parks Trust.
Chamber banquet draws record crowd Garibaldi’s Portside Bistro, before a live auction raised funds for the chamber’s grant program and local businesses, projects and people were recognized for their accomplishments in the past year. “It’s where we come together to honor businesses, projects, people in the community that have had a significant impact,” said Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Justin
WILL CHAPPELL
M
Headlight Editor
ore than 375 community members came together at the Tillamook County Fairgrounds on January 24, for the Tillamook Area Chamber of Commerce’s annual Awards Banquet. Attendees were treated to hors d’oeuvres and dinner catered by
Aufdermauer. The event started with a social hour, before attendees enjoyed a Scottish themed dinner in celebration of the chamber’s annual European trip which will visit Scotland this summer. After dinner, Aufdermauer welcomed Kaylan Sisco, last year’s See CHAMBER, Page A3
Charity Drive kicks off Friday WILL CHAPPELL
T
Headlight Editor
illamook High School is set to kick off its 73rd annual Charity Drive this Friday, February 6, starting ten days of enthusiastic fundraising efforts in support of Doernbecher Children’s Hospital, local charities and scholarships for students. The class of 2026 will look to complete a four-year sweep in the friendly competition to raise the most funds, after bringing in almost $84,000 last year, part of $206,756 raised in total in 2025 and more than $4.6 million in the event’s history. Senior overalls Tatum Lancaster and Claire Travis, and junior overalls Julia Rawe and Kylie Hallock, who are leading organizing efforts for the drive, said they are excited for what they expect to be a fun and competitive ten days. “I think all of the students are go-
Headlight Herald
ing to be super competitive this year,” Travis said. “Everybody has really good events, they’re all pumped and they all have good teams; I think it’s going to be a really good drive.” Headlining the drive will be three time-honored traditions aimed at engaging the whole community. Donkey Basketball will take place on February 9, the Mr. THS competition on February 15, and Stud Muffin Volleyball on February 16, with members of each class selling concessions during the events. “Those are kind of our all-school events where we get all the classes involved and really hope the community comes and shows up and supports, because it’ll be fun,” Hallock said. The community will also have a chance to support their chosen class through concession purchases at one of three basketball home games, February 6 against Seaside, February 10 against St. Helens, or February
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