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Tillamook Council Looks at Water Rate Increase Page A3
Javadi’s TLT Reform still Alive Page A2
Headlight Herald
Tuesday, May 13, 2025 | Vol. 137, Issue 19
www.TillamookHeadlightHerald.com
Sitka Center prepares for poet laureate S
Local
Will Chappell Headlight Editor
outh Tillamook County’s Sitka Center for Art and Ecology is getting ready for a visit from United States Poet Laureate Ada Limón this month, during which the poet will do a free, public reading at the Nestucca K8 school on May 20. Sitka Center Executive Director Alison Dennis said that the center was thrilled to be able to offer the community an opportunity to appreciate world-class art without having to travel. “The Sitka Center was thrilled when U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limon accepted our invitation to come and not only stay in residency, but deliver a free public reading out in the community,” Dennis said, “really with the intention of putting a spotlight on the importance of rural arts access and access to high quality art that normally you’d have to have a way to get to one of our bigger cities to get to go and participate in.” The Sitka Center is located at the extreme southern end of Tillamook County, on the south side of Cascade Head, in the middle of the Cascade Ranch neighborhood. Originally founded as Camp Sitka in 1970 to support local arts education, the center found its permanent home in 1971 when developer Mike Lowell, inspired by the Sea Ranch in Sonoma County and other intentional living communities, dedicated a property at the center of the Cascade Ranch neighborhood to housing the center. “The idea was to have an intentional living community in a beautiful place on the Oregon coast, with an art center in the
Ballots due Tuesday May 20 WILL CHAPPELL Headlight Editor
V
Photo provided
Sitka summer workshop attendees get up close and personal with marine life in an intertidal area. Photo courtesy Sitka Center for Arts and Ecology.
middle instead of a golf course,” Dennis said. Sitka Center’s first studio opened in 1972, and in the years since, the campus has expanded to encompass five studios and five apartments for visiting artists and scientists. During the winter months, Sitka’s campus is dedicated to residencies for visiting artists and scientists, who are selected by a jury
from across the nation and around the world and stay for free at the center for periods ranging from several weeks to several months. Dennis said that grant programs also provide per diems to some of the artists and scientists who come to the center. When the Headlight Herald visited the center, a group of musicians from around the pacific northwest was in residence, taking
advantage of the center’s studio space to compose and record music, while drawing inspiration from the bucolic surroundings. Dennis said that many of the artists who visit the center focus in their work on the intersection between art and ecology and that the location helps them to explore See SITKA, Page A3
Elephant seal pup stabbed multiple times in Neskowin nvestigators from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are seeking information about the stabbing of an elephant seal pup in Neskowin on March 16. The stabbing took place between 8 and 11:30 p.m. in front of the Proposal Rock Condominiums in Neskowin, and the pup survived before being relocated by the agency’s Marine Stranding Team. A person of interest has been identified, and investigators are asking for the public’s help identifying him and any other person or people responsible. The person of interest is a white male, approxi-
mately 5 feet 10 inches tall, with a standard build, black and white hair, a groomed beard and a large gap between his front teeth. On the day of the attack, the man was wearing thicklensed aviator glasses, a black cap, a blue and green fleece top, dark trousers and hiking shoes. In addition to information about the suspect, investigators are also seeking details about a vehicle that might be associated with him, a dark blue 1990s Dodge or Chrysler van with a rear passenger side window covered in plastic. If found, the suspect would face prosecution under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, with conviction leading to a fine of up to $100,000 and up to a year in prison on each count.
oters have until May 20 to return their ballots for the ongoing special elections, with Tillamook County residents set to decide on a transient lodging tax increase, a bond for the Tillamook School District, a levy for the Neah-Kah-Nie district and a host of special district board seats. Tillamook’s board of county commissioners are asking voters to approve increasing the county’s transient lodging tax rate (TLT) from 10% to 14%, to be phased in in two 2% increases, one this September and one next July. The request comes as the county faces tightening budgets due to falling timber revenues and constricted property tax revenues. Under state law, 70% of TLT money must go towards tourismrelated facilities or promotion, while the other 30% is available for discretionary use by the county. The county’s current TLT revenues go to the public works department for road maintenance, while the new unrestricted funds would be split, with 80% going to the sheriff’s office, 10% to the county’s emergency management department and 10% to maintaining a new emergency radio system set to be constructed soon. The increase would yield around $1 million in additional funds annually for unrestricted use. Supporters argue that visiting tourists add significant strain for the sheriff’s department, which sees a 25% increase in call volumes during the summer months, and that the increase would see visitors pay for their impacts. Opponents argue that the increase would negatively impact the visitor industry, and that the county should find other ways to address budgetary issues. Tillamook School District’s board of directors is seeking voter
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Tillamook Hillsboro Hillsboro Hillsboro Hillsboro Hillsboro Hillsboro Hillsboro Hillsboro AUG. 27 & 28, 2 Washington Co. Fair Comp 27 28, 2016 AAUG. Collectors West&Gun & Knife Show! 873 NE 34th Ave. Hwy 26 W to Hillsboro Hillsboro 27 & 28, 2016 AAUG. Collectors West Gun & Knife Show! AUG. 27 & 28, 2 Washington Co. Fair Comp Hillsboro 873 NE 34th Ave. Hwy 26 W to AUG. 27 & 28, 2016 Hillsboro Washington Co. Fair Comp AUG. 27 28, AUG. Hillsboro 27You & 28, 873 NE 34th Ave.& Hwy 26At W to2 Hillsboro Hillsboro Never2016 Know What You’ll Find Officials from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are seeking information about the stabbing of an elephant seal pup in Neskowin on March 16.
See BALLOTS, Page A3
You Never Know What You’ll Find At A Collectors West Gun & Knife Show!
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AUG. 27 & 28, 2016 AUG. 27 & 28, 2 Hillsboro AUG. 27 & 28, 2016 AUG. 27 & 28, 2 AUG. 27 & 28, 2016 AUG. 27 & 28, 2016 AUG. 27 & 28, 2 Tillamook Hillsboro Hillsboro Hillsboro AUG. 27 & 28, 2016 Tillamook Hillsboro Hillsboro AUG. 27 & 28, 2016 Hillsboro Hillsboro AUG. 27 & 28, 2016 Hillsboro AUG. 27 & 28, 2016 Hillsboro Hillsboro SEPT. 10 & 11, 2016 AUG. 27 & 28, 2016 AUG. 27 28, 2016 Hillsboro Hillsboro AUG. 27 & 28, 2016 AUG. &2016 28, 2016 AUG. Hillsboro 2727 & 28, Collectors West John Collectors West Tribune Tues, Thurs, Hillsboro John dc 080316 Collectors West Tribune Tues, Thurs, Hillsboro 4C John dc 080316 Tribune Tues, Thurs, 4CLow 46° West High 58°Collectors HighHillsboro 57° Low 44° High 57° Low 43° dc 080316 John 4C Tribune Tues, Thurs, Hillsboro Collectors West
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