THH71 by C.M.I.

Headlight Herald

Tuesday, July 1, 2025 | Vol. 137, Issue 26

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www.TillamookHeadlightHerald.com

Tillamook County set for Independence Day celebrations W

Staff Report

ith a long Fourth of July weekend ahead, Tillamook County residents and visitors alike have a full slate of fun activities to look forward to. On July 4, there are two op-

tions for parades, with Rockaway Beach’s parade rolling down Highway 101 starting at 11 a.m., and Manzanita’s completing a loop down from Underhill Plaza, down division, right on Laneda, right on Ocean, right on Porland and First before a left on Manzanita to return

Tillamook Bay Watershed Council ramping up

to the start. Rockaway Beach’s parade has a theme of “Independence Day: The Rockaway Beach Way,” while Manzanita’s celebrates “Hometown Pride: Family, Friends and Fun.” Tillamook County Library will also be hosting a reading of the

Declaration of Independence at 11 a.m. in Maxwell Library Park, next to the Main Tillamook Library at the corner of Thrid Street and Stillwell Avenue in Tillamook. Rockaway also plays host to the 16th Annual Firecracker Wiener Nationals, when dachshunds will

TLT reform push ends in senate committee

2025 June Dairy Parade

WILL CHAPPELL

Headlight Editor

ollowing a reformation in 2023, the Tillamook Bay Watershed Council has a new coordinator and logo and is in the final stages of developing a new website and strategic action plan. Mike Wendel, the council’s new coordinator, hosted an open house on the plan at Bay City city hall on June 24, where he said he was first working to build relationships with local stakeholders and the community before moving into projects. “This is just a time where, I just got hired and we’re back,” Wendel said. “We’re trying to get feedback on us, get this project going, get this organization back in the fold.” The Tillamook Bay Watershed Council (TBWC) was initially formed in 1998 to protect and enhance the waterways in the watershed of Tillamook Bay. Watershed councils are overseen and funded by the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB), which withdrew its recognition and support of the Tillamook council in 2020 because of concerns over its management. OWEB’s withdrawal led Tillamook County to withdraw its recognition from the group, followed shortly after by the group’s dissolution. In 2021, a new group came together to revive the moribund council, forming a new board and receiving a two-year, interim recognition from the county to resume its work. The new board, led by Chair Haakon Smith, was able to take the necessary steps to receive recognition and funding from OWEB, See COUNCIL, Page A3

square off in races at Phyllis Baker Park, starting at 1 p.m. In the evening, revelers will have two options for fireworks shows, as both Rockaway Beach and Neskowin host displays starting around 10 p.m.

Members of the Tillamook County Swiss Society brought several cows to the parade.

Headlight Herald photo/Will Chappell

Summer arrives with Dairy Parade and Rodeo Staff

illamook’s 38th annual Dairy Parade kicked off the summer season on June 28, bringing floats, bands, tractors and more through downtown to celebrate a theme of “Moovin’ Thru the Seasons.” The parade was part of a weekend packed with family fun in Tillamook, with the 68th annual Tillamook County Rodeo taking place at the Tillamook County Fairgrounds on June 27 and 28. Tillamook YMCA’s Milk Run started Saturday off strong at 8 a.m., before anticipatory crowds thronged downtown and lined the parade route for an 11 a.m. start time.

A color guard and Tillamook County Dairy Princess Simone Ferguson led the parade, followed closely by vans from the Tillamook County Creamery Association, Grand Marshal Ray Monroe, Pioneer of the Year Eric Simmons, Honorary Grand Marshal Kaylan Sisco, and State Senator Suzanne Weber and State Representative Cyrus Javadi sharing a car. Then came representatives from a host of area and regional businesses and organizations, including Werner Gourmet Meat Snacks, the Oregon Coast Dance Center, Tillamook Peoples’ Utility District, the Tillamook Police Department, Tillamook County Sheriff’s Office, local fire departments and districts, the Tillamook County Library, United States Bureau of Land Management and United States Forest Service.

NBHD clinic nears completion WILL CHAPPELL Headlight Editor

orkers at the Nehalem Bay Health District’s new clinic and pharmacy in Wheeler are closing in on an early September date for substantial completion, which will allow the new facility to open the first weekend of October. Flooring and ceilings are being installed, and dental and X-ray equipment will both arrive by early August and Nehalem Bay Health District (NBHD) Board Chair Marc Johnson said the opening will serve as an opportunity for the comHeadlight Herald photo/Will Chappell NBHD’s new clinic in Wheeler is on pace for an early October opening. munity to explore the facility and the district to thank them for their here,” Johnson said, “but also an smoothly since then under the support. opportunity to thank the commustewardship of Bremik Construc“It’ll be more in the nature of nity for being so supportive.” a community celebration with an Groundbreaking for the opportunity for people to have $12.2-million facility occurred tours of the building and familiarSee NBHD, Page A3 last July and work has progressed ize themselves with what we built

Headlight Editor

week after passing through the Oregon House of Representatives, a bill seeking to change the state’s transient lodging tax allocation formula reached the end of the line when it was not voted on in the Senate Finance and Revenue Committee on June 24. The bill was cosponsored by Representative Cyrus Javadi and Senator Suzanne Weber, along with Representative Jules Walters, and Javadi said that he plans to bring a similar piece of legislation in the 2026 short session. Javadi’s attempts to reform the spending restrictions of House Bill 2267 that passed in 2003 and established the current regime for TLT spending were a focus throughout the long session. Javadi and leaders in counties that receive high levels of tourism argued that the current restrictions requiring 70% of funds from the TLT go towards tourism promotion or facilities leave jurisdictions without sufficient revenues to meet the cost of serving visitors, especially as it relates to emergency services. Initially, Javadi introduced two bills, one proposing a change in the percentage of funds restricted for tourism use from 70% to 50% and the other proposing a change to the definitions of tourism-related spending to add law enforcement and tourism facility maintenance in the allowed expenditures for the restricted funds. Both of those proposals fizzled and died in the general government committee early in the session, but Javadi continued his quest and in early May, Democratic Representative Jules Walters revived the discussion, dedicating one of her five priority bills to redefining the allowable uses of restricted TLT funds. Walters’s bill proposed switching the allocation formula to allow counties unrestricted use of 60% of TLT funds and passed a vote on the house floor with 31 yes votes and 23 nays on June 19. However, when the bill arrived in the senate last week, it stalled out at a June 24 Finance and Revenue Committee hearing when Committee Chair Mark Meek declined to hold a vote on the bill. Despite the result, Javadi sounded a positive note, highlighting that this was the most extensive conversation that had occurred around the tax since its institution and saying he would try to reform the system again in next year’s session. “We made it further than it has been in twenty years,” Javadi said. “I’m not done; I’ll be back in the short session.”

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