Rockaway Council seeks legal fees in balloting case
Cheesemaker football gets first win
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Headlight Herald
Tuesday, September 17 | Vol. 136, Issue 38
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www.TillamookHeadlightHerald.com
November ballot finalized WILL CHAPPELL Headlight Editor
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COURTESY PHOTO
Tillamook Police usher out a suspect in cuffs who attempted to rob Wells Fargo Bank in Tillamook Friday after converging on the bank.
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A Tillamook Police Officer rushes to the scene with bullet proof gear during an attempted bank robbery at Wells Fargo Bank in Tillamook on Friday.
Attempted bank robbery thwarted by police STAFF REPORT Country Media, Inc.
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illamook Police, Tillamook County Sheriff’s deputies and Oregon State Police officers responded to an alarm for a bank robbery in progress around noon on Friday in Tillamook at Wells Fargo Bank. Officers blocked off Pacific and Main Avenues and Third and Fourth Streets surrounding the bank while traffic was diverted for about 30 minutes in Downtown Tilla-
mook. Police had little trouble in apprehending the suspect after arriving at the bank, heavily armed, some with SWAT gear. From the street you could hear an officer demand the suspect “Get on the ground,” and about five minutes later police escorted the suspect out the front door in handcuffs and into the back of a police vehicle. Tillamook Police issued a press release later Friday identifying the suspect as Philip L. Rees and saying that he was unhoused and
non-resident of Tillamook County. Rees was lodged in the Tillamook County Jail on one count of robbery in the second degree, a charge for suspects who represent that they are armed with a dangerous or deadly weapon, and one count of disorderly conduct. As of September 14, no bail had been set for Rees. Jack Theyer who was in the bank at the time doing business, said a bank employee came up to him and said, “follow me, we’re being robbed,” he said sitting outside in the shade after he was safe. “I
noticed this guy pacing with what looked like a coat or jacket all balled up. When I sat down and got a drink of water in the lobby, the suspect also came over to get a drink, when I stood up, a few minutes later I was ushered out the back door.” Theyer said he didn’t suspect anything was wrong until the bank employee asked him to follow her. Tillamook Police Chief Nick Troxel confirmed that the suspect was unarmed during the attempted robbery.
andidates running for offices in the November election submitted nominating paperwork by September 5, and the Tillamook County clerk’s office submitted a final ballot on September 10. Voters will decide their representatives in Oregon’s first United States congressional district, 32nd state house district and at the city level and weigh in on five statewide ballot measures and one countywide bond. In Oregon’s first congressional district, incumbent Democrat Suzanne Bonamici is facing off against Republican Bob Todd and Libertarian Joseph Christman. Bonamici has served in congress since 2012 and became Tillamook County’s representative in 2022, after redistricting. Incumbent Republican Cyrus Javadi will face Democrat Astoria City Councilor Andy Davis in the race for the 32nd state house seat. Javadi was first elected in 2022. Statewide ballot measures up for consideration this year include giving the state legislature the ability to impeach executive branch officials, establishing an independent public service compensation commission to determine salaries for top state officials, transitioning See BALLOT, Page A8
Tillamook Working Lands and Waters hosts tour WILL CHAPPELL Headlight Editor
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The three-acre property in Nehalem’s urban growth boundary is ready for future development after $250,000 in work by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
Sammy’s Place developing new vision for housing WILL CHAPPELL Headlight Editor
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ammy’s Place, a Nehalem charity serving individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, recently received a $744,000 grant to design an affordable housing development for land it owns in Nehalem. Julie Chick, executive director of Sammy’s Place, said that the charity’s staff and board are working to develop a new model for the community, with both intellectually and developmentally disabled, and those without disabilities living side by side. Chick said that this plan, while still in its early stages, is part of a larger initiative by the organization to change the community’s perception of the capabilities of those with disabilities. “What we’re doing is integrated housing so that people with disabilities finally have an opportunity that they have not been afforded in the past to participate in the community of their choice alongside their peers,” Chick said.
Kathy Jean Hrywnak founded Sammy’s Place in 2006 with a mission of giving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) on the north coast opportunities for respite. In 2014, following encouragement from Hrywnak, Chick, whose son has Downs Syndrome, joined the nonprofit’s board of directors, on the condition that the organization expand its mission to include creating living and working opportunities for the community. In tandem with broadening its vision, the organization also assumed organizational responsibilities for Buddy Walk in Seaside and turned the event into a fundraiser that generated over $100,000 in three years. The organization used that money to develop a strategic plan for future programs for those with IDD and their families. Around that same time, in 2018, Chick was involved in the county’s housing committee, with then-Commissioner Bill Baertlein, See SAMMY’S, Page A8
IN THIS ISSUE News Opinion Obituaries Sports Classifieds
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atural resource industry professionals and elected officials from around northwest Oregon traveled to Tillamook on September 12, for a tour of a dairy, tree farm and fish hatchery hosted by the Tillamook Working Lands and Waters Cooperative. With a theme of “It’s About the Water,” the tour focused on the industries’ efforts to enhance water quality and fish passage across the county. The tour began at the 4-H dormitory at the Tillamook County fairgrounds, where County Commissioner Erin Skaar welcomed attendees and led the group in introductions. The Working Lands and Water Cooperative was founded to increase awareness of the practices employed by the county’s natural resource industries and the importance of the products provided by those industries. After introductions, the group loaded on to buses and headed to the Oldenkamp Family Dairy Farm, for a tour with a focus on the farm’s robotic operations. Luke Oldenkamp, co-owner of the dairy, told the tour members about the automated milking robots that the farm first installed six years ago. The six robots are in the barn with the cows and the animals are tracked through chips on collars. Cows are enticed into the robotic milking stalls with feed that is dispensed at a rate that matches the duration of milking, which takes five to eight minutes. Oldenkamp said that the cows enjoyed the process and that they would often try to enter the milking stalls more than necessary, which on average is three times a day. The robots also monitor the cows’ health and the milk’s quality on an ongoing basis and will alert dairy staff to any problems it detects. Oldenkamp said that the transition to robotic operations had cut the farm’s workday from 18
WILL CHAPPELL / COUNTRY MEDIA, INC.
Kate Lott (second from right) from the Tillamook Creamery Association addresses the tour group at the Oldenkamp Family Dairy Farm.
hours to around 13 and reduced the number of full-time employees from nine to four. The farm also uses an automated system to feed its animals, with robots mixing grass cut at the farm with alfalfa and corn in large vats that then use a system of inductive rails to dispense the food throughout the dairy barns. Kate Lott, the Tillamook County Creamery Association’s director of farm engagement, said that around 10% of the association’s members have robotic milking parlors, with the cost and technical complexity of the systems being the main hurdles to adoption. Oldenkamp said that each of the farm’s six robots had cost over $200,000 when purchased new six years ago and that he handles routine maintenance and data maintenance. Oldenkamp also discussed the farm’s manure management practices, which are anchored by alley scrapers that are dragged by chains and move the cows’ waste into the farm’s manure tank. In the tank, a recently installed
system of metal piping aerates the manure to prevent it from producing methane and to maintain its suitability as fertilizer. Oldenkamp said that he used to view manure as a burdensome byproduct but that he has come to view it as a valuable resource, noting that the farm was able to forego chemical fertilizers completely this year. Lott said that the application of manure to fields was regulated by the state and that Oregon has the most stringent requirements in the nation to protect water quality during that process. Lott explained that the creamery association manages soil testing responsibilities for its member farms and noted that the soil in Tillamook County had one of the highest rates of carbon sequestration in the state. Lott also discussed association members’ efforts to prevent their herds from wandering into waterways on their property and to improve the streams’ habitat functionality with riparian plantings, dating See TILLAMOOK, Page A7
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