W tB R B TO GET ÂN CDUC
To the Editor,
D e v .
I am writing about my recent encounter with the
Cannon Beach Police. I am a lifelong resident of the
area, dependent on the tounst trade for my livelihood,
and very much a part of this community. I have never
been arrested, have no criminal tendencies, and have
been told I am fairly presentable. On Sandcastle Day,
June 5th, after spending the day on the beach
volunteering for the CB Children’s Center, I was
driving home with my sister, my daughter and niece. I
drove down a street with a “Closed” sign on it, to get
to my home right around the corner. I assumed the
street was closed to thru traffic, and closed to parking
to other than residents. I found out otherwise, and that
I was wrong in attempting to go down my own road,
but my concern is how I was treated by the police.
Chief Rouse made me pull into the police station, and
had Officer White come and get my license,
registration, and insurance, after which Officer White
walked away. After some time, our girls started to get
a little fussy, so I got out of the car to see what was
happening. Officer White very rudely demanded,
“Get back in the car! I’ll deal with you when I’m
ready!” Shocked at being treated as if I’m a stranger
to them, and dismayed at being handled as if I’m a
dangerous criminal instead of a local trying to get
home, I obeyed. I understand their job is to uphold
the law, but it can be achieved without rudeness and
blatant disrespect. I know most of the police officers
in this town, and am always courteous and respectful
toward them. There is no reason I should not be
accorded the same treatment.
As a person in the retail business, who depends on
tourists for my livelihood, I am very concerned about
the police in this town turning people away from here.
Cannon Beach has been known to have, to put it
politely, an extremely severe police department. This
was the smallest turnout I have seen in years on
Sandcastle Day. However, we had police officers on
ever comer, all over the beach, and many roads closed,
not only to parking, but closed to residents simply
trying to get home. The police department has made
this town very unwelcoming and uncomfortable to
everyone.
I’d like to see this addressed in City Council
Meetings. How many police officers to we employ in
this town? Why is it a given that they are rude to
locals, even when treated courteously themselves?
Who actually pays their salaries, if not those same
locals. Who decides how many officers are needed in
a town this size, and what recourse do we, as police-
officer-paying citizens, have when those officers make
life miserable and unwelcoming to citizens and guests
alike, rather than “protecting” and “serving”?
Hults
Editorial
Now & Then
High summer is upon us here in the village. Our
visitors fill the sidewalks, the roads, the shops, the
beach and the parking places. It happens every
summer. It seems to have started with a visitor named
William Clark, and some o f his companions, including
a young girl known as the Bird Woman, almost a
hundred years ago. To find out a little about what that
was like, read Doug’s column this month.
Impact: The act of impinging; the striking of one
body against another; collision; To press closely into
or in something Is how my old Oxford Dictionary
defines the word that Tevis Dooley recently suggested
was an unfortunate name for the City-owned piece of
property on Spruce Street where the school district
wants to relocate the Cannon Beach Grade School.
The IMPACT site (yes, it is all capital letters) was
originally named that for reasons other than the above
definition, which does seem apt by some who do not
favor the site for a school. There has been some
spirited arguing going on not just between the City
and the School District, but among the locals.
Collisions of opinions about whether to press a school
into the space have not quite reached the striking of
bodies together, but phrases like “What is more
important: the life of a tree or the life o f a child?”
have been bantered about. Mothers fear for the safety
of their children when they are in school on the other
side o f Highway 101. Neighbors are concerned about
the impact on the neighborhood of increased traffic
the school would create. People are concerned that
there is very little public green space left in Cannon
Beach. Perhaps it would help bring the discussion to a
different level if more people knew why the site has its
‘unfortunate name’. I recall asking why it was called
that several years ago. After reading Mr. Dooley’s
letter in the Cannon Beach Gazette I looked for the
piece of paper someone had written the name on with
the definition; of course I couldn't find it, but I called
around, and finally was rewarded with the story. When
the city originally bought the site a bunch of citizens
had several ideas for how it could contribute to the
betterment of our village. A community garden was
started, plans were made for an art center, but the hope
was that it would be a place for the whole village to
have access to. Thus the name was the expression of
that hope; Imagination, Method, Persistence, Acting
Creatively Together. Not a bad idea. In the interest of
rational dialogue perhaps it would be a good idea to
have an informal poll. If you have a 436 telephone
number, drop us a note, give us a call or an e-mail
here at the Upper Left Edge, vote yes or no on the
IMPACT site, and give your reasons if you wish. We
may even publish some of the more gentle, well
thought out ones.
Signed,
Egrane A. Brown
(So, the police are in the service industry too? Wow,
do they get tips? Oh, right, sorry, obviously. Actually
the Police budget this last year had way too many
sixes, not to mention zeros, in it for comfort. You
don’t always get what you pay for but, you obviously
paid for what you got.)
Read on. ed.
To the Editor:
We have just received our statement of dues owed to
the Cannon Beach Chamber of Commerce for the
coming year. After much discussion we have decided
not to renew our 15 year membership and speak out
as to why. The Chamber has been through many
changes in the past few years, and we disagree with the
current management philosophy that seems to say
“More people = more money”.
We would like to go on record saying that we believe
there is a limit to tourism in Cannon Beach. If people
think that we need to attract more visitors on the off
season, then perhaps they should move somewhere
where there is more winter business. Part of the
beauty o f living here, is the slow time of year. We love
having the quiet time to enjoy our friends, our town
and its surroundings. As long as there are many
beautiful ski resorts a short distance from Portland and
Seattle we feel that the beach will never be a winter
destination for most people.
One o f the elements in our decision was when we
decided to do a small experiment to see how our
Chamber dollars were working for us. We placed
several phone calls, until we were able to get a real
person and not a tape recorded message. When we
asked the volunteer where we could get our kite
repaired, we were cheerfully sent to our competitor. . .
who has never been a Chamber member to our
knowledge. Investing in a good business telephone
system as well as training volunteers would seem to be
more in order than an elaborate, expensive website.
The people who currently run our Chamber of
Commerce may be well meaning folks - we simply do
not support the direction they are headed.
Okay, now on to more local problems, and we do
have a few to discuss. Several years ago when we first
started the paper we were getting a lot of complaints
about the police harassing locals for no license plate
lights, and other pretty silly stuff. We printed a bunch
of letters and Chief Rouse asked your beloved editor
“What’s your problem?” I explained I didn’t have a
license plate or a car to put it on, so I had no problem,
but that it seemed he had a problem with community
relations. To his credit he acted quickly and sent a
bunch of officers to Community Policing Classes, and
for several years relations between the police and the
locals vastly improved. We seem to be having
problems again, (see letter to the editor) we are
hearing stories of arrogance and over zealousness on
the part o f our police force. Time for some refresher
courses, Chief?
Another recent incident is a little more confusing. It
might be a matter o f jurisdictions, or confusion about
regulations, or citizens’ responsibility, but it is a life
and death problem that needs to be addressed. It is
difficult to figure out who did what when, with he said,
she said, witnesses and memories, but this is the story.
Steve McLeod is a dear friend and a gifted artist who
gained national fame a few years ago, not for his art,
but for his beachcombing. When a container ship full
o f Big Brand Name shoes broke up on its way from
the sweat shops in Asia, the expensive shoes began to
wash up on beaches up and down the left coast. Steve
started finding them by the dozens and organized an
informal network to trade shoes to make pairs. This
lead to a great deal o f knowledge being added to what
we know about ocean currents and tides in the
Northern Pacific. It also turned Steve into a much
more serious beachcomber. It was in that capacity that
he happened upon a bucket just north of Arch Cape a
while back. Reading the label he discovered that this
was a bucket of some seriously dangerous stuff.
Don’t breath it, don’t touch it, dangerous.
Historically folks finding this sort of stuff on the
beach, and it is regretfully not that uncommon, called
the local police, the life guards, the fire department,
someone who might know the proper way to dispose
o f toxic substances loose in the environment. So Steve
called the police, and told them where to find the stuff.
Well, the next week it was still there, so he says he
called them back, and they said they couldn't find it.
He gave them directions again, he says, and the next
week it was still there. Frustrated, he called the Edge,
and we called to ask about it. The woman we talked to
denied having received any calls from Steve, and
explained that it was a State jurisdiction, so we called
the State Patrol and told them the story. They
promised to get on it and to call back and let us know
what happened. This was on a Thursday and when we
got back from a trip to Portland on Sunday the
message machine at the Edge office was chock full of
messages, they were all from Steve, each message
sounding more frustrated than the last, with the final
C annon Beach: Juptter z Rare and Used Books.
O abum 'a Oroceiy, The Cookie Co., Coflee CabaAa.
BUI’a Tavern, C annon Beach Book Co.. Hane s
Bakerle. The Bistro. Midtown Cafe. Once Upon a
Breese, Coplea A Fax. Haystack Video. Mariner
M arket. Espresso Bean. Ecola Square A Cleanllne
S u rf
M anxanlta: Mother Nature a Juice Bar.
Cassandra a. M anxanlta News A Espresso. A
Nehalem Bay Video
Rockaw ayi Neptune's Used Books
T illa m o o k : Rainy Day Books A TUIamook Library
B ay C it y Art Space
ra c h a ts By . the .Sea Books
Pacific C it y The R her House.
Oceanside Ocean Side Espresso
L in c o ln C it y TrUllum N atural Foods. Driftwood
Library, A Lighthouse Brewpub
N ew port Oceana N atural roods. Ocean Pulse Surf
Shop. Sylvia Beach Hotel. A Canyon Way Books
E u g en e Book M ark. Café Navarra. Eugene Public
Library. Friendly St. M arket. H appy Trails.
Keystone Café, Klva Foods. Lane C.C.. Light For
Music. New Frontier M arket. Nineteenth Street
Brew Pub. Oasis M arket. Perry’s, Red B am Oroceiy.
Sundance N atural Foods. U o f O. A WOW Hall
C o rva llis : The Environm ental Center, OSU
Salem : Heliotrope, Salem Library. A The Peace
Store
A s to ria KM UN . Colum bian Café. The Community
Store, The Wet Dog Cafe. Astoria Coffee Company.
Cafe Uniontow n. A The River
Seaside: Buck's Book B am . Universal Video. A
Cafe Espresso
P ortland : Artichoke Music. Laughing Horse
Bookstore. Act III. Barnes A Noble. Belmonts Inn.
Bibelot A rt OaUery. Bijou Cafe. Borders. Bridgeport
Brew Pub. C apt’n Beans (two locations). Center for
the Healing Light. Coffee People (three locations).
Common Orounda Coffee. East Avenue Tavern.
Food Front, Goose Hollow Inn. Hot Lips Pizza. Java
Bay Cafe. Key Largo, La Patttsserfe. Lewis A Clark
College. Locals Only. M arcos Pizza, M arylhurst
College. M t. Hood CC. Music M illenium . Nature's
(two locations). NW N atural Gas. OH SU Medical
School. Old Wives Tales. Ozone Records. Papa
H aydn. PCC (four locations). PSU (two locations).
Reed College. Third Eye. M ultnom a C entral
Library, and most branches A the YWCA,
Ashland: Garo's Java House. The Black Sheep.
Blue Mt. Cafe. A Rogue River Brewery
C ave Junctio n: Coffee Heaven A Kerby Community
M a rk e t
G rants Psssi The Book Shop
(Out o f Oregon)
Vancouver, WAi The Den
Longview, WA: The Broadway Gallery
N aselle, WA: R ainy Day Artistry
N a h c o tls . WA: Moby Dick Hotel
D u v a ll, WA: D uvall Books
B ainbridge Is la n d , WA: Eagle Harbor Book Co.
S e a ttle , WA: Elliot Bay Book Co., Honey Bear
Bakery. New O rleans Restaurant. S till Life In
Frem ont. Allegro Coffeehouse, The Last Exit Coffee
House. A Bulldog News
S sn Francisco. CA: City Lights Bookstore
D en ver, Co: Denver Folklore Cente
W ashington, D .C a Hotel Tabard Inn
(Out o f U.9 A .)
P aris. Franoei Shakespeare A Cfe
B rig h to n . Eng landi The Public House Bookstore
- A sm afl paper *ar a sm all p la n e t.'
E d ito r /P u b lis h e r /J a n ito r :
The Beloved Reverend Billy Uoyd Hults
Graphics E d ito r The Humble Ms. Sally
Louise Lackaff
C opy E ditor/S cience E d ito r/V o ic e
o f Reason/Uncle Mike/etc.: Michael
Burgess
W ild life In fo rm a n t/M u s ic R epo rter
at Large: Peter "Spud” Siegel
Im p ro v is a tio n a l E ngineer:
Dr. Karkeys
Education E d ito r Peter Lindsey
Juqe's Garden: June Rroft
W eb W o nd er W om an/D istribution
D iv a /S u b s c rib e r's Sweetheart:
Myrna Uhlig
Bass Player: Bill Uhlig
Ecola Ilahee: Douglas Deur
Environm ental News: Kim Bossé
Low er Left Beat: Victoria Stoppiello
L ife on the "O ther Edge":
Meg Stivison
Local Colour: Ron Logan
Two Drinks Ahead: Darrin Peters
W eb Mother: Liz Lynch
Essential Services: Ginni Callahan
Ad Sales: Katherine Mace
M a jo r Distribution: Ambling Bear
Distribution
And A Cast O f Thousands!!
Advertising rates:
Business Card Size Ad
S30.
1/16th approx. 3 x 5
S3 5.
1 /8th approx 4 x 7
S50.
I X4lh approx. 6 1 /2 x 9 $ 100.
1/2 page
SI 50.
Full page
$300.
Backpage
$400.
. . . per month. Payment is due
the 15th of the month prior to
the issue in which the ad is to
appear. Camera ready art is
requested. We are usually on
the streets by the first
weekend of the month.
HOT FLASH!!
John and Lisa Fraser
Once Upon a Breeze Kiteshop
Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology
of the cancer cell.
Edward Abbey
M amzam H a "News
&
ESPRESSO
A C h eer fw l P r e se n c e in M a n z a n it a
PORTLAND ROASTING Coffee & Espresso Drinks
TEMPTATIONS Homemade Pastries, Sandwiches & Soup
435 MAGAZINE TITLES
Oregon Coast and Local Maps, Local Newspapers
Open Daily 7:30am— 5:00 pm
500 Laneda Ave
Manzanita
368-7450
(Continued on page 5)
Sally’s book Wildlife on the Edge is now available at
the Made In Oregon stores throughout the state. And
we are working on printing another thousand, since we
only have a few hundred o f the First Edition left. We
are delighted that the Made in Oregon people see a
quality in our humble efforts, to put us on the shelves
beside the world famous Pendleton Blankets, Smoked
Salmon and the other signature products from our
state. We will be mounting an advertising campaign
with our limited budget, to celebrate, but we must say
we are delighted with the sales and comments we have
received without too much publicity, or very wide
. distribution. For example, Wildlife on the Edge is a
best seller at Lucy’s Books in Astoria, and Cannon
Beach Book Company in Cannon Beach. Valerie
Ryan, owner of Cannon Beach Books, told us,
“Sally’s book is the best selling hardbound in my
store, and the prettiest.” We have submitted Wildlife
on the Edge to be considered for the Oregon Book
awards in the Young Readers category. As most of
you know, it’s not really a children’s book, but that
was the only category we seemed to fit and young
readers do seem to like it. Lolly Allsop, who is eleven,
told us, “I read over a hundred books a year, and this
year Sally’s is my favorite.” We would like to thank
everyone who has helped us with donations, by buying
the book, by helping distribute the book, and saying
such kind things about our efforts. We will be
organizing an event for late summer, and will keep
you posted on how things are progressing.
UÎFER. tLFT tb&t 3IU.9 im
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