THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, MARCH 20, 2015
NORTH COAST
3A
Fire breaks out at
Gearhart condos
GEARHART — At
about 9:30 p.m. Thursday,
the Gearhart Fire Depart-
ment received an alarm
for a fire at the Pacific
View condominiums, part
of the Gearhart by the Sea
Resort complex, at 1238
N. Marion Avenue across
from McMenamins. There
was smoke coming from
unit 481, an unoccupied
room, and the heat detec-
tors triggered the alarm
system.
The cause of a fire is
under investigation, but it
does not seem suspicious,
said Gearhart Fire Chief
Bill Eddy.
Seaside Fire & Rescue
and Medix Ambulance Ser-
vice were called in.
EDWARD STRATTON — The Daily Astorian
Paul Gillum, left, a Clatsop Community College Board member and U.S. Marines veteran from the Vietnam War, helped
open CCC’s new Veteran’s Center Wednesday. One veteran he helped go back to school was his son James, a U.S.
Army Iraqi war veteran now studying fire science at CCC.
A space for veterans becoming civilians
Clatsop Community Col-
lege, repeatedly named a
military-friendly school by
various publications, has av-
eraged 480 veteran students
a year over the past decade.
And according to local veter-
an liaisons, the stream doesn’t
appear to be drying up any-
time soon.
On Wednesday, the college
opened a Veteran’s Center in
the former Student Services
Building at 1717 Lexington
Ave. to help those returning
vets transition into school and
work.
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a day, and that’s just phone
calls,” said Luke Thomas,
a 26-year U.S. Coast Guard
veteran hired by the county to
liaison with his recently civil-
ianized peers. “Just standing
out here in the room, I’ve met
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Thomas said there are still
veterans coming back each
week from Iraq and Afghan-
istan. Most just want to de-
compress before looking for
school or work. It’s his job to
go to places where they con-
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vide support in their transition
to civilian life.
Thomas takes appoint-
ments by phone to meet with
veterans. For anyone needing
assistance, he says to call him
at 503-791-9983 and state
their name, the last four digits
of their social security num-
ber, multiple ways to contact
them and what their needs
are. Within a week, he sets
appointments to meet them,
either at the college or at Sea-
side Public Library.
The veterans center helps
in that effort, with links to
liaisons like Thomas and Pat-
rick Preston, a local veteran
employment representative.
“The whole goal is to iden-
tify and implement services
for veterans,” said Preston,
adding that the college is
trying to get a mental health
Courtesy of Clatsop Community College
Donna Larson, vice president of academic and student affairs at Clatsop Community
College and a U.S. Air Force Reserve veteran, speaks with Luke Thomas, a 26-year vet-
eran of the U.S. Coast Guard who will provide advising at CCC’s new Veteran’s Center.
counselor stationed there as
well.
During a Veterans Day cer-
emony in November, Preston
awarded Donna Larson, vice
president of academic and
student affairs and a veteran
of the U.S. Air Force Re-
serve who served as a hos-
pital administrator, the Jobs
for Veterans State Grant Per-
formance Incentive Award.
The award came from the
college’s hosting the Tran-
sitional Assistance Program
(TAP), a mandatory, sev-
eral-day training event for
outgoing service members
and spouses. CCC became
the first college in the U.S.
to offer transferable credit to
about 40 veterans taking the
class.
In addition to counseling
and advising, said Preston,
the center will offer things
as simple as clothes for inter-
views and furniture, anything
to help returning veterans be
successful.
Proud to serve
For the longest time, said
CCC Board member Paul Gil-
lum, he didn’t want people to
know that he was a veteran
from the U.S. Marine Corps
who fought in the Vietnam
War.
“Quite frankly, it was the
public,” said Gillum. “When
we came back, we were de-
spised.”
But fellow veteran and po-
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said Gillum, invited him to
take part in Warrenton’s 4th
of July parade and helped him
come out of his shell. Gillum
was attending CCC at the
time.
“Everything you’ve done
in the military, it matters,”
said Gillum, adding that the
military experience helped
prepare him for 35 years in the
Astoria Police Department.
Gillum comes from a mili-
tary family, including a broth-
er, cousins and a father-in-
law. He helped his son James,
an Iraqi war veteran from the
U.S. Army, re-enter CCC.
Now he’s studying to put his
truck-driving skills form the
military toward a career in
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“A lot of the process I
didn’t understand,” said James
Gillum, who’d earned cred-
its at CCC while at Astoria
High School and had trained
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to veterans services, and they
brought me through.”
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AHS graduates
get boost Monday
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
Astoria resident Kim
Raichl read a Jan. 30 article
in The Daily Astorian about
the 68.7 percent graduation
rate in Oregon, the lowest in
the nation, and Astoria High
School’s 68.1 percent rate.
Raichl wondered what she
could do to help incentivize
graduation and invest their
success. She reached out to
businesses, and ultimately As-
toria Mayor Arline LaMear.
On March 2, LaMear pro-
claimed the start of spring
EUHDN0RQGD\WKH¿UVW$VWR-
ria High Graduate Day, with
the intent of making it an an-
nual event..
“The Astoria High School
‘Safe Senior Graduation Par-
ty’ Committee believes as
a community we can help
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
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T h a nk Y ou
to all th e local bu sin esses an d th e
com m u n ity for th e D en ise Stien er
Fu n d raiser. Th e tu rn ou t w as g reat
an d you r su pport for th is even t
m ad e it a h u g e su ccess
our high school by creating
a community-supported day
dedicated to the students
who persevere and work hard
to receive their diplomas,”
LaMear said in her procla-
mation.
About 20 local business-
es have pledged 5 percent
of their sales Monday to the
Safe Senior Graduation Par-
ty. A full list of businesses is
available on the Astoria High
Graduate Facebook page.
Each business will have a
sign in their window notify-
ing customers they support
graduating seniors.
Students from the AHS
choir will perform at 1 p.m.
Monday in front of the Liber-
ty Theater.
For more information,
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Day on Facebook or at http://
bit.ly/1HbzwTg
Public can observe
lifeguard training Sunday
The Astoria Aquatic
Center is holding its bi-
monthly lifeguard training
and open house from 5 to 7
p.m. Sunday. This is an op-
portunity to view the types
of training and preparation
Aquatic Center lifeguards
perform to keep everyone
who uses the center safe.
For those who are interest-
ed in joining the team, this
is an excellent time to come
and see what lifeguards do,
organizers said.
There will be no swim-
ming during this time of
training. Spectators will be
seated in the bleachers on
the pool deck while train-
ing takes place. The public
is welcome to come and get
an insight into the facility’s
emergency plans.
For online updates: www.dailyastorian.com
O P E N 2 4 /
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Oregon –
The building was evacu-
ated, and the fire caused no
injuries.
“Because of the size of
the building and the type of
the building, I went ahead
and called a second alarm,”
Eddy said.
In addition to Seaside
and Geahart fire depart-
ments, the Warrenton Fire
Department and Cannon
Beach Fire & Rescue were
dispatched.
It did not take long to
put out the fire, Eddy said.
Residents were allowed
back in their rooms about
11 p.m.
“I don’t see anything
suspicious with the fire,”
Eddy said, but the incident
is under investigation.
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