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About The Columbia press. (Astoria, Or.) 1949-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 29, 2017)
September 29, 2017 T he C olumbia P ress 6 Jail: OYA compound may become correctional center Continued from Page 1 because of overcrowding. • Tillamook County has stopped renting out space for Clatsop County inmates because they’re at full capacity. • There’s no rehabilitation go- ing on because there’s no space, time or personnel for it. Jail construction and funding haven’t gone well since 1976, when voters approved a $2.1 million bond for a 76-bed jail. Four years and a major reces- sion later, the facility opened with a scant 29 beds and a promise of building a second floor someday. Now a multi-storied jail would be outdated and cost too much to staff since it would require dupli- cating the same staff and tech- nology on each floor as opposed to an open floor plan that allows fewer employees to watch over larger more accessible areas. In 2002, a bond to build a new jail failed. The Grand Jury and the authors of studies conducted in 1999, 2004, 2005 and 2008 found the county jail under- staffed and inadequate to meet the need for bed space. The most recent study – now nine years old – projected the county will need a 170-bed jail by 2020. The county hired DLR Group of Seattle to determine what it would take to turn the 50-bed OYA facility into a jail. Due to state budget cuts, funding for the OYA program will cease at the end of the fiscal year. There are two possible scenar- ios, said Erica Loynd, senior as- sociate with DLR Group. The first would give the county 140 beds through modifications of the current OYA facility. It would cost $9 million in con- struction costs to get it workable for an adult jail population and another $3.8 million in technol- ogy and other “soft” costs for a total of $12.8 million. It would require 46 staff members. The second scenario would require more construction up front with a floor plan allow- ing staff to see an entire floor of inmates from a centralized location. There would be fewer personnel costs over the long- term. This would require $20.6 million in construction and $7.9 million in soft costs for a total of $28.6 million. It would require 24 staff members. Staff costs currently are $3.47 million for the jail. The first sce- nario would require staffing at $4.89 million and the second scenario would require $4.03 million. A remodel would be less ex- pensive in the short run and the second option would be less ex- pensive in the long run. Tansy Point: History to be posted at new kiosk Continued from Page 1 that grew in abundance there – became the center of the settlement of Flavel, which included a hotel there. Eventually, the land became owned by the Carruthers family who donated it to the city in 1977. Eben Carruthers, namesake of the city park there, was a businessman and inventor of a specialized tuna canning process. More recently, the proposed land swap or sale of a portion of Tansy Point several years ago prompted residents to organize a successful ballot measure campaign to block the city from selling large assets without a vote of the people. “Tansy Point has a very long story and controversial his- tory,” Mayor Henry Balen- sifer said in voting to support the kiosk plan. “I think this is great and it helps tie our peo- ple to where they live.” The Parks Advisory Board and Northwest Trails Coali- tion plan to fund construc- tion of the kiosk through fund-raising and grants. The city’s letter of support would be used to back up any grant requests. Senior lunch menu Monday, Oct. 2: Pork goulash, noodles, cabbage, salad of mixed greens, chocolate cake. Thursday, Oct. 5: Salmon, roasted potatoes, broccoli, coleslaw, apple pie. 503-338-2955 The Warrenton senior lunch program is at noon (doors open at 10:30 a.m.) Mondays and Thursdays at Warrenton Community Center, 170 SW Third St. Suggested donation is $5 for ages 55 and older; $7 for those younger. For more information, call 503-861-3502. Senior Moments with Emma Edwards For love of a special cookie My “kids” gave me an amaz- ing birthday party this week- end to celebrate my 85th birthday: A gigantic cake and all the trimmings after a meal of too much to mention but that included two of my favor- ites, salmon and rib-eye steak. There was one item that stood out: a plate full of Dutch windmill cookies. And you know me; I couldn’t resist looking up the history of windmill cookies. Maybe it will be fun to do a disambigu- ation of the windmill cookie. I know, new word. Look it up! I remember windmill cook- ies, also called speculaas, as a child and bought them for my children as well. In 1926, the Steenstra fam- ily immigrated to the United States, bringing the family recipe for making those de- licious cookies. They built a bakery in Michigan and the cookies were especially pop- ular at Christmas. The cookie cutter die used for shaping the cookies was introduced about the same time depicting “the legend of St. Nicholas.” In my research, I learned “The shapes are St. Nick on his horse, a windmill where he lived, a rooster that would wake him up, an owl that made him wise and a boy and girl that are the recipients of St. Nick’s good cookie treats.” Much as I loved those cook- ies, I knew nothing about them. That reminds me of an- other trait us seniors have -- I learned this by not only spending a lot of time with seniors, but by being one – no matter how old we are, we have a thirst for learning. Hitting my free Wikipedia encyclopedia, I learned that the Dutch and Belgian ver- sions were usually baked with light brown sugar and baking powder whereas the German spekulatius used baker’s am- monia as the leavening agent. Originally, fresh ingredients were a must. And Indian, In- donesian and Mediterranean spices used in speculaas in- cluded cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, cardamom, anise and white pepper back in the 1600s to 1700s, maybe due to the Dutch East Indies spice trade. So what does this have to do with us seniors? Memories! Nostalgia! History! That is what we are all about! I did find an “almost” origi- nal recipe for speculaas by go- ing on my computer to Google them. And once I get all the spices, I hope to try them. Meantime, the kids found some at a place called “Trader Joe’s” and guess where else I found a version? At one of the favorite hangouts for us se- niors: Dollar Tree. Speaking of Christmas cookies, Phil Thompson, who moderates the Warrenton senior meal site program, re- minded us on Monday that there were 90 shopping days until Christmas. Phil then was challenged by patron Merlin Humpal that the correct number was 91. Phil argued that he wasn’t including Christmas and then finally reluctantly agreed that, in our day and age, there are more than a few establish- ments that remain open that day too. We will have to research that one. Remember a time when most stores closed on Sundays? We will have to disambigu- ate that zeitgeist! Meaning? Time is up for now; look it up!
