T he C olumbia P ress
February 16, 2018
3
It’s a sweet season as Girl Scout cookies return
Warming Center focuses on supper
It’s Girl Scout Cookie time!
The 2018 sales season be-
gins today, Feb. 16, and runs
through March 11 with more
than 30,000 cookie booths
set up across the country.
Cookies are $5 per box and
there are eight varieties this
year. The S’mores offered last
year were a hit, so they’ll be
back along with the iconic
Thin Mints, Samoas and Tre-
foils.
There will be three sales
booths in Warrenton: Fred
Meyer, Main Street Market
and JoAnn Fabric and Craft.
In Astoria, sales booths will
be at Safeway and Astoria
Warrenton’s winter hasn’t
been cold this year so War-
renton Warming Center has
opened only a dozen days.
“Because of the warm tem-
peratures, we’re trying to re-
focus and figure out how we
can still help people,” said
Rick Newton, a city commis-
sioner and a Warming Cen-
ter board member.
The center’s mission is to
provide a warm, safe place
with food, love and support,
based on principles found in
Luke 10:25-36 of the Bible.
The center, based at Cal-
vary Assembly of God, will
provide meals, hot showers
and blankets to those who
show up, even if the sleeping
areas aren’t in operation.
The center will be open in
the evenings three nights
a week at least through
March, Newton said.
It is the second yearly sea-
Mini-Mart.
In Knappa, at Country Mar-
ket.
In Seaside, at Safeway and
during the PBL Tournament
at Broadway Middle School.
In Pacific County, at Pio-
neer Market in Long Beach,
Sid’s Market in Seaview, and
at Johnson’s One-Stop and
Okie’s Market in Naselle.
If you’re elsewhere, you
can find a sales location at
girlscoutsosw.org/cookies.
“I’m excited for girls to have
this business experience, and
put themselves out there,”
said Paige Walker, a director
of product sales for the Girl
Scouts.
“A Girl Scout Cookie booth
is basically a pop-up shop
and these young women are
entrepreneurs selling an
iconic product.”
Girl Scouts of Oregon
and Southwest Washing-
ton serves 13,955 girls in 37
counties.
News Briefs
City replacing
water meters
The city of Warrenton be-
gins replacing water meters
this month throughout the
water distribution system.
Warrenton received a $1.1
million grant/loan combina-
tion from the Infrastructure
Finance Authority that al-
lows the city to replace all its
obsolete meters.
The city has about 3,300
water connections.
The new meter reading sys-
tem collects the amount of
water consumed and infor-
mation about how the system
is operating so the city can
bill, troubleshoot and ana-
lyze in one fell swoop.
The replacement work is
being done by Chris Dials
Contracting of Tillamook and
is expected to be complete in
June.
Sen. Merkley sets
Seaside town hall
Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley
will hold a town hall in Sea-
side on Tuesday, Feb. 20, to
update constituents on his
work in Washington, D.C.,
answer questions and invite
suggestions about how to
tackle the challenges facing
Oregon and America.
The town hall begins at
12:30 p.m. in the main hall
at Bob Chisholm Community
Center, 1225 Avenue A.
Candidates must
file by March 5
Those who plan to run for a
seat on the County Commis-
sion have until 5 p.m. March
6 to file their declaration of
candidacy or nomination pe-
tition for the May 15 primary
election.
Three seats are up for elec-
tion: District 1, the seat held
by Scott Lee, which includes
Warrenton, Hammond and
a western portion of Astoria;
District 3, the seat held by
Lisa Clement, which includes
Astoria, Lewis and Clark and
Jeffers Gardens; and District
5, the seat held by Lianne
Thompson, which includes
Cannon Beach, Arch Cape,
Jewell and the southern por-
tion of Seaside.
Lee has said he will not run
for re-election.
All filed candidates are
posted on the county’s web-
site once they’ve been ac-
cepted.
Warming Center
• When: 6-9 p.m. Monday,
Friday and Saturday
• What: Soup dinner,
showers and blankets
• Where: 1365 S. Main Ave.
son for the warming center,
which formed in February
2016 and opened for the
first time last year.
The center opens when
temperatures drop below
38 degrees or severe weath-
er warnings are issued. But
this year has been unsea-
sonably warm.
So the group, which has re-
ceived donations of money,
food and other items, wants
to provide for the homeless
in other ways this year.
While the center is based
at a church, it’s a nonde-
nominational ministry to
help those without homes in
the winter months.