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The Columbia Press Clatsop County’s Independent Weekly www.thecolumbiapress.com July 16, 2021 Hello, goodbye to members of police force The Columbia Press Warrenton Police Department welcomed a new recruit into the fold Tuesday night and said good- bye to its drug-sniffing dog, Gabe. Christina Trujillo, hired May 24, has never worked as a police officer before. She grew up in Clatsop Coun- ty, graduated from Astoria High School in 2011 and graduated from Portland State University in 2018 with a bachelor’s degree in crimi- nology and criminal justice. She worked previously at Wash- ington State Youth Author- ity’s Naselle Youth Camp, Ross Dress for Less and Hammond Kennels. Trujillo was set to join the police department as a re- serve officer when another member of the force resigned and she was given the full- time position, Chief Matt Police Chief Matt Workman leads the retire- ment ceremony for K-9 officer Gabe, shown here with his handler, Officer Robert Wirt. Below, right: Gabe enjoys a special cake made just for him. Cindy Yingst The Columbia Press See ‘Police’ on Page 5 Officer Christina Trujillo smiles after her father, Luis, pins on her badge during her Oath of Office ceremony Tuesday night. Author examines early lives of Clatsop, other tribes By Cindy Yingst The Columbia Press A few good things have come out of the pandemic and Brian Ratty’s new book is one of them. “Broken Arrow: History, Myths & Legends” will be released Wednes- day. “About this time a year ago, our homes and towns were locked down because of the coronavirus,” Ratty said. “Ahead of us were months of un- predictability, quarantines and a fear of an invisible virus that ran through our population like a win- came from and where they ter storm. Against this went. backdrop of uncertainty, Broken Arrow, he says, I started a new book proj- “is a story worth telling, ect. I called this endeavor in the many voices of the my ‘covid book.’ ” different people who lived His “covid book” delves during those turbulent into local native Ameri- times.” can tribes – the Chinook, The book recounts their Clatsop, Nehalem and Til- dreams, mythology, life- Brian Ratty lamook – and tells the sto- styles, and survival meth- ry of what their lives were ods in a land of plenty. like before the arrival of European Ratty, who lives in Warrenton, is a settlers. It helps answer the questions retired film/video production com- of where the Pacific Coast’s tribes See ‘Book’ on Page 4 1 50 ¢ Vol. 5, Issue 29 Mayor plans to seek city manager post By Cindy Yingst The Columbia Press Mayor Henry Balensifer would like to be Warrenton’s next city manager. He made the announcement at Tuesday night’s city commission meeting during a discussion about finding a replacement for City Man- ager Linda Engbretson. Engbretson plans to retire later this year. “I intend to put my name in for that,” he told fellow commissioners and then stepped back from the con- versation about how the recruitment process would be handled. The four remaining commissioners agreed the city will hire a headhunter or professional services agency that will help them figure out how the pro- cess should go and develop criteria for a new manager, such as whether that person needs to have a strong background in finance, urban renew- al or planning. They’ll organize a vetting process that allows the public to get involved in the process. “It’s something we don’t do every day and I want to get it right,” Com- missioner Tom Dyer said. “We need to have a professional se- lection, clean,” added Commissioner Rick Newton. “I don’t want to be a Podunk town. I want to do this pro- fessionally.” Both Dyer and Commissioner Mark Baldwin said they’d like Engbretson to be involved in the recruitment pro- cess because of her vast experience. She spent 26 years as a city employ- ee, the last six as city manager. She worked under six different city man- agers while serving as Warrenton’s city recorder. See ‘Manager’ on Page 4