The Columbia Press
October 1, 2021
Building industry develops prescription theft solution
A group of Northwest home
builders, property managers
and realtors has come up with
a novel way of protecting res-
idents who receive prescrip-
tions through the mail.
They’re purchasing and
installing locking cabinets,
drawers or lockboxes in each
of the homes they build, man-
age and sell.
Doriot Construction in Van-
couver, Milestone Property
Management in Portland and
Kim Salvesen-Pauly of Wind-
ermere Real Estate Columbia
River Gorge are among the
first to join the Locks Save
Lives Home campaign as in-
dustry partners.
“Safe medication storage
Tracy Doriot of Doriot Con-
structions holds one of the
lock boxes.
benefits everyone’s health
and well-being and is the
single-most effective deter-
rent to accidental poison-
ings, overdose, medicine
theft and misuse,” said Kelley
Groen-Sieckmann of Prevent
Coalition, developers of the
Locks Save Lives Home cam-
paign.
Those involved in the cam-
paign encourage others in
the industry to join the Locks
Save Lives Home movement.
“A lot of things builders
get asked to do take tens of
thousands of dollars,” said
Tracy Doriot of Doriot Con-
struction. “But a $15 lock is a
minuscule cost that can have
lifelong implications.”
To learn more, visit lockssa-
velives.org.
News in brief
Man who killed
ranger in 1999 dies
A man sentenced to life
without parole for the 1999
murder of an Oregon State
Parks ranger has died in pris-
on.
Larry
Gene
Cole, 75, had
been in hospice
care and died
Monday,
Sept.
27, at the Oregon
State Penitentia-
Cole
ry in Salem.
He was 52 when he was ar-
rested in April 1999 for kill-
ing Ranger Danny Blumen-
thal and wounding Ranger
Jack Kerwin at Oswald West
State Park.
After sentencing, he was
transferred from Tillamook
County to the state Depart-
ment of Corrections on July
11, 2001.
Gunfire hits
Seaside theater
A Seaside theater was struck
by gunfire last week while
people were inside, police
said.
Officers heard multiple gun-
shots shortly after 10 p.m.
Sept. 23, according to Seaside
Police. At the same time, by-
standers reported shots fired
in the area of avenues A and
S, and Columbia Street.
An upper-level window at
the 1940s-era Times Theater
& Public House, 130 Broad-
way, was damaged from the
gunfire. While the eatery side
of the building had a few oc-
cupants, no one was injured.
Seaside Police seeks the
public’s health in identifying
the culprit. Anyone with in-
formation is asked to contact
Sgt. Josh Gregory at 503-
738-6311.
Abortion rights
bill passes House
Congresswoman Suzanne
Bonamici,
D-Ore.,
was
among members of the U.S.
House of Representatives
to pass the Women’s Health
Protection Act (WHPA) on
Friday, Sept. 24, legislation
aimed at protecting abortion
rights nationwide.
The vote came three weeks
after Texas’s six-week abor-
tion ban went into effect.
WHPA enforces the 14th
Amendment’s right to abor-
tion and establishes a statu-
tory right to provide and re-
ceive abortion care.
The Democrat-controlled
House passed the bill 218-
211, but it faces a tough battle
in the Republican-controlled
Senate.
New cardiology
team member
Physician Assistant Thomas
Peckenham-Hernandez has
joined the Health Cardiology
Clinic at Columbia Memorial
Hospital.
Peckenham-
Hernandez
earned a mas-
ter’s degree in
physician assis-
tant studies from
Oregon Health &
Science Univer-
sity in Portland. Hernandez
He was a sur-
gical assistant at the OHSU
Veterans Affairs Medical
Center prior to joining CMH.
3
New kindergarten teacher
has plenty of fish tales
She was hired as an edu-
cational
assistant in Janu-
For The Columbia Press
ary 2019 and has worked for
Nine new teachers at War- the Warrenton-Hammond
renton Grade School are school district ever since.
ready to begin school
“It wasn’t until Octo-
this year. Macen Fritz is
ber of 2019 that I began
one of them.
my education to become
When asked for back-
an educator, a teacher,”
ground
information
she said.
about herself, the new
“I was teaching pre-
kindergarten teacher re-
school at Warrenton
Fritz
plied:
Prep starting from the
“I am originally from
fall of 2020. It wasn’t
the Warrenton/Seaside area. long after that that I was of-
I grew up here.”
fered a position teaching K/1
Fritz graduated from War- virtually. It felt like a wonder-
renton High School in 2018, ful opportunity to get a jump-
then went to Alaska to tender start on my career.”
salmon.
And, after two weeks, she is
“After coming home, my loving her new role.
plans to move away fell
“There’s something both
through,” she said. “I ended special and overwhelming
up picking up educational as- about this career,” she said.
sistant ‘sub’ jobs on days that I “I wouldn’t have it any other
wasn’t working my other job.” way.”
By Bruce Dustin