AUGUST 28, 2015 • VOL. 39, ISSUE 18
WWW.CANNONBEACHGAZETTE.COM
COMPLIMENTARY COPY
Charter school proposal gets third hearing
School district hears testimony on
Cannon Beach Academy proposal
By Dani Palmer
Cannon Beach Gazette
A crowd of roughly 50
spilled into the hall from the
Seaside School District 10
conference room Tuesday,
Aug. 18 for a hearing on a pro-
posed charter school in Cannon
Beach. The Cannon Beach
Academy would serve students
from kindergarten to ¿ fth grade.
The district issued two
previous denials to the acad-
emy in 2014, citing lack of an
adequate location and secure
start-up funds.
With these questions ad-
dressed by Ryan Hull, presi-
dent of the academy’s board
of directors, many Cannon
Beach residents at the meet-
ing said they hoped for a dif-
ferent outcome.
Real estate agent Alaina
Giguiere said Cannon Beach
needs a school to attract young
families to the area. “It is vital
to the strength and viability of
Cannon Beach that we have a
school there,” she said.
Having the charter would
give parents the option of
smaller classes and allow
them to be more involved
with their children’s educa-
tion, she noted.
But Seaside ¿ fth-grade
teacher John Meyer, president
of Chapter 107 of the Oregon
School Employees Associa-
tion, said the plan could cre-
ate inequities among students
and cost teachers jobs.
R.J. MARX PHOTO
Members of the overfl ow audience at the Seaside School
District board meeting Tuesday night.
Questions answered
Cannon Beach Elementa-
ry was once the city’s school,
a source of pride and com-
munity connection, residents
say. It was closed in 2013 for
¿ nancial reasons and fears for
student safety. The building,
now shuttered, lies in the tsu-
nami inundation zone.
Why are North Coast
beach birds dying?
Cannon Beach Academy
initially presented its applica-
tion to the Seaside School Dis-
trict in February 2014, and after
a denial, went before the school
board again in June. The board
sent the academy a letter of de-
nial citing a lack of long-term
¿ nancial stability, safety issues
regarding the proposed school
site and the possibility of caus-
ing an adverse impact on the
existing district school.
In response the academy
appealed to the State Board of
Education, but withdrew the
appeal before a decision was
of¿ cially rendered.
In Hull’s presentation to
the board Tuesday, Aug. 18,
the academy addressed many
of the concerns that led to pre-
vious denials.
He said the school now has
a conditional use permit from
the Cannon Beach Planning
Commission allowing it to
modify and occupy a ground-
À oor portion of the former Ath-
letic Club at 171 Sunset Blvd.
In addition, the academy
has since collected donations
and created a balanced three-
year budget.
Operational costs would
be covered by average dai-
ly membership funds, the
amount a school receives per
student from the state, and
nonoperational money would
be provided through dona-
tions, fundraisers and grant
money, Hull said.
Teacher concerns
The academy would em-
ploy four classroom teachers,
two instructional assistants
and two full-time enrichment
faculty, Hull said.
See School, Page 10A
Fire threat leads
to Cannon Beach,
county burn bans
By Dani Palmer
Cannon Beach Gazette
WENDY MCLAUGHLIN/SUBMITTED PHOTO
Cannon Beach visitors Judy Grucella, Jane Santarsiere and Linda Petchell worked together to save a seabird by mak-
ing a platform out of tennis shoes and dog waste bags to carry it to a lifeguard station on Th ursday, Aug. 20.
Warmer waters,
toxic algae could be
contributing factors
By Dani Palmer
Cannon Beach Gazette
Judi Grucella and her friend Jane
Santarsiere visit Cannon Beach ev-
ery year. Dead birds spread out on the
beach were an unexpected sight.
Wendy McLaughlin of Astoria also
“noticed there were a lot of dead birds,”
at least 20 around Haystack Rock, as
she and her husband Tracy walked
along the beach Thursday, Aug. 20. “I
thought it was weird,” she said.
Grucella, a Bend resident, noted
they saw ¿ ve dead birds in their short
walk and encountered one so weak it
could barely lift its head. “We went
to the lifeguard station and said, ‘Hey,
there’s a bird alive and still struggling.’”
Grucella, Santarsiere and fellow
beachgoers came to the aid of the dy-
ing bird, constructing a platform made
of tennis shoes and plastic dog waste
bags for the injured animal. A life-
guard provided a blanket and box for
transport before Cannon Beach police
delivered the bird to wildlife rehabili-
tators for care.
Not the norm
Julia Parish, executive director of
the University of Washington’s Coast-
al Observation and Seabird Survey
Team, said reports of dead common
murres spiked about a month ago.
“There’s a pretty raging debate
among seabird biologists at the mo-
ment,” she added. Parish said more
dead birds this time of year, nesting
season, isn’t unusual. But they’ve
seen two to three times more than
they’d normally see from reporting
beaches.
See Birds, Page 7A
‘It’s hard to tell how bad it is or if it’ll get worse.’
PAID
PERMIT NO. 97
ASTORIA, OR
PRSRT STD
US POSTAGE
Julia Parish, executive director of the University of Washington’s
Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team
On Saturday, Aug. 22,
smoke ¿ lled the air on the
coast, stinging eyes and
prompting worries of ¿ res
nearby. While agencies
throughout Clatsop County
received numerous calls re-
porting potential wild¿ res,
residents were experienc-
ing not local blazes, but
wind carrying smoke from
eastern Oregon wild¿ res.
There are nearly 20 ac-
tive wild¿ res in the state
burning roughly 450,000
acres, according to the
1ational Wild¿ re Coordi-
nating Group. So far, the
county has been spared.
“There’s lots going on else-
where, but not here,” Can-
non Beach Fire and Res-
cue Training Of¿ cer Matt
Gardner said.
Of¿ cials are taking pre-
cautions, however. For the
¿ rst time in state history,
all open À ames, including
those bon¿ res enjoyed on
the beach, are prohibited.
Cannon Beach closed
its 1,040-acre Ecola Creek
Forest Reserve and 55-
acre South Wind site to the
public on Aug. 21 for the
second time this season
because of high ¿ re danger
and liability purposes. If a
¿ re starts in the reserve and
spreads to commercial tim-
berlands, the city could be
held responsible, City Man-
ager Brant Kucera said.
Gardner said Cannon
Beach remains “very pro-
active in wild¿ re defense.”
On Thursday, Aug. 20,
due to the statewide ban,
Cannon Beach rescinded
all burn permits, including
SUBMITTED PHOTO/CANNON BEACH GAZETTE
Matt Gardner next to the
Cannon Beach fi re truck in
the staging area at the high
school in Baker City.
camp¿ re and burn barrel
permits issued by rural ¿ re
departments and the Ore-
gon Department of Forest-
ry.
Fire pits, tiki torches
and candles are included in
the prohibition on all pub-
lic and private property in
Clatsop County, through-
out Clatsop State Forest, in
Clatsop county parks and
on all properties owned
and managed by the Ore-
gon Parks and Recreation
Department, including state
parks and ocean shores.
“Our goal is to avoid any
accidental ¿ res on OPRD
property that would fur-
ther tax limited ¿ re¿ ght-
ing resources,” said MG
Devereux, Oregon Parks
and Recreation deputy di-
rector. “Most communities
have sent local ¿ re¿ ghters
and equipment to help with
wild¿ res throughout the
state. An unintentional ¿ re
in a state park would add an
unnecessary burden to ¿ re-
¿ ghting efforts.”
See Fire, Page 12A
Local chef Jonathan Hoff man gets a ‘taste’ of competition
Hoff man competes
in state culinary
competition
By Dani Palmer
Cannon Beach Gazette
He didn’t win, but a cu-
linary competition featuring
some of Oregon’s best was
considered a big success by
Cannon Beach’s Jonathan
Hoffman.
Hoffman, 33, a private
chef who runs Chef’s Ta-
ble, competed in the 32nd
Annual “Bite of Oregon” at
Portland’s Tom McCall Wa-
terfront Park Aug. 7, losing
in a ¿ rst round tiebreaker to
James Williams, co-owner of
Omar’s Fresh Seafood and
Steaks in Ashland. The “se-
cret ingredient” competing
chefs worked with was rib
eye steak.
SUBMITTED PHOTO/CANNON BEACH GAZETTE
Cannon Beach chef Jona-
than Hoff man.
Hoffman and Sean Whit-
taker of Astoria were con-
nected to the contest through
their local Food Service
America representative. The
two teamed together last year
at Iron Chef Goes Coastal
and took top honors.
This was Hoffman’s ¿ rst
“Bite of Oregon” event,
while Williams brought de-
SUBMITTED PHOTO/CANNON BEACH GAZETTE
Rib eye was the “secret ingredient” chefs were asked to
work with at the competition. Th is is chef Jonathan Hoff -
man’s rendition.
cades of experience to the
competition, including a win
at the 2014 Ashland Culinary
Festival.
Whittaker, executive chef
at Astoria Coffeehouse and
Bistro, ended up beating
TV’s “Chopped” runner-up
Anh Luu, executive chef at
Tapalaya in Portland, to make
it to the second round. But
Whittaker also fell to Wil-
liams, who went on to win
the competition. “It sucks
that I didn’t win, but I went
against a gentleman,” Hoff-
man said. “I feel very good
about tying somebody with
that much experience when
I’m mostly a seafood expert.”
Some chefs experience
stage fright in front of hun-
dreds of spectators but Hoff-
man only glanced up at his
family “once or twice.”
“I don’t really remember
paying much attention to the
audience,” he said. “I just
kind of went into the zone,
kept my cool and did my job.”
In addition to the Iron
Chef Oregon battle, the Bite
of Oregon offered a mixolo-
gy competition, food vendors
from around the state, a wine
bar and live music.
See Chef, Page 9A