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About Cannon Beach gazette. (Cannon Beach, Or.) 1977-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 20, 2015)
NOVEMBER 20, 2015 • VOL. 39, ISSUE 24 WWW.CANNONBEACHGAZETTE.COM COMPLIMENTARY COPY Seaside schools superintendent to retire Dougherty to take one more run at bond By Katherine Lacaze EO Media Group SEASIDE — Doug Dougherty is retiring as the superintendent for Seaside School District 10 at the end of the 2015-16 school year after serving in the district 35 years, 19 of those as superin- tendent. Dougherty announced his retirement during the district’s board of directors meeting Tuesday, thanking board members for their “on- going trust and support.” “We have shared a vision of seeking to do what was in the best interest of our stu- dents,” Dougherty wrote in a letter announcing his deci- sion. “Your collaborative and caring leadership has been a major reason why I have chosen to serve my entire professional career in Sea- side School District.” The board accepted his retirement and voted to cre- ate a temporary committee to set a process for seeking Dougherty’s replacement, who will start in July 2016. The committee — which includes Chairman Steve Phillips and board members Patrick No¿ eld and Hugh Stelson — will consider con- tracting with an agency to assist and creating a commit- tee to help with the interview process, Phillips said. Dougherty accepted a re- quest from the board to serve part-time as superinten- dent-emeritus upon his re- tirement to help transition the new superintendent during the 2016-17 school year. Safe zone Dougherty’s primary role, however, will be working on a new school relocation bond to be placed on the Novem- ber 2016 ballot. See Dougherty, Page 10A Heavy rains, high winds bring fl ooding to North Coast By Dani Palmer Cannon Beach Gazette A string of storms that brought heavy rain, high winds and À ooding to the North Coast over the weekend and early into the week closed Indian Beach at Ecola State Park. Above average rainfall caused signi¿ cant erosion under Ecola State Park Road where it travels over Can- yon Creek, making the road unsafe,” according to an Oregon Department of Parks and Recreation press release. It will remain closed until further no- tice. The weekend’s storms also washed out trail access to Arcadia Beach, sit- ting a mile south of Cannon Beach, and rose city creek levels, À ooding the small island in Ecola Creek. Saturday’s storm dumped 1.47 inches of rain on Cannon Beach, Na- tional Weather Service meteorologist Laurel McCoy said. The area received 1.11 inches of rain on Sunday and 0.46 on Monday. “We’ve been running above aver- age on all three days,” McCoy added. On Tuesday, the nearest station in Seaside reported 2 inches of precipi- tation, meteorological technician Ger- ald Macke said. The North Coast was hit harder than the central coast, with Newport reporting 0.63 inches of rain on Tues- day compared to the North’s 2 inches, he added. But about 10 miles inland was hit the hardest. Macke said Lee’s Camp received 4 inches on Tuesday alone. “The coast got sheltered a little bit,” he added. On Monday afternoon, Cannon Beach Public Works Director Dan Grassick said the storms had mostly damaged gravel streets, causing ruts and debris plugged storm catch basin grates. “We spent quite a bit of time on Fri- day preparing for the storm,” he said. “Looks like that effort paid off so far.” No one had been called in after hours, he noted. Tree debris littered Highway 101 near Cannon Beach, but Police Chief Jason Schermerhorn said Monday they hadn’t received any reports “out of the ordinary.” “I think that Public Works kept a pretty good handle on the situation,” he added. In Seaside, the Oregon Department of Transportation was on scene over the weekend as the south side of High- way 101 ¿ lled with water, requiring incident response. See Flooding, Page 10A DANI PALMER/CANNON BEACH GAZETTE Ecola Creek water levels rose during storms over the weekend, covering the creek’s island. ‘I think that Public Works kept a pretty good handle on the situation.’ PAID PERMIT NO. 97 ASTORIA, OR PRSRT STD US POSTAGE Police Chief Jason Schermerhorn Doug Dougherty Dispensary decision awaits as family seeks license ‘Nothing to fear’ says applicant Sam Chapman By Dani Palmer Cannon Beach Gazette An Astoria couple wants to be the ¿ rst to open a marijuana dispensary in Cannon Beach, and their son has asked the City Council to consider allowing them to do so. On Nov. 3, councilors decided to table the decision. Sam Chapman, founding partner of New Economy Consulting, plans to ad- dress the stigmas attached to marijuana and show residents “there’s nothing to fear.” His parents, a retired Ecola State Park Ranger and a former dean of admin- istration for Portland Community College, are the ones who intend to open shop in Cannon Beach. “These are not scary people,” he said. “These are not people that want children to be harmed. They don’t want marijuana to fall into the hands of children.” He said a marijuana dispensary should be treated as “a responsible industry, just like a liquor store,” with thousands of dol- lars required to even get a license and se- curity system up and running. The City Council is examining writ- ing an ordinance to regulate marijuana businesses with time, place and manner restrictions in commercial zones, giving voters the chance to opt out of marijuana sales in November 2016 or possibly not allowing marijuana dispensaries under its current business license ordinance, which requires businesses to abide by local, state and federal law. Medical and recreational marijuana is legal in Oregon, but still con- sidered a controlled substance by the fed- eral government. By relying on the current ordinances alone, however, the city could be at risk of litigation, city attorney Tammy Herdener said. Other municipalities have been sued over similar ordinances and while the cit- ies have prevailed at a lower court level, cases are in the Oregon Court of Appeals and could move to the state’s Supreme Court. And because Measure 91, legalizing recreational marijuana in Oregon, re- ceived so much support from the pub- lic, Cannon Beach voters would have See Pot, Page 6A Fashion show enlivens Stormy Weather festival Art brightens wet weekend By Dani Palmer Cannon Beach Gazette I Tra- cy Abel models stormy weather gear for Maggie and Henry during the inau- gural “Dancing in the Rain” fashion show. DANI PALMER/CANNON BEACH GAZETTE f one forgot their rain gear for Stormy Weather, there was plenty to choose from during the 28th annual art festival’s “Danc- ing in the Rain” fashion show at Coaster Theatre. The inaugural event featured mod- els showing off boots, hats, coats, umbrellas and more from Cannon Beach shops on Saturday, Nov. 10. Kathy Kleczek, who designs much of what she has in La Luna Loca, said she appreciated the chance to showcase different forms of art this year. The typical Stormy Weather Arts Festival attendee is used to paintings and sculptures. “I thought it was just wonderful,” said Susan Scott, 66, of Portland. “There were some beautiful clothes on display and a few gift ideas that developed.” “I’m going to try and not go overboard,” she added with a chuckle. Scott’s granddaughter, Lindsay Harris, 14, was a fan of the painted umbrellas, also new this year. Nancy Norman, who shows her art at DragonFire Gallery, painted one with clouds dumping rain, ¿ sh and cats titled, “It’s Rain- ing Cats,” inspired by her love for felines. She made one for herself ¿ rst and tested it in the rain, noting it took several coats of paint. “I’ve never painted on an umbrella be- fore,” she said. She usually paints on canvas and has worked with furniture, but the um- brella presented its own challenges. It had “a lot more give than canvas” and had to be balanced on an easel. But Norman added it was fun and that she was happy to do it. The ¿ ve umbrellas were painted by gallery artists like her and the Seaside High School art class. See Festival, Page 9A