April 22, 2016 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com • 3A New Cannon Beach police officer set on serving the community Astoria native brings military and academic experience to department TIFFANY BOOTHE/SEASIDE AQUARIUM A northern right whale dolphin, a spe- cies normally found in warmer waters, beached in Seaview, Washington. By Lyra Fontaine Stranded dolphin a species rarely seen on North Coast Cannon Beach Gazette Astoria native Matthew Nunnally, 27, recent- ly returned to the Oregon Coast after about 10 years of serving in the U.S. Marine Corps and attending college in California. He is now about four weeks into his job as &DQQRQ%HDFK¶VQHZHVWSROLFHRI¿FHU “I’m very grateful for this opportunity and humbled to be here,” he said. “I love this com- munity, always have. I’m just excited to make my career here and my family’s really excited.” Nunnally served in the U.S. Marine Corps for four active years and eight years total, conduct- ing military operations in eight countries, includ- ing Afghanistan. During his time as a Marine, he also went to countries like Singapore, Germany, Ireland, Bahrain, Kuwait and Djibouti. Growing up, the Astoria High School gradu- ate had the goal of joining the military, then be- FRPLQJDSROLFHRI¿FHU+HKDVZRUNHGZLWKWKH Astoria Fire Department. “I’ve always stood for justice and standing up for others,” he said. “I grew up wanting to serve the country and then the community.” At his new job, he is learning “a whole new set of skills,” including various legal aspects, viola- tions and policies, and a different radio alphabet, since the codes used on the police department’s radio differs from those he used in the military. “Out of everything I’ve done, police training is the most pressure I’ve felt to do it right and succeed,” he said. While military training was separate from operations and more extensive, with an empha- sis on “mind over matter,” Nunnally said law enforcement training must be picked up quickly and on the job. “There’s a lot more pressure to make sure you’re actually doing it right a lot sooner than you were in the military, because of the immediacy and reality of the situation,” Nunnally said. “You’re ba- sically on deployment every time you go to work, versus in the military you do a bunch of training and then you go deploy and do the real thing.” %HLQJSUR¿FLHQWRQWKHUDGLRLVMXVWRQHLP- portant aspect of his training. “You don’t want WRWLHXSDLUVSDFHVRRWKHURI¿FHVDQGSHUVRQQHO can have that for what they need.” 3ROLFH RI¿FHUV QRW RQO\ VHDUFK DQG DVVHVV threats but also evaluate code violations and or- dinances, he said. “There’s so much multitasking. I love it. It’s a really neat experience.” By Natalie St. John EO Media Group R.J. MARX PHOTO/CANNON BEACH GAZETTE Police Officer Matthew Nunnally and his wife Lisa, with Chief Jason Schermerhorn sworn it at the Cannon Beach City Council meeting April 5. Nunnally is no stranger to multitasking. While going to college in California, he ran a VPDOO IXJLWLYH UHFRYHU\ EXVLQHVV ZLWK ¿YH HP- ployees, contracting through various bail bonds- PDQWR¿QGSHRSOHZKRVNLSSHGEDLO ³7KDW ZDV P\ ¿UVW WLPH WDQJLEO\ ZRUNLQJ with civilian law enforcement,” he said. He received an associate’s degree from Sad- dleback College and a bachelor’s degree in psy- FKRORJ\ IURP$VX]D 3DFL¿F 8QLYHUVLW\ :KLOH juggling academics and a small business, he SOD\HGIRRWEDOOWUDFNDQG¿HOGDQGUXJE\ “All of my previous experiences are abso- lutely helping me,” he said, “everything from education to my real-world experience.” In California, Nunnally felt a pull to move back to his hometown. “I missed the coast so much,” he said. “I was grateful and excited to move back home.” Nunnally now lives in Astoria again, with his wife, Lisa, 7-year-old daughter, Macie, and 2-year- old son, Talon. He said his family is “amazing.” ³0\VRQMXVWORYHVVZRUG¿JKWVDQGEDWWOHV all day. I call him ‘my little Viking,’” he said. “My daughter is a sweetheart. She’s into mer- maids and unicorns right now. It’s a lot of fun. We do everything from hiking and going up in the woods to going to the arcade and the beach.” After coming back to Clatsop County after ten years of living elsewhere, Nunnally noticed an increase in drug problems, one issue he wants WRKRQHLQRQGXULQJKLVWLPHDVRI¿FHU+HUH- members businesses being open later and hav- ing “more access to things to do” when he was a teenager. “I absolutely want to get drugs off the street and enforce that because that’s something that is very impactful on the community and families,” he said. The problem is personal for him. “It seems like a lot of people I went to school with are really struggling (with drugs) and that is really unfortunate. I’ve noticed that it’s impacted a lot of really good families.” )LWWLQJO\ 1XQQDOO\ KDV EHJXQ ¿HOG WUDLQLQJ ZLWK2I¿FHU-RVK*UHJRU\ZKRDORQJZLWK. dog Gunner, is involved in drug enforcement. “It’s been awesome getting to work with him and Gunner,” Nunnally said. ,QEHWZHHQKLV¿YHZHHNVZLWK2I¿FHU*UHJ- RU\ DQG WUDLQLQJ ZLWK RWKHU RI¿FHUV 1XQQDOO\ will go to the police academy in May for 16 ZHHNVZKHUHKHZLOOUHFHLYHKLVFHUWL¿FDWH ³,¶PH[FLWHGWREHZRUNLQJIRU-DVRQ6FKHU- merhorn),” he said of the department’s po- lice chief. “He’s really done a lot of amaz- ing things not just for the department here but the whole community and is very involved.” Though he hopes to further his education to even- tually obtain a master’s degree in marriage and family therapy, Nunnally said he is committed to having “a long career” at the department. “I want WRIRFXVRQ¿UVWDQGIRUHPRVWEHLQJDSUR¿FLHQWSR- OLFHRI¿FHUKHUHDQGVHUYLQJWKHFRPPXQLW\ZHOO´ Nunnally was chosen out of 30 applicants. “This is the department I thought I was go- LQJWRKDYHWRZRUNVRPHZKHUHHOVHIRU¿YHWR 10 years, get experience and then make a lateral move over here,” he said. “Now I get to actually start where I wanted to end up.” SEAVIEW, Wash. — A type of dolphin rarely seen in this area died on the beach south of Seaview Sunday, April 10. Police received a report of a stranded dolphin that was injured, but still alive, around 8 p.m., Sgt. Tony Leonetti of the Washington Department of Fish and Wild- life said in an email. The male northern right whale dolphin “appeared to have a large laceration on its ¿QDQGDORQJLWVVLGH´/HRQHWWLVDLG5H- sponders attempted to put it back into surf, but the “dolphin appeared to be exhausted and was unable to swim.” :LOGOLIHRI¿FHUVQRWL¿HGPDULQHPDP- mal experts at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Sea- side Aquarium, but no one was immedi- ately available to respond to the animal, and experts believed it was already too late to save him. “There wasn’t anything we could do for him,” Tiffany Boothe of the Seaside Aquarium said. Boothe said responders don’t know yet if the cut caused the dol- phin’s death. “Most likely it was sick. When a ce- tacean is on the beach, there’s usually a reason. Most of the time they’re sick,” she said. Boothe is part of the Oregon Marine Mammal Stranding Network, a coalition of scientists and volunteers who help with rescue and recovery of stranded ocean mammals and research the caus- es of strandings. She and her aquarium colleague Keith Chandler coordinate re- sponses to beached whales, dolphins, sea lions, seals and other marine mammals on the northern Oregon and southern Wash- ington coasts. FRESH FOODS CANNON BEACH We are looking for about a total of 30 employees! Full and part time positions to come on board between now and June 1st: • 3 full time produce clerks • 3 barista positions • 3 deli clerk/baristas • Numerous grocery clerks and cashiers WORK IN A BRAND NEW BUILDING! COMPENSATION PACKAGE: • • • • • • • • • $12-$20 hr AFLAC Accident Policy (full paid) Paid vacation Paid sick time Matching 401k Flexible spending account program Employee discount Medical insurance (full time) Bonus program (certain positions) Cannon Beach and Manzanita locations