2A • June 17, 2016 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com
Don’t touch seal
pups on the beach
It’s harbor
seal pupping
season
By Lyra Fontaine
Cannon Beach Gazette
SUBMITTED PHOTO
It is peak time for harbor
seal pups to show up alone
on Oregon beaches.
The Seaside Aquarium
has received at least a dozen
reports this spring of baby
harbor seals spotted on the
beach, general manager
Keith Chandler said.
The irst seal pups were
spotted in late April. The
harbor seal pupping season
is usually from April through
August, Tiffany Boothe, of
the Seaside Aquarium, said.
Although the baby seals
might look cute or lone-
ly, beachgoers should give
them space and not touch
them. They can report the
seal sighting to the Seaside
Aquarium at 503-738-6211.
The aquarium then posts
signs around the seal so it
can rest.
“We try to get out and
put signs around them to get
people to just leave it alone,
because the beach is where
they live,” Chandler said.
“It’s like their bedroom.”
DANNY MILLER/EO MEDIA GROUP
Jessica Smith appeared in Clatsop County Circuit Court with her lawyers for a hearing Tuesday on her mental itness.
Judge rules Jessica Smith
competent to stand trial
Ruling comes after
Oregon State Hospital
report
By Kyle Spurr
EO Media Group
A Clatsop County Circuit Court
judged determined Tuesday that accused
murderer Jessica Smith is competent to
stand trial.
Judge Cindee Matyas accepted an Or-
egon State Hospital report that conclud-
ed Smith is able to aid and assist in her
defense.
Matyas had said in previous court
hearings she did not observe any unusual
behavior from Smith, but still found rea-
son to doubt her mental itness to proceed
based on a suicide attempt in jail and an
inconclusive report from court-appointed
psychologist Brooke Howard.
Howard found Smith suffers from
post-traumatic stress disorder, but could
not conclude whether she is unable or
unwilling to aid and assist in her defense.
The psychologist recommended
Smith be sent to the state hospital, where
she was observed and evaluated in May.
The 64-page report from the state hospi-
tal was sent to the court on Friday.
Based on the state hospital’s indings,
Smith’s defense lawyers Lynne Morgan
and William Falls withdrew their request
for a hearing to determine her itness to
proceed.
Smith, 42, of Vancouver, Washington,
is accused of murdering her toddler and
attempting to kill her teenager at a Can-
non Beach resort in 2014. She remains
in custody in Clatsop County Jail, where
she is off suicide watch and in a regular
jail cell.
At the court hearing Tuesday, District
Attorney Josh Marquis requested Clatsop
County Jail Dr. Roy Little be allowed to
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503.436.1777 • Coastal Advantage.com
review the reports from the state hospital
and court-appointed psychologist to as-
sist in Smith’s care while she awaits trial
in June 2017.
Allowing jail staff to review inmate
medical records is important for other
ailments such as diabetes or hepatitis C,
Marquis said. As an example, Marquis
noted Smith has complained of severe
back problems.
Smith’s defense lawyers initially ob-
jected to Dr. Little reviewing the reports.
“Ms. Smith was on suicide watch, she
was in dire conditions,” Morgan said. “It
was our view that whatever we could do
to get her the help she needed was appro-
priate, but things have changed.”
After consulting with the doctor pri-
vately Tuesday, the defense lawyers
agreed to open the records to him.
The reports and evaluations remain
sealed to the public.
Smith is due back in court next month
for pretrial hearings.
A harbor seal pup on the
Seaside beach.
The harbor seal pups are
typically not stranded, but
waiting to be cared for and
fed by their mothers — who
are likely waiting for human
activity to clear out before
returning to shore.
“They try to go to an iso-
lated place where there are
colonies of seals, but some-
times they can’t plan where
they are born,” Chandler
said.
After harbor seals are
weaned from maternal care
and catch their own food,
they may often come ashore
to rest on land.
In whale news, the aquar-
ium received a report that
some orcas recently went
to Tillamook Bay, Chandler
said. While most orcas are
located near Vancouver Is-
land, a group of transient or-
cas “cruise up and down the
coast” and feed on marine
mammals.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
Monday, June 21
Monday, Aug. 8
Seaside School District, 6 p.m.,
1801 S. Franklin St.
Cannon Beach Rural Fire Protec-
tion District, 6 p.m., Fire-Rescue
Main Station, 188 Sunset Ave.
Tuesday, July 5
Tuesday, Aug. 9
Cannon Beach City Council, 7
p.m., City Hall, 163 E. Gower St.
Cannon Beach City Council, 5:30
p.m., work session, City Hall, 163
E. Gower St.
Cannon Beach Rural Fire Protec-
tion District, 6 p.m., Fire-Rescue
Main Station, 188 Sunset Ave.
Tuesday, Sept. 6
Cannon Beach City Council, 7
p.m., City Hall, 163 E. Gower St.
Tuesday, July 12
Monday, Sept. 12
Cannon Beach City Council, 5:30
p.m., work session, City Hall, 163
E. Gower St.
Cannon Beach Rural Fire Protec-
tion District, 6 p.m., Fire-Rescue
Main Station, 188 Sunset Ave.
Tuesday, Aug. 2
Tuesday, Sept. 13
Cannon Beach City Council, 7
p.m., City Hall, 163 E. Gower St.
Cannon Beach City Council, 5:30 p.m.,
work session, City Hall, 163 E. Gower St.
Alaina Giguiere
Marty Giguiere
Owner/Principal Broker
c: 503.440.3202
f: 877.812.1126
e: alainagiguiere@mac.com
Owner/Broker
c: 503.440.7676
o: 503.43t6.1777
e: mr007@pacifi er.com
Susan Tone
Maryann Sinkler
Andrea Mace
Broker
c: 503.354.4072
e: suanetone@nehalemtel.net
Broker
c. 503.440.9280
e: maryanns@remax.net
Broker
c. 503-440-4024
e: Andrea.k.mace@remax.net
Egrane Brown
Broker
c: 503.440.1648
e: egranebrown@gmail.com
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