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About Cannon Beach gazette. (Cannon Beach, Or.) 1977-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 7, 2016)
October 7, 2016 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com • 5A It’s time to build a tsunami-safe campus GUEST COLUMN BONNIE HENDERSON buildings all over Oregon — on the coast in particular — including aging schools throughout the state. Minutes later, what’s left of the houses and schools in towns like Seaside and Gearhart will be washed away by a tsunami equivalent to the one that killed thousands of people in Japan in 2011. We don’t know if the next such quake will strike the Oregon coast in the next few years or in a few hundred years. But geologists tell us there is a high likeli- hood of it happening within the next 50 years. We know we are in the window. It is time to get ready. The Seaside School District is one of the last two districts on the Oregon Coast with schools still in the tsunami inundation zone. Lincoln City has moved all its schools to high ground. Waldport has relocated its high school from the mouth of the river to a nearby ridgetop. Neahkahnie High School is in the tsuna- mi zone, but unlike Seaside High School, Neahkahnie High School has a solid rock hillside right outside the building where students can evacuate. The challenges for the Seaside School District are unique. No other school district in Oregon — in fact, in the entire country — has three schools located in the tsunami inundation zone. Relocating the schools here is an expensive proposi- tion — and there’s no getting around it. The need to relocate the schools in the Seaside School District cannot be disputed. It has to happen, and the sooner the better. The sticking point, naturally, is the cost, which is not insigniicant. To be clear, I do not own property in the Seaside School District; I will not be affected by a property tax increase. But I want to point out some important facts to those who do. Moving the schools is not the only pressing need. Seaside, in particular, must start rebuilding some of its bridges to ensure that citizens leeing the tsunami will be able to reach high ground. But these are not competing priorities. They both need to be done. Right now, the proposal on the table is to relocate the schools. I urge you to vote yes on Reso- lution 4-185. Bonnie Henderson is the author of “The Next Tsunami: Living on a Restless Coast.” LETTERS Letters from Page 4A cannabis years ago. I did too. It is part of our history. I’ve used cannabis for 46 years and I’m now 64. They claim that there is no knowl- edge of the long term effects. That is just wrong. There are millions of folks in this coun- try just like me. Did it hold me back? Well, I earned a college degree and a graduate degree. I’ve managed to support myself and have a productive and hap- py life too. Our federal govern- ment has lied to all of us about cannabis. It started with that old movie “Reefer Madness” and continues to this day. It is not a schedule one narcotic, even though our federal government still classiies it that way. Some seem to feel that a cannabis store, if it is allowed, should be restricted to less de- sirable areas of Cannon Beach. I will agree with that when we subject alcohol to the same strictures. Can you imagine banning the sale and / or con- sumption of alcoholic beverag- es from our prime retail areas? I didn’t think so. It makes no difference where in town a cannabis store is located. By state law, no consumption of the product is allowed at the store. (We don’t drink at state liquor stores ei- ther, do we?) Why not let who- ever opens the store decide where to locate? It is just going to be a storefront like the many that we already have. Folks, cannabis is here to stay. We cannot afford to sim- ply put our heads into the sand that surrounds us. We need to be smart and control it in a positive way. Let’s not create unneed- ed regulation. Our capitalistic system will root out the weaker players. It always has. I had guests this summer like most of you did. Guess what they wanted? They wanted to be able to see a cannabis store, of course. They spent their allot- ted shopping time and dollars in Seaside. No shopping or dollars spent here. Is this what all of you local merchants want? I didn’t think so. We are right now driv- ing many of your potential cus- tomers away. The other thing that all of you cannabis haters are ignor- ing is the opportunity to tax the sale of cannabis. We can add a reasonable tax without killing all sales. Why not use it to fund something that we desperately Experience Family Dining in a Relaxed & Friendly Environment Serving Seafood, Pizza, Sandwiches, Espressos, Beer, Wine, Ice Cream and our Homemade Desserts M INI -S TORAGE SPACE AVAILABLE CANNON BEACH MINI-STORA GE Units Available 5’ x 10’ • 10’ x 10’ Contact Shawna at 503-436-2235 C ONSTRUCTION “Helping shape the character of Cannon Beach since 1973” Residential • Commercial • Remodeling New Construction • Storm Damage Repair Full Service Custom Cabinet Shop 503.436.2235 www.coasterconstruction.com • CCB# 150126 H EATING & C OOLING need, but no one wants to pay for. Something like affordable housing perhaps? The real truth that many of you continue to deny, is that many of your neighbors and friends have used cannabis for years. Remember prohibition? Your elders found ways to drink. It has been the same for us. Can- nabis prohibition has worked just as well. It has also created the same criminal class that al- cohol prohibition did. Isn’t it smarter to tax and control that what you cannot stop? We as a nation once came to that con- clusion regarding alcohol. More recently we as a State made that decision about cannabis. If you oppose cannabis, I’m sorry, but you lost. The majori- ty of us see the value in making it legal. Please don’t be sore losers like those who opposed alcohol. It is here to stay just as alcohol is. There is no going back from here. Now you can be obstruc- tionist and try to stop what will eventually happen anyhow, or you can embrace the change that has happened and be a pos- itive inluence on cannabis in Cannon Beach. Let’s keep our guests and tax dollars in Cannon Beach. Vote to make sure that cannabis can be sold in our town. John C. Huismann Cannon Beach Great performance Recently we attended open- ing night of “Don’t Dress for Dinner.” We thoroughly en- joyed the play, with its many unexpected twists and turns, and all of the actors and ac- tresses provided great per- formances. This was our irst time attending the Coaster Theatre Playhouse, which is cozy with good acoustics. We highly recommend this if you are up for a night of fun, laugh- ter and entertainment. We were also delighted with a delicious dinner at the Castaways before attending the performance. Steve and Donna Oberg Seaside Expert Service, Repairs & Installation Residential & Commercial Gas, Oil & Electric Furnaces Ductless Systems • Fireplaces Water Heaters • Heat Pumps & AC Licensed & Bonded Commercial Refrigeration Locally Owned & Operated Cannon Beach, Oregon 503-440-6975 coastheating@gmail.com L ANDSCAPING GARDENER arcadia organic landscaping & design 503.440.1491 arcadialandscaping@hotmail.com lcb 9071 P AINTING Dining on the North Coast 503.436.9551 Owned and Operated by the Cleary Family ROBERT CAIN LD, 45 Years of Experience TWO LOCATIONS SEASIDE & HILLSBORO 740 Ave H • Ste 2 • Seaside 232 NE Lincoln • Ste B • Hillsboro FREE CONSULTATION • Dentures for all ages, New, Partials and Custom Dentures • Dentures for implants • Relines & Repairs • Denture repairs done same day! • Personal service and attention to detail Open Wednesday and Friday • 9-4:30 • 503-738-7710 94.9 THE BRIDGE - MUSIC FIRST presents T HE T ED V AUGHN B LUES B AND LIVE IN CONCERT O CTOBER 29 TH AT 8 PM D OORS O PEN AT 6:30 PM On Stage at the Elks’s Lodge in downtown Seaside as part of the SDDA’s Boo’s Blues and Brews Halloween Happenings! Arrive in costume and bring two cans of food for the Seaside Pantry and get in Free! Listen to the Bridge and Win VIP tickets www.949thebridge.com 36 Years Experience Anderson Painting (503) 738-9989 • Cell (503) 440-2411 • Fax (503) 738-9337 PO Box 140 Seaside, Oregon 97138 www.andersonpainting.biz “Custom Finishing” L ANDSCAPING Laurelwood Compost • Mulch • Planting MacMix Soil Amendments YARD DEBRIS DROP-OFF OPEN Wednesday - Sunday for Lunch & Dinner 156 N. Hemlock • Cannon Beach Randy Anderson Licensed • Bonded • Insured CCB# 89453 We have a fabulous patio where you can enjoy the weather and your meal. “TO-GO” Orders Welcome CCB#199205 A nyone considering voting no on Resolution 4-185 — to build a new earthquake- and tsunami-safe school campus serving the children of Cannon Beach, Seaside and Gearhart — must not have seen the photo I saw, in the aftermath of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, of a drift line of colorful children’s backpacks in Hello Kitty and Superman themes, sparkling with seawater. They were left on the hillside in a curving line after the tsunami that killed those children receded. At Ookawa Ele- mentary School, the children had drilled many times about what to do in an earth- quake, but when 10 of the school’s 13 teachers were killed in the quake, it’s no wonder the kids didn’t have the leadership to make it to high enough ground before the tsunami that killed them struck. We now know that it’s only a matter of time before a quake and tsunami of similar magnitude strikes the Oregon Coast. The geological evidence, irst discovered only 30 years ago and a sur- prise to all of us, is now very clear. This will not be a tsunami of the size some coastal residents remember from 1964, caused by a quake more than 1,000 miles away in Alaska. This will be a tsunami generated by an earthquake along a fault line just off the Oregon. It will latten BUSINESS DIRECTORY (no Scotch Broom) 503-717-1454 Live Music • Wine Tasting 34154 HIGHWAY 26 SEASIDE, OR 271 N. Hemlock St., Cannon Beach 503.436.1539 • www.cafesweetbasils.com Laurelwood Farm PIG ‘N PANCAKE 223 S Hemlock 503-436-2851 7AM - 3PM Daily C ONSTRUCTION From hashbrown potatoes ground fresh daily and award-winning sourdough pancakes to homemade soups and clam chowder, you’ll fi nd delicious family friendly dining at the Pig ‘N Pancake. Over 35 breakfast varieties and a complete lunch menu, too. Our dining area overlooks a beautiful wetland area and downtown Cannon Beach. NORMA’S SEAFOOD & STEAK 20 N. Columbia, Seaside 503-738-4331 E XCAVATION • U NDERGROUND U TIITIES R OAD W ORK • F ILL M ATERIAL S ITE P REPARATION • R OCK OWNED AND OPERATED BY M IKE AND C ELINE M C E WAN 503-738-3569 34154 Hwy 26, Seaside, OR P.O. Box 2845, Gearhart, OR S ERVING THE P ACIFIC N ORTHWEST S INCE 1956 • CC48302 A DVERTISING Since 1976 discriminating diners have sought out this Seaside landmark. There’s a chalkboard fresh catchlist, exclusively natural Angus beef and a great regional wine list as well as local microbrews. From Steak & Lobster to Fish & Chips (and Chowder to die for) - this is worth the drive! 11am-10pm daily. Visit www.normasseaside.com TO PLACE YOUR AD HERE! ONLY $ 25 B OB M C E WAN C ONSTRUCTION , INC . per issue Seaside Office: 503-738-5561 Astoria Office: 503-325-3211 TO PLACE YOUR AD HERE! Seaside Office: 503-738-5561 Astoria Office: 503-325-3211 BUSINESS DIRECTORY
