April 7, 2017 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com • 3A
Cannon Beach welcomes new reporter
Visser brings
editing,
reporting
experience
Cannon Beach Gazette
For a college newspaper
editor, being thrown into a
firestorm was quite an expe-
rience.
Brenna Visser faced just
that when, as editor of the
Western Front — the week-
ly at the Western Washington
University — the president
of the Associated Students
received racially charged
threats. What ensued was
three months of competition
with national news outlets
about race relations on col-
lege campus in the U.S.
“I was editor-in-chief at
the time when we were re-
porting the fallout,” Visser
said. “It was a very emotion-
al experience dealing with
something as volatile as a
racial threat.”
Visser earned her bach-
elor’s degree in journalism
with honors early this month
and is now the South County
reporter for the Gazette and
Daily Astorian.
A former intern at the
Skagit Valley Herald, a
Washington daily, Visser’s
Brenna Visser
interest in journalism is a
lifelong one.
“I have always been fas-
cinated with people, which
I think is a big part of it,”
Visser said from the Ga-
zette’s Seaside office. “What
intrigues me with journalism
as a field is people call it ‘the
first draft of history.’ You get
to document a lot of the mo-
ments that would just be for-
gotten by the general mem-
ory, highlighting the stories
that otherwise wouldn’t be
told or wouldn’t be recog-
nized.”
At the Herald, Visser drew
readers’ attention with a fea-
ture story about the daughter
of a state trooper who died in
the line of duty. The daugh-
ter was so inspired by her
father’s sacrifice she deter-
mined to become a trooper
herself.
“It’s not breaking news,
it’s not about taxes or how
much money the budget has,
but it’s a story that proba-
bly wouldn’t have been told
without the work of journal-
ism, highlighting someone’s
personal struggle through
grief,” Visser said. “Being
able to give a community
that was pretty heart-broken
about this death a little bit
of a silver lining was pretty
gratifying.”
A native of Wenatchee,
Washington, Visser is a “Pa-
cific Northwest person, for
sure.”
Cannon Beach offered a
dream destination.
“My first impression was
that it was beautiful,” Visser
said. “I’d only been here un-
der the context of it being a
vacation place. Every other
time I’d been here, I’d seen it
for the excellent restaurants,
and the beautiful beaches
and the sunsets. I’m an out-
doorsy person, and there’s
lots of outdoorsy things to
do. And I’m drawn to local
journalism because of that
small-town feel you don’t get
in Seattle or Spokane or New
York City.”
Out-sized issues loom
in Cannon Beach, a city of
It’s beach season at Haystack Rock
Join the Haystack Rock
Awareness Program on the
beach, daily, during low tide,
now through the end of Octo-
ber. The program’s mission is
to protect, through education,
the intertidal and bird ecolo-
gy of the Marine Garden and
National Wildlife Refuge at
Haystack Rock.
HRAP rocky shore envi-
ronmental interpreters will be
on the beach, weather permit-
ting, during daily low tides
to educate visitors at Hay-
stack Rock about biodiversi-
ty found both on and around
the rock. The free public ed-
1,400 that bulges to hundreds
of thousands throughout the
course of the year.
Among topics on Visser’s
story list are the city budget,
parking and traffic, fire and
public safety, emergency pre-
paredness, the arts, the new
Cannon Beach Academy —
and the unique personalities
that make Cannon Beach a
destination locale.
“The issues that stood out
to me the most are the debate
between preservation of the
environment versus meeting
the needs of space for people,
whether that be for housing,
for businesses or jobs,” Viss-
er said. “It’s a constant bal-
ancing act between preserv-
ing the reasons for people to
come here but also making
this place livable for the peo-
ple that are here.
“So far, I’ve been telling
people this place is uncharac-
teristically nice,” she added.
“Everywhere you go peo-
ple are trying to make your
day better. I’m excited to be
here.”
Got a story?
“Call the office,” Visser
said. “Let me know what’s
going on. I’m new here and
I’m doing my best to get to
know how this community
works. The best way to do
that is come and talk with
me.”
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Riders were shaken up after an accident on Highway
101 on Monday, April 3.
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Responders at the scene of the accident.
Passengers ‘shaken
but not injured’
Arts association presents
Frame of Reference
ucation program changes as
the seasons change with the
arrival and departure of var-
ious animals to the area. The
program offers bird scopes,
an interactive visitor table
with a microscope and many
other fun and exciting educa-
tional opportunities. Teachers,
instructors, or groups inter-
ested in a field trip or tour of
the rock can register online
through the city website.
For more information,
contact program coordinator
Melissa Keyser at 503-436-
8060 or email hrap@ci.can-
non-beach.or.us.
The Cannon Beach Arts
Association is seeking sub-
missions for a May juried
show, Frame of Reference,
which will feature contem-
porary artwork that blends
text and image. From
Egyptian
hieroglyphics
to contemporary graph-
ic novels cultures across
centuries utilized various
forms of text and image
for communication. The
exhibit will be on display
May 5 to June 12 at the
Cannon Beach Gallery
On Monday, April 3, at
3:22 p.m., Cannon Beach
Fire and Rescue responded
to an accident at milepost
30.5 on Highway 101 af-
ter a school bus and a car
accident. The bus was car-
rying schoolchildren, Can-
non Beach Fire Chief Matt
Benedict said Tuesday.
According to the de-
partment, Cannon Beach
Fire Division Chief Marc
Reckmann determined ear-
ly on that passengers were
shaken but not injured.
located at 1064 S. Hem-
lock St. and there will be
a reception on May 6 from
6 to 8 p.m. Artists are en-
couraged to submit their
work on Tuesday, May 2,
or Wednesday, May 3, at
the gallery. Selections will
made on May 3 by juror
Esther Moberg with unse-
lected work collected on
Thursday, May 4, 10 a.m.
to 4 p.m. Unsold works
can be collected June 11.
For more information,
visit cannonbeacharts.org.
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@pacifier.com
Coastal Advantage
503.436.1777 • CoastalAdvantage.com
Egrane Brown
Susan Tone
Broker
c: 503.440.1648
e: egranebrown@gmail.com
Broker
c: 503.354.4072
e: suanetone@nehalemtel.net
Maryann Sinkler
Andrea Mace
Geri Lane
Broker
c. 503.440.9280
e: maryanns@remax.net
Broker
c. 503-440-4024
e: Andrea.k.mace@remax.net
Broker
c: 503.480.9846
e: gerilane@remax.net
Hilary Herman
Shelley Parker
Broker
c: 503-791-4718
e: HilaryHerman@hotmail.com
Broker
c: 503-739-1977
e: Shelley.Parker@mail.com
NOW WITH 2 LOCATIONS TO SERVE YOU!
219 N. Hemlock in Downtown Cannon Beach 503.436.1777
430 Laneda in Downtown Manzanita 503.368.1777
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Member of 2 MLS Systems Each office is independently owned & operated
89121 PINEHURST
79976 PACIFIC RD
ARCH CAPE OCEAN FRONT
724 N PROM
LI NE
ST W
IN
G
780 OAK ST
None were taken to the
hospital for treatment.
Joining the response
was Cannon Beach Fire
personnel Chief Matt
Benedict, firefighter Josi-
ah Norris, Keaton Walde
and Shaunna White, Can-
non Beach Police officers
James Jordan and Matthew
Nunnally, Oregon State
Police, Clatsop County
Sheriff’s Office, Seaside
dispatch, Oregon Depart-
ment of Transportation and
Medix.
SALE
PENDING
SALE
PENDING
Cannon Beach • $1,990,000
Gearhart • $1,499,999
Arch Cape • $1,325,000
Arch Cape • $799,000
Seaside • $799,000
151 NELCHINA
123 S HEMLOCK #201
4488 S HEMLOCK
311 MARION AVE
BREAKERS POINT CONDOS #203
NEW
PRICE
NEW
PRICE
Cannon Beach • $789,000
Cannon Beach • $759,000
BREAKERS POINT/OCEAN FRONT #552
1631 S. SPRUCE
NEW
PRICE
Cannon Beach • $499,000
80115 PACIFIC RD
2787 S HEMLOCK
Gearhart • $584,900
Cannon Beach • $550,000
352 SUNSET
576 6TH STREET
SCAN
HERE
to go
to our
website
191 MADISON
SALE
PENDING
Cannon Beach • $479,000
Cannon Beach • $479,000
9180 WINDWARD LANE
31983 CEDAR
LI NE
ST W
IN
G
Cannon Beach • $549,000
Cannon Beach • $599,000
SALE
PENDING
SALE
PENDING
Cannon Beach • $465,000
Cannon Beach • $464,900
Manzanita • $429,000
Arch Cape • $399,000
644 SPRUCE
9010 SANDPIPER
656 11TH STREET
3134 N HWY 101
34090 PINTAIL AVE
LI NE
ST W
IN
G
Arch Cape • $479,000
SALE
PENDING
Cannon Beach • $399,000
Manzanita • $359,000
Astoria • $345,000
Gearhart • $299,500
“Real Estate standards for those with ‘Higher’ Expectations.
Nehalem • $219,000
above the crowd!”