June 16, 2017 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com • 3A
In the heat of war
Author brings
WW II to life
By Rebecca Herren
Cannon Beach Gazette
REX AMOS/SUBMITTED PHOTO
Boat washed ashore at Les Shirley Park on Friday, June 9.
Boat washes ashore
in Cannon Beach
The U.S. Coast Guard re-
moved two mariners from a
40-foot sailboat before it took
on water while in tow off
the Oregon Coast near Tilla-
mook Head Thursday, June
8. Watchstanders with Sector
Columbia River in Warrenton
received word at 10:26 p.m.
Wednesday from the crew of
the El Corazon that the vessel
had lost propulsion about 15
miles off the coast near Can-
non Beach. Cannon Beach
Police Chief Jason Schermer-
horn reported on June 9 that
the sailboat washed up just
north of Cannon Beach.
When history meets fic-
tion, you get Brian Ratty. He
is an award-winning author
who writes adventure stories
surrounded with historical
backdrops. His books in-
clude “Destination Astoria,”
“Tillamook Passage” and
the Dutch Clarke Trilogy:
“The Early Years,” a story
of surviving the British Co-
lumbia wilderness in 1941;
“The War Years,” a story of
combat photography in the
Pacific during World War
II; and “Voyage of Atone-
ment,” three stories of high
sea adventure and the final
installation in the trilogy.
“Voyage of Atonement”
is Ratty’s latest book and
one of the subjects during his
presentation at the Seaside
Public Library on June 1. He
began with background of
his early life, explained why
he writes and discussed the
process of historical fiction.
Ratty refers to his books
as “powerful stories of our
past that gave birth to our fu-
ture.” He writes 90 percent
historical and 10 percent fic-
tion, and considers himself a
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Local author Brian Ratty
signs books for fans and
history enthusiasts.
storyteller, following the ex-
ample of his favorite writer
Jack London.
“I write what I like to
read — historical fiction
rich with bold characters
and powerful story lines,” he
said, adding that he believes
“good historical fiction en-
tertains and enlightens.” He
says the characters within
the story — real or imagined
— are the glue that holds the
storyline together, moving
the plot forward; whereas it
is the role of the events to tie
the story together and pro-
vide an exciting, memorable
read of history.
“This method of writing
is not a genre, but a tech-
nique of storytelling that
dates back to the earliest
forms of verbal and written
communications,” says Rat-
ty, noting that native petro-
glyphs were a way of docu-
menting some of the earliest
historical fiction.
Police department tries out new emergency message system
Emergency
advisories now
available via text
By Brenna Visser
Cannon Beach Gazette
Residents of Cannon Beach
will now have the option to re-
ceive text messages in an emer-
gency thanks to a new message
system facilitated by Cannon
Beach Police Department.
The system, named Nixle,
is a free information service
that allows law enforcement,
fire departments, municipal
governments and other com-
munity agencies to send out
text or email advisories.
While the service can be
used to disseminate all kinds
of advisories, Cannon Beach
Police Chief Jason Schermer-
horn said for now the plan is
to use it for emergencies, such
as extreme weather, traffic
issues, missing persons cas-
es, major crime or fraudulent
business transactions. Those
who want the alerts just need
to create an account with Nix-
‘If there is a bad traffic accident,
and we get a Nixle message out to
the public explaining the situation,
it saves them a lot of stress…’
Police Chief Jason Schermerhorn
le and offer a phone number or
email.
The Seaside Police De-
partment and Clatsop Coun-
ty Emergency Management
already use similar systems.
More than 4,600 local munic-
ipalities have signed on to the
program since its founding
in 2007, according to Nixle’s
website.
“Knowledge is key,” Scher-
merhorn said. “ If there is a bad
traffic accident, and we get a
Nixle message out to the public
explaining the situation, it saves
them a lot of stress, and saves
our front office from answering
phone calls to answer the same
question over and over.”
In the past. first respond-
ers ran into issues with mass
communication during major
storms, Schermerhorn said.
Using this program will help
spread hyperlocal alerts that
maybe wouldn’t make the ra-
dar of a general county emer-
gency notification system.
Another useful application
Schermerhorn anticipates is
the ability to inform businesses
more quickly about any fraud-
ulent checks or cash that enter
the region.
“If we get reports of coun-
terfeit in the county, we can
alert business leaders here all
at once instead of calling each
business separately,” Scher-
merhorn said.
For now, Lt. Chris Wil-
bur and administrative assis-
tant Valerie Mannix will be
in charge of distributing and
managing these messages.
If residents want to sign up,
Schermerhorn said they can
find the link to do so on the
Cannon Beach Police Depart-
ment Facebook page or on the
city’s website.
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