September 22, 2017 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com • 3A
Cooking burgers for canines
Burger with
a cop event
fundraises for
K-9 unit
By Brenna Visser
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Cannon Beach Gazette
A couple of dozen com-
munity members came out to
support Cannon Beach Police
Department’s K-9 unit pro-
gram with third annual “Burg-
er with a Cop” event Wednes-
day, Sept. 6.
People ate burgers pre-
pared by the police offi cers
outside of Cannon Beach Va-
cation Rentals and enjoyed a
drug-bust skills demonstra-
tion from the K-9 unit, Gun-
ner.
“The event is pretty simi-
lar in nature to National Night
Out. It’s an opportunity for
our citizens to talk to us,”
Cannon Beach Police Chief
Jason Schermerhorn said.
“But it’s also an opportuni-
ty to showcase our K-9 unit.
People want to come see the
dog, because they support the
fact we even have the pro-
gram.”
Cannon Beach’s one K-9
unit, a 75-pound brown lab, is
fully supported by donations.
The program can cost approx-
imately $25,000, which cov-
ers the cost of the dog, train-
ing, veterinary care, food,
housing, a police canine kit,
handler uniform and patrol car
modifi cations for the canine.
Keeping up-to-date with all
the training necessary to stay
in shape for drug searches in
itself is a huge commitment,
Schermerhorn said.
But this year, the depart-
ment wants to fundraise
around $30,000 to purchase
a new K-9 police vehicle,
which requires some special-
ized features. The current car
is one of the oldest in the de-
partment’s fl eet with almost
140,000 miles logged on, and
more wear and tear tacked on
from running the vehicle at
all times to keep the tempera-
ture regulated for the canine,
One of the elk killed aft er a collision with an aircraft at
Nehalem Bay State Park.
Pilot hits elk during
landing in Nehalem
Cannon Beach Gazette
BRENNA VISSER/CANNON BEACH GAZETTE
Corporal Joseph Bowman plays with Gunner, Cannon Beach Police Department’s K-9
unit, at the third annual Burger with a Cop event.
BRENNA VISSER/CANNON BEACH GAZETTE
Th e Burger with a Cop event raised money for funding a
new K-9 offi cer vehicle.
Schermerhorn said.
“There are drugs in ev-
ery town, even small ones
like Cannon Beach,” Scher-
merhorn said. “And we want
to keep drugs from coming
through by any means neces-
sary.”
This is Corporal Joe Bow-
man’s fi rst year with Gunner,
who took over as the K-9 unit
offi cer after the former offi cer
Josh Gregory transferred to
Seaside Police Department.
The training is rigorous,
and when the two go out on
mutual aid calls for drug
searches the job requires pre-
cision and discipline. But be-
coming a team with Gunner
wasn’t all hard work, Bow-
man said.
“The fi rst two weeks you
focus on bonding. Food is
the way to his heart,” he said.
“He’s benefi cial, because in
the winter when it’s slow?
I’ll always have a friend. I’ve
spent a lot of night talk to elk
at 2 a.m.”
Because Cannon Beach
only has one K-9 unit, Bow-
man said it can be diffi cult to
balance regular patrol duties
and K-9 offi cer responsibili-
ties.
“Sometimes when I’m on
normal patrol and we get a
mutual aid call for Gunner, I
can’t because I’ll be the only
one on duty and can’t leave.”
But despite the extra re-
sponsibilities, his unexpected
leap into a life with Gunner
has been positive.
“We spend a lot of time
training to watch for his alerts
— different breathing, ears
changing,” he said. “But he
reads me way better than I
read him. He’s the one teach-
ing me.”
Schermerhorn said he
hopes to have more fundrais-
ing events throughout the year
and to work with local deal-
erships when purchasing the
new vehicle.
Body of hiker who fell in
Oswald West recovered
EO Media Group
The body of Joseph Les-
cene, who fell to his death
off a cliff in Oswald West
State Park Sept. 10, was re-
covered Tuesday at Short
Sands Beach.
Oregon State Police re-
ceived a report Tuesday
morning of a deceased man
washed up on the beach.
The state police and Ne-
halem Bay Fire & Rescue
responded and located the
body, which was positively
identifi ed as Lescene. The
Tillamook County Medical
Examiner assisted with the
investigation.
Lescene, 51, of British
Columbia, was hiking with
his wife near Devil’s Caul-
dron when he reportedly lost
his footing and fell 800 feet
to the water below. No foul
play is suspected.
Nehalem Bay Fire &
Rescue recovered the back-
pack he was wearing in the
water below the cliff. The
Coast Guard searched with
lifeboats and a helicopter but
was unable to fi nd his body.
A GoFundMe account
was set up by family friend
Nancy Sheppard at http://
tinyurl.com/4JoesFamily to
help his wife, Sarah, and two
daughters, Ofelia and Sofi a.
FALL IS SWEET!
Active
Members
of
What is RMLS? As
the Northwest’s largest
REALTOR®-owned
Multiple Listing
Service(MLS), RMLS serves
approximately 10,000 Real
Estate Professionals in over
2,200 offices licensed in Oregon
and Washington.
A pilot landing his sin-
gle-engine plane Saturday,
Sept. 10, at the Nehalem
Bay State Park airstrip hit
and killed two elk.
Oregon State Police said
the pilot was Todd William
Rudberg, 49, from Shore-
line, Washington. Valerie
Anne Villacin, 43, of Seat-
tle, was a passenger.
The plane was totaled in
the crash, according to state
police, but Rudberg and Vil-
lacin were not injured.
State police said Rudberg
had landed his 2003 Van’s
Aircraft RV8 at about 5:15
p.m. and was slowing down
when an elk ran in front of
the plane. The pilot, accord-
ing to state police, tried to
speed up and fl y over the elk,
but struck the animal with
the propeller and right side
landing gear. Another elk
was hit by the left wing of
the plane before the aircraft
spun around and stopped.
The Federal Aviation Ad-
ministration is investigating
the crash.
Visit us for all your
Halloween Treats,
Carmel Apples
& Great
Decorations!
NS •
O
I
T
A
C
O
L
nt)
• 2
& Convenie
(Easy
Downtown
Cannon Beach
256 N. Hemlock St
CLASSIC OCEAN FRONT BEACH HOUSE
CANNON BEACH CUSTOM OCEAN FRONT
$1,899,000
$1,895,000
&
Seaside
Outlet Mall
WE CAN SHIP
CANDY DIRECTLY
TO YOU!
EXTRA
LOT
OVERSIZED
LOT
ARCH CAPE OCEANFRONT
CANNON BEACH VACATION RENTAL
$1,099,000
$750,000
NEW
PRICE
CANNON BEACH ESCAPE
AFFORDABLE CANNON BEACH OCEANFRONT
$539,000
$499,000
CANNON BEACH OCEANVIEW CONDO
CANNON BEACH OCEANVIEW LOT
$489,000
$485,000
NEWER ARCH CAPE BEACH HOUSE
CANNON BEACH
$399,999
$302,500
296 N. Spruce St. • PO Box 924 • Cannon Beach, Oregon 97110
(503) 436-0451 • (503) 436-2913 FAX
www.duanejohnson.com
CB: 503-436-2641
Seaside: 503-738-7828
www.brucescandy.com
OF PLACES YOU CAN PICK UP A
COMPLIMENTARY COPY OF THE
LOTS G
CANNON BEACH
AZETTE
CANNON BEACH
Cannon Beach Bakery
Cannon Beach Book Company
Cannon Beach Beach Store
Cannon Beach Chamber of Commerce
Cannon Beach City Hall
Cannon Beach Conference Center
Cannon Beach Family Market
Cannon Beach Historical Center
Cannon Beach Hotel
Cannon Beach Liquor Store
Cannon Beach Property Management
Cannon Beach RV Resort
Cannon Beach Vacation Rentals
Cascade Sotheby’s Realty
Duane Johnson Real Estate
Ecola Creek Lodge
EVOO
Hallmark Inns & Resorts
Inn at Cannon Beach
Inn at Haystack Rock
Mariner Market
Martin Hospitality
Mo’s Restaurant
Picnic Basket
Pig ‘N Pancake
Purple Moon/Morris’ Fireside Restaurant
RE/MAX Coastal Advantage
Sea Ranch RV Park
Sea Sprite at Haystack RockSea Sprite on the Estuary
Surfcrest Market
Sweet Basil’s Cafe & The Wine Bar
The Land’s End Motel
The Ocean Lodge
The Stephanie Inn
The Waves Motel
Tolovana Inn
US Bank/La Luna Loca
Windermere Stellar Real Estate
SEASIDE
Providence Seaside Hospital
Rite Aid
Safeway
Seaside Outlet Center
Seaside Signal/Cannon Beach Gazette Office
GEARHART
Windermere Stellar Real Estate
4,000 COPIES DISTRIBUTED EACH MONTH