HAPPY
DECEMBER 29, 2017 • VOL. 41, ISSUE 26
WWW.CANNONBEACHGAZETTE.COM
NEW YE
AR!
COMPLIMENTARY COPY
Looking back on 2017 in Cannon Beach
Academy gets a start after volunteer efforts
Cannon Beach Gazette
look at some of the top issues ahead in
2018.
T he
Water rates
By Brenna Visser and R.J. Marx
BRENNA VISSER/CANNON BEACH GAZETTE
Community members watch as a class is held at the
grand opening of the Cannon Beach Academy.
year 2017 broughT change to
Cannon Beach and a look into the future.
At long last the Cannon Beach Academy
opened its door to students. Down the road,
the city’s first cannabis retail store opened.
One city manager — Brant Kucera — left
and a new manager arrived to take on the
city’s key issues for the future. Here is a
Water rates — who should pay and how
much — was among the city’s top stories of
2017. After years of being kicked down the
road and seeing shortfalls made up by trans-
fers to the general fund, councilors have be-
gun to absorb staff advice and recognize the
need for hikes water and stormwater.
Festivities ring in the holidays at History Center and Museum
Christmas in Cannon Beach
The urgency is reflected in recent reports
from the public works committee showing
deteriorating systems that will likely re-
quire costly repairs in the not-so-distant
future. Distributing the cost burden fairly is
of top concern — and it all depends on who
you talk to.
At a Dec. 12 work session, the commit-
tee recommended to fund 50 percent of all
projects detailed in the water master plan
and 75 percent in the wastewater plan with
See 2017, Page 5A
Blueprint
for the
future
School district releases
schematics for new
Seaside campus
By R.J. Marx
Cannon Beach Gazette
COLIN MURPHEY/EO MEDIA GROUP
Kayla Bakker and Quinn Scalabrin prepare to make decorations at the holiday celebration event at the Cannon
Beach History Center and Museum.
By Brenna Visser
Cannon Beach Gazette
K
ids and parents alike come out to ring in Christmas
cheer at the Cannon Beach History Center and Museum
holiday party Saturday, Dec. 23.
Adorned with a fully-stocked cider and hot cocoa bar,
the holiday open house featured craft making stations to
make glittery Christmas trees or reindeers out of candy
canes, as well as a yuletide-themed photo booth.
“It’s our way of giving back to everyone who supported
us throughout the year,” outreach coordinator Liz Johnson
said.
While the museum has had a holiday open house for
years, this year museum staff decided to include new activ-
ities like face-painting and a Christmas story time for both
kids and adults.
“We wanted to make this event more family friendly,”
Johnson said. “Last year we had a story time, but only
adults showed up for it. So we decided this year to do some-
thing for both kids and adults.”
Children at the event were read stories like “Pete the
Cat Saves Christmas” and “Bad Kitty Christmas,” while
Executive Director Elaine Trucke recounted the tale of
See Christmas, Page 9A
“A work in progress,” is how Seaside
School District Superintendent Sheila Ro-
ley referred to campus design plans deliv-
ered by BRIC Architecture Inc. last week.
The project’s first schematics and drawings
include interior renderings of the elemen-
tary, middle and high school campuses and
maps of playing fields and outdoor spaces.
“Everything is still a work in progress,”
Roley said. “We are in rapid fine-tuning.”
The building footprint is unlikely to
change, but “tweaks” are likely to be deliv-
ered periodically, Roley added. “We have a
challenging building site, so we are maxi-
mizing the areas with the least slope. Most
of the work now is focused on refining the
interior configuration of the building to
meet instructional needs.”
The high school features a main gym
that can be divided into two full size courts,
an auxiliary gym room and a wrestling and
exercise room. The middle school has one
main gym. Additional middle school gym
space will be added as revenues allow, Ro-
ley said.
Shared program areas support both the
middle school and the high school, and are
located in the building between the two
schools. Included in these are mechanical
and heating systems and the cooking facil-
ities.
The school administration offices also
have some shared spaces such as reception,
but where the students would access the
middle school or high school offices during
the day will be through separate entrances
from the classroom wings, Roley said.
The classrooms that are shared are mu-
sic and band. The teachers in these pro-
grams currently travel between Seaside
High School and Broadway, but now each
program will have its own space. Middle
school and high school bands and choirs
will still be independent. The one area that
will serve all students during the day is the
library.
Both east and west entry plazas include
concrete paving with accent scores and
PAID
PERMIT NO. 97
ASTORIA, OR
PRSRT STD
US POSTAGE
See School, Page 9A
DOG RESCUED OFF CLIFF NEAR INDIAN BEACH
Felix went missing on
Christmas Day hike
By Brenna Visser
Cannon Beach Gazette
In a dramatic rescue, a dog stranded over-
night on a cliff north of Indian Beach was
brought to safety Tuesday morning.
Felix, a 2-year-old border collie, was res-
cued unharmed from a precipice 60 feet from
the crest of the Clatsop Loop trail by the Sea-
side rope and rescue team.
He had gone missing around 3 p.m. Mon-
day during a Christmas Day hike.
“He doesn’t just leave, it’s not like how he
is,” said Sarah Stremming, Felix’s owner. “He
does like water, so I figured he went over the
cliff. He would have come back to me when I
called if he hadn’t.”
For the rest of the evening, Seattle resident
Stremming and a group of friends searched the
cliffside to no avail.
“We thought we knew where he was, we
just couldn’t see him and he couldn’t hear us
due to the tides,” she said.
Stremming posted a call to action on her
Facebook page Monday night in an effort to
reach out to what she called “an extensive net-
work of dog lovers.” By Tuesday morning,
Cannon Beach Fire Chief Matt Benedict had
a flood of messages waiting on the Cannon
Beach Fire and Rescue Facebook page from
Stremming’s concerned friends.
Shortly after 8 a.m., Hamlet Fire Chief Matt
Verley used his private drone to locate Felix. It
was determined the only way to reach him was
by scaling the cliff face with ropes.
Search and rescue missions aren’t uncom-
mon in and around Ecola State Park. On aver-
age, the rope and rescue team retrieves about
six to 12 hikers each year, Benedict said.
But most happen in the summer, and this
was the first high-angle rescue this year, Bene-
dict said — a type of rescue that is steeper and
See Dog, Page 5A
COLIN MURPHEY/EO MEDIA GROUP
Felix the dog is reunited with his owner Sarah Stremming
after he was rescued Tuesday at Ecola State Park by mem-
bers of the Seaside rope and rescue team after falling over a
cliff Monday afternoon.