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About Cannon Beach gazette. (Cannon Beach, Or.) 1977-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 24, 2018)
VOL. 42, ISSUE 17 WWW.CANNONBEACHGAZETTE.COM MICROPLASTICS, MACRO PROBLEM AUGUST 24, 2018 Affordable housing amendments reconsidered By Brenna Visser Cannon Beach Gazette A pared-down version of an affordable housing package that was rejected by the City Council earlier this year will be presented at a public hearing in September. The original proposal, brought to the council by Mike Clark of Coaster Properties and former City Planner Rain- mar Bartl, asked the city to reduce parking and landscap- ing requirements, as well as relax height restrictions in the residential zone designated for multifamily housing. The proposal would have also allowed multifamily housing in a commercial zone as an outright use. See Housing, Page 6A JOSH COMO BRENNA VISSER PHOTOS Heidi Perez scoops sand through a microplastic filter during a beach cleanup event Aug. 15 with her Acumed co-workers Rick Lauricella and Karen Krueger. Hillsboro volunteers help to clean up Cannon Beach sands By Brenna Visser Cannon Beach Gazette T he sands in front of Hay- stack Rock are a little cleaner than they were a week ago. About 80 pounds of microplastics were sifted and removed by 50 volunteers on Wednesday, Aug. 15. The event was sponsored by Sea Turtles For- ever, which has been removing the tiny, colored plastics from the area since the beginning of summer. Usually, the team consists of the nonprofit’s founder, Marc Ward, and his small team of about a doz- en volunteers. But last week, em- ployees from the Hillsboro-based medical supply company Acumed came to help out. “I just love the beach,” Acumed employee Jesse Ramirez said while sifting sand through a specially de- signed microplastic screening de- vice. “I grew up in Oregon, and we came down here every weekend. So I like to do what I can.” Doing environmental volunteer projects is a part of Acumed’s mis- sion, CEO Sharon Wolfington said. In the past, the company has partic- ipated in various cleanup projects with Hillsboro Parks and Recre- ation and other wetland mitigation projects. See Plastics, Page 6A From left: Josh Como, James Hutchinson and Lindsey Wolfe take a break while fighting the Memaloose2 Fire on Aug. 12. FIRED UP Clatsop County firefighters respond to blazes across the state By Brenna Visser Cannon Beach Gazette Cannon Beach volunteer firefighter Jordan Spencer re- members watching the Eagle Creek Fire on TV last year, feeling frustrated as he saw the blaze ravage the Columbia River Gorge. All he wanted to do was help. So when Spencer got the call to respond to the South Valley Fire earlier this month, he was excited. “It was my chance to do something,” he said. Spencer was one of dozens of Clatsop County firefight- ers deployed to fires around the state this summer. So far, four task forces have been sent to help combat the Substa- tion, South Valley and Memaloose 2 fires. Before 2017, it was uncommon for a local firefighter to get called out to a fire outside the county. Last year was a record-setting year, with more than 50 firefighters sent to fight multiple fires in Oregon and California. Now, with three conflagration calls already under their belts before mid-August, this year is on pace to be just as busy. ‘It’s surreal’ The South Valley Fire in Dufur was Max Savage’s first fire outside of the county. When his name was called out at a drill practice and he had a half hour to get ready, Savage wasn’t sure what to expect. But when he showed up to the scene about 1 a.m., he didn’t have to wonder long. The task force was immediate- ly sent out to patrol, where Savage encountered a large spot fire and got his first chance to engage a wildfire directly. Scott Kaiser and Jesse Ramirez sift microplastics out of the sand. PAID PERMIT NO. 97 ASTORIA, OR PRSRT STD US POSTAGE See Firefighters, Page 6A Cannon Beach opens its doors Partake of the Cottage and Garden Tour to peek inside local living spaces By Nancy McCarthy For Cannon Beach Gazette Maybe it starts with a question: What is it like to live in Cannon Beach? Or maybe the question is: What’s inside that house? Whatever spurs the inter- est, the Cannon Beach Cottage and Garden Tour answers both questions and many more for the hundreds of participants who tour the village’s homes and yards every year. NANCY MCCARTHY The front door of a house on the Cottage and Garden Tour invites visitors. The home once was owned by Cannon Beach postmaster Marie Marshall. When the tour started 15 years ago, it lasted one after- noon and drew 30 visitors. Now, the activities begin Fri- day night with a concert and end Sunday afternoon with a garden tea. More than 700 people participated last year. This year’s tour on Sat- urday, Sept. 8, includes 10 homes in midtown and the Presidential area, all within walking distance. “All of them offer some- thing different,” said Liz Johnson, outreach coordinator for the Cannon Beach Histo- ry Center & Museum, which sponsors the tour. “People will get a taste of what it’s like to live in Cannon Beach. The houses range from small cottages – the smallest is 432 square feet – to dream homes.” See Cottage, Page 7A FARMERS MARKET Born of a disaster, Cannon Beach Farmers Market is going strong a decade later, PAGE 10 CLATSOP WORKS New summer internship program to give local students an introduction to the work- force, PAGE 3