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About Seaside signal. (Seaside, Or.) 1905-current | View Entire Issue (March 20, 2015)
SEASIDESIGNAL.COM • COMPLIMENTARY COPY OUR 109th YEAR • March 20, 2015 &OHUN¶VRI¿FH FROOHFWLQJEDOORWV IRU*HDUKDUW UHFDOOHOHFWLRQ KATHERINE LACAZE PHOTO Fourth-grader Samuel Taylor makes a move in a chess game during a chess club meeting at Gearhart Elementary School. The club was started last year and has about 15 students this year. Checkmate! School groups hope to spark a ‘renaissance’ By Katherine Lacaze I Seaside Signal PAID PERMIT NO. 97 ASTORIA, OR PRSRT STD US POSTAGE t’s deathly quiet in the Broadway Mid- dle School library for a few moments. An engag- ing competition is under- ZD\EXWWKHÀXUU\RIDFWLYL- ty is taking place entirely in the competitors’ minds. Every so often, they make hand movements, but even those are subtle and muted. At last, the silence is broken when sixth-grader 6DJH3DUN¿QDOO\DQQRXQF- es, “Checkmate.” The game is over, but the excitement to play is not. Park’s opponent, fel- low sixth-grader Crystal Rouse, immediately asks if Park wants to strike up another match, and the pro- cess starts over. That is one of the girls’ favorite things about the game of chess: Even if you lose a match, you can play again, and there’s always something new to learn. “You’re just getting smarter every time you play,” Rouse said. The two students, along with others at the middle school, now have ample KATHERINE LACAZE PHOTO Broadway Middle School chess club leader David Rouse, back right, gives instruction to eighth-grader Payton Stowers while sixth-graders Crystal Rouse, front left, and Sage Park are engrossed in a game during a chess club session. David Rouse is getting the program up and run- ning at the middle school this year. KATHERINE LACAZE PHOTO Gearhart Elementary School students Olivia Mayhugh, front left, and Cara Foust, front right, play a game of chess during a chess club meeting. The club is in its second year under the guidance of Dan King, who has years of experience lead- ing a chess club at Seaside Heights Elementary School. opportunity to play and learn, thanks to the school’s new chess club, one of very few in the county. Until recently, the of- fering of scholastic chess opportunities in the area has been sparse, but that may change as several ÀHGJOLQJ JURXSV DW ORFDO schools work to spark a re- naissance. David Rouse, Crystal Rouse’s grandfather and the former Seaside Lady Gulls soccer team coach, started the middle school club. Although he led a club at the former Cannon Beach Elementary School for a time, he still is learn- ing the ropes at Broadway Middle School when it comes to student interest level and club objectives. “I’ve seen some kids in here who might want to SOD\ZH¶OOVHHKRZWKDWGH- velops,” he said. For a few months, Rouse has held club meet- ings during lunch periods and after school on Mon- days and Fridays. He hopes giving students different times to meet will spark more interest and increase participation. The school administra- tion supports the program. Even if only a handful of kids attend the club, Princi- pal John McAndrews said, “It’s important to provide an opportunity they’re en- gaged in.” See Chess, Page 11A Adolescent Sexuality Conference canceled Seaside convention center waives $1,000 cancellation fee By Katherine Lacaze Seaside Signal The annual Adolescent Sexual- ity Conference, previously held at the Seaside Civic and Convention Center, has been canceled for 2015. The Oregon Teen Pregnancy 7DVN)RUFHWKHHYHQW¶V¿VFDOVSRQ- sor, recently emailed conference participants announcing the news. Clatsop County Sheriff Tom Bergin, news station KOIN6 and a few special interest groups, such as Parents’ Rights in Education, had expressed disapproval for the con- ference, which was scheduled for April 13 and 14. Some people and interest groups said they believe the material disseminated at the conference in the past was inappro- priate, even illegal. “This conference has morphed into such a perversion from actual health and welfare that it is time to bring it to a stop and get back to some sanity.” Bergin said in a December interview the Seaside Signal. See Conference, Page 9A Protesters turned out at the Adolescent Sexuality Conference in Seaside last year. Although the conference has been conduct- ed for 30 years, it was canceled this year a month before it was to open at the Seaside Civic and Convention Center, where it has been held for several years. LOUIE OPATZ PHOTO The Clatsop County Clerk and Elections Depart- ment has received more than D¿IWKRIWKHEDOORWVIURPHO- igible Gearhart voters in the March 26 special election for the recall of Mayor Di- anne Widdop. Ballots were delivered WR WKH SRVW RI¿FH 0DUFK and voters received the bal- lots starting March 9. As of Wednesday, the Clatsop County Clerk and Elections Department had received 206 ballots from a total of 928 eli- gible voters for a current vot- er turnout of 22.2 percent. The number of registered voters is subject to change based on undeliverable bal- lots received, according to WKHFOHUN¶VRI¿FH Voters have until 8 p.m. March 26 to return their bal- ORWV WR WKH HOHFWLRQV RI¿FH which will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on election DIANNE WIDDOP day. Ballots must be deliv- HUHG WR RQH RI WZR RI¿FLDO drop sites: Gearhart City +DOO3DFL¿F:D\RUWKH FOHUN¶VRI¿FH([FKDQJH St., Astoria. Postmarks will not be considered. Daily ballot returns can be found on the elections di- vision webpage on the coun- ty’s website at www.co.clat- sop.or.us. Gearhart awaits decision on state land-use appeal State land use board verdict due in April By Katherine Lacaze Seaside Signal The city of Gearhart is waiting on a decision from the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals regarding an appeal by local historic livery owner Shannon Smith. ,Q -XQH 6PLWK ¿OHG D notice with LUBA that she intended to appeal a land- use decision made by the Gearhart City Council. Since WKHQ *HDUKDUW FLW\ RI¿FLDOV have turned in a record of the documents compiled and ¿OHG RQ EHKDOI RI WKH FDVH Smith and her attorney made VHYHUDO UHFRUG REMHFWLRQV the city provided more doc- XPHQWV WR VHWWOH WKH UHFRUG Smith submitted a petition IRU UHYLHZ DQG *HDUKDUW ¿OHGDUHVSRQVHEULHI The last stop was an oral argument that took place before the three-member appeals board in Portland on Feb. 26. Shelby Rihala, an associate with Jordan Ramis PC, represented the FLW\6PLWKZDVUHSUHVHQWHG by her attorney Dan Kearns, of Portland. The board indi- cated the decision would be announced around April 1. City Attorney Peter Watts said the board “could go in a lot of directions with this.” ³,W¶V GLI¿FXOW WR NQRZ exactly where it will come down,” he said. When Watts receives the decision, he will forward it to City Administrator Chad Sweet and the Gearhart City Council. “What the decision is will determine our next step going forward,” Watts said. In her appeal, Smith is challenging the city’s posi- tion that she must seek an- other conditional use permit to complete work on her his- toric livery stable, which she has been trying to renovate for use as an event center for several years. Rather than having to seek a new permit, Smith wants an extension of a previous conditional use permit, which was issued in 2012 and subject to 13 con- ditions for approval. The city can grant a six-month extension on a conditional use permit if substantial completion of a project has occurred, Watts said. Smith was granted an extension in October 2013. Her permit expired April 26, 2014, and she requested a second extension, claiming See LUBA, Page 3A