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