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About Seaside signal. (Seaside, Or.) 1905-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 19, 2016)
4A February 19, 2016 Seaside Signal seasidesignal.com SignalViewpoints Ending the cycle of violence in our own backyard I loved this line best, from a remembrance of Sgt. Jason Goodding: “He didn’t just respond to a burglary call, he stayed until the homeowner felt safe.” And as we learned from his friends, fellow of¿ cers and family members who joined in the salute, Goodding responded to everyone with compassion, working with local shelters and social service groups to help get the homeless or mentally ill off the streets. In recollection after recollection of their fallen partner, fellow of¿ cers found him an inspiration and a friend. “I have bene¿ ted greatly from your gifts,” Seaside police Sgt. Gary Welborn said at last Friday’s service at the convention center, a gather ing that brought thousands together in tribute. “Your presence will be missed greatly. Your bravery, your face in danger represents the true de¿ nition and personi¿ cation of her oism.” 7hese words were echoed by Sea side Police Chief Dave Ham, Sheriff 7om %ergin and fellow of¿ cers. In our own backyard the grief stings in an overwhelming and per sonal way. “It’s going to be a while before the community heals,” the Rev. Rob (. Sachs, pastor for the Seaside Po lice Department and Seaside Fire Department said last week. “And sadly, we’re no different than Rose burg right now.” The comparison was potent and deadon. Roseburg, where eight stu dents and a professor were shot dead in a college shooting, has become a symbol of the needless carnage in À icted upon the innocent. The death of Phillip Max Ferry Probably the most controver sial aspect for us at the Signal was coverage of the alleged killer of Ja son Goodding. Phillip Max Ferry, 55, was a longtime county resident when he wasn’t incarcerated. Ferry was wellknown ² for criminality, addictions and demons. “Let’s not talk about that now,” a public of¿ cial said when we ¿ rst asked about Ferry. Yet Ferry was a father and a hus band. He was somebody’s child. One of the most poignant notes to pass our desk read: “Did it ever cross your mind that he too has a family that is hurting from the whole thing?” The note continued: “He too has people right here in this judgmental county.” SEEN FROM SEASIDE R.J. MARX The letter writer is right. Ferry didn’t become a monster overnight. He was mercilessly ad dicted to drugs. He was desperately in need of mental health and reha bilitation services ² or perhaps a more lasting jail term. According to the Oregon Department of Cor rections, his parole of¿ cer had lost touch with him. Since 2014, Ferry devised homemade explosives, ha rassed neighbors, spit at police of¿ cers, even ripped off a member of a biker gang in a gun deal. For Ferry, so much had gone wrong: the mental health system, prison system, help for the homeless, social services. Mark Terranova, the executive di rector of Restoration House in Sea side, where Ferry had been provided housing after his last prison release 14 months ago, lamented: “When it becomes a situation where all the wraparound systems fail, then we can’t have him or anyone like that living here.” But these are questions we need to know: Why wasn’t Ferry in jail, or a JOSHUA BESSEX/EO MEDIA GROUP New York Police Department offi cer Brian Rothermel watches during a memorial for Sgt. Jason Goodding at the Seaside Convention Center. hospital? Is it a result of a revolving door justice system, or a failure of our prisons to rehabilitate? How does a lifelong criminal pile up an arsenal? We have “clean and sober” services like Restoration House and Helping Hands Reentry Outreach Center for the homeless, but what are we doing for a much more atrisk population of home less substance abusers and mentally ill? The risk is not only to themselves, but to all of us who share this city. Social services, it seems, were in the hands of Jason Goodding and his partner that night in Seaside. The tears Amy Jones was the homecoming queen and Jason Goodding was the football star. That was the message that resonated, from the football and basketball jerseys and the video trib ute focusing on Jason’s life. It was ironic, or maybe not so, that this was 9alentine’s Day week end. Amy Goodding did not need to speak at the memorial. Her tears and those of her family spoke volumes. The image I will remember ¿ nally from the memorial was that of Gov. .ate Brown, kneeling be fore the widow as she presented the Medal of 8ltimate Sacri¿ ce, given to Oregon of¿ cers who have lost their lives in the line of duty. The medal, established in 2012, has been pre sented six times since. Goodding joins heroes Coos County Deputy Sheriff Gil Datan, ‘After the pomp and the bagpipers and the out-of- towners are gone, life will go on for those oi cers on the beat in Seaside.’ Oregon City Police Of¿ cer Rob ert A. Libke, (ugene Police Of¿ cer Christopher Kilcullen, Rainier Police Chief Ralph Painter and Department of Corrections Of¿ cer Buddy Herron. The cycle of violence is spinning out of control. Last week, six 8.S. police of¿ cers were shot in the line of duty ² Derek Geer, 40, in Mesa County, Colorado, after being shot by a teenager. Two deputies, Mark Logsdon and Patrick Dailey, died responding to a shop ping center disturbance in Abingdon, Maryland. Greg Barney, a Clayton County, Georgia, of¿ cer was shot and killed while he and other of¿ cers were attempting to serve a drug warrant. In Fargo, 1orth Dakota, Of¿ cer Jason Mos]er responded to a domes tic disturbance with other of¿ cers, and was shot. He died the next day. Early this week Cpl. Derrick Couch was in critical condition at Regional One Health in Memphis, Tennessee, after a pointblank shoot ing in the face. He is on a ventila tor, has lost one eye and the bullet remains lodged in his brain. After the pomp and the bagpipers and the outoftowners are gone, life will go on for those of¿ cers on the beat in Seaside. “Every piece of evidence, every witness, leads us to the same con clusion ² that Phillip Ferry, with a long history of resisting arrests and assault on police of¿ cers, was giv en every opportunity to surrender peaceably to uniformed of¿ cers,” investigators said Tuesday. “He not only refused but made statements that now seem to indicate that he in tended to do worse.” In the police log posted by the Seaside Police Department this week, of¿ cers conducted two war rant arrests early Sunday morning on Broadway not so unlike the one confronting Sgt. Goodding and his partner. Another took place the same day a little before midnight. Warrant arrests are considered by law en forcement of¿ cials to be among the most dangerous of all stops. Subjects have often had the opportunity to turn themselves in but have chosen not to do so. They have bypassed lawyers and good judgment. They have little incentive to cooperate and may be intoxicated or violent. Only those who wear a badge know the risk at hand when the call comes in. The rest of us can only salute. Seaside Public Library is ‘more than just books’ A ndrew Carnegie said, “A li brary outranks any other one thing a community can do to bene¿ t its people. It is a never failing spring in the desert.” The Seaside Public Library strives to be the spring that waters the soul of the North Coast with great books of all types, and with programs that bring a wealth of information, fun, knowledge, and creativity. We are constantly striving to bring the best books in the literary world to our shelves, and our acquisitions librarian, Dan Cawley, has over 20 years of experience in building a col lection of interesting, scholarly, pop ular, and just down right entertaining books for folks in our community to read. Some of the new popular ¿ c tion titles we just received are: “Fric tion” by Sandra Brown in which BETWEEN THE COVERS ESTHER MOBERG Texas Ranger Crawford Hunt saves a judge from a masked assassin, but his act of heroism may jeopardize the most important thing in his life. “ The Fifth Heart” by Dan Simmons brings together Sherlock Holmes and Henry James for a romp through America in 1893, as they try to solve a mysterious death of one of the coun try’s most noted families. “Georgia”, a novel of historical ¿ ction, by Dawn Tripp, lets us delve into the life of art ist Georgia O’Keefe as she transitions from a young unknown art teacher into an icon of our times. If popular ¿ ction is not your coupe, tasse (cup of tea) then here are some titles that may appeal when you are having some intel lectual yearnings: “Neuro Tribes”, by Steve Silberman, is a sweeping and penetrating account that takes a detailed and dense history of au tism and turns the story into a gen uine pageturner. “The Witches,” by Stacy Schiff, is the story of the Salem witch trials of 1692 and is a riveting description of a seminal ep isode in our country that unveils a primal American mystery. If you’re hungry for something in between these two genres then belly up to the table with “Nom Nom Paleo: Food for Humans” by Michelle Tam. Tam and her coauthor, Henry Fong, bring you over 100 recipes for eat ing healthy that actually tastes good. Now we don’t just want to wa ter your soul with books, so one of our missions is to bring inter esting and relevant programs and speakers to the library. Some of the highlights from last year were: “Growing Carnivorous Plants, “My Life in Hollywood” with local artist Jorjett Strumme, “The His tory of Camp Rilea” and “Project Runway,” with clothing designer Michelle Lesniak. We also offered botanical drawing classes with art ist Dorota HaberLehigh, cooking classes with local chef Teresa Duf ka, and gardening demonstrations, to name just a few. Upcoming events for this year are: “Unsung Heroes: The Art of Stoyrtelling” with Gide on Formukwi, the “Listening to the Land” series with the North Coast Land Conservancy, “Container Gar dening” with Maggie Stuckey, a “Learn to Play the Ukulele” work shop with the Ukalalians and don’t forget our monthly Night of All Knowledge Trivia Tournaments. All of the programs that the library of fers are provided by The Friends of the Seaside Library who generously fund all of our events. We are so fortunate in this com munity to have the bountiful re sources that the library offers and we hope it is that “never failing spring” that waters the collective soul of the North Coast. Here is an update on the Little Free Library Auction that was can celled in February. The new date for the event is March 26, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Seaside Convention Cen ter. Thank you for your patience, and we hope to see you then. Our prayers will always be with Goodding family M y friend Ed found a wolf spider outside his place of business. With legs spread out, he was a little larger than a 50 cent piece. His legs were gray and black striped and I’m not sure of the body ² black, I think, with a white cross on the back. All spiders are treacherous looking but I’d never seen one like that. On recent bus rides, we drove through the tules of the Warrenton Business Park. I was surprised to see maybe 24 new apartments in a ver itable little village. We rode around S.E. Willow Drive and Huckleberry Ave. I once lived on S.W. Willow Lane in Jeffers Gardens, now known as Willow Road. There is lots of nos SCENE & HEARD CLAIRE LOVELL talgia connected with that section of the county. I met Trent and his ¿ ancpe 9ickie (or was it Nickie) at the post of¿ ce on the 29th. At ¿ rst when Trent passed the window, I thought he was on a skateboard. Turned out he was riding a 12 or 15inch air wheel, similar to a unicycle but with no seat, only two pedals. Battery operated, it can travel six miles per hour and is maneuver able by leanings of the body. Cool. REPORTER Katherine Lacaze CONTRIBUTING WRITERS PUBLISHER EDITOR Steve Forrester R.J. Marx Claire Lovell John Rahl Darren Gooch Esther Moberg What about the pink morning clouds over the ocean one day? I had said a couple of days earlier I’d be rich when the sun came up in the west. Didn’t expect it to happen so soon, though I’m still waiting for the money, ha. It was probably a re À ection from the rising sun, which I didn’t see but it was certainly an ee rie situation. Maybe it was a precursor to our hot summer day on the eighth of Feb ruary. How about that? Summer one day and a monsoon the next. I must say, I did enjoy our stormy weather. Was it Tuesday or Thursday when the rain was blowing sideways and swooping down from on high? It was Wednesday because I had to go out. ADVERTISING MANAGER PRODUCTION MANAGER Betty Smith John D. Bruijn ADVERTISING SALES CIRCULATION MANAGER Laura Kaim Brandy Stewart Heather Ramsdell SYSTEMS MANAGER Carl Earl Let’s hope all is well for the cer emonies for Of¿ cer Goodding. We look forward to paying him honor and to sharing in the solidarity of our town’s support for his family. Surely our prayers will always be with them. About 11:30 a.m., a Coast Guard helicopter was over the house ² just hovering for several minutes. Then they went toward Broadway and did the same thing. Maybe they were taking pictures. Seaside has been on national news on several occasions. We prefer it for things like mara thons and volleyball tournaments ² or even for just being the end of the Lewis and Clark Trail. Sensational ism ² has no place in our quiet com munity. Seaside Signal Letter policy The Seaside Signal is published every other week by EO Media Group, 1555 N. Roosevelt, Seaside, OR 97138. 503-738-5561 seasidesignal.com The Seaside Signal welcomes letters to the editor. The deadline is noon Monday prior to publication. Letters must be 400 words or less and must be signed by the author and include a phone number Ior veri¿ cation. :e also reTuest that submissions be limited to one letter per month. Send to 1555 N. Roosevelt Drive, Seaside, OR 97138, drop them off at 1555 N. Roosevelt Drive or fax to 503-738-9285. Or email rmarx@seasidesignal.com The sides of Roosevelt Drive between 12th and 13th are looking pretty messy and in need of TLC. I don’t know what attracts garbage to that area, maybe the theater or the factory outlet, but when things get tacky, that spot is the ¿ rst to show signs. Laugh Line A man divorced his wife of 25 years and his neighbor inquired, “How did she take it?” “You know,” said the newly sin gle fellow, “you can live with some one for years and never know them. This is the ¿ rst I realized that she could sing and do cartwheels at the same time.” SUBSCRIPTIONS Annually: $40.50 in county $58.00 in and out of county e-Edition: only $30.00 POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Seaside Signal, P.O. Box 210, Astoria, OR 97103. Postage Paid at Seaside, OR 97138 and at additional mailing of¿ ces. &opyright 2015 by the Seaside Signal. No portion of this newspaper may be re-produced without written permission. All rights reserved.