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.”
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