SEASIDESIGNAL.COM • COMPLIMENTARY COPY
OUR 111th YEAR • March 3, 2017
For Lady Gulls, it’s on to
SWEET 16!
Seaside Signal
T
JEFF TER HAR/FOR SEASIDE SIGNAL
Jetta Ideue shoots against Junction City.
he Seaside Lady Gulls pronounced
themselves “state tournament-ready”
following a decisive 57-33 win over
Junction City in a Class 4A girls bas-
ketball Regional Play-in game on Feb. 25.
Seaside must win one more game to offi -
cially qualify for the tournament, but the way
the Gulls played Saturday, they’re looking far
beyond just the fi nal eight.
The Gulls (17-4 overall) earned the No. 9
seed to the Sweet 16, and will play at No. 8
seed Molalla (14-6) March 4.
Tied 7-7 in the opening minutes of Satur-
day’s game, Seaside took off on a 32-0 run for
a 39-7 halftime lead, and the Gulls had all the
points they would need to win the game.
Seaside was forcing turnovers at will in the
fi rst half (18), while Maddi Utti scored 19 of
her game-high 23 over the fi rst two quarters.
Teammate Sydney Villegas fi nished with 17,
as the two seniors combined to outscore the
Tigers by themselves.
The Lady Gulls have been rewarded for
their efforts on the court this season. Cowapa
League girls basketball co-champions Banks
and Seaside shared top honors with the an-
nouncement of the all-league team, as voted on
by the league’s coaches.
Seaside senior Maddi Utti was named the
league’s Most Valuable Player as well as the
Defensive Player of the Year.
She was joined on the fi rst team by senior
Sydney Villegas and junior Bryre Babbitt,
while junior Jetta Ideue was selected honor-
able mention.
Seaside’s Mike Hawes joined Brandon
Begley of Banks as the co-Coaches of the Year.
JEFF TER HAR/FOR SEASIDE SIGNAL
Jetta Ideue, Bryre Babbitt, Maddi Utti, Sydney Villagas and Lucy Bodner.
Plans laid
for new
school
campus
A ‘snapshot’ of timeline
Seaside looks at implementing Wright
‘Safe Routes to School’ program steps up
to council
Program promotes healthier
learning environment
Priorities are housing, tsunami,
safety, city’s historic legacy
By Sue Cody
For Seaside Signal
By Katherine Lacaze
For Seaside Signal
What will Seaside’s new
campus look like? Represen-
tatives with the agency rep-
resenting the Seaside School
District shared their vision for
the design process, a tenta-
tive construction timeline and
ideas for community engage-
ment during the board meeting
Feb. 21.
PAID
PERMIT NO. 97
ASTORIA, OR
PRSRT STD
US POSTAGE
See Plans, Page 9A
How kids get to school may be
the hub around which Seaside par-
ents, organizations and agencies
intersect to build a healthier envi-
ronment for everyone.
That’s because a new school
bond measure, a public works
needs assessment and parent in-
terest are bringing together in-
formation and resources, through
the federal Safe Routes to School
program.
“One of really nice things about
this is how it is an extension of the
incredible opportunities for kids
that we’re seeing come together si-
multaneously in our community,”
said Sheila Roley, superintendent
of Seaside School District.
She cited work with The Way
to Wellville and Dan Gaffney for
the Universal Preschool feasibility
grant and a partnership with Sun-
set Empire Park and Recreation
District for preschool — and now,
Safe Routes to School.
Safe Routes
promotes health
About a dozen people gathered
at Seaside Heights Elementary
School Feb. 9 for a presentation by
LeeAnne Fergason on Safe Routes
to School. Fergason, of The Street
Trust in Portland, presented infor-
mation about the importance of
encouraging students to walk or
ride their bikes to school.
It struck home for Fergason
when she heard the surgeon gener-
al a couple years ago say that this
generation was the fi rst in a long
time in which kids are not living
as long as their parents.
By R.J. Marx
Seaside Signal
For his part, McDowell has
been doing an inventory of infra-
structure needed within a one-mile
radius of the school. It’s not as
simple as connecting sidewalks, as
he fi rst imagined. He ran into cul-
verts, cable lines and right-of-way
issues, then realized it would be a
good time to lay conduit for street
lights that are missing.
For the second time in four months, the
road to the City Council moved through the
Planning Commission.
In November, former Planning Com-
missioner Tom Horning was
elected to fi ll a vacant City
Council seat.
On Monday, councilors
selected Planning Com-
missioner Steve Wright by
a 4-1 roll call vote to fi ll
Steve
the remaining two years of
Wright
Mayor Jay Barber’s unex-
pired council term. Barber
replaced former Mayor Don Larson, who
died in December.
“Your gain is my loss,” Planning Di-
rector Kevin Cupples said good-naturedly
after the vote. “You’ve now raided not just
Tom Horning, you’ve taken one of my good
planning commissioners.”
Wright, a Seaside homeowner for nearly
fi ve years, is also a member of the Budget
Committee and president of the Seaside
Museum and Historical Society’s board of
directors.
He was the former chief fi nancial offi cer
of Columbia Grain International, a compa-
ny he served with for 35 years before his
retirement.
Three other contenders — Norman
Brown, John Chapman and George Stacey
— also interviewed for the Ward 1 seat.
“We went through four local community
citizens who were brave enough to put their
names into consideration by council,” Bar-
ber said. “The problem was, when we were
done, we wanted to add four more seats to
council. They were all highly qualifi ed.”
See Program, Page 6A
See Wright, Page 6A
SUE CODY
LeeAnne Fergason and Shasia Fry give a presentation about Safe
Routes to School at Seaside Heights Elementary School.
“Kids are not getting enough
exercise,” Fergason says. Seventy
percent of adults walked or biked
to school when they were younger,
and today that number is only 10
percent.
Safe Routes to School has been
implemented in different parts
of the state and country. Fergas-
on says in Portland, safe routes
increased walking and biking to
school by 40 percent.
Benefi ts include exercise for
better health, easing traffi c con-
gestion and air quality around the
school and improving a sense of
community.
Shasia Fry, with North West
Transportation Options, attended a
Safe Routes to School conference
in Eugene. Her work promotes
safe and active transportation op-
tions for Clatsop, Tillamook and
Columbia counties.
“I am really excited to start
Safe Routes to School in Seaside,”
Fry says. “If we teach children to
make smart, safe choices, when
they become adults, it will be part
of their lifestyle.”
She took the concept to Seaside
Public Works Director Dale Mc-
Dowell. They took it to the Sea-
side School Board in September.
She says they have support from
leaders, now she would like to
start a parent or community group
to move this project forward.
City assessment
prelude to grant