SEASIDESIGNAL.COM • COMPLIMENTARY COPY
OUR 111th YEAR • March 17, 2017
CHAMPIONS!
Seaside Head Coach Bill
Westerholm celebrates his
team’s victory after Seaside
defeated Valley Catholic
71-63 in the 4A State Cham-
pionship game on Saturday,
March 11, in Forest Grove.
DANNY MILLER/EO MEDIA GROUP
By Gary Henley
EO Media Group
F
OREST GROVE — Small in stature, big
in heart.
And pretty good in quickness, defense,
passing, ball-handling, speed, shooting
ability, etc.
Add it all up, and it equaled an unbeatable combina-
tion for the Seaside High School boys basketball program,
over the course of the 2016-17 season. And ultimately, it
gave the Gulls’ their fi rst-ever state championship.
With their 71-63 win over Valley Catholic at For-
est Grove High School late Saturday night, the Gulls
indeed made school history, as they returned home
with the town’s fi rst state championship in boys bas-
ketball.
Was there ever a doubt?
The Gulls were ranked No. 1 at the Class 4A level
almost from Day 1 of the season.
With the returning state Player of the Year and a host
of quick and talented (but not very tall) athletes, the
Seaside boys showed early on that they would be nearly
impossible to beat.
They lost just once, to Valley Catholic, Feb. 10. Af-
ter that, the Gulls closed out the regular season with
two must-wins. And with their colors of Red, White
and Columbia Blue, they fl ew past the competition in
the playoffs and the state tournament, winning fi ve in
a row — including two victories over the Valiants.
See Champions, Page 10A
Gearhart 9-1-1: Committee says fi rehouse needs to be replaced
By R.J. Marx
Seaside Signal
R.J. MARX/SEASIDE SIGNAL
PAID
PERMIT NO. 97
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The Gearhart Firehouse could be underwater even in a medi-
um size tsunami.
Members of Gearhart’s
fi rehouse committee present-
ed fi ndings Tuesday night and
left the audience with life-and-
death questions to ponder.
Goals of the committee are
to replace the 59-year-old fi re-
house, built of unreinforced
masonry and considered inad-
equate by modern standards,
at a cost voters will approve.
Appeal decision awaits at
Pearl Oceanfront Resort
Height at issue
in hotel variance
council appeal
By R.J. Marx
Seaside Signal
A snafu in the submission
of a legal notice delayed a de-
cision on the future of a new
hotel on the Prom .
But parties in favor and
against a height variance al-
lowing construction of the
proposed three-story, 45-
room Pearl Oceanfront Resort
on 341 South Prom made their
cases before city councilors
during an appeals hearing
Monday night.
Because of an 8-foot grade
difference between the east
and west sides of the build-
ing, a variance was needed to
allow the increase to 60 feet
for the roof height at the west
building wing, an addition of
15 feet over the 45 feet al-
lowed by city zoning.
The Planning Commission
granted the variance in Janu-
ary, a decision appealed to the
City Council by Susan and
Dan Calef, owners of a du-
plex at 25 Avenue A. This is
their second appeal of the pro-
posed structure. City coun-
cilors returned the project to
the Planning Commission last
year after rejecting a setback
variance approval.
“The hardship is develop-
ing this property at all, giv-
en not only the 8-foot grade
See Pearl, Page 6A
Of nine locations studied,
the committee narrowed the
choices down to three: Gear-
hart Park; the current site at
670 Pacifi c Way; and Trail’s
End, directly across from the
fi re station on the south side
of Pacifi c Way.
Sites north and east of the
city were considered but re-
jected from primary consid-
eration.
“We’re really dealing with
the best of a series of bad sce-
narios,” fi rehouse committee
co-chairman Jay Speakman
said. “We have no perfect
answer, so we came up with
what we thought as a group
was a lot of bad choices. I
hate to put it that way — but
when you’re looking at the
Big One, there’s no perfect
location.”
A change of plan
A 2006 plan which in-
cluded a fi rehouse building
with a C ity H all component
was defeated by voters, City
Administrator Chad Sweet
said. “That was a large build-
ing with beautiful pictures,
17,000 square feet. Peo-
ple said, ‘That’s not needed
around here. That’s too big.’”
This time around, com-
mittee members eliminated
the C ity H all component and
reduced the size of the public
See Firehouse, Page 9A
From princess to queen
Program raises scholarship funds, self-esteem
By R.J. Marx
Seaside Signal
R.J. MARX/SEASIDE SIGNAL
Miss Oregon 2016 Alexis Mather and Han-
nah Garhofer.
“Oh my goodness!” Hannah Garhofer said
after being crowned Miss Clatsop County .
“So many emotions right now! I’m thankful
for this opportunity to serve Clatsop County,
because it truly takes a village to raise a child.
And they have raised me for the past 20 years.”
Garhofer was one of three young women
awarded the Miss Clatsop County Scholarship
Program’s top honors Saturday night, March
11, at the Seaside Civic and Convention Cen-
ter. Winners receive scholarship awards while
serving as ambassadors to the community.
Nicole Ramsdell, 15, of Astoria was se-
lected Miss North Coast’s Outstanding Teen.
She attends Astoria High School.
Peyton Sims was named Miss Clatsop Coun-
ty’s Outstanding Teen. Sims, 13, is an eighth-
grader at Broadway Middle School in Seaside.
See Princess, Page 9A