GULLS CRUSH FISHERMEN IN CLATSOP CLASH SPORTS • PAGE 10A
SEASIDESIGNAL.COM • COMPLIMENTARY COPY
OUR 111th YEAR • October 13, 2017
Hood to
Coast and
city plan
for future
‘A GREAT GUY TO BE AROUND’
Discord from 2015 a
thing of past
By R.J. Marx
Seaside Signal
After the event, students and
staff will share their experiences.
Broadway Middle School and
Heights Elementary will also par-
ticipate on Oct. 19.
According to the state Offi ce of
Emergency Management, surviv-
ing and recovering from a major
earthquake is a matter of being
prepared and practicing how to
fi nd protection during earthquakes.
This year’s theme is “two weeks
readiness,” encouraging people
to be prepared to be on their own
Two years ago it
was unclear if Hood
to Coast would return
to Seaside.
The iconic 198-
mile relay starting at
Timberline Lodge and
ending at the Seaside
Prom fi rst arrived R.J. MARX/SEASIDE SIGNAL
here in the 1980s. But Hood to Coast
mounting complaints Chief Operating
from residents and Offi cer Dan Floyd
businesses about un- spoke at Mon-
ruly behavior, traffi c day’s City Council
and poor organization meeting.
brought angry crowds
to City Council meetings and threatened to
end the relationship.
The 2015 relay may have been the low
point: with high winds and downpours,
crowds fi lled Broadway and tensions
soared. Business owners said organizers ar-
bitrarily closed streets, tapped into private
power sources and illegally sold wares on
the street.
After the 2015 run, the City Council
threatened to sever ties to the event. Dozens
of local business owners signed a letter ex-
pressing discontent “that the overall impact
of hosting this massive event during the
busy summer tourist season is negative.”
At the time, some councilors called the
event “overrated” and sought greater re-
sponsiveness from organizers.
On Monday night, evidence of the new
bond between the city and Hood to Coast
organizers was on full display.
Hood to Coast Chief Operating Offi cer
Dan Floyd appeared before the City Council
looking to lock in the race for 2018 and be-
gin discussions for a possible multiyear deal.
“We want to come back and we want to
come back for many more years,” Floyd
told councilors. “Rather than asking for one
year, we want to look for a long-term com-
mitment to be a very long time.”
Councilors praised the organization and
its role in the community.
“This is an incredible event and I’m
very proud to have it in Seaside,” Councilor
Dana Phillips said.
Floyd attributed the improved relation-
ship to city leadership and personnel chang-
es at the Hood to Coast organization.
“We were not without sin in this case,”
Floyd said. “In the last fi ve years there has
been a pretty signifi cant change in staff and
the way we’ve trained volunteers.”
Runners from 43 countries and 50 states
participated in this year’s race. The race
brings in about 18,000 runners, Floyd said,
and the city generally collects about $1 per
head.
Funds from Hood to Coast raised more
than $730,000 for Providence Cancer Cen-
ter in 2017.
The Seaside Chamber of Commerce nets
about another $30,000 by staffi ng and oper-
ating the event’s beer garden.
See Shakeout, Page 6A
See Deal, Page 6A
Makeshift memorial at the spot of a crash Saturday, Sept. 30, that took the life of Robert Miles.
R.J. MARX/SEASIDE SIGNAL
Seaside crash victim remembered
By R.J. Marx
Seaside Signal
Outside Gorilla Gas on U.S. Highway
101, a sign reads: “We will miss you Rob-
ert.”
Robert Miles, 42, of Hammond, was
killed in late September when an SUV
crashed into a bus stop shelter near Mc-
Donald’s restaurant in Seaside. Abdirisak
Mohamed, 41, of Longview, Washington,
was critically injured.
Gorilla Gas a ttendant Jesse Jones re-
membered Miles as “one of our regular
customers at our store here.”
“He would always meet me fi rst thing
in the morning when I came in to open,”
Jones recalled. “He was almost a fi xture
around here.”
Miles worked in the concrete business,
Jones said, and walked or took buses most
of the time.
“He was always smiling,” Jones said.
“He was always in a good mood. He was
just a great guy to be around.”
Jones let out a long sigh. “We are going
to miss him around here.”
Outside McDonald’s, the bus shelter is
gone, shattered by the impact of the crash.
Only a pole with a timetable marks
its location. Flowers are carefully placed
along the grass in memoriam .
Corrissa Barnett, 38, the alleged driver
of the SUV, has been charged with man-
slaughter and other felonies and misde-
meanor drunken driving.
See DRIVER IN FATAL SEASIDE CRASH
FACES MORE CHARGES • Page 3A
Disaster drills to mark Great Oregon Shakeout Day
Annual event seeks
to raise earthquake
awareness
By R.J. Marx
Seaside Signal
PAID
PERMIT NO. 97
ASTORIA, OR
PRSRT STD
US POSTAGE
It was appropriate that City
Councilor Tom Horning read the
proclamation naming Oct. 19 as
Great Oregon Shakeout Day.
Horning won election last fall
on a platform of tsunami aware-
ness. On Sept. 26, delivered the
proclamation at a meeting of the
Seaside City Council.
The proclamation recogniz-
es earthquake safety as a serious
concern, with much of the state at
risk to seismic shaking and tsuna-
mi hazards.
A preparedness plan is the
best way to survive a natural di-
saster, including preparations for
self-suffi ciency for two weeks
after a natural disaster, states the
proclamation, and everyone is in-
vited to participate.
Seaside High School took part
in the Great Oregon Shakeout
Day for the fi rst time in 2016 after
Associated Student Body leaders
suggested the statewide event.
The high school will conduct
an earthquake and tsunami drill,
Principal Jeff Roberts said.
Students will learn “drop, cov-
er, and hold on,” described by or-
ganizers as a quake-safe action de-
signed to protect lives and prevent
injuries from falling furniture and
fl ying objects than can become
projectiles during ground shaking.
Teachers and students will then
evacuate the building and walk to
high ground.
‘Oh give me a poem, where the buffalo roam’
Seaside teacher launches
artisan market fundraiser for
traveling students
By Eve Marx
For Seaside Signal
Mark Mizell has been teaching English at Sea-
side High School for 34 years. For 20 years, every 3
years, he’s taken 20 to 25 high school students to the
National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nevada.
The Gathering highlights special guests and pro-
gramming honoring the contemporary heritage of
Basques and Buckaroos. In years past, this fi eld trip
was paid for through money allocated through the
school budget or education grants such as the Mey-
er Memorial Trust. Without those funds available,
Mizell opted to take a different approach this year.
To fi nance the trip, Mizell and his wife Becky are
sponsoring the Harvest Moon Artisan Market the
weekend of Oct. 28 and Oct. 29 to take place at the
Broadway Middle School gym. Featured will be ven-
dors from the North
Coast and the southwest
coast of Washington.
Becky Mizell is an
artist working in poly-
mer clay who sells her
work through her busi-
ness, Becky Sue Cre-
ations. You may have
seen her booth at the
Astoria Sunday Mar-
ket and the market in
Ilwaco. The Mizells
EVE MARX/FOR SEASIDE SIGNAL
reached out to other
vendors including Les- Mark Mizell
lie McCray’s “Sweater
Heads,” and watercolor artist Dave Bartholet, whose
work is displayed at his Gilbert Gallery in Seaside.
Mizell expects 25 to 30 vendors to be involved. Each
vendor pays a $70 entry fee.
“Every penny of that money will go to offset stu-
dent travel expenses to the Cowboy Poetry Gather-
ing,” Mizell said.
The Gathering takes place in Elko from Jan. 29
through Feb. 3. It’s sponsored by the Western Folk-
life Center. Prior to the trip, students will put in hours
distributing fl iers for the Harvest Moon Market and
the Tillamook Head Gathering which takes place in
mid-January. Other activities include making signs,
manning a food booth at the Harvest Moon Market;
helping vendors and practicing for the presentation
of a mini-traveling show they’re calling the “Let ’er
Buck Chili Feed Revue.”
“They’ll be performing that prior to the trip and
during the trip as we travel down the tracks by train,
and at the Gathering in Elko,” Mizell said.
The trip to Elko is in itself quite an adventure.
“The afternoon of Wednesday, Jan. 31, we’ll take
a beautiful yellow school bus from the high school
to the train station in Portland,” Mizell said. “From
there, we’ll ride the train from Portland to Sacra-
mento; switch trains, and travel through the Sier-
ra Mountains and across the Great Basin to Elko,
which is in eastern Nevada.”
At the Gathering, the students will perform their
show. They may participate at the teen poetry and music
See Poet, Page 7A