Friday, January 24, 2020 | Seaside Signal | SeasideSignal.com • A3
Vigil held for family in Falcon Cove tragedy
By NICOLE BALES
The Astorian
MANZANITA — Nearly
100 people attended a vigil
at the Hoffman Center for
the Arts on Wednesday,
Jan. 15, for the two children
washed into the ocean at Fal-
con Cove over the weekend.
Oregon State Police said
Jeremy Stiles, 47, of Port-
land, was holding his chil-
dren on the shore when they
were caught by a wave that
pulled them into the water.
Stiles’ 7-year-old daugh-
ter, Lola, was pronounced
dead at Providence Seaside
Hospital and his 4-year-old
son, William, is still missing.
According
to
a
GoFundMe page set up for
the family, Stiles is recover-
ing from hypothermia.
In a Facebook message
Wednesday, Jan. 22, Jamie
Stiles, the children’s mother,
thanked people for “provid-
ing light to my dark days.”
“Words cannot express
how grateful I am for the
outpouring of love and sup-
port to my family,” she
wrote. “I am not OK right
now but am in treatment
and will reach my new nor-
mal someday soon. I have
read every single comment
and message sent our way
and feel like each one adds a
tiny drop of glue to my com-
pletely shattered heart.
“I know Lola and Wil-
liam are surrounding us with
their beautiful energy as we
navigate a path to peace and
healing.”
Claudia Johnson, of
Nehalem, spoke at the vigil
prior to a moment of silence.
She said she called Ves-
tal Elementary School, the
school Lola attended in Port-
land, to tell them about the
vigil and learn more about
the girl and her family. The
Volunteer planting at Circle Creek
Seaside Signal
For the past three sum-
mers, volunteers with
North Coast Land Con-
servancy have been work-
ing to eradicate invasive
policeman’s helmet (Impa-
tiens glandulifera) growing
on the banks of the Neca-
nicum River at NCLC’s
Circle Creek Conservation
Center in Seaside.
On Wednesday, Feb. 5,
volunteers will return to
Circle Creek to plant native
trees in shrubs in gaps left
by removal of the weed.
Before NCLC part-
nered with the Necani-
cum Watershed Council
to weed out policeman’s
helmet, this exotic plant
had spread widely along
the Necanicum River and
its tributaries. By planting
spruce, hemlock, alder and
ninebark along the river,
NCLC hopes to discourage
policeman’s helmet from
growing back.
This volunteer stew-
ardship event runs from
10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Volun-
teers should wear gloves
and work boots and bring
water and snacks or lunch;
there are no toilets or pota-
ble water at the site.
BUSINESS
Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian
A photo of the Stiles family and a bowl of fl oating candles sits on the table on a stage at the
vigil.
school decided to also hold
a vigil for the children on
Thursday.
Johnson
showed
a
glimpse of what the family
is like through descriptions
Vestal’s principal, Sabrina
Flamoe, shared with her.
“Every morning, the
mom and the grandma
would bring coffee and pas-
tries because she owns a
bakery. And so they would
bring Lola to school and the
little 4-year-old, William,
would come with, and she
said he would come fl ying,
literally, into the room ...
that he would just bring such
joy and that they were really
great kids,” Johnson said.
She described them as
generous people.
“We don’t need to know
the family, and we don’t,”
Johnson said.
Several people who work
with Jamie Stiles attended
the vigil.
Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian
Claudia
Johnson,
from
Nehalem, speaks about the
deaths of two children in
Falcon Cove and the impact it
had on the community.
One of her co-workers,
Vineeta Lower, of Seaside,
tearfully asked if she could
share a few words. Lower
and Stiles work at Oregon
Virtual Academy, an online
charter school, where Stiles
is an administrator.
“Jamie is an incredible,
incredible woman. She is
the sweetest, kindest person
you will ever meet. And she
loved those children through
every fi ber in her being,”
said Lower, an educator
who ran unsuccessfully for
state House in 2018 . “They
were deeply, deeply, deeply,
deeply loved and I just want
to make sure you guys know
that.”
Jason Isbell, of Clats-
kanie, has worked with
Stiles for over six years.
Isbell and others said
when they found out the
family they were hearing
about on the news was the
Stiles’ family, they imme-
diately went to hug their
children.
“As a dad, I hurt for Jer-
emy,” Isbell said, his arm
around his daughter. “When
I read the news I went and
grabbed her and held her for
like an hour.”
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Timber Unity pledges new cap-and-trade fi ght
By SIERRA DAWN McCLAIN
Capital Press
SALEM — The Oregon
state legislature’s short ses-
sion begins Feb. 3, with law-
makers planning to resurrect
climate legislation after last
session’s controversial “cap-
and-trade” proposal failed.
And Timber Unity, the
group heading protests last
year, will be back.
On Feb. 6, Timber Unity
will organize a convoy of
logging trucks to Salem and
a rally on the Capitol steps.
On the group’s Facebook
event page, as of Jan. 7, 936
people have said they will
go to the protest, more than
3,100 have marked them-
selves as interested and
97 have pledged to drive
semi-trucks.
“We want to stop cap and
trade,” said Adam Lardy, a
Timber Unity spokesman.
“Politicians may want to run
with a watered-down ver-
sion this year. But once they
get a foothold, why wouldn’t
they run with it? So we can’t
let them get a foothold.”
Last year Timber Unity
formed to protest House Bill
2020, last year’s cap-and-
trade bill, which passed the
Oregon House. The legisla-
tion was designed to cut car-
bon emissions, but it roused
opposition from farmers,
loggers and others who
argued the bill would raise
fuel and natural gas prices.
The protests culminated
with the walk-out of Senate
Republicans, infl aming party
tensions. The bill stalled in
the Senate at the end of the
session when it failed to gain
adequate support. Accord-
ing to Harry Esteve, com-
munications manager for the
Oregon Department of Envi-
ronmental Quality, it’s too
early to know the specifi cs
of a renewed cap-and-trade
proposal.
Kate Kondayen, dep-
uty communications direc-
tor for Gov. Kate Brown,
said the governor is focused
on an economy-wide strat-
egy with enforceable car-
bon limits. Kondayen said
Brown plans to “ensure the
bill protects jobs and liveli-
hoods in rural communities”
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Representatives of the Timber Unity movement organized massive protests at the Oregon
Capitol in Salem last year against climate legislation. The organization is planning to protest a
new climate change proposal that will be considered during the upcoming legislative session.
while still achieving state
emissions goals.
“Doing nothing is not an
option,” said Kondayen.
Although Timber Unity
formed to protest HB 2020,
the movement has ballooned
into something bigger.
“The movement is shift-
ing,” said Lardy, the spokes-
man. “We’re fi ghting over-
regulation. We’re fi ghting
laws that kill jobs and com-
munities. It’s not just about
cap and trade anymore.”
The movement bears
resemblance to the “yellow
vests” in France, a grassroots
citizens’ campaign that started
as a fuel tax protest and has
morphed into a nationwide
anti-government movement
aimed at economic justice for
the working-class.
Timber Unity also echoed
a global trend. In what experts
have dubbed the Global Pro-
test Wave of 2019, demon-
strations erupted in the Arab
world, France, Catalonia,
Hong Kong, Latin Amer-
ica and beyond. According
to the United Nations, dem-
onstrators around the world
sought autonomy, freedom
from political corruption and
economic fairness.
As Timber Unity’s ranks
swell in 2020, its leaders say
they are determined to keep
protests peaceful.
“I’m an Army wife. I
stood up for Gov. Brown
when she walked into our
caucus room,” said Julie
Parrish, a former state leg-
islator and current board
member for Timber Unity.
“It’s about respect. If any
policymaker will speak with
us, we’ll take the meeting.”
The movement’s success,
said Parrish, also depends
on how protesters treat one
another. Parrish said the
Timber Unity movement is
far from homogenous.
“We’re a voting bloc of
over 50,000 people now, and
we’re not all politically the
same,” said Parrish. “I don’t
own a gun or hunt or fi sh.
Some people are pro-choice,
some pro-life. Some are
hell-bent on electing Trump,
and others would never vote
for him.”
She laughed. “It makes
managing the dialog inter-
esting sometimes. But we’re
trying to focus on common
ground — economic issues.”
Timber Unity’s fi nan-
cial muscle comes from its
donors, both through direct
giving and in-kind donations.
The group fi led as a
501c(6) membership-based
nonprofi t, and also runs
the Timber Unity Politi-
cal Action Committee, or
TUPAC. Since its genesis
June 6, 2019, TUPAC has
brought in over $177,000.
TUPAC has been crit-
icized for its partisan and
special-interest donors, such
as Andrew Miller, a promi-
nent timber executive.
Timber Unity’s lead-
ers, however, say they’re
undaunted by criticisms.
Parrish said the organiza-
tion will extend its reach by
helping plant local chapters
across Oregon, California
and Washington.
Timber Unity, said Par-
rish, also plans to host train-
ing sessions and teach civic
engagement workshops.
“You can only tax peo-
ple so much,” said Lardy. “It
all started with a rally, and
we’re doing it again.”
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