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About Seaside signal. (Seaside, Or.) 1905-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 31, 2020)
A4 • Friday, January 31, 2020 | Seaside Signal | SeasideSignal.com SignalViewpoints Fire truck is a hit at Seaside open house SEEN FROM SEASIDE R.J. MARX T he public received an opportunity to check out the fi re department’s lat- est addition, engine 3148, a trac- tor-drawn aerial quint with a 100-foot lad- der, designed to reach Seaside’s tallest buildings. The open house brought residents and visitors of all ages to the fi rehouse to check out the nearly $1.2 million apparatus. “It’s basically a tractor with a big fi fth wheel,” Seaside Fire Chief Joey Daniels said of the 60-foot truck at the Saturday, Jan. 25, event. For operators, certifi cation involves a three- to four-day class, Rankin said, with four hours of drive time in the front seat, with brakes and controls, and 10 hours of drive time in the rear tiller seat. “The tiller seat drives these back steer wheels,” Rankin said. “The guy up front Division Chief David Rankin aboard the aerial quint. has the gas and brake, and he drives the tractor. It bends like a fi fth wheel.” In front, the aerial operator runs the truck and ladder using a joystick. Training is underway, Rankin said, with 17 fi refi ghters in training. Along with basic functions, drivers must demonstrate they can run the ladder and place it on buildings. The open house aimed to thank vot- ers for funding for the new appa- ratus, Daniels said, which arrived in late Decem- ber from Rosenbau- er’s manufacturing facility in South Dakota. “The biggest surprise is where it can go,” Daniels said. “We were hop- ing to go at least thof the city, but I would say we can go to 99% of the city. I’m really surprised what we can do with this, and look forward to using it.” Councilor Tita Montero said it was “exciting that a small town like Seaside has come forth and funded such wonderful fi re equipment. We have such wonder- ful volunteers, so enabling them to do their job even better and better. It’s great — kudos to the voters and taxpayers.” City Councilor Tita Montero and Chief Joey Daniels looking up at the ladder truck. R.J. Marx A glimpse up the 100-foot ladder truck. At the front of the quint, the driver communicates with the operator in the rear to steer and operate the ladder. ‘Finding Hope’ amidst alarming traffi cking numbers VIEW FROM THE PORCH EVE MARX ‘F inding Hope,” by Seaside author Shannon Symonds, was inspired by two things: the author’s dream to write a novel that keeps readers up all night, and her desire to carry readers to a world where they can walk beside a survivor. Survivors are the heroes of Symonds story, four broken people who work together to save one lost girl. “We don’t have to be perfect to make a difference in someone else’s life,” Symonds said. Her fi ctional character, a young girl named Hope, lives in a town an awful lot like Seaside, although it’s not called Seaside. Shortly after we meet Hope, she becomes a runaway. She runs away from the derelict trailer where she lives alone with her creepy stepfather who she calls “The Rat” after her mother took off for parts unknown. Hope spends some nights on the street, folding herself into doorways and crawling behind and under things. She continues showing up each morning for school where she makes good grades and lands an after school job at a soup and cof- fee bar, managing to keep herself clean and camoufl aged so that nobody notices she’s a street kid. Nobody except the keenly observant Mabel, who also works at the soup joint and who slips Hope a key so she can creep inside at night. Eventually Mabel invites Hope to bunk PUBLISHER EDITOR Kari Borgen R.J. Marx “Finding Hope,” by Shannon Symonds. at her home, a home she shares with a whole lot of other folks with their own dire and frightening problems. There’s also a love affair, conducted chastely, that runs throughout the book. Call it the B-story if you like. Symonds said she was inspired by Sea- side’s own homeless and vulnerable youth. While working a decade ago on a project with local schools, she became aware of the Seaside statistics. “The numbers were alarming then,” she said. “I’m sure today they are higher.” When the group Operation Underground Railroad, which aims to stop sex traffi ck- ing, asked her to write their volunteer news- letter, Symonds took their online volunteer training and researched the subject, which helped her plot her book. The Oregon Coast is no stranger to the danger of sex traffi cking. In 2018, Erin Ludwig, a victim specialist for the FBI, gave a presentation in Tillamook on the state of human traffi cking. One in three homeless teens will be recruited within 48 hours of experiencing homelessness, Lud- wig said. “The teen will be approached by a pimp or a traffi cker.” In Symonds’ story, Hope has a close call, snared by a devious homeless girl who CIRCULATION MANAGER Jeremy Feldman ADVERTISING SALES MANAGER Sarah Silver- Tecza MULTIMEDIA ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE Kim McCaw PRODUCTION MANAGER CONTRIBUTING WRITERS John D. Bruijn Skyler Archibald Darren Gooch Joshua Heineman Rain Jordan Katherine Lacaze Eve Marx Esther Moberg SYSTEMS MANAGER Carl Earl works for a pimp. Invited to what’s been advertised as a fun, let-your-hair-down teen party, Hope narrowly escapes what would certainly be her ruin, if not her death. Makes you wonder what’s really behind any underage drinking party, especially ones in Seaside hotels hosted by adult men. Out of curiosity, I went on a hook-up site, and it took me no time at all to see who’s allegedly available in Seaside. The site doesn’t suggest in any way that these women are prostitutes. These chicks are just looking to be your friend for an hour or so, unless you want to become a regu- lar. My eyes locked on a girl who claimed she’s 19 but looked much younger. The day I looked, there were 24 women available for “fun” in Seaside. Let’s be clear: the site is not technically a prostitution site (which is illegal) because all payment is “sug- gested.” Or, as the man who told me about the site said: “It’s implicit; you know you’re meant to leave a gift in the form of legal tender.” My question is, are these women working on their free will, or are they being traffi cked? Just so you know, “Finding Hope” has a happy ending. Symonds, who has a day job with Fos- ter Club, is always writing. She said she’s got one in the works featuring the same characters and coastal community. The new book is a young adult romance with a little mystery. “I always start with a carefully outlined plot and then somewhere toward the end the characters take control of their own des- tiny,” she said. “That’s my favorite part of the writing process. It’s like watching a movie.” Find “Finding Hope” at Beach Books in Seaside. You can also order it on Amazon. PUBLIC MEETINGS Tuesday, Feb. 4 Seaside Community Center Commission, 10 a.m., Bob Chisholm Community Center, 1225 Avenue A. Seaside Library Board, 4:30 p.m., Seaside Li- brary, 1131 Broadway. Sunset Empire Park and Recreation District, board workshop, 5:15 p.m., Bob Chisholm Community Center, 1225 Avenue A, Seaside. Seaside Planning Commission, 7 p.m., City Hall, 989 Broadway. Wednesday, Feb. 5 Seaside Improvement Commission, 6 p.m., City Hall, 989 Broadway. Gearhart City Council, 7 p.m., 698 Pacifi c Way. Thursday, Feb. 6 Seaside Parks Advisory Committee, 7 p.m., City Hall, 989 Broadway. Monday, Feb. 10 Seaside City Council, 7 p.m., 989 Broadway. Thursday, Feb. 13 Convention Center Commission, 5 p.m., Sea- side Civic and Convention Center, 415 First Ave. Gearhart Planning Commission, 6 p.m., City Hall, 698 Pacifi c Way. Tuesday, Feb. 18 Union Health District of Clatsop County, 8 a.m., Seaside Providence Hospital Ed Cen- ter, Room B. Sunset Empire Park and Recreation District, Bob Chisholm Community Center, 5:15 p.m., 1225 Avenue A, Seaside. Seaside Planning Commission, work session, 7 p.m., City Hall, 989 Broadway. Seaside School District Board of Directors, 7 p.m., 1801 S. Franklin, Seaside. Seaside Signal Letter policy Subscriptions The Seaside Signal is published every other week by EO Media Group, 1555 N. Roosevelt, Seaside, OR 97138. 503-738-5561 seasidesignal.com Copyright © 2020 Seaside Signal. Nothing can be reprinted or copied without consent of the owners. 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 for verifi cation. We also request 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 Annually: $40.50 in county • $58.00 in and out of county • e-Edition: only $30.00 POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Seaside Signal, P.O. Box 210, Astoria, OR 97103. Postage Paid at Seaside, OR, 97138 and at additional mailing offi ces. Copyright © 2020 by the Seaside Signal. No portion of this newspaper may be reproduced without written permission. All rights reserved.