OUR 113th Year
January 15, 2021 $1.00
SEASIDESIGNAL.COM
Jacobs Radio
purchases
second local
radio station
Gearhart
passes new
zoning code
By R.J. MARX
Seaside Signal
Jacobs Radio, owner of local
station 93.3 FM “The Rock,” has
purchased KCYS 96.5 FM from
the family of broadcaster Dave
Heick, who died in December.
Heick operated KCYS from
his home in Seaside. His fam-
ily negotiated a deal with Jeff
Jacobs, of Jacobs Radio, for the
station.
Jacobs Radio found suc-
cess in Clatsop County in 2018
with the purchase of 93.3 FM.
It was rebranded “The Rock”
and two years later is the No.1
Nielsen-rated radio station in the
county.
Now they’re adding to their
portfolio.
“It wasn’t like I was out shop-
ping for a radio station,” Jacobs
said. “But the opportunity pre-
sented itself. It was a win for the
family and a win for us.”
Operations will move to the
station’s studio offi ces in the
Gearhart Plaza off U.S. High-
way 101 with towers on Tilla-
mook Head and in Astoria.
The country music format will
continue uninterrupted, along
with a new morning show tar-
geted to debut later this month.
Based in Tri-Cities, Washing-
ton, Jacobs Radio was launched
in 2001. “The Rock” joined
seven other stations, with affi l-
iates covering areas between
the Tri-Cities, Moses Lake and
Wenatchee in Washington state
and Hermiston and The Dalles in
Oregon.
With nine stations, Jacobs
isn’t ruling out future purchases.
“It’s not easy times for any-
body and there’s going to be a
lot of radio stations for sale,” he
said. “I want to make sure I’m
available for those. It will be a
buyer’s market coming up this
year, should be positioned in
ready for it.”
Jacobs Radio
Hard liquor prohibited in
downtown commercial zone
By R.J. MARX
Seaside Signal
Lynette Scribner
Waves at Seaside’s Cove on Sunday.
‘A fearsome force of nature’
By R.J. MARX
Seaside Signal
King tides closed portions
of Sunset Boulevard this
week as king tides brought
breakers of up to 27 feet and
coastal tidal fl ooding.
On
Tuesday,
police
restricted the area to local
traffi c only for several hours
due to rising waters, high
tide and debris in road.
Dale McDowell, the city’s
Department of Public Works
director, worked with police
to close off fl ooded areas in
the Cove on Sunday.
“We got everybody
cleared out and within about
fi ve minutes the fi rst wave
came over,” McDowell said
at Monday’s City Coun-
cil meeting. “No cars were
damaged. No individuals
caused any issues. Every-
body behaved themselves.”
The king tides, the high-
est of the year, brought locals
and visitors to watch the
spectacle.
“They were in awe of
what they were seeing,”
McDowell said.
The National Weather
Service warned of danger
from large logs on the beach
that could become dislodged
from a sneaker wave. Water
running up on the beach can
easily lift or roll logs which
can injure or kill someone
caught in their path. Along
the West Coast sneaker
waves kill more people than
all other weather hazards
combined.
“Please, please, please
stay off the logs in the cove
and along the beach,” Mayor
Jay Barber said. “Peo-
ple come in to see those
waves come in, but make
sure you’re well away from
where the high-tide mark
will potentially be. It’s a
fearsome force of nature. It
was an education for all of
us yesterday, as it is every
year.”
Some of Gearhart’s most prestigious
streets are nicknamed “Gin Ridge,” for the
summertime cocktail culture of the city’s
early residents.
But the City Council has opted to keep
downtown limited to beer and wine under
zoning amendments designed to support
local businesses and, in some cases, bring
them up to compliance.
The council made one last tweak, at the
request of City Councilor Kerry Smith,
modifying language pertaining to alcohol
sales at neighborhood cafes.
While hard liquor may be sold in the
commercial area along U.S. Highway 101,
downtown stores should not sell spirits,
Smith said. “I do not want to see people
walking outside with a cocktail to-go cup. I
do not want liquor sold in our C-1 zone,” he
See Zoning, Page A3
R.J. MARX
Police closed Sunset Boulevard on Tuesday due to high water
as a result of king tides.
Seaside Signal
State Rep. Mike Nearman at the “Reopen the
Coast” rally.
Rally hits
back at virus
restrictions
Police car in water after a wave breached Sunset Boulevard on
Tuesday.
A fl ower pot in the roadway after it was swept from a home by
a high tide.
By R.J. MARX
Seaside Signal
About 50 people gathered in the parking
lot of Seaside City Hall on Sunday, drawn by
an invitation to “Reopen the Coast” by lift-
ing coronavirus restrictions throughout the
state.
Warrenton’s Brandon Williams said peo-
ple “aren’t buying” the need for the state’s
COVID-19 shutdown measures.
“I think people will see the businesses
aren’t scared to operate and exercise the free-
dom of life, liberty and the pursuit of happi-
ness,” said Williams, who ran unsuccessfully
for Warrenton City Commission in Novem-
ber. “Masks should be up to the individual.”
See Reopen, Page A3
Radio station owner Jeff Jacobs.
For seniors, ‘it’s not going to be this way forever’
By KATHERINE LACAZE
For Seaside Signal
Until last March, the
juniors at Seaside High
School had no reason to
expect their senior year to
play out this way — char-
acterized by online learn-
ing, the absence of popu-
lar extracurricular programs
and
in-person
social
interaction.
“It’s been different, that’s
for sure,” senior Emma Tay-
lor said.
Taylor doesn’t mind
being able to work at her
own pace through the
school’s Online Thrive pro-
gram but she misses the
socialization. “It is what it
is,” she said.
However, a small group
of parents are determined
their seniors won’t graduate
without some kind of cel-
ebration or warm sendoff,
and they’ve been organiz-
ing fundraisers to make cer-
tain that happens. The most
recent fundraiser for the
Class of 2021 was a recy-
cle drop-off event held last
Saturday at the former high
school campus.
From late morning to
mid-afternoon, community
members stopped by the
school with loads of recy-
clable cans and bottles,
which a handful of students
and parents then sorted into
dozens of large garbage
bags and lined up inside a
hallway of the empty build-
ing. Van Dusen Bever-
ages planned to pick up the
materials this week, and the
money collected from the
bottle and can redemption
will go to the senior class.
The success of the recy-
cle drop-off was way
beyond what was expected,
according to Christy Taylor,
Emma Taylor’s mother and
a driving force behind the
fundraising efforts.
It’s a common practice
for the parents of seniors to
participate in annual fund-
raising to host a graduation
party at the end of the year.
Normally, they raise the
See Recycling, Page A6
Christy Taylor
A group of seniors from Seaside High School, along with their parents, took part in the
recycling fundraiser held Jan. 9. The seniors collected and sorted donations of cans and
bottles from the community.