A2 • Friday, October 8, 2021 | Seaside Signal | SeasideSignal.com
OBITUARIES
Harvey ‘Wade’
Halbrook Jr.
Seaside
Sept. 9, 1962 — Sept. 20, 2021
Harvey “Wade” Halbrook Jr.
took his last breath after a gal-
lant fi ght with cancer on Sept.
20, 2021, leaving this world too
early at the age of 59.
Wade Halbrook was born in
Seaside to Marilyn Jean Hal-
brook and Harvey “Swede”
Wade Halbrook Sr. (both pre-
ceded in death) on Sept. 9, 1962.
Wade graduated from Sea-
side High School in 1980 and
attended Chemeketa Community
College in Salem. Wade lived
in Arizona for a short time. His
heart brought him back to Sea-
side where his family and friends
were.
Wade worked at the Gear-
hart Dairy Queen (eating all the
profi ts), haying for Don Fall-
eur, logging for F&B Logging,
Gary Hansen Concrete, fi shing
in Alaska for Dave Lethen and
more concrete work for Arizona
Suntec before opening his own
business, Halbrook Concrete, in
the early 1990s. He truly loved
what he did, to quote Wade:
“Best dollar ever spent.”
Wade was an amazing fi rst
baseman, he had such a pas-
sion for baseball, hunting, fi sh-
ing, clam digging, golfi ng and
traveling, spring training in Ari-
zona, hunting in Canada, fi shing
in Alaska with Jamaica mixed
in and then there was his dog,
“Yogi,” man’s best friend. Wade
loved living this life.
Wade was extremely gen-
erous, always helping others
in need, donating his time and
money through the American
Legion local scholarship fund,
which began in honoring his
friend Danny Mac beginning as
a baseball tournament and later
became a golf tournament when
they all got too “old” to play.
Wade only wanted to talk
about living and living he did.
Wade loved being Santa (the
laugh) and the Easter Bunny.
Wade had a huge heart and an
even bigger love for his fam-
ily and friends, memories made
were cherished. Wade knew
very few strangers in his life and
remained friends with all he met
along his journey. Wade was very
rich in the friend department.
Along with the huge heart
came the larger than life per-
sona and the infectious laugh,
you knew when Wade was in the
room and you wanted to be a part
of it.
Wade is survived by his sis-
ter, Janet Halbrook; brother,
John Halbrook; aunts, Mary Kay
Erickson, Ganet Moe (preceded
in death); uncle, John Johnson;
former spouses; Jennifer Braun
and Myra Cordova; Wade’s very
special friend, Joanne Olson;
cousins, David (Tuf) Gould,
Kevin Gould and Kim Gould,
Randy (Tammy) Moe, Scott
Moe, Greg Gould, Ronnie Gould,
Sydney Gould, Samantha Gould,
Nicole Gould, Joel Routh, Beau
Routh, Ashtyn (Kyle) Elliott,
Karlee and Kaitlyn Moe; nieces
and nephews, Mindy Olson, Jes-
sica Heslop, Jobe Johnson, Jalisa
Johnson, Gunder Halbrok, Val-
erie Kent and Angela Tuers; and
great nieces, nephews and cous-
ins, Alyssa, Zion, Elijah, Mia,
Aiden, Joel Jr., Kylie, Trey, Leo,
Kane and Sophie.
The last 2 1/2 years Wade
fought a valiant fi ght against
cancer. Wade had cancer but it
never had him — such strength,
dignity and humor. He like his
sweet momma never gave in or
up. There is no doubt that Mar-
ilyn was fi rst in line with open
arms waiting for her Wade. He
was a very proud mama’s boy.
Wade was bigger than life and
will be missed by his family and
friends. He was loved from his
fi rst breath to his last and will
never be forgotten. Honor Wade
by living your best life each day,
share his stories and remember to
laugh.
Those wishing to contribute in
Wade Halbrook’s honor may do
so to: Seaside American Legion
Scholarship Fund; P.O. Box 285
Seaside, OR., 97138.
A celebration of Wade’s life
will be held at 3 p.m. Oct. 9 at the
Seaside American Legion.
Astoria dispatch temporarily moving to Seaside
By KATIE FRANKOWICZ
The Astorian
Short on staff for nearly two
years, Astoria’s emergency dis-
patch center will temporarily move
operations to Seaside in October.
The dispatch center has been
running with only a handful of dis-
patchers since early 2020, a sit-
uation that has required staff to
shoulder a signifi cant amount of
overtime each month and that
Astoria Police Chief Geoff Spald-
ing said is undesirable and unsus-
tainable. Meanwhile, the Seaside
Dispatch Center has been fully
staff ed for a while for the fi rst time
in more than a decade.
Over the past year, Seaside dis-
patchers have traveled north to
help out in Astoria, but the new
agreement between the two cities
will place Astoria’s four dispatch-
ers in the Seaside offi ce until four
new hires can be fully trained. The
arrangement could last as long as
six months.
The combined offi ce will han-
dle 911 calls countywide, together
covering all the fi re and police enti-
ties served under separate Seaside
and Astoria dispatch agreements.
The arrangement means there
will be more dispatchers available
to fi eld calls at any given time — a
major plus for emergency respond-
ers, said Mitch Brown, the commu-
nications manager for the Seaside
Police Department. The combined
dispatch could shorten the time it
takes to organize mutual aid calls.
Staffi ng levels
The Astoria Police Department
can’t point to any one reason why
staffi ng levels have dipped so low.
BOTH DISPATCH CENTERS ARE IN
THE TSUNAMI INUNDATION ZONE. IN
MORE RECENT TALKS ABOUT POSSIBLE
CONSOLIDATION, DISCUSSIONS HAVE
FOCUSED ON THE NEED FOR ANY
CONSOLIDATED CENTER TO BE LOCATED
OUTSIDE OF THE INUNDATION ZONE.
Some dispatchers retired and oth-
ers left unexpectedly. Four new
dispatchers are in training or set
to begin training soon and could
be on board in the next three to
six months. The dispatch center is
authorized for nine full-time dis-
patch positions, one operations
supervisor and one communica-
tions manager.
It can easily take up to six
months to get someone profi cient
in dispatching. Then some hires
ultimately discover the job is not
for them once they are working
the desk. It is a diffi cult job that
requires a high level of multitask-
ing skills, Spalding said.
Then there are the peculiari-
ties and challenges of dispatch-
ing within small communities. A
dispatcher must remain profes-
sional no matter what, said Jen-
nifer Schermerhorn, a Seaside
dispatcher.
“And you may know someone
who is calling 911 on the worst day
of their life,” she said.
Talks of consolidation — to
combine the two dispatch centers
— have occurred at various times
over the years with no concrete
steps toward a single countywide
dispatch center. Seaside has con-
tinued to invest in its own equip-
ment and continues to fi ne-tune
radio issues to reliably reach all
corners of its coverage area.
The combined operations set to
begin in October could act as a sort
of test run for future consolidation,
Brown allowed.
“We’ll be able to see what works
and what doesn’t work,” he said.
But laying the groundwork for
possible consolidation is not the
point of the agreement between
Seaside and Astoria, offi cials say.
“This is to address a more
immediate need of staffi ng short-
ages,” Spalding said. “We are defi -
nitely not going into this that it’s a
test for some future consolidation
eff ort.”
“The simple answer of it is any-
thing is always possible,” said Jon
Rahl, Seaside’s assistant city man-
ager. But, he added, echoing Spal-
ding, “It’s not the conversation
right now. The conversation is,
‘We have a staffi ng issue. How are
we going to solve it?’”
There are other issues that need
to be addressed in any discus-
sion about consolidation. It isn’t
as straightforward as moving all
operations to one of the existing
centers.
Both dispatch centers are in the
tsunami inundation zone. In more
recent talks about possible consol-
idation, discussions have focused
on the need for any consolidated
center to be located outside of the
inundation zone, Spalding said.
And while the separate Astoria
and Seaside dispatch centers now
use the same software and hard-
ware, the dispatchers wear diff er-
ent hats. In Seaside, dispatchers
also handle some front desk work
and manage the records division,
Spalding noted. The Seaside cen-
ter also handles a lower volume of
calls because they have fewer sub-
scribers to dispatch services than
Astoria.
Workarounds
Seaside dispatch supports Sea-
side police, Seaside fi re, Cannon
Beach police, Gearhart police and
several rural fi re protections ser-
vices on the south end of Clatsop
County. Astoria dispatchers serve
the Astoria and Warrenton police
and fi re departments, a number of
rural fi re protection services on the
north end of the county and the
sheriff ’s offi ce.
Still, Spalding told the Asto-
ria City Council at a meeting last
week that the workarounds the two
centers have developed to address
staffi ng shortages in Astoria mean
the diff erent dispatch staff s have
now worked closely together.
They’ve covered areas of the
county they wouldn’t have before,
are familiar with each other’s oper-
ations and have established rela-
tionships with one another.
The agreement with Seaside
could be extended if necessary.
Though Astoria dispatchers may
be in Seaside for up to six months,
Spalding expects it will be closer
to three.
PUBLIC SAFETY LOG
SEASIDE POLICE DEPT.
PUBLIC SAFETY LOG
Sept. 24
12:06 a.m., Turnaround restrooms:
Graffi ti is reported. Public Works is
advised to clean up.
7:40 a.m., 2500 block N. Roosevelt:
Caller said she woke up to fi nd pizza
on her counter. She reported this as
suspicious.
10:11 a.m., 2400 block, U.S. Highway
101: Caller reports a foul odor coming
from a motel; police drove by and said
there was no smell consistent with
what was described.
1:08 p.m., N. Roosevelt: Police assist a
person looking for their missing ankle
monitoring device. The search was
unsuccessful.
10:52 p.m., 800 block Necanicum:
Dog bite reported.
Sept. 30
9:25 p.m., 400 block N. Prom: A distur-
bance is reported.
SEASIDE FIRE & RESCUE
PUBLIC SAFETY
LOG
5:11 p.m., 1000 block Avenue F: Caller
reports her boyfriend left her. Police
tell her he was just arrested 15 min-
utes earlier for driving while intoxicat-
ed. The couple were reunited at the
police department.
Sept. 24
Sept. 25
Sept. 26
2:03 p.m., 900 block 12th Avenue:
Abandoned junk is reported.
8:18 p.m., 700 block OceanWay: Fire
alarm.
6:27 p.m., Turnaround: A young child
reported lost is found by an offi cer and
reunited with its parents.
8:24 p.m., 300 block N. Prom: Fire
alarm.
6:43 p.m., Quatat Park: Caller reports
people on the boat docks they believe
are trespassing; the business owner is
contacted and says its employees and
there is no need for police intervention.
6:38 p.m. 1400 block N. Wahanna:
EMS call.
Sept. 26
11:04 a.m., Avenue D and Lincoln:
Caller reports motorhome they sus-
pect of camping. Police were unable
to contact the occupants who were
not there. A parking pass for a local
campground was on the vehicle’s
windshield so police thought it was
unlikely the camper would be remain-
ing in the area long or any indication
of unlawful lodging.
2:04 p.m., Necanicum River and 12th
Avenue: A kayak found fl oating in the
river was fi shed out by fi refi ghters and
brought to police headquarters.
Sept. 27
1:45 a.m., 400 block Second Avenue:
A person who said they wouldn’t leave
left after a conversation with a police
offi cer.
12:07 p.m., Police headquarters: A
person came in to register as a sex
off ender.
11:58 p.m., 300 block S. Franklin: Call-
er reports hearing screaming in the
area. Patrol is unable to locate anyone
in distress.
Sept. 28
10:57 a.m., Quatat Park: A banjo is
reported stolen.
5:45 p.m., 1500 block S. Roosevelt:
Caller reports subject lying on his back
in an adjacent property all day. Police
make contact and the person said
they will be moving on.
9:24 p.m., Quatat Park: Property
crimes are reported.
Sept. 29
6:40 a.m., Broadway: Caller reports
male at the entrance to a building.
They said the person was acting
strangely and making employees
nervous. Subject was contacted and
advised to move along.
1:06 p.m., Carousel Mall: A subject is
trespassed.
6:31 p.m., 2400 block S. Roosevelt:
Fire alarm.
10:23 p.m., 500 block S. Broadway:
EMS.
Sept. 27
Sept. 28
7:44 a.m., 1100 block N. Roosevelt:
Fire alarm.
8:00 a.m., 800 block N. Holladay: EMS
call.
8:36 a.m., 3600 block Sunset Blvd.,
Fire investigation.
8:45 a.m., 2500 block S. Roosevelt:
EMS call.
Sept. 29
11:11 a.m., N. Wahanna: EMS
call.
Sept. 30
2:24 p.m., 300 block S. Roosevelt: EMS
call.
3:41 p.m., East End of Avenue D: Fire
investigation.
7:18 p.m., 1600 block Cooper: EMS
call.
Car in water
A trooper on patrol on U.S. Highway
101 near milepost 13.5 Sept. 18 at
11:51 p.m. saw a black four-door
sedan off the road in standing water.
The female operator said she’d been
traveling north when she applied her
brakes on a curve and lost control of
the wheel. The trooper thought she
seemed intoxicated and performed
the fi eld tests; the woman was arrest-
ed on scene, charged with driving
while under the infl uence of intoxi-
cants. After she was medically cleared
at Columbia Memorial Hospital she
was transported to the Clatsop County
jail where she took the breath test
providing a blood alcohol content
percent of .14. She was issued criminal
citations for driving while intoxicated
and reckless driving. No further infor-
mation was available identifying her.
Two-car crash
A two-car crash happened Sept. 20
at 10:46 a.m. on U.S. Highway 101 at
milepost 1. No one was injured. Both
cars were stopped behind a fl agger
at a construction site. A Ford box
truck due to mechanical failure rolled
downhill, rear-ending a Prius. The box
truck, operated by a Seaside man, was
towed by Classic Towing as it couldn’t
be driven. The Prius was driven from
the scene.
FIRE LOG
Gearhart Fire Department responded
to a call received via 911 on Sept. 21
at 3:43 p.m. responding to a potential
water rescue just north of the Del Ray
Beach access. As crews responded
fi refi ghters gathered information as
to who the potential victim was, their
possible location and their descrip-
tion. Volunteers, alongside responding
Seaside Fire and Rescue, were able
to locate the individual in under 15
minutes. The individual denied medi-
cal care and advised us he was not in
distress, just enjoying the water. Along
with Seaside Fire, the U.S. Coast Guard,
and Medix Ambulance assisted in the
response.
Sept. 1
9:10 a.m., emergency medical service,
Tressel.
3:16 p.m., unauthorized burning, First
Street.
Troopers responded Sept. 24 at
3:46 p.m. to a crash on U.S. Highway
101 at milepost 23 when a GMC SUV
traveling northbound slowed for
heavy traffi c was struck from behind
by Dodge Caravan also traveling
north. As a result of the impact, the
GMC rolled once in the highway. The
driver said they were slightly injured
but refused medical attention. The
Caravan was operated by a 79-year-
old man from Cannon Beach. The GMC
operator is an 85-year-old man from
Manzanita.
Sept. 2
Cell phone stolen
A 24-year-old Portland woman told
state police Sept. 26 at 4:00 p.m. her
cell phone was stolen from her bag
while she was surfi ng at Indian Beach.
She was calling from Portland and
said she was trying to track her phone.
Information was taken for a report and
options given.
Eluded police
PUBLIC SAFETY LOG
A 24-year-old Warrenton woman
whose name is known to police
eluded an offi cer on patrol Sept. 28
at 2:07 p.m., on U.S. Highway 101 at
milepost 17 southbound. State police
say while on patrol they observed a
car speeding on the highway; patrol
got behind it and attempted to initiate
a traffi c stop, and the driver did stop,
but then activated its turn signal
and sped off . Patrol did not pursue.
Seaside police later located the car
abandoned. A search of the area for
the driver was unsuccessful. Her white
Ford Edge was impounded and towed
by Classic Towing. The case is open
pending further information.
Troopers went to the Sunset Beach
area Sept. 18 at 3:40 p.m. after re-
ceiving a report of a woman fl ashing
naked portions of her body to passing
motorists. After speaking with the re-
porting party, the subject was located
in her car heading back to U.S. High-
way 101. She said she had been on
the beach in various degrees of nudity
and was dancing. She volunteered to
take the fi eld sobriety test and was not
intoxicated. She told police she had
a concealed fi rearm in her car in her
purse and she had proper paperwork
to carry it from Washington. A records
check was conducted and came back
clear. She was informed the case of the
fl ashing complaint would be referred
to the district attorney’s offi ce. She is
31 and from Deer Park, Washington.
The complainant is a 50-year-old
woman from Lake Oswego.
GEARHART
FIRE DEPT.
Rollover
OREGON STATE
POLICE
Flashing
several times, strike a power pole and
land on all four tires. The Hamlet Fire
department assisted troopers at the
scene. The driver, Geoff rey Troy Poole,
admitted his license was suspended
and arranged for his own tow. No
injuries were reported.
One-car crash
A 37-year-old Seaside man told police
he dozed off behind the wheel Sept.
30 at 5:09 p.m. on U.S. Highway 26 at
milepost 7, causing him to leave the
highway where he was traveling west,
drive on to the shoulder, head into
a ditch, travel the ditch for approx-
imately 150 feet before rolling over
9:27 a.m., emergency medical service,
First Street.
4:51 p.m., unauthorized burning,
Second Street, Gearhart.
Sept. 3
2:58 a.m., emergency medical ser-
vice,, Tressel.
8:46 a.m., emergency medical service,
First Street.
6:14 p.m., authorized controlled
burning, Hager.
Sept. 4
1:41 a.m., emergency medical service,
Gearhart Greens.
11:23 a.m., emergency medical ser-
vice, Manion, Surf Pines.
6:06 p.m., emergency medical service,
2657 U.S. Highway 101.
Sept. 6
5:45 a.m., emergency medical service,
88767 U.S. Highway 101.
4:03 p.m., emergency medical service,
Railroad.
Sept. 7
12:53 a.m., emergency medical ser-
vice, Manion, Surf Pines.
6:27 a.m., emergency medical service,
Salminen.
3:09 p.m., emergency medical service,
Cullaby Lake, Warrenton.
Sept. 8
12:00 a.m., forest, woods or wildland
fi re.
12:13 p.m., good intent call, Pacifi c
Way.
9:33 p.m., smoke scare, odor of
smoke, Lewis, Sunset Beach.
10:33 p.m., emergency medical ser-
vice, Seabreeze, Surf Pines.
Sept. 9
12:12 a.m., building fi re, Fifth Avenue,
Seaside.