Volume 17, No. 26
December 27, 2012
northcoastcitizen.com • 75¢
Why do we have to pay for our P.O. Box? Business
That is what some box holders at the Manzanita Post Office are asking
Andre Hagestedt, like everyone else, is at a loss to explain why Jacob Roberts would act in a violent way. Courtesy photo
By Dave Fisher
A killer in our midst
The Citizen
CASH MOB VISITS MANZANITA Wisteria Chic gets a cash infusion during the holiday shopping season. Page 2
Outdoors
FISH RETURN TO ROY CREEK The new bridge improving fish passage on the Nehalem tributary is working just fine. Page7
Index Classifieds.................. 6 Events calendar.......... 7 NBFR District Log....... 7 Public Safety Log........ 7 Letters to the Editor.... 4 Commentary............... 4
Why is it postal customers, not eligible for carrier delivery, have to pay for a post office box in Manzanita? That’s what second homeowner Debbie Gardiner wanted to know and it turns out she’s not alone, as from time to time employees at the Manzanita Post Office and Manzanita City Hall are asked the same question. In a visit to the Manzanita Post Office, Gardiner was told that if she wanted to receive mail in Manzanita, she would have to pay $56 a year for a small size post office box. Four miles away in Wheeler, she learned that post office boxes are free, as mail is not delivered in Wheeler. Gardiner recently wrote a letter to the United States Postal Service – Office of the
Unlike Cannon Beach, Nehalem and Wheeler, there are no free boxes for qualifying full-time residents at the Manzanita Post Office. Photo by Dave Fisher Consumer Advocate, noting that information she found on the USPS website stated: “Post Office box service is a premium service offered for a fee to any customer requiring more than free carrier or
general delivery and for no fee to customers who are not eligible for carrier delivery…” Added Gardiner, “I would appreciate you investigating why I am being charged for
my box in Manzanita, when your website states I should get a box for free.” In discussions with USPS employees locally, the
See POST OFFICE, page 5
Recent ‘king tides’ cause Nehalem River to spill over into the streets Higher than normal tides in mid-December caused the Nehalem River to overflow its banks, most noticeably at the main intersection of Hwy 101 and North Fork Rd. in downtown Nehalem at midday. Traffic was not impeded. Fortunately, the high tides were not accompanied by torrential rainfalls in which flooding would have been more widespread. “King tides,” which occur when the orbits and alignment of the Earth, moon, and sun combine to produce the greatest tidal effects of the year, are biannual high tides that reach further up the shoreline than in any other cycle. The record high tides along the northern Oregon coast occurred Dec. 1215 this year, and another round of king tides are
See KING TIDES, page 2
An Internet journalist, with a ‘beach connection,’ recounts his passing relationship with the Clackamas Town Center shooter By Dave Fisher The Citizen
Just a little over two weeks ago, the Portland area got a taste of what it’s like to be the focus of national attention, as the Clackamas Town Center shopping mall was the scene of yet another senseless tragedy that, for whatever reason, have permeated American society in recent years. Perhaps, it was only a matter of time before a crazed individual wreaked havoc close to home.
To recap
Higher than normal tides, known as king tides, were the reason for the Nehalem River spilling over its banks onto Nehalem’s main street in mid-December. Photo by Dave Fisher
On Tuesday afternoon, Dec. 11, at about 3:20 p.m., 22-year-old Jacob “Jake” Tyler Roberts, who worked at a sandwich shop in the trendy Hawthorne District of SE Portland, parked his 1996 Volkswagen Jetta at the Clackamas Town Center parking lot and walked toward the Macy’s department store entrance. He carried with him a stolen semiautomatic rifle, wearing a white hockey-style facemask and a vest apparently stuffed with ammunition. When he reached the second-level area in front of Macy’s, facing the food court, he opened fire, fatally wounding two people.
See KILLER, page 3
Local citizens take a stand against gun violence in honoring Sandy Hook victims By Dave Fisher The Citizen
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About 30 people from Manzanita, Nehalem and Wheeler attended a silent candlelight vigil on Saturday, Dec. 15, in Manzanita at the corner of Laneda and Division outside the Hoffman Center to honor victims of gun violence by calling for active measures for gun control. The local vigil, one of hundreds staged across the country, was orchestrated by Neahkahnie resident Lane deMoll, who agreed to host a local version of a nationwide MoveOn Candlelight Vigil on Dec. 15 to end gun violence in the wake of the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut. Notifying the community members the evening before the event by email and social media, deMoll asked local citizens to join her and bring candles for the 30-minute observance that began at 5 p.m. “Our silent candlelight
vigil last Saturday night attracted about the same number as much bigger places like Ithaca, NY and Cadillac, Michigan,” said deMoll in an email to the Citizen. All I did was put it out there to our amazing community. It was both cathartic and sweet.” Organized by MoveOn, a national civic organization, over 300 candlelight vigils across the nation took place making a call to end gun violence following the massacre at Sandy Hook the morning of Friday, Dec. 14. It was the second mass shooting in a week. Gun safety experts report that there have been 31 school shootings in the United States since Columbine in 1999. The MoveOn family of organizations focuses on education and advocacy on important national issues. To learn more about MoveOn, visit MoveOn.org online. Other tributes to those who died in the Sandy Hook About 30 Manzanita, Nehalem and Wheeler residents gathered outside the Hoffman Center on Dec. 15, at massacre may be viewed at http://vigiltoendgunviolence. 5 p.m., to remember the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary shootings in Connecticut the day before and to call for an end to gun violence. tumblr.com.