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Volume 19, No. 1 Including E-Edition northcoastcitizen.com Like us on Facebook facebook.com northcoastcitizen
Inside
Pie Day (Night) celebration promises delicious fun Save the date, Saturday, Jan. 18 for the annual LNCT fundraiser Page 2
Bread & Ocean launches barbecue dinner menu If you love barbecue, you’re in for a treat Fridays and Saturdays Page 2
By Dave Fisher The Citizen
Manzanita’s long-awaited visitors’ center and public restroom facility is finished (or very close to it) and will be the object of a grand opening slated Saturday, Jan. 18, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Crews have been busy in recent days attending to items that the architect of the structure determined to be deficient, according to City Manager Jerry Taylor. Taylor said he expected much of the furniture to be moved into the building beginning this week. Looking to complete the new building before the Fourth of July, the city originally put the project on the fast-track in early 2013 with a plan to replicate the existing building that stood at 31 Laneda Ave. and was most recently home to Kent Price Coldwell Banker Realty. The old building was at one time the office of Ben Lane, one of the founders of Manzanita. In replicating the design of the building, city staff and the Manzanita City Council looked to save time by eliminating the need for design review by its planning commission. That didn’t set well with members of the planning commission, who voiced their opposition at the February meeting of the council. Also in attendance at the meeting were three or four local architects disgruntled that the city didn’t solicit design proposals for the new facility locally. It was suggested then that designing a new building specifically designed to handle the two functions, rather than replicating the old
DONE DEAL!
Rinehart Clinic enjoys success in helping people sign up for health coverage By Dave Fisher The Citizen
Finally finished! Manzanita’s new visitors’ center and public restroom facility at the corner of First Street and Laneda Ave. awaits visitors. A grand opening that includes refreshments is set for Saturday, Jan. 18, from an 11 a.m. ribbon cutting to 4 p.m. An after hours gathering for business owners in Manzanita,Nehalem and Wheeler is set for 5:30 to 7 p.m. later in the day. Photo by Dave Fisher building would better serve the community. Ultimately, the city council elected to stick with the original idea of replicating the existing building, but the time lost moved the project back two to three months. Once under construction, it was delayed time and again for a variety of reasons and plans for an opening during the holiday season were shelved. But that’s a mute point now as the Manzanita Business Alliance, in partnership with the City of Manzanita, gets ready to open the doors to its new visitors’ center a week from this Saturday.
The MBA has contracted with the City of Manzanita to staff and run the visitors’ center. The deal was finalized with the city this summer. In addition, the MBA hired a new part-time coordinator, Dan Haag, to help with the creation of the new MBA website and solicit volunteers to staff the visitors’ center. Through it all, MBA President Covert remained unfazed, keeping her eye on finally realizing a dream Manzanita merchants have harbored a long time. “Eventually, we’re looking to become a Chamber serving the three villages,” Covert
told the Citizen in an interview earlier this fall about the MBA’s long-term plans. “Until then, we’ll be recommending businesses not only in Manzanita but Wheeler and Nehalem as well.” With the grand opening of the 400-square-foot visitors’ center in sight, Haag remains enthusiastic. “I’m just looking forward to getting the doors open with smiling faces inside to greet visitors,” he said. Construction of the visitors’ center is being paid for from revenues generated by an increase in Manzanita’s transient lodging tax.
It’s no secret that the Affordable Health Care Act, commonly referred to as Obamacare, and Cover Oregon, the state-sponsored plan, have experienced problems with the rollout of their programs, so much so, many are under the impression neither program is working. Not so, says Rinehart Clinic employee Tammi Lappier, who has had a hand, along with five other clinic staffers, in assisting over 200 families and individuals in securing health care insurance under Cover Oregon since Oct. 1. Said Lappier, the clinic’s CMA outreach and enrollment manager, “Confusion is rampant and people think the program isn’t working. Many don’t know where to start…it can be overwhelming.” Both the federal and state programs experienced major glitches with their online enrollment process early on and problems continue, though Lappier maintains things are getting better. To help those seeking coverage in the early going Lappier and her colleagues relied more on doing things the old-fashioned way by helping people fill out hard-copy applications (up
See RINEHART, page 8
NKN School District tackles issue of bullying The Citizen
‘Get to know Rotary’ at a special gathering at NCRD on Jan. 23 Page 8
northcoastcitizen.com • $1
Manzanita and MBA host a grand opening of the new visitors’ center Jan. 18
By Dave Fisher
Busy time for Rotary Club of North Tillamook Co.
January 9, 2014
“If one child is being bullied, that is one too many,” says Neah-Kah-Nie School Superintendent Paul Erlebach, whose interest in bullying at school was piqued last May by a student about to graduate from Neah-Kah-Nie High School. As part of his senior class project, the student, of African-American descent, made a recording of racial comments directed to him during the course of senior year. Admittedly, some were made
jokingly, but whether or not they were perceived that way by the target of the comments is anyone’s guess, and it is just one form of bullying that goes on at schools throughout the country. Bullying and harassment, as defined in the NKN student handbook, is “a disturbance (language, behavior, technology-cyber bulling) which insults, ridicules, or torments another person.” “When I went to school, kids were being bullied and we weren’t doing anything about it,” Erlebach told the Citizen.
Neah-Kah-Nie Superintendent Paul Erlebach wants the school district to be more proactive in its approach to bullying. Photo by Dave Fisher
See BULLYING, page 7
‘Polar Plungers’ greet the new year! 7
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VISIT NORTHCOASTCITIZEN.COM FOR VIDEO CLIP OF TEH 2014 POLAR PLUNGE
On New Year’s Day in 2005, eight people participated in the inaugural Manzanita Polar Plunge. Ten years later, as many as 300 “plungers,” along with that many watching, gathered on the beach at Manzanita for the New Year’s Day tradition. “The ‘Plunge’ has many stories,” said founder Janice Gaines, following the 2014 tenth anniversary of the event. “I was told by one woman that drove up from Pacific City that her mom had passed away this last year and she decided for her she would save the ashes and throw them in the ocean while plunging. Very touching. “I met another family from somewhere back east and they came here on vacation and the plunge was part of it. Every year it gets bigger.” Said first-timer Mary Moran, whose sister, Sheila, was on hand to document the event, “It (the water) wasn’t that bad.” That said, for those who needed a quick warm up after taking the dip in the ocean, a fire on the beach awaited them. “It’s a very cool event… crosses all economic and political barriers and bring joy to all,” said Gaines.
Friendly people... friendly service, That’s Manzanita Grocery & Deli! H50893
“the little apple” 503-368-5362
When it comes to friendly, caring people, nobody out does Manzanita Grocery & Deli. For the best service in town, shop at the store where everybody knows your name! Located in the heart of downtown Manzanita on Laneda Ave. – open 7 days a week!
More photos, page 8