THH 12-26-12

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Headlight Herald TILLAMOOKHEADLIGHTHERALD.COM • DECEMBER 26, 2012

UP IN THE AIR Budget, safety concerns behind possible PC airport closure

Kids find gun at theater Gun owner: ‘It must have slipped from my holster’ BY MARY FAITH BELL & JOSIAH DARR Headlight Herald Staff Kolton McKinney

BY JULIUS JORTNER For the Headlight Herald

PACIFIC CITY – The possibility that the State might close Pacific City’s airport drew more than 50 persons to the county commissioners’ meeting on a very rainy Dec. 19 at the Kiawanda Community Center. Some came from faraway places such as Clackamas, Sisters, Eugene, and Salem, to join the locals in support of keeping the airport open. Mitch Swecker, Director of Oregon’s Department of Aviation, presented an overview of the situation that brings attention to perhaps closing PC’s airport. While funding maintenance of such airports statewide is a major issue in the current economic climate, there also are concerns about safety and the potential of costly liability claims in case of mishaps at the PC airport, which does not meet

LONGEST RUNNING BUSINESS IN TILLAMOOK COUNTY • SINCE 1888

Levi Crabtree

Hunters safety courses may have saved lives in an incident last week at the Coliseum Theater in Tillamook. In an area where kids grow up hunting with their parents and learn to shoot at an early age, early education about gun safety paid off in a big way last week when kids

found a loaded gun in the movie theater. “We were in the theater to watch 'The Hobbit' as a reward for getting good grades,” said seventhgrader Kolton McKinney. “We wanted to sit in the middle of theater for the best spot so Levi (Crabtree) and I walked to the middle, and when I pulled the seat down to sit we heard something hit the ground. I thought it was a piece of

SECRET SANTAS

the chair or something, but Levi said, “Dude, it’s a gun.” “We called our teacher (Jamie Dickson) over and he took it away.” Kolton’s friend Levi Crabtree said, “I was a little freaked out because I didn’t know if it was real. I knew I had to treat it like it was loaded, and not to touch it.”

See GUN, Page A3

Students win trip to East Coast BY NANCY WHITEHEAD For the Headlight Herald

See AIRPORT, Page A7

WEATHER DEC 15 16 17 18 19 20 21

HIGH 46 54 49 41 48 47 49

STATS LOW 33 39 39 34 37 37 38

RAINFALL .61 1.79 .16 .46 3.11 .32 .07

WEATHER COURTESY OF WEATHER UNDERGROUND

INDEX Classified Ads .........................B5 Crossword Puzzle....................B2 Fenceposts ..............................B3 Obituaries................................A6 Opinions..................................A4 Sports......................................A8 More News..............................B8

1908 2nd St. 503-842-7535 www.TillamookHeadlightHerald.com

Vol. 123, No. 52 75 cents

The gun found at the movie theater.

SAMANTHA SWINDLER/HEADLIGHT HERALD

A little girl tells Santa her Christmas wish during a distribution day of food and toys at the Salvation Army.

500 families receive Christmas baskets BY MARY FAITH BELL mfbell@countrymedia.net

More than 500 Tillamook County families received Christmas Baskets this year. That represents almost 2,200 individuals whose holidays were made brighter by the generosity of the community. The baskets were tailored for each family and included enough food for three meals including Christmas

breakfast and a holiday dinner. Each child under 18 received a gift chosen for him or her, and many seniors received gifts as well. From the north end of the county to the southern end, people have been working on the Christmas Baskets program for months, to ensure that their neighbors have something for Christmas. In north county, the Secret Angels coordinated Christmas Baskets for 85

families; Rockaway Lions Club had 16 families, Garibaldi Lions Club had 68; The Salvation Army Tillamook Family Services in concert with the Tillamook Ecumenical Community coordinated baskets for 275 families, and the Nestucca Rural Fire Station in Hebo coordinated baskets for 69 south county families.

See BASKETS, Page A7

FALLING THROUGH THE CRACKS As the Pine Avenue Apartments convert to a Rural Assistance property, low-income tenants who don’t qualify must find new homes – and there are few to be found BY JOSIAH DARR sports@orcoastnews.com

Affordable housing is at a premium in Tillamook County. Finding an apartment or house that’s big enough for a family, and yet affordable, is a task in itself. And some Tillamook residents living in the Pine Avenue Apartments, are now unexpectedly forced to tackle that task over the holidays. Pine Avenue Apartments, managed by Guardian Management Services, made some changes in September to the way the low income complex will qualify tenants in the future. Those changes are now taking effect. The lowest income tenants will benefit; others, those with jobs who are moderately low income, have been asked to vacate. They are at risk of falling through the cracks in the low-end rental housing market.

See HOMES, Page A7

TILLAMOOK FARMERS’ CO-OP

See TRIP, Page A7

The Pine Avenue Apartments

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For three Tillamook County high schoolers, the trip of their young lifetimes is coming up. Courtney Ahn and Chelsea Wallace of Nestucca High, and Sean Rumage of Tillamook High, have each won allexpenses paid CHELSEA spots on the WALLACE Odd Fellowsʼ “United Nations Pilgrimage for Youth” tour of the East coast this summer. The students wrote winning 500 word COURTNEY AHN essays on this yearʼs topic: the influence of the United Nations on the medical treatment of children. Chelsea and Courtney wrote about the work of the SEAN RUMAGE UN through UNICEF and with the World Health Organization to prioritize childrenʼs health, nutrition, and disease prevention and treatment. Sean brought up factors that limit the UNʼs influence: weak health systems within countries and the lack of public awareness of childrenʼs health issues around the globe. The students look forward to two weeks spent touring Washington DC, Gettysburg, Philadelphia, and New York City. In New York, theyʼll see a Broadway show. The United Nations headquarters is being remodeled, so UN representatives will meet the students at their hotel. The group will take a side trip to Ottawa, Canada, catching a view of Niagara Falls on the way. Courtney and Chelsea look forward to seeing the sights, to fast-paced learning, and to meeting program participants from other cultures. Sean, who wants to major in international business and/or finance in college, looks forward to learning about that most international of organizations, the UN.

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