2A DISTRICT
SUSPENDED ANIMATION
TRACK RESULTS MORE HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS, PAGE A9
PHOTOS FROM THE ROCKAWAY KITE FESTIVAL, PAGE A2
Headlight Herald
TILLAMOOKHEADLIGHTHERALD.COM • MAY 16, 2012
LONGEST RUNNING BUSINESS IN TILLAMOOK COUNTY • SINCE 1888
OSP trooper resigns
Grocer charged with rape
BY ANTHONY RIMEL arimel@countrymedia.net
Local Oregon State Police Trooper Mitchell Hurliman formally resigned from his position with the state police last week. Hurliman, a 14-year veteran of OSP, had been on paid suspension since being arrested for driving under the influence of an intoxicant late last year. OSP Public Information Officer Gregg Hastings said the resignation was Hurliman’s decision and the department’s own internal investigation into Hurliman’s DUII was not complete. “He did resign effective Friday, May 11, 2012. The decision to resign is his personal decision,” said Hastings. Hastings would not comment on what effect the resignation would have on Hurliman’s potential employment as an officer with another law enforcement agency.
See OSP, Page A8
INDEX
WEATHER HIGH 54 54 64 75 74 75 71
STATS LOW 46 37 35 42 43 44 46
Reunion celebrates 40 years of flying off Cape Kiwanda BY MARY FAITH BELL
Classified Ads .........................B5 Crossword Puzzle....................B2 Dining Guide ...........................B3 Fenceposts ..............................B3 Letters..................................A4-5 Obituaries................................A6 Opinions..................................A4 Sports......................................A9 Tides .....................................A11
MAY 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
the first flyers
RAINFALL .00 .00 .00 .00 .00 .00 --
PRECIPITATION PAST WEEK: 0.00 MONTH TO DATE: 2.26 MAY NORMALS HIGH: 62 LOW: 44 TOTAL PRECIPITATION: 0.00 WEATHER COURTESY OF WEATHER UNDERGROUND
1908 2nd St. 503-842-7535 www.TillamookHeadlightHerald.com
Vol. 123, No. 31 75 cents
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early 50 hang gliders from three states took to the air on the dune at Cape Kiwanda May 12 for the 40 Years of Oregon Hang Gliding Antique Glider Fly-In. It was a reunion for some and an introduction to the sport and its history for others. David Raybourn, retired hang gliding instructor, and Mark and Brenda Witwer of Sand Lake organized the event. Raybourn made his first flight in 1969 in Irvine, Calif. on a homemade “Bamboo Bomber.” The earliest gliders were made in people’s garages with common materials. He used bamboo poles for the frame and polyethylene plastic for wings. Hang gliding on Cape Kiwanda began in 1972, when the sport was young. “We were mostly barefoot, helmet-less and clueless; some even pointed their gliders in the wrong way,” described Raybourn. “We learned to fly by trial and error.” Raybourn’s first flight on Cape Kiwanda was in a modified Icarus II biplane built from plans. After landing in the ocean in knee-deep water, he learned to make turns. Later, Raybourn recalls, in Central Oregon high winds this glider would lift a 1953 Chevy pick-up up off the ground. “We lived life to the fullest in a way that most people will never experience,” said Raybourn of the early days of hang gliding. Mark Witwer of Sand Lake said
BY MARY FAITH BELL mfbell@countrymedia.net
Tillamook Center Market grocer Hamraj Singh, 46, is in the Tillamook County Jail on charges of 24 counts of Rape I, five counts of sodomy (all felony offenses), 51 counts of Sex Abuse II and III, and two counts of harassment, for a total of 82 sexual assault charges against two women. HAMRAJ SINGH Bail has been set at $1 million full cash on the felony counts, and $327,000 on the lesser counts, meaning Singh would have to post $1,032,700 in order to be released from jail. Each Measure 11 offense comes with a $50,000 full cash bond. “Given the serious nature of the crime and the fact that Mr. Singh is not a U.S. citizen, and comes from a country that is virtually impossible to extradite people from (India), the court is going be cautious,” said District Attorney Bill Porter.
See GROCER, Page A8
First brick sold for Rockaway wayside remodel BY ERIN DIETRICH MARY FAITH BELL/HEADLIGHT HERALD
stable aerodynamic gliders were being built commercially, and Witwer was ready to take the leap. He was immediately hooked. “There’s nothing else like it. Flying the coast and enjoying the beauty of the area, you get to observe things from the air that you’d never see otherwise, like falcon and eagle nests. Eagles will come and fly with you, wing tip to wing tip. There’s no engine noise to scare them off. Young ones can get aggressive, especially against an orange glider. Just the young ones, for some reason they don’t like orange.”
ROCKAWAY BEACH – The funds are secured, the plans are drawn and the first commemorative brick has been sold as Rockaway Beach prepares to renovate the heart of town: the Ocean’s Edge Wayside. Plans are on track to begin construction in September, to avoid interruption of the tourist season. The $448,000 project will transform the pot-holed parking lot at First Street and 101. The site has beach access and public restrooms. It is now mostly used for public parking and as a gathering place for events, such as the recent Kite Festival. “It’s really the focal point, it’s where everybody goes and it’s the best access to the beach,” said City Administrative Assistant Terri Michel. “And here you have an eyesore in center of town where everybody goes.”
See FLYERS, Page A8
See WAYSIDE, Page A8
(Top) Modern and antique hang gliders filled the sky on the north side of Cape Kiwanda Saturday, May 12. (Above) This rare biplane was on the dunes at Cape Kiwanda.
that he was watching the early days of fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants hang gliding, and it was too dangerous for him. “In the early 70s there was a lot of fatality in the sport. I kind of shied away from it. I was racing motorcycles, sailing, commercial fishing, but jumping without a backup chute or even a helmet in a homemade craft, that looked dangerous to me.” But the new sport spread like wildfire; it was the first time in the history of man that people could take a running start, jump into the air and fly, soar with eagles, literally. Witwer began flying on Cape Kiwanda in 1978. By then, relatively
edietrich@countrymedia.net
Thirty-two local charitable organizations received checks of $500 to $3,000 from the THS Charity Drive. Photo by Mary Faith Bell
Local groups receive $53K in Charity Drive funds mfbell@countrymedia.net
Last week Tillamook High School students distributed more than $53,000 to local charitable organizations from the record breaking $187,824.12 collected this year during Charity Drive. Here is the breakdown of where that money goes: off the top, the high
school pays Charity Drive expenses, and banks five percent. That five percent is intended to grow in an endowment until it is large enough to be able to use the proceeds, without touching the principle, to do good works in the community. After the bills are paid and five percent is banked, 50 percent of the
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remaining proceeds go to Doernbecher Children’s Hospital, 30 percent is awarded to local charitable organizations, and 20 percent is used for college scholarships for THS seniors. This year, the Doernbecher Kids Making Miracles program received a check from Tillamook High School students for more than $87,000; the
remaining $87,000 stays in Tillamook. The Charity Drive Committee, made up of school district staff, community members and student representatives, reviews applications from local charitable organizations. The committee determines which will receive awards and how much they’ll receive.
See CHARITY, Page A8
PROPANE
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BY MARY FAITH BELL