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The Beach’s Best Brew?
One local coffee expert tangles with the best Page A2
75 CENTS | VOL. 85 | NO. 41 | 2 SECTIONS YOUR WEEKLY COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER SINCE 1927
OCTOBER 10, 2012 | WEDNESDAY
www.TheNewsGuard.com
Child saved from wasps JIM FOSSUM The News Guard
A.J. Palmer was spending a peaceful evening watching his children at a youth soccer practice. Mike Halferty’s kids were there, too. The Lincoln City ER doctor was hoping for a quiet night of his own. Neither breathed easily, as it turned out. Screams that Palmer said “only a parent could know,” alerted him to trouble near the bushes at the
The Lincoln City Fall Kite Festival returns this weekend to the D-River Wayside from 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Oct. 13 and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 14. This year’s theme is “Stars & Stripes,” so look for that red, white and blue to take to the air. The festival will include kite flying demonstrations by experts, and some of the most colorful “big” kites in the world.
old Taft Elementary School playing fields, where a swarm of wasps had attacked Halferty’s 2-year-old daughter, Abby. Palmer rushed to the rescue. “As a parent, you know there are certain cries where somebody’s not getting their way, and then there’s that extra pitch or octave,” Palmer said. “The first time I looked at her, she was crying and everybody was turning away so I thought, OK,
COURTESY PHOTO
Abby in the aftermath of the wasp attack, which occurred during a youth soccer practice.
See SAVED, Page A3
Candidate forums aim to help voters decide
See Page B1
INSERTS Chinook Winds; Roby’s Furniture; Sears; Safeway; Walgreens; Bi-Mart; P&G Brandsaver; Price ‘N Pride; Western Interlock; Rite Aid; Jo-Ann Fabric
WEATHER GUIDE PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS
High Low Prec.
Tues., Oct. 2 Wed., Oct. 3 Thurs., Oct. 4 Fri., Oct. 5 Sat., Oct. 6 Sun., Oct. 7 Mon., Oct. 8
57 71 69 55 69 59 60
47 45 47 44 44 46 46
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Weekly Rainfall: 0 inches Yearly Rainfall: 56.41 inches
WEEKLY OUTLOOK Friday, Oct. 12, is the 50th anniversary of the infamous Columbus Day Storm. So far, nothing that serious on the radar. However, enjoy the sunny days that are left. A major shift in the weather pattern will bring rainstorms by the weekend. Weather data provided by Roads End Weather Watcher Sheridan Jones
PATRICK ALEXANDER/ THE NEWS GUARD
Betty Taunton and Barbara Leff know how to keep a crowd sweet.
Choices, choices … PATRICK ALEXANDER The News Guard
Life is full of tough decisions, especially at election time. Democrat or Republican? Hard line or moderate? Liberal or conservative? And — in Depoe Bay at least — chocolate cake or carrot cake? But the lure of desserts and coffee is not the only secret to the enduring success of the Umpteenth Annual Candidates’ Night, according to organizers Betty Taunton and Barbara Leff. The pair say the event, held at The Spouting Horn restaurant, draws people from across the political spectrum because its organizers are trusted to keep the evening free from political bias. “We are total opposites,” Leff said. “We are good friends and we not only like each other but really respect each other and I admire her.” “That’s why it works,” Taunton said. “Everyone feels welcome because we are miles apart and we
can work together.” Leff, the junior partner of the team, said the event gained the “Umpteenth” title after people lost track of how long it has been running. “Betty has been doing it for so many years, she can’t remember when it started,” she said. Meanwhile, Taunton said her tradition of preparing a choice of three different kinds of cake keeps attendees sweet as they listen to the candidates’ statements. “They are all very civilized,” she said. All candidates for national, state, county and city offices are invited to the event, where they are asked to speak for two minutes before mingling and chatting with the crowd. Radio host Roger Robertson serves as master of ceremonies for the event, which starts at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct 16, at The Spouting Horn, 110 S.E. Highway 101, Depoe Bay. Robertson’s vocal cords will
scarcely have had time to recover from their exertions in Depoe Bay before the Chinook Winds Casino Resort Candidates’ Forum will call them into action again on Oct. 21. The event, co-sponsored by the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, the Kiwanis Club of Lincoln City and The News Guard will see city, county, state and federal candidates given three minutes to present their platform before taking questions read by Robertson. Questions can be submitted on the day or in advance via The News Guard’s Facebook site, facebook. com/thenewsguard. Not only will the proceedings be broadcast throughout the county on KBCH, KNPT and KWDP, but they will also be live-streamed on The News Guard’s website, www. thenewsguard.com, where they will be archived for future viewing. Confirmed guests include Rep. Kurt Schrader (D) and Fred ThompSee CHOICES, Page A3
LINCOLN CITY, OREGON
Wildfire strikes in Rose Lodge PATRICK ALEXANDER The News Guard
The dangers of wildfires came home to the Coast on Oct. 5, when a blaze on private timberland in Rose Lodge came within 300 feet of homes in the area. Fire crews from across Western Oregon converged on Rose Lodge to tackle the fire, which was reported at about 1 p.m. near milepost 8 on Highway 18. Joe Hitselberger of the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) said crews rushed from Toledo, Dallas and Philomath to attack the blaze, aided by a bulldozer and by a helicopter that dropped water on the flames. Michael Curran, wildland fire supervisor at ODF’s Toledo office, said the fire threatened 12 homes near Kimberling Mountain Road, with the sheriff’s office and North Lincoln Fire & Rescue District #1 personnel putting residents on notice that they might have to evacuate. “When the fire started, there was a home directly behind it that we were able to save directly off the bat,” he said. Curran said crews had the fire surrounded by a hose line by about 4 p.m. and had dug a “hand line” or fire break around the area by 7:30 p.m. “After the hand line was in, we were just spraying water,” he said, “trying to mop everything up completely.” Among those whose homes were threatened by the blaze was Lincoln City Community Center Director Gail Kimberling. “You hope it never happens to you but when you have a fire surrounding your house and everyone comes to the rescue and saves your house, it’s pretty amazing,” she said. “I think my husband and I are still in shock but thanks to North Lincoln Fire & Rescue, a logging crew and Oregon Department of Forestry, we may have lost the woods around our house but our house is still standing,” Curran said wildfires are not uncommon at the Coast and tend to occur after the area receives east winds. “It’s a warm, dry wind,” he said. “What it does is it dries all the fuels out a lot quicker so when a fire is started it tends to spread rapidly.” Curran said the cause of Friday’s blaze is still unknown but urged all coastal residents to observe the county’s burn ban and refrain from burning trash or debris or setting warming fires.
Homecoming a blast from the past JIM FOSSUM The News Guard
route through the middle of town on Oct. 5, prior to the Tigers’ annual homecoming Alumni from throughout football game (page A10). There was the crowning the years returned to Taft of king and queen Dominic High 7-12 last week, where Menicosy and Karli Martin, even former football playthe introduction of the acers got into the act during companying homecoming a week showered in a sea court, Saturday’s formal of orange and black and dance and numerous activismothered with homecomties in between. ing festivities. The newest twist, howAs in past years, fire ever, preceded the weekend trucks and police cars events as about 30 former escorted enthusiastic players or 1people affiliated students down a parade 9:44 AM L20563 Power Ford 6x2 101012:Layout 1 10/9/12 Page
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with the school’s football program vied in what is hoped will become an annual flag alumni game. Organized by sophomore project coordinator BillyAnn Stempel and sponsored by the Taft Booster Club, the black team, led by former coach Ken Martin, narrowly defeated the orange team, coached by his longtime mentor, Jack Wilkinson, who was head coach of the Tigers for 28 years.
JIM FOSSUM/THE NEWS GUARD
Former Taft students Micky Willoughby, Sue Graves, Diana Elroy, Teri Sawyer, Carla Doerflinger, Gail Kimberling, Desiree Clausing, Jill Elfstrom and Sandie Tucker dusted off their pompoms to cheer on players in the alumni game.
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