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Taft’s Steere ousted at state wrestling See Page A8
$1 | VOL. 86 | NO. 9 | 2 SECTIONS YOUR WEEKLY COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER SINCE 1927
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FEBRUARY 27, 2013 | WEDNESDAY
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Lincoln City: Much achieved, Oceanlake school plenty more to be done... construction Anderson outlines State of the City JEREMY C. RUARK The News Guard
He has been Lincoln City’s mayor since November 2010, and Dick Anderson still shows the energy and excitement he had when first running for the office. Anderson exhibited that passion in writing his annual state of the city address to be delivered Feb. 25 at the Lincoln City Cultural Center. In his speech, Anderson applauded the city’s volunteers. “The community of Lincoln City runs on the backs of its volunteers,” he said. Anderson also recognized those who serve on the city’s committees and special work groups, and thanked each member of the Lincoln City City Council for freely giving their time to serve the community.
INSERTS Rite Aide; ProBuild; P&G Brandsaver; Price ‘N Pride; Walgreens; Safeway; Chinook Winds; Roby’s Furniture; Sears
COURTESY PHOTO
Lincoln City Mayor Dick Anderson, former Lincoln City Bike and Pedestrian Planning Group member Bob Hunt and Roads End resident John Ward help fill potholes in Roads End in August 2011. Anderson said the annexation of Roads End has been a key project for Lincoln City.
“I have come to realize that there is nothing more gratifying than to serve the citizens of one’s own community,” he said. Citing several accomplishments of
LINCOLN CITY, OREGON
city departments, Anderson outlined highlights of 2012 that included finding and repairing leaks in the city’s water system. “A couple of years ago, we identified the fact that we were losing approximately 30 percent of our treated water through leakage,” Anderson said. “High-tech equipment was budgeted, purchased and put to use. Leaks were identified and fixed.” Anderson said the leakage has been reduced from 30 to 21 percent and the city is on track to reduce that figure to 15 percent. The mayor said the city’s wastewater treatment plant’s $6.7 million Phase B project is nearly complete, and development of that phase and the elimination of using chlorine in the treatment process has already caused a reduction in water consumption. The plant previously used 124,000 cubic feet of water a month, but that has been reduced to 22,000 cubic feet a month.
See STATE OF THE CITY, Page A5
Surf’s Up at Taft High
WEATHER GUIDE PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS Tues., Feb. 19 . Wed., Feb. 20 Thurs., Feb. 21 Fri., Feb. 22 Sat., Feb 23 Sun., Feb. 24 Mon., Feb. 25
High 48 49 48 49 49 51 50
Low Prec. 39 .04 38 .3 38 .3 42 1.1 40 T 41 .3 42 .1
Weekly Rainfall: 2.14 inches Yearly Rainfall: 13.14 inches
WEEKLY OUTLOOK
COURTESY PHOTO
Jesse Henton of the Tigersharks 4H Surf Club, rides a wave during a recent competition. Henton, who says surfing “is like riding something living,” is among the many prospective surfers from fourth grade to age 19 who are involved in the local club, which is affiliated with Taft High 7-12 (see story, page A8).
Expect February’s weather to end and March to arrive without any extreme conditions. The sun should show itself on Wednesday before rain clouds come during the last week of February and the beginning of March. Expect sunbreaks. Weather data provided by Roads End Weather Watcher Sheridan Jones
on time, on budget Expansion, remodeling could be done by August JEREMY C. RUARK The News Guard
Oceanlake Elementary School’s 23,400-square-foot, $6 million expansion is on time and on budget with remodeling work on two of the three wings expected to be done by late this summer. The new expansion includes a south wing with a new 9,600-square-foot gymnasium and seven new classrooms. That wing was completed and opened in September. Over the past several months, workers have been completing an update for the north and east wings of the school. “During spring break, we will open two classrooms and a computer room in the remodeled wings, “ said Rich Belloni, Lincoln County School District support services director. New tile, fixtures and fresh paint have also been added as part of the upgrade for the two wings. The construction work at Oceanlake began last July. Oceanlake Principal Betsy Wilcox said teachers, staff and students have adopted a theme of patience, flexibility and agility during the work. “There might be some hammering right next door to a classroom, but the teachers keep teaching and they expect the students to continue to be engaged,” said Wilcox. “The kids tune the noise out and they are engaged.” See oceanlake, Page A2
JIM FOSSUM/THE NEWS GUARD
Refurbishment of the Taft dock, seen circa 1927 and now, is the goal of a group known as the Bay Area Merchants Association to bolster the local economy.
Merchants urge refurbishment of Taft dock JIM FOSSUM The News Guard
In a foreshadowing of things to come, longtime local resident Mayme Elvera Alinger Winter, who lived in Taft from 1918 to 1933, perhaps said it best in a 1994 interview while ranking the structure’s prominence as a
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consider the dock near the mouth of the Siletz River an irreplaceable fixture, mostly because he built it. He constructed the dock in 1946, hence his fondness for the structure, which has deteriorated over the years from wet and windy winter weather.
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is located on 51st Street behind Mo’s Restaurant on the Siletz Bay in the historic Taft District of Lincoln City. “We’ve heard some rumblings that this thing may go away and we don’t want it to go away,” Don Williams, president of the Bay Area Merchants Association (BAMA), said. “It’s such
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