Taft sophomore Logan Merry will be among the key players in Wednesday’s first-round State soccer match
A combination of leadership, experience and talent among upperclassmen, and the growth of the future of the team in the form of several key returning players for next season will be on display at 3 p.m. Friday in Creswell when Taft High opens the Class 3A/2A/1A Boys Soccer Championships.
Taft Tigers
The 10th-seeded Tigers will be making their third straight road appearance in the 16-team State tournament’s first round under co-coaches Justin and Nicole James. The Tigers (9-3-3, 7-2-3 Special District 2) lost 3-1 at Portland Adventist Academy two seasons ago, and 4-0 at Riverside last year.
Nicole James said Taft, with an abundance of upperclassmen, is a fast team with an improved offense over last season, when it led the State for most of the year in defense. The Tigers will need solid defense throughout if they hope to derail the seventh-seeded Bulldogs, who won the Mountain Valley Conference at 12-2, 11-1.
Wednesday’s winner will meet the winner of the Umatilla (7-4-2, 3-2-1 Eastern Oregon) vs. Portland Adventist Academy (10-4, 6-2 Lewis & Clark) game in Saturday’s quarterfinals.
Taft overcame the graduation losses of two seniors on the back line by returning seven starters. James cited four seniors prior to the season who likely would have great impact on the Tigers’ fortunes and all four have proven her right.
Right wing Cesar Fajardo, who entered the year after scoring the second most goals in a single season for the Tigers, has provided a potent scoring threat.
Midfielder Joel Maldonado has continues to be one of the hardest working players on the team
“He will go 100 mph from start to finish of any game,” she said. “He always gives 100 percent and is a huge part of our offense and defense.”
Gavin Ceballos started the year at center defense for Taft and has made it difficult for opponents to get by him.
“He seems so be everywhere on the field all at once,” James said.
Also on center defense, first-team all-league player George Torres was the cornerstone of the Tigers’ defense last season,
“The success of our defense last season was due in large part to him,” James said.
Bus transportation for the first 50 interested riders is available to the game through the sponsorship of the Taft High Booster Club. Adults are $11 and students $9. Cost covers bus and admission to the game. Payment must be made by 10 a.m. Wednesday. The bus departs from the high school, 3780 S.E. Spy Glass Ridge Drive, at 11:45 a.m.
Much attention has recently been focused on preparing for a high-magnitude Cascadia earthquake. But tsunamis are a significant after-effect of high-magnitude quakes. Although they are rare, tsunamis can be extremely deadly. In December 2015, the United Nations General Assembly Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) designated Nov. 5 as World Tsunami Awareness Day. This year marks the first observance in the U.S., and around the globe. The 2016 theme is “Effective Education and Evacuation Drills.”
According to UNISDR, more than 260,000 people have perished in 58 separate tsunamis in the past 100 years. At an average of 4,600 deaths per disaster, the toll has surpassed any other natural hazard.
Karen Parmelee, geohazards awareness coordinator at Oregon’s Office of Emergency Management, says there are two types of tsunamis and urges people to know the difference.
Distant tsunamis, caused by a large undersea earthquake, comes from across the ocean and will take a few hours to come ashore, leaving time for an official warning and evacuation if necessary. In contrast, local tsunamis come ashore within 10 to 20 minutes after a nearby offshore earthquake. People near the ocean should head to high ground as quickly as possible as the only warning will be the ground shaking.
“People on open beaches, in low-lying areas, near bays or tidal flats, and near river mouths that drain into the ocean may have little time after a large earthquake to move to high ground,” said Parmelee. “Knowing what to do and where to go can save lives. Know local evacuation routes and assembly areas in coastal areas,” she said.
The Oregon Office of Emergency Management has several resources to help educate the public about tsunami safety:
Tsunami Safe: Hospitality Begins with Safety is a free program aimed at the hospitality industry. Hoteliers, motel owners and staff, bed and breakfast hosts, and people offering Airbnb, are all invited to attend. Classes are offered Nov. 1-8. An online schedule is available at www.tsunamisafe.info.
Know Before You Go is an OEM public information effort that encourages people to know the difference between a tsunami warning, advisory and watch, and provides evacuation maps and other resources for individuals and families.
The Tsunami Blue Line is an OEM wayfinding project implemented in Florence, Coos Bay, Reedsport and Gold Beach, aids coastal residents and visitors in finding a route outside the tsunami inundation zone and to safety. Without Warning: Tsunami, the newest collaboration between OEM and Dark Horse Comics, helps to educate youth and others about what to do when an earthquake and tsunami strike.
The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office is committed to enhancing public safety while working in partnership with our citizens to improve their quality of life. In doing so, the Sheriff’s Office sent members of its corrections and patrol divisions to Crisis Intervention Training during the month of October. This program was developed to help police officers react appropriately to situations involving mental illness or developmental disability. The program was held over 5 days and educated Sheriff’s Office staff using both classroom and scenario based training. Sheriff Landers advised that “all staff will attend this beneficial training”.
Law enforcement personnel are most often the first responders and have more frequent contact with individuals that may be in either mental or emotional crisis and we understand that this knowledge can be an invaluable tool.
Caytlyn Whitlow earned her coach’s respect this season as a sophomore lineman
“The hardest thing about being the only girl is never knowing if your team will accept you or treat you like an outcast, and having the other team treat you like a girl when you want to be treated like one of the guys. . . . And, having to change in a girls’ bathroom instead of in a locker room.”– Taft sophomore lineman Caytlyn Whitlow
Taft lineman goes toe-to-toe with football’s big boys
With Its playoff-worthy football season deemed over by its failure to attain the OSAA”s only at-large berth into the Class 3A State tournament, Taft High sophomore lineman Caytlyn Whitow can look back with the understanding it was a season of something truly noteworthy in her life.
“I made the team by going to a competition just for the hell of it to see how it was and from there on I’ve been hooked on football,” said Whitlow, who celebrated her 16th birthday on Sunday.
“I don’t know much about her off the field,” her coach, Jake Tolan, said, “but I do know it would have been very easy for her not to continue to play. That alone says a lot about her.”
Born in Tualatin, Whitlow is a foster child who resides in Depoe Bay with her grandparents, Rick and Lisa Hall. She has two younger sisters, Kaylee, 8, and Emma. 6.
“I play football because I like challenges,” she said. “I love the rush of playing and making challenges for both my team and other teams.”
Whether in the game as a JV player or offering support from the varsity sidelines, Whitlow’s impact is apparent in practice in a big way every day.
“You have to be loud and call out the plays and be in the game when on the sidelines,” she said. “When you’re in the game as a lineman, you only have one job — make a hole and get to the ball.”
That doesn’t mean being a commodity as a female football player is easy.
“The hardest thing about being the only girl is never knowing if your team will accept you or treat you like an outcast and having the other team treat you like a girl when you want to be treated like one of the guys,” she said. . . . “And, having to change in a girls’ bathroom instead of in a locker room.”
Whitllow s
aid she’s been treated mostly fairly by her teammates.
“Some of the older guys treat me as an equal, but others I feel don’t like my being there,” she said. “I feel respected sometimes, not all the time like I wish to.”
Whitlow is among a stable of players Tolan and the Taft High staff hope to build upon in establishing the program for the future. The Tigers move back to Class 4A after next season after four years in Class 3A and will return just four or five seniors after graduating at least 10 each of the past two years. Taft has a bulk of returning freshmen and sophomores — Whitlow among them – but a senior class half the size.
“Hopefully, we’ll develop a stronger program in terms of numbers and expectations,” Tolan said.
While the junior varsity has seen very limited varsity action this season, players such as the 5-foot, 3-inch, 247-pound Whitlow are attractive because they help coaching staffs work daily in-season toward the impossible task of simulating what the team will be up against on Fridays. Scout team members are few in numbers and barely breaking into their teens.
“We do the best we can,” Tolan said, “but it’s impossible to duplicate speed and physicality with the young kids. They’re trying to give us the best look we can get. Fortunately, she’s done a good job of stepping in there and helping our linemen out for Fridays.”
Tolan said he doesn’t know a lot about the player except for what he has seen on the field.
“I know we haven’t treated her any differently than what we expect from the boys in all of the drills that we run,” he said. “We expect her to be able to run those drills, and she never wavered in that or she never asked us for anything. There hasn’t been anything special granted to her. She’s been a solid member of our team.”
Tolan said he was caught by her seemingly deep-rooted interest in the game.
“I don’t know if she has ever played football before or is a student of the game, but she’s always asking me questions, clarifying things about defense or offense, or, ‘can I do this?’ or, ‘can I do that,” To be honest, I hope she continues to play again next year because I want players who work hard and are a positive contributor to our team.”
If Whitlow has her way, she’d continue to play on in college. An avid reader and writer. she hopes to attend the University of Oregon and major in English literature..
“I would consider myself a good student, but like most, I have made mistakes before — some I regret more than others,” she said.
It hasn’t been easy for the red-headed teen, who has no family in the traditional sense. She has had to move at least 10 times in her life, depriving her of having good educational opportunities, “like I do now.”
“My goal is to show not only other young girls with high hopes like myself that if you put your mind to it, and work hard on it, you can make it anywhere, including in a man’s sport,” she said.
“I Am Woman”
You can bend but never break me ‘Cause it only serves to make me More determined to achieve my final goal And I come back even stronger Not a novice any longer ‘Cause you’ve deepened the conviction in my soul
The Spooky Spectacular at Taft Elementary was packed with kids and parents and we all had a great time. Teachers and volunteers handed out candy in the doorways of classrooms and were all very friendly. On a rainy Halloween having the chance to trick-or-treat indoors was a blessing.
In the Taft Elementary gym there were games to play and prizes to win. I especially liked the cone toss game that was being run by Lincoln City Mayor Don Williams and City Council hopeful James Scrutton. These guys were all smiles as they handed out cotton candy to the kids.
This event is sponsored by local businesses and the Bay Area Merchants Association.
Good News for privacy concerned people! Now, your online data will not be marketed for business; at least by your Internet Service Providers (ISPs).
Yes, it’s time for your ISPs to ask your permission in order to share your sensitive data for marketing or advertisement purposes, the FCC rules.
On Thursday, the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has imposed new privacy rules on Internet Service Providers (ISPs) that restrict them from sharing your online history with third parties without your consent.
In a 3-2 vote, the FCC approved the new rules by which many privacy advocates seem pleased, while some of them wanted the Commission to even apply the same rules to web-based services like Google and Facebook as well.Initially proposed earlier this year, the new rule says: “ISPs are required to obtain affirmative ‘opt-in’ consent from consumers to use and share sensitive information.”
What does ‘sensitive’ information mean here? The rule lists the following:
Your precise geo-location
Your children’s information
Information about your health
Your financial data
Social Security Numbers (SNNs)
Your Web browsing history
App usage history
The content of your communication
Note: Your broadband provider can use and share this information if you give them explicit permission. So, you need to watch out for those invites and gently worded dialog boxes.
What’s non-sensitive is information like your email address, service tier, IP address, bandwidth used and other information along those lines, but you can still officially opt-out.The new rule also requires Internet providers to tell customers with “clear, conspicuous and persistent notice” about the information they are collecting on them and how/when they share it, and the “types of entities” they share it with.
The ISPs even need to notify its customers in the event of a data breach.
The FCC aims to provide consumers an increased choice, transparency, and security online over their personal information. Here’s what the Commission writes:
“ISPs serve as a consumer’s “on-ramp” to the Internet. Providers have the ability to see a tremendous amount of their customers’ personal information that passes over that Internet connection, including their browsing habits. Consumers deserve the right to decide how that information is used and shared — and to protect their privacy and their children’s privacy online.”
Meanwhile, the advertisers are, of course, not at all happy with the FCC’s move. The Association of National Advertisers called the new rules “unprecedented, misguided and extremely harmful,” saying the move is bad for consumers as well as the U.S. economy.
However, ISPs have a year to comply with the new rules. So, it won’t go into effect for at least a year.
Students can trick or treat at Taft Elementary! A safe (and dry) way to enjoy the Halloween holiday. Candy will be passed out and there will be carnival games in the gym.
LITTLE HOUSES by Kate Saunders and poetry by Ger Killeen
November 11 – December 5
Lincoln City- If it’s the second Friday, it’s time for an art reception at the Chessman Gallery in the Lincoln City Cultural Center. On Friday, November 11th from 5 -7 pm enjoy the new show along with complimentary refreshments, wine and an artist’s talk at 6 pm. This month features an unusual and innovative joint exhibition by glass artist Kate Saunders and poet Ger Killeen. This show, entitled “Little Houses”, will run from November 11 through December 5.
It has been said that in dreams, a house represents one’s self. Using this metaphor, Kate Saunders has created small abodes of fused glass and textural mixed media, symbolizing particular people or groups of people. In his part of this exhibition Ger Killeen has transformed original poems into a multimedia experience which emphasizes both the visual materiality of his texts and their contexts, and complicates the process of reading, seeing, and hearing them. Many of his text-image poems relate directly to Kate Saunders’ glass houses, while some stand in a more oblique relationship to the glass art. By using web-connected codes readable by smart devices the walls of the gallery are “opened up” beyond their physical confines to allow the viewer/reader/listener to encounter the work in new ways.
Be sure to bring your iPad or smartphone to get the full experience!
Ger Killeen is originally from Limerick, Ireland and now lives in Oregon, where he teaches at Marylhurst University. He has won numerous awards and published 5 books of poetry, three of which include A Wren (Bluestem Press), Lia A Léimfidh Thar Tonnta/A Stone That Will Leap Over the Waves (Trask House), and Signs Following (Parlor Press).
Kate Saunders lives on the Oregon coast and has been doing fused glass for many years. She originally started to fuse glass to use it in mixed media sculpture, but it didn’t take long for glass to become her main focus.
“I always like to say that I’ve wanted to fuse glass since the first time I saw a melted Coke bottle at a carnival when I was a kid, but got waylaid by ceramics in college.” Says Kate.
And you can see even more of her work on her own website www.lewiscreekglassworks.com
For more information about this show or any of the many events going on at the Lincoln City Cultural Center, call 541-994-9994, head to lincolncity-culturalcenter.org, or become a friend on Facebook.
NERVES SHAKEN, BRAIN RATTLED: BRADY GOSS PAYS TRIBUTE TO HIS IDOL JERRY LEE LEWIS (AND OTHERS) NOV. 5
LINCOLN CITY – He’s a small town kid with big city talent, and the ability to win a crowd no matter what size or location. He’s Brady Goss, he’s from Wallowa, Ore., and he’ll be performing at the Lincoln City Cultural Center on Saturday, Nov. 5.
The LCCC is pleased to welcome Brady back to the LCCC, where he’ll be playing on the AA Mason Hamlin mainstage. Goss will play a two-set solo show, starting at 7 pm in the auditorium, 540 NE Hwy. 101 in Lincoln City. Advance tickets for the Nov. 5 show are $20, on sale now at www.lincolncity-culturalcenter.org. Current LCCC Members receive a $2 discount (to learn more, call the office at 541-994-9994).
Described from an early age as a piano phenom, Goss is recognized as an electrifying entertainer. He is a devotee of blues, 50s rock n’ roll and classic country who started playing piano as a toddler, after watching his father play and read music. His first song was “Sea Cruise,” for which he learned the melody with his right hand one day, and a left hand accompaniment the next – when he was just 4 years old.
He took piano lessons starting in second grade, but never really liked them and “churned through teachers like butter.” Once he had the melody memorized, he would “fancy it up” and play it his own way. He recorded several instrumental CDs before he started singing, at the age of 16. His most recent recording is “Brady Goss: I’m With the Band.”
Goss cites Jerry Lee Lewis, Hank Williams, Eric Clapton, The Eagles, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and John Mayer as his major influences, but has an improvisational style all his own. He’s taken it all over the west, with a steady schedule of lounge, fair, festival and concert gigs. Among his performing credentials is the Bite of Oregon, held annually in Tom McCall Waterfront Park, and the Oregon State Fair.
“Brady is one of the rare gems in the world of music. He’s soulful, charming, energetic, high-spirited, captivating and commands his performances like a seasoned pro,” said Grammy nominee Ellen Whyte.
He’s also performed for Roland Janes, a studio guitarist who recorded with Jerry Lee Lewis and is now the engineer at the Phillips Recording Service (sister to Sun Studios).
“Brady has the same great gift of musical and vocal talent, plus the fire and determination that only the best possess. His hands are a blur of speed and accuracy. As you can see, I really believe in this twenty year old kid who has honed his skills since the age of six. Jerry Lee was 21 when I accompanied him on his first record. I think Brady can record a hit and his charisma, good looks and natural ability can carry over into the world of acting. All he needs is proper coaching and direction and in my humble time tested opinion, the skies the limit. This kind of talent if very rare and only comes on the scene once or twice in a lifetime. For me, this is the second of two,” Janes said.
The Lincoln City Cultural Center is a non-profit center for community and creativity, inside the historic Delake School building, at the corner of NE Sixth St. and Hwy. 101. The center, which is also home to the official Lincoln City Visitor Information Center, is open from 10 am to 4 pm every day except Tuesday. For details, head to www.lincolncity-culturalcenter.org, or call 541-994-9994.
A secret 13-month Oregon Department of Justice (DOJ) criminal investigation, launched by Lincoln City City Attorney, Richard Appicello, against Mayor Don Williams, and one of his supporters, transparency advocate Ross Smith, has been dropped.
On September 28, 2016, DOJ Sr. Assistant Attorney General Matthew McCauley wrote Lincoln County District Attorney Michele Branam, stating “there is an insufficient factual basis to pursue criminal charges against either Don Williams or Ross Smith in this matter.”
The cases against Williams and Smith were dropped just one day after Smith wrote Lincoln County Circuit Court Judge Thomas Branford, alleging Appicello made numerous false statements against him in a July 20th letter to Smith, which Appicello admitted authoring. The closing of the investigation marks the end to three failed attempts to prosecute and discredit Mayor Williams, who was elected in a landslide in Nov. 2014, on a platform of providing affordable housing and job growth.
A previously undisclosed letter Appicello wrote alleging both Williams and Smith had committed crimes was released last week by the Oregon DOJ, in response to a Nov. 2015 records request made by Smith. Appicello sent the 5-page letter in Sep. 2015 to Ronald Bersin, Executive Director of the Oregon Government Ethics Commission (OGEC), charging Williams with criminal misconduct.
“Whether or not Mr. Williams will be criminally prosecuted (for official misconduct under ORS 162.415 for unauthorized release of confidential information) will be left to a special prosecutor” wrote Appicello. Violating ORS 162.415 is a Class A misdemeanor, carrying a 1-year prison term, and a $6,250 fine.
The document Appicello alleged was confidential was a 315-page ethics complaint Appicello had drafted against Williams, which was submitted to OGEC in Aug. 2015. Williams said he released the complaint to the press shortly after receiving it from OGEC, because he wanted to clear his name, and because an OGEC representative had twice told him he didn’t need to keep the complaint under wraps.
But Appicello claimed the ethics complaint should not have been disclosed arguing it contained “confidential executive session excerpts” of private city council meetings. Smith, a staunch supporter of Williams, then sent a 9-page letter to OGEC’s lawyers, and convinced them to release the complaint to the public.
Williams was cleared of the ethics charges by OGEC in Oct. 2015, in a unanimous 5-0 decision, with their lead investigator, Diane Gould, referring to Appicello as an “instigator” in the messy affair.
In Aug, 2015, the Lincoln City Council authorized a separate investigation of Williams, and hired an outside attorney, Russell Poppe, to interview dozens of citizens, including several of the mayor’s supporters. The 13-month investigation, costing taxpayers an estimated $50,000 or more, concluded last month on the condition that Williams offer an apology for “possibly” violating city council rules.
Ross Smith
Afterwards, the city council voted 4-1 to keep all details of Poppe’s investigation secret, claiming attorney/client privilege. Williams questioned that claim since Poppe told the city council on Aug. 15th that he didn’t represent the City in any legal capacity, but was hired simply to investigate and present a report.
Later in Appicello’s letter, he turns his attention to Smith, who he charges with violating ORS 163.275, when Smith “attempted to coerce” City Recorder Cathy Steere by sending her a public records request for the ethics complaint in Sep. 2015. Coercion (ORS 163.275) is a Class C felony, carrying a 5-year prison term, and a $125,000 fine.
According to Assistant Attorney General McCauley’s letter, Appicello had charged Smith with numerous crimes, including “criminal impersonation, stalking, coercion, solicitation, and the unauthorized practice of law.” Criminal impersonation (ORS 162.365), Stalking (ORS 163.732), and Solicitation (ORS 161.435) are Class A misdemeanors (1-year prison/$6,250 fine). It is unclear what the penalty is for the unauthorized practice of law (ORS 9.160).
The charges against Smith came just one month after Smith had filed suit against Lincoln City in circuit court in Aug. 2015. In his suit, Smith claims the city council frequently violated Oregon’s Public Meetings Law over the last 6 years, including holding 59 secret meetings, and discussing and deciding on forbidden topics.
Smith said he filed the suit “not only to protect our mayor, but to protect the rights of the 1,700 citizens who elected him, because I show the city council did not follow the law in filing the ethics charges, or authorizing the Poppe investigation.’’
Smith questions if the charges against him were due to his filing the suit. “Claiming my respectful records request was criminal coercion is beyond the pale. Appicello just cooked that up to try to silence me, since I was challenging his attempts to unseat our mayor.” Smith said.
This July, Smith filed a second suit against the City, claiming the city council has been violating not only Oregon’s Public Meetings Law, but the City’s own municipal code, for several years, by holding private interviews of applicants, and holding secret votes to appoint city councilors, planning commissioners, and others.
While the Court is expected to rule on the first suit soon, Smith submitted a binding offer last week to the city council to drop both lawsuits, if council “apologizes to Mayor Don Williams, the staff and the citizens of Lincoln City”, for having “possibly violated Oregon Public Meetings laws.” The city council rejected his offer, without discussion.
“I guess our city council would rather waste our money on attorneys, than admit they might have acted improperly” Smith said. “I just hope our voters will elect leaders that will work openly, and with each other, and our mayor, because that’s certainly what our citizens deserve after all this.”
Asked to comment on the DOJ investigation, Williams replied “I had no idea when the investigation began, who was accusing me, or what was being alleged. Frankly, I’m disgusted this was all done at taxpayer expense, because it was a complete waste of time for everyone involved.”
But in the end, Williams remains surprisingly optimistic. “I’m just thankful we can put this all behind us, and focus on addressing real issues, like my 6-point plan to build more affordable housing, which I campaigned on, and have been trying to implement since I was elected.”
