Walker Farms of Siletz has had its Lincoln City Farmers and Crafters Market membership revoked for refusing to take down a sign expressing various viewpoints.
Walker Farms, which maintains that removal of the sign violates its right to free speech, said it received an email Tuesday morning stating its membership had been revoked “because the sign is too political.”
“We have been advised to comment with a ‘no comment’ until we consult with our lawyer further,” Farmers Market officials said.
The disputed sign has a link to the website https://www.nwgsd.org/ in the bottom right-hand corner, where the image of the American flag (shown above) can be downloaded.
Lincoln City Cultural Center Director Niki Price said the Farmers Market rents the space at the Cultural Center, but is its own independent business and determines its own policies.
“The only time we intervene is if the public’s health and safety is at risk,” Price said.
A copy of the Lincoln City Farmers and Crafters Market (LCFCM) rules can be found HERE
According to a Facebook post from Walker Farms:
Due to a philosophical difference of opinion we are no longer welcome at the Lincoln City Farmers and Crafters Market. Our values are important to us and we shared them with a sign. We were told to take the sign down and refused to do so; our freedom of speech is a value that we do not take lightly. As a result we have had our membership in the market revoked. We are fully prepared to shoulder the economic burden of losing a market rather than to give up our ability to speak out in support of those things we hold dear. We have put our money where our mouth is.
To all you fine folks that have supported us at the Lincoln City Market for the last 10 years, we loved getting to know you and hope you will join us at our other great markets.
Walker Farms of Siletz said they will sell its products at Newport, Neskowin, Waldport and Yachats farmers markets.
George Blacketer is shown in mid-June after announcing his retirement from North Lincoln Fire & Rescue
Recently retired local firefighter George Blacketer’s mother died Monday evening in an accidental residential fire in Siletz.
“Some may have heard, but here it is: I regret to announce that I lost my mom tonight,” Blacketer said, confirming the death of his 61-year-old mother, Rayna Robertson. “I want to thank everybody for their continued support.”
The Siletz Valley Fire District, Toledo Fire & Rescue, the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, the Deputy Oregon Office of State Fire Marshal, a fire investigation team and Pacific West Ambulance attended to the blaze at 137 NE Metcalf Avenue at approximately 5:30 p.m.
“I want to thank the members of SVFR [Siletz Valley Fire & Rescue], Toledo Fire, LCSO [Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office], Newport Fire for their quick response and assistance,” Blacketer said.
Toledo Fire Department Assistant Chief Dave Inman said Siletz-Valley Fire Department Chief RC Mock will be issuing a news release regarding the incident.
“The [Sheriff’s Office] investigation is closed,” Inman said, noting that Robertson was the only resident in the house at the time of the blaze. “There was no criminal activity and there was one fatality.”
The services of Life Flight, which was pursuing another incident, were also initially sought, Inman said.
“We actually had two calls going at the same time,” he said. “We had a patient we were getting ready to load onto Life Flight and we were transporting that patient from that call to Siletz and that’s when the call for the structure fire came in.”
Blacketer, who retired in mid-June from North Lincoln County Fire & Rescue District #1 after 15 years of service, lost in a bid for one of three seats on the NLFR Board of Directors in the May 21 special election.
“It was a hard decision to make,” he said in announcing his retirement at a NLFR Board of Directors meeting last month. “It’s taken a couple of weeks to really consider. In the end, my family has supported me over the last 15 years and it’s time to return the favor.”
A 61-year-old Ventura, Calif., woman riding behind family members in another car was killed Monday afternoon in a single-vehicle traffic crash near Grand Ronde.
Right-rear passenger Eliza Munoz Esquivel died when Rosa M. Mendez, 58, lost control of a 2019 Chrysler Pacifica Mini-van around a sharp right-hand corner while trailing additional family members eastbound on SR Hwy 22 at approximately 3 p.m., according to an Oregon State Police investigation.
Mendez drove across the westbound travel lane and across a gravel/paved road and into a ditch, according to the report.
A 9-year-old boy rear passenger was air-ambulanced to Salem Hospital, where he was later transported to a Portland-area hospital.
The other passengers, Maria Estella Lopez, 54; Isaias Lopez, 68; Romelia Munoz-Esquibel, 48; all from Ventura, were ground-transported to the Salem Hospital with injuries.
The Oregon State Police was assisted by Grand Ronde Tribal Police, the Oregon Department of Transportation and Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
The Oregon-based crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Steadfast was scheduled to return home to Astoria on Tuesday following a 56-day counter-narcotic patrol to the Eastern Pacific Ocean that netted 23,000 pounds of cocaine valued at $350 million.
The crew interdicted five suspected smuggling vessels, including three pangas, a fishing vessel and a sailboat, and recovered floating bales of contraband.
The Steadfast crew offloaded the seized cocaine Friday in San Diego, a result of the cutter’s five interdictions, bale recovery and an interdiction case by the Coast Guard Cutter Robert Ward.
The cocaine was seized by the crews while the cutters were patrolling international waters off the coasts of Mexico, Central and South America between late June and mid-July.
“This was 26,000 pounds of cocaine that will not make it to the main streets of the USA, and it also gives us the opportunity to make sure we can continue to combat transnational criminal organizations who transport this cocaine deep in the Pacific every single day,” said Rear Adm. Peter Gautier, the 11th Coast Guard District commander. “Because we know that with a supply chain of illegal narcotics, at every single step there’s violence, instability and despair.”
Steadfast’s seizure of more than 23,000 pounds of cocaine marks the largest amount of cocaine seized by crews aboard a 210-foot medium-endurance cutter during a single counternarcotic deployment in the service’s history.
Many of the medium-endurance cutters in service today are more than 50 years old. The Coast Guard’s medium-endurance cutters represent 70% of the services’s counter-drug interdiction fleet. These cutter’s are approaching the end of their service life. Replacing the aging fleet of medium-endurance cutters with the offshore patrol cutter is one of the Coast Guard’s top priorities. Even though medium-endurance cutters are still highly effective, as shown by the 26,000 pounds of cocaine Steadfast’s offloaded, they can be difficult and expensive to maintain and operate.
As these cartels become more advanced in their methods at sea, the Coast Guard is recapitalizing the fleet with modern assets equipped to detect, interdict and disrupt the growing flow of illegal drugs, weapons and people in the Eastern Pacific.
The offshore patrol cutter will provide a critical capability bridge between national security cutters like the Coast Guard Cutter Munro (WMSL 755), which offloaded 39,000 pounds of cocaine earlier this month, and fast response cutters like the Robert Ward, which seized more than 3,000 pounds of the cocaine offloaded Friday. The Robert Ward’s interdiction was the first cocaine seizure made by a fast response cutter in the Eastern Pacific.
“There are few closer relationships than those among the members of a ship’s crew performing a dangerous, important mission,” said Cmdr. Dan Ursino, the Steadfast’s commanding officer. “Steadfast’s crew has worked as a remarkable, dedicated team with a strong common goal – protecting their nation from the deadly, destructive effects of illegal drugs. I’m very proud of each and every one of them, and commend them for their hard work and dedication to keep themselves and their ship prepared for this vital work. Something that makes their achievement even more impressive, is that before leaving homeport on June 13th, nearly a third of this crew had never sailed before on Steadfast – a true testament to the emphasis we put on standards and training.”
The fight against drug cartels in the Eastern Pacific Ocean requires unity of effort in all phases from detection, monitoring and interdictions, to criminal prosecutions by U.S. Attorneys in districts across the nation.
The Coast Guard increased U.S. and allied presence in the Eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Basin, which are known drug transit zones off of Central and South America, as part of its Western Hemisphere Strategy.
During at-sea interdictions, a suspect vessel is initially detected and monitored by allied, military or law enforcement personnel coordinated by Joint Interagency Task Force-South based in Key West, Florida. The law enforcement phase of counter-smuggling operations in the Eastern Pacific is conducted under the authority of the 11th Coast Guard District, headquartered in Alameda.
Steadfast’s missions include homeland security, search and rescue, marine environmental response, recreational boating safety, port safety and security, and law enforcement including: alien migrant interdiction, pollution prevention, marine sanctuary protection, drug interdiction and fisheries enforcement.
A 2-year-old girl is in stable condition with leg injuries after being struck by a truck pulling a travel trailer Monday morning at Mooshine Park in Logsden.
According to the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, the child was playing with friends in a designated campground and darted onto an access road, where she was hit by a vehicle driven at speeds near or below 5 mph by Richard Jans, 65, of Philomath.
The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, along with Siletz Valley Fire and medics with Pacific West Ambulance, responded at approximately 11:15 a.m. to the Lincoln County Parks facility at 3870 Moonshine Park Road, where Life Flight was requested due to the unknown injuries and remote location.
Witnesses said the toddler ran into the side of the truck and went under the front right tire. Jans, who said he did not see the child, heard the yelling and stopped before the back right tire went over the victim.
The girl was flown to Good Samaritan Hospital in Corvallis with non-life threatening injuries.
Jans fully cooperated with the investigation and no criminal charges are being sought.
I have spent much of the past year arguing that Oregon needs, at long last, to get serious about emergency, earthquake, and tsunami planning.
As a first step, Coastal Legislators recently repealed a statute which prohibited any new development in the inundation zone. And that change generated lots of questions. Certainly it makes no sense to build schools or hospitals in dangerous places. We know that. And up and down the coastline, we have been moving critical facilities to higher ground and doing it at our own expense. The problem with the 1995 law that the legislature overwhelmingly repealed this year is that it didn’t allow state dollars to be used to help improve or even move facilities out of these potentially dangerous areas.
Let me say that again. If a school in Corvallis wants to beef up their gymnasium, they can apply for state grants of up to $2.5 million. But if Waldport wants to move a school out of the inundation zone, they cannot apply. And that makes little sense.
The statute also prevented use of evolving engineering and technology to construct tsunami-safe public buildings. California and Washington have adopted earthquake and tsunami building codes. Oregon simply said, don’t build anything.
Living on the coast means living with the reality of Cascadia
The Department of Geology and Mineral Industries (DOGAMI) was empowered with this “go/no-go” authority to prohibit any new hospitals, schools, fire or police stations within the tsunami inundation zone. But they are a scientific agency and not land use, zoning, or building code experts. They have no funding for hearings or plan review. The change allows DOGAMI to focus on helping collect the best information and then advise and mitigate the risks.
Meanwhile, new understanding of tsunami science indicates the line should now be moved further east. Communities that have spent millions of public dollars to shift fire or police stations inland are frustrated to find them potentially back inside the inundation zone.
HB 3309 removed DOGAMI’s regulatory authority and left them with the responsibility to determine where the line is. The bill passed the House 56-4 and the Senate 28-1. But we were soon roundly criticized.
So to review:
Current polices provide grants in the valley to strengthen facilities but nothing on the coast to repair or relocate.
We’re ignoring new science and simply saying do nothing in the inundation zone.
The zone boundaries are moving which means buildings or homes that were once outside the line may be back in.
To be clear, nothing in this new bill requires construction in the tsunami zone. But I have confidence in science and in engineering, and I believe we are learning every day how to better address future risks. At the Hatfield Center in Newport, a new marine studies building will be a national model for tsunami “vertical evacuation”. Should we be precluded from using new technology? I don’t think so.
The Hatfield Marine Science Building in Newport is a model of new tsunami building codes
I’m also concerned about how enforcing old policies will affect our current circumstances. I’m concerned about neighborhood safety as well as tsunami safety.
When we move police, fire, and medical support further from our population centers the result is longer response times when you need help. That may cost lives while we wait for Cascadia. And limited by Urban Growth Boundaries and caught between the ocean and wetlands, farms, or coastal hills filled with landslide faults, we often have no place to move to.
Will people still buy homes at the beach, knowing there is a 1/3 chance of a major earthquake in the next fifty years? Probably so. But will they be able to get mortgage insurance? How are property values influenced when police and fire and medical support is forced further away? What happens to local business when the state will not support local economies?
The fact is that our major population centers, our commercial centers, and our low income clusters are all within the tsunami zone. One third of our population is over 65. People’s life savings or life debt are centered in their homes. And yes, they will lose those homes when Cascadia comes. But they cannot afford to just walk away now.
The tsunami regulatory line is not a hard and fast boundary – safe on one side and dead on the other. When the wave does come and you are running uphill, don’t stop at the blue line and turn to watch. Keep on going!
But that said, the wave will weaken as it moves ashore and through our communities. Treating the line as a firm regulatory boundary makes no more sense than treating it as a firm safety boundary. I argue we should have the flexibility to build police or fire department annexes closer to the shore and to the people who live there. We’ll need their help at some point whether it is Cascadia, or a fire, or a heart attack.
Meanwhile the agencies tasked with helping us are in disarray. DOGAMI was scrutinized this session for overspending its general fund appropriation for the second time in the last four years. It needed major adjustments, including a $650,000 increase in general funds to support operations and “backfill overspending” according to the Legislative Fiscal Office. In 2020, Gov. Kate Brown’s office will evaluate the department to see if it should continue to exist as an independent agency, or if it should be “abolished” with the programs moved to other entities.
Coastal legislators are frustrated. Residents can’t afford to abandon their homes. New science is changing the lines. There is little land to move public facilities to. The state won’t help pay to improve or move schools and hospitals. And we are mired in 30 year old laws and policies.
Oregon’s outdated earthquake statutes and regulations are not limited to the coastline. Our Statewide Planning Goals actually say that we must avoid development in earthquake areas.
But the entire western third of the state will be affected by Cascadia. No new development from I-5 to the ocean? Really??
Cascadia will bring down several Portland bridges
So where do we go? And how do we get serious about earthquake and tsunami planning?
First I have to say that I believe the Coast is better prepared than most other parts of Oregon. Schools educate our kids. We paint evacuation routes on the streets. We pack our go kits. We know what to expect. Most other parts of the state are blithely indifferent and unprepared for when the ground starts to shake and their buildings and bridges collapse. The rest of Oregon needs to catch up with the Coast!
Second, we need to get over polices that are decades out of date. Don’t tell us to do nothing — tell us what we can do better! California and Washington have adopted new earthquake and tsunami building codes developed by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). I’ll introduce legislation in February for Oregon to move in the same direction.
Third, it is time to straighten out management and adequately fund state agencies designed to support us. DOGAMI needs to clean up their fiscal act and we need to consider moving emergency responsibility out of the Military Department who are focused on response and not on preparation and are ill equipped to network with schools or local government.
We need to invest in science.
There are other tools to consider. ShakeAlert is an early warning system being developed by the USGS and other seismic researchers in the West to detect earthquakes and give advance notice of them. The legislature failed to fund its $12 million expansion in Oregon this session. Is a minute or two extra warning worth the cost?
Similarly, I sponsored HB 2229 the past two sessions. This measure would require schools to provide training in how to prepare for and recover from natural disasters. The cost for developing curriculum was under $100,000. But the bill failed to move, primarily because the Confederation of Oregon School Administrators argued teachers would need too much time to learn the new materials.
Finally, we need to invest in upgrading our transportation network. The current thirty year plan is focused on eastern Oregon highways that will survive the quake and service the valley populations. The second stage is strengthening I-5 and Portland bridges. And finally, somewhere around the year 2050, the plan is to work on about 100 coastal bridges and connecting roadways. With limited resources, that plan makes some sense. But it gives us little comfort and again signals that the coastline is Oregon’s lowest safety and economic priority.
At some point in the near or foreseeable future, Oregon will experience a devastating seismic event. We need to determine what steps will make Oregon better prepared, safer, and more secure. The tsunami will strike the coast. But the earthquake will impact everything from the Cascades west. All of Oregon has a stake in how we get ready. Do we abandon our beaches, farms, and cities? Or do we work responsibly and strategically to protect our communities and the people who choose to live here.
It’s time we began to update our 1990s thinking and get serious about earthquake and tsunami planning.
Work continues on construction of the new Lincoln City Police Department
The Lincoln City Police Dispatch Daily Desk Log is a public record of police calls. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Friday, July 19
Warrant Service – 1:32 a.m. – SW 35th St. – Danae Quesnoy (6/12/64) taken into custody on Lincoln County warrant for failure to appear on criminal trespass and theft charges after a report of someone sleeping in a vehicle parked in the roadway.
Disorderly Conduct – 4:54 a.m. – 950 SE Spyglass Ridge Dr. – Terry Dale Mooney (7/6/61) was reported wandering around outside of building intoxicated, yelling at neighbors. Mooney was transported to LCPD, cited and released for disorderly conduct.
Suspicious Activity – 8:16 a.m. – 1942 SW Galley Ct. – Report of an arrow stuck in his neighbor’s roof. Arrow seized.
Criminal Mischief – 9:55 a.m. – 136 NE Highway 101 – Report of a derogatory remark spray painted on side of vehicle.
Attempted Burglary – 12:10 p.m. – 1415 NW 31st Pl. – Caller reported someone attempted to break into her condo. Door was damaged, report taken.
Assisting Outside Agency – 2:51 p.m. – LCPD Station – Jeremy House (10/31/86) taken into custody on probation detainer and transported to Lincoln County Jail.
Theft – 5:29 p.m. – Lincoln City Community Center – Theft of services by two males. Report taken.
Saturday, July 20
Warrant Arrest – 12:01 a.m. – Safeway – Michael Allen Copple (9/21/77) taken into custody for felony warrant out of Benton County for probation violation and assault. Copple was charged with felon in possession of a weapon near the bottle return area. Transported to Lincoln County Jail.
Assault – 4:10 a.m. – Chinook Winds Casino – Tayler Lily Johnson (11/25/97) taken into custody for assault after casino security reported a female assaulted someone in the deli.
Found Property – 6:48 a.m. – 95 SW Highway 101 – Wallet turned into LCPD found at D River Wayside.
Extra Patrol Request – 1826 NW 26th St. – Extra patrol requested due to fireworks being set off every night around midnight.
Hit and Run – 11:59 a.m. – SW Highway 101 & SW Galley Ave. – Caller reported his vehicle was rear-ended by a dark red SUV. The SUV turned on Galley after the crash and did not stop.
Missing Person – 3:51 p.m. – 691 SE Jetty Ave. – Caller reported her brother was missing since yesterday and didn’t show up for work today. Report taken and entered into LEDS/NCIC.
Crash – 5:59 p.m. – NE 17th & Highway 101 – Two vehicle crash with no injuries.
Sunday, July 21
Domestic – 10:47 a.m. – 1015 SW Highway 101 – Caller said an argument started between two people. Caller believed one had been injured by another. There were no visible injuries. Report taken.
Theft – 1:35 p.m. – 1410 SE Highway 101 – Wallet taken while at south Shell gas station. Card was used at Lincoln City stores.
Stolen Vehicle – 6:50 p.m. – 3456 NE West Devils Lake Rd. – Caller reported vehicle stolen sometime in the last three weeks. ODOT recovered and towed as abandoned off Highway 181 on 7/20/19.
Monday, July 22
Trespass – 7:10 a.m. – 3043 NE 28th St. – Jose D. Beltran (8/15/89) was refusing to leave SNLH property. Probation officer placed a detainer on Beltran who was taken into custody and transported to Lincoln County Jail.
Abandoned Autos Towed
3500 NW Jetty Ave. – Blue 1994 Volkswagen Golf – Towed by Car Care
1700 SE 8th Ct. – Black 1992 Honda Accord – Towed by Lincoln City Towing
3500 NW Jetty Ave. – Gray 2003 Ford Taurus – Towed by Car Care
Suspicious Vehicle – 7:01 p.m. – 4079 NW Logan Rd. – White Toyota Tercel in landscaped area with keys in ignition and no driver. Towed by Lincoln City Towing and contacting registered owner in Grand Ronde.
Car Clout – 7:18 p.m. – SW 51st St. & SW Ebb Ave. – Vehicle window broken and items stolen from inside.
Theft – 8:33 p.m. – SW 5th St. & SW Ebb St. – Report of a wallet stolen.
Tuesday, July 23
Missing Found – 12:05 a.m. – Subject reported missing by his sister on 7/20 was found on a traffic stop by Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office. Cleared from LEDS/NCIC.
EDP – 1 a.m. – Travelodge, 1713 NW 21st St., Room 207 – Transfer of call from county involving a suicidal male with a knife. LCPD located subject, Niel Winter (6/15/94) at location deceased from self inflicted wounds. Pacific View responded.
Theft – 8:38 a.m. – Inn at Spanish Head, 4009 SW Highway 101 – Vending machines throughout hotel have been broken into.
Sex Offence – 10:58 a.m. – Caller states she was sexually assaulted three weeks ago by a male she knows as Jessie in an abandoned house near the Lincoln City Outlets.
Theft – 7:24 p.m. – 1918 NE 58th St. – Black Lenovo laptop, Streamlight tactical light, Kydex and leather holsters, DVDs stolen from vacation rental.
Wednesday, July 24
Harassment – 9:30 a.m. – LCPD Station – Person in PD reporting harassment on city bus. Report taken.
DOA – 2:17 p.m. – 1442 NW 19th St. – Stephen James Havord (3/17/43) was found DOA by in home care. Pacific View Memorial responded.
Car Clout – 3:53 p.m. – 3109 NE 26th St. – Vehicle broken into at apartment complex.
Extra Patrol – 10:44 p.m. – 6111 NW Logan Rd. – Vacation rental owner would like an extra patrol due to one of his guests vehicle broken into and they didn’t report it.
Thursday, July 25
Car Clout – 7:15 a.m. – SE Fleet Ave. & SE 32nd St. – Window broken out of vehicle overnight.
Disturbance – 9:58 a.m. – 1457 NW 16th St. – Caller reported her ex-boyfriend, Anthony Demicell (7/17/75), had just been released from jail and was at her home pounding on the door and yelling. Demicell taken into custody on PO detainer and transported to Lincoln County Jail.
Hit and Run – 12:20 p.m. – SW Anchor Ave. & SW Anchor Ct. – Caller reported a newer white SUV struck a stop sign and a utility box and kept going. Driver described as an older white male.
Traffic – 3:48 p.m. – Traffic stop initiated after officer was given false information on a suspicious vehicle call earlier. Drugs were in plain view during the stop and officers searched the vehicle. A stolen driver’s license was recovered. Nahea H. Campos (8/21/87) was charged with identity theft, giving false information to police, theft by receiving and possession of methamphetamine. Sylvia M. Raygoza (5/31/82) was cited and released for possession of meth and heroin. Felony warrants confirmed on Campos pout of Marion County and Linn County for theft and failure to appear for identity theft. Campos transported by ambulance to SNLH for possible overdose, was discharged and transported to Lincoln County Jail.
Found Property – 4:29 p.m. – Inn at Lincoln City, 1091 SE 1st St. – Found wallet near hotel turned into LCPD.
Animal – 6:50 p.m. – Canyon Drive Access – Caller reported her son was bitten by a dog on the beach.
DUII – 9:37 p.m. – Sea Gypsy, 145 NW Inlet Ave. – Melinda S. Divine (7/2/62) was taken into custody after a report of an intoxicated female creating a disturbance.
Lincoln City had a visitor from Normandy, France, last month named Halim, who said the city was beautiful and he would be back next year “because the Pacific coast of the State of Oregon is amazing and very spectacular.”
“la côte Pacifique de l’état de l’Oregon est incroyable et très spectaculaire”
“In the streets, the cleanliness of the sidewalks and car parks, the people seem relaxed and smiling and have superb American flag on the 101 road,” Halim said. “The beach is superb, even if the Devil Lake is contaminated by bacteria it remains beautiful. The atmosphere of the city I like a lot!”
(Photos by Halim)
Halim, 42, hails from Vernon, a commune in the department of Eure southeast of Rouen in the Normandy region in northern France. It lies on the banks of the Seine River, about midway between Paris and Rouen.
Halim hadn’t left the small town for 25 years before coming to America to see his friend Mike, who lives in Lincoln City.
Halim first visited San Francisco, then took an Amtrak train to Salem, where Mike picked him up. Halim visited Astoria, Newport and Depoe Bay while in Oregon. He also saw Mt. St. Helens in Washington.
Mike treated Halim to his first time eating Mexican food with home-cooked enchiladas and tacos.
“So good! My friend’s wife is an excellent cook. I feasted.” Halim said.
Mike and Halim were working on setting up a direct high-frequency radio link between France and Oregon, but “the conditions would not allow it to pass.”
“Je suis passionné de radio amateur,” translates to: “I am passionate about amateur radio.”
“Here is a beautiful memory with Bill of Crab Max, what an extraordinary person. Like me he is passionate about geology and he is also amateur radio.”
Halim and Crab Max’s Bill Paterek
Halim’s radio call sign is F0DXQ.
“The work of the police is very important for the good of the communities, whatever the place,” Halim said. “Constable Craig was very nice. I asked him if I could take a picture with him and if I could do pictures of the police car, agent Craig accepted. I’m happy to have done these pictures and this agent was really nice.”
1 of 4
He checked out the firehouse for North Lincoln Fire & Rescue.
And the Lincoln City Outlets.
He loves nature and wildlife.
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Halim attended Zoom Summer Kite Festival and said he really enjoyed it.
“I’m happy to have seen this festival and I even bought a T-shirt! It was successful and very spectacular,” he said.
Halim ‘exploring Lincoln City’
“I want to say a big thank you to the people of Lincoln City for their hospitality, thank you also to the traders for their patience with my English.” Halim credits his smartphone and Google Translate for bridging the gap and allowing him to communicate.
“Je serai de retour à Lincoln City avec ma fille l’année prochaine.”
“I will be back to Lincoln City with my daughter next year,” he said. “For the sea food.”
Geoffrey Petersen shortly after being asked to leave D River Wayside State Park Saturday
Lincoln County Captain of “Flush Down Kate Brown” Geoffrey Petersen was asked to leave State Park property Saturday afternoon by a state park ranger for his “Recall Kate Brown Here” petition table at D River Wayside.
Peterson was informed he couldn’t solicit at the State Park by the ranger 10 minutes into signature gathering efforts to recall Oregon’s sitting second-term governor.
“Why not?” Petersen asked.
“It’s a law we have,” said the ranger. “You can’t have a sign here that’s stating political things at state parks.”
Peterson pulled an iPhone out and began recording video and said, “I’m going to put this on Facebook so everyone doing this with me knows – so everybody knows so you don’t have to stop me in the future.”
“Unfortunately, I’m asking you to remove the sign and if not I can contact someone higher up to come remove it.”
“I’m not saying I won’t remove it,” Petersen said. “I just want to make this clear for when I put it on Facebook so everyone doing this knows.”
“Within state parks we do not allow soliciting of any kind,” said the ranger.
“Alright, perfect. Thank you very much,” Petersen said.
“Thank you so much,” the ranger said.
The two shook hands and Petersen moved to the city sidewalk 30 feet away and set up his sign and table, continuing to gather petitions to initiate a recall of the governor.
When asked if the recall effort against Brown was effective, Petersen, who joined the self-proclaimed non-partisan volunteer group “Flush Down Kate Brown” last week, had this to say:
“280,500 is the minimum number we need but we are shooting for 400,000. So far we’re ahead of schedule — we’ve got over 45,000 signatures in the last 10 days.
“We’re really excited and we’re going to keep going. We just got a count the other day from our leader Michael Cross.”
The park ranger’s boss, Park Manager Jainie Lascano, spoke with Homepage via telephone interview:
“The sidewalk is city,” Lascano said. “people can’t petition on park property but they can on the sidewalk. Sidewalks are good.”
Lascano said she had a similar run in with a Gov. Brown recall effort a few days ago at the park. She said an individual had signs plastered all over their vehicle with people coming up signing petitions.
“It doesn’t matter what they are doing there,” Lascano said. “Whether they are there for the governor or passing something out religious, we can’t have them doing it at the State Park property.”
(8) While many activities are allowed on park property, the following activities are specifically prohibited at park properties, and a person may not engage in:
(o) Placing a sign, marker or inscription of any kind, except in designated areas within a park property, without written permission from the park manager;
(9) A person may only distribute circulars, notices, leaflets, pamphlets or written or printed information of any kind within a park property after they have first obtained permission from the park manager and reported their name, address and number of leaflets to be distributed.
(10) A person must obtain a special use permit from the department for any activity or use as described in OAR 736-016-0005(1), including but not limited to an activity or use within a park property that:
(a) Is an organized group activity or event attended by over 50 people;
(b) Uses a portion of a park property to the exclusion of other persons or the department;
(c) Modifies or embellishes the park property, or places structures, such as tents, chairs, arches, and similar structures on the park property in a manner outside of normal recreational use, as determined by the park manager or enforcement officer;
For the full text of the Parks and Recreation rules listed on the Oregon Secretary of State website CLICK HERE
Walker Farms of Siletz has had its Lincoln City Farmers and Crafters Market membership revoked for refusing to take down a sign expressing various viewpoints.
