From the Editor’s Desk
Published 8:15 pm Sunday, October 30, 2022
- Cameras were raised at the Turnaround Oct. 30 as a 1,000-pound pumpkin prepared to drop into a pool of miniature plastic ducks and beavers.
Welcome to the Seaside Signal.
Back to the future
Gearhart’s main election issue, where to relocate the firehouse — or whether to relocate at all — is the subject of a new survey, presented by Mayor Kerry Smith and taken from nearly 300 respondents between July 20 and Oct. 1.
The Pacific Way fire station was built in 1958 and is considered vulnerable in an earthquake and tsunami. The quest for a new firehouse in Gearhart stretches decades.
The survey, distributed through water bills, showed that respondents said their decision to vote against a $14.5 million bond measure in May for a new firehouse at Highlands Lane was based on the location and cost. A new city survey showed nearly 75% of respondents said Gearhart is in need of a new firehouse and that 65% prefer the project downtown.
With election results ahead, the composition of the board may determine future choices.
‘Fast and friendly service’
Their motto is “fast and friendly service.” Trucke’s 1-Stop, the iconic gas station and convenience store on South Roosevelt Drive, is changing ownership after four decades with the Trucke family. At the end of November, Lorri Trucke said, she will sell the property to Imran Ali of Allied Petroleum LLC and owner of the neighboring Gorilla Gas.
Trucke looks back at her four decades in the business, selling fishing bait, clam shovels, Christmas trees, alpaca sweaters, baseball cards and U-Haul rentals — and much more.
Field of dreams?
The Seaside School District’s options for a new softball field narrowed this week. They’ll go before the City Council in November looking for approval for their plan to relocate the Herche Family Broadway Training Facility and place the softball field in the northwest corner of Broadway field.
The site, with support from city staff, the Sunset Empire Park and Recreation District and Seaside Kids, Inc. proved preferable to alternate plans in the park which could have cost an additional $2 million. Sites north of the former high school and Wahanna Fields were also rejected.
This has been a long process — beginning in 2011 with a Title IX lawsuit initiated by Seaside’s Randy Anderson. Residents are hoping that more than a decade later, the school district gets it right.
For this and more news, features and opinion, visit www.seasidesignal.com. To subscribe, click here.
