Author: North Coast BBQ

Friends

Announced by the lengthening days,
they arrived, a curious tribe of upbeat
swallows. After serious attempts
to discourage urgent nesting efforts,
deconstructing the bits of mud and moss,
all the debris that has been carefully
brought together, I smile and surrender
to what is unfolding. With the rising sun,
hungry little beaks now perch at the edge
of a nest, eager for the return of mother
and father. Routine is established.
One day I open our door and see a baby
 has fallen out of the nest. Cold and still,
it rests on our front porch. The next day
yet another has somehow fallen. It was
right to stop, remember, to offer time.
In the stream of days, the last baby is
flying and the collective simply moves on.
This morning I noticed their nest remains
still intact under our front eves, close to
new wind chimes. We are passing through
the winter solstice now. The days are
beginning to get longer. I smile, fondly
awaiting the return of these friends.

the green japanese maple trees on my steep hillside have been at it again, producing 1000’s (yes, this years it’s THOUSANDS) of tiny seedlings.

i don’t know what variety they are, only that they have green leaves, and that they are flung in abundance from seven green japanese maple trees.

any one who wants them may come and get as many as you like. the digging is MINIMAL, only a trowel needed. just give me an email reply (babbles@nehalemtel.net) or call my cellphone 503-812-4637. i live in nehalem.

happy planting!

om peace namaste

lucy brook

Students should not go without due to the $2,775,000 shortfall due to the decline in forestry funding. No district can operate year to year with such uncertainty. A new system must be put in place for funding to be stable and reliable because children’s well being are at stake. They are our future and should be treated with the care and concern they deserve.

Until such a new system can be put in place, this levy of approximately a few dollars each month for property owners must be passed so the district can assure the children and their families continued and growing pathways to success. Success for a student in the district means success for us all.

Paula Real

The current proposal to increase the transient lodging tax (TLT), which will be on our upcoming May 20 ballot, is an effort to leverage money from tourists and visitors to pay for services caused by their presence here, and that makes sense to me. Due to our visitor population, we have added costs that include road maintenance and public safety services and it’s appropriate for the visitors to pay for that. 

As the owner of a short term rental in Tillamook County, I don’t pay the lodging taxes.  Those taxes are paid for by the guests who stay at my rental.  And while an increase in the lodging tax, especially a forty percent increase, might cause my guests to flinch,  I still think it’s fair that they pay it.  If visitors don’t pay for these additional costs, then those costs must be borne by all county residents and I don’t think that’s at all fair.  

However, there is one aspect of this TLT system that irks me, and that is the state mandated 30/70 split, whereby 30% of the lodging tax dollars go into the county general fund, while 70% must be spent attracting tourists to our area.  I know that in our county we have worked hard to allot some of that 70% on facilities that benefit visitors and residents alike, nonetheless, this split creates a hardship on our county budget.

I am willing to accept an increase in our TLT, but as part of this change, I would like the commissioners and the county to commit to putting resources towards pressuring the state to change the 30/70 split.  Even a 50/50 split would be a big step forward.

Vivi Tallman
Nehalem Oregon