Ocean Search Suspended: Missing teen in Long Beach not found

LONG BEACH -- A Memorial Day family outing on the main access to the beach in Long Beach turned to tragedy when a 14-year-old boy was presumed drowned after possibly getting caught in a rip current/undertow while swimming in the ocean.

The U.S. Coast Guard suspended the search last Monday night (May 31) for the boy, who was reportedly swept offshore while standing in water up to his waist when he went missing, a Washington State Park Ranger told the Herald at the scene.

At approximately 2:00 p.m., the teenager was reported to be missing by his friend, who confirmed he was wearing a red swimmers cap, gray T-shirt and black swim shorts.

Petty Officer Cynthia Oldham of the Astoria Coast Guard Sector Columbia River talked to the Herald by phone Monday morning about the incident. Oldham has been with the Coast Guard for 16 years, including 15 in Astoria and one year in Boston.

"As of this morning (9:45 am), we had no reports of finding him," Oldham informed. "When a search is suspended, they won't back out pending information, such as, if a fisherman saw something and called it in, then we would relaunch.

"We're not exactly sure what happened to him, it would just be a speculation to say a rip current took him under," Oldham said. "He was from Portland (Oregon) here for vacation. He was with a friend in the water and a bunch of family and friends were onshore."

The Coast Guard does not release names of minors. "No, we don't have a name to release," Oldham said. "Typically, the names of minors are not released."

Two fires in 24 hours in Winlock

Two fires were reported in the Winlock area this past weekend. The fire departments of Winlock, Toledo, Vader and Napavine were on scene for the fires.

Winlock FFA students compete at state

Winlock FFA students in the Conduct of Chapter team recently finished in the top eight at the state competition. The students participated in learning Parliamentary Procedure, also known as Roberts Rule of Order. This is a process many governments use to facilitate their meetings, it gives order to each meeting in a more formal process.

Inslee announces vaccination incentives

Inslee announces vaccination incentives

As of Friday morning, the U.S. has reported more than 33 million COVID-19 cases and 596,000 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Worldwide, there have been more than 172 million cases and more than 3.7 million deaths. About 51 percent of people in the U.S. have received at least one vaccine shot, and more than 41 percent are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.

Through June 3, Pacific County had 1,047 positive cases and three new cases since May 19. There were 15 active cases in the county and 42 hospitalizations. Pacific County had 12 recorded deaths from COVID-19.

Inslee Announces
Vaccination Incentives

Gov. Jay Inslee announced a suite of new incentives to help encourage unvaccinated Washingtonians to get the COVID shot.

The Washington State Lottery will be conducting a "Shot of a Lifetime" giveaway series during the month of June, working with state agencies, technology companies, sports teams and higher education institutions across the state to offer a myriad of different prizes to vaccinated individuals.

The incentives announced today include Lottery cash drawings, with prizes totaling $2 million; higher education tuition and expense assistance; sports tickets and gear; gift cards, airline tickets, and game systems and smart speakers.

"These generous programs will encourage more Washingtonians to take this life-saving vaccine," Inslee said during a press conference Thursday. "I hope people will see this as an opportunity to reopen even sooner than June 30 if we can stay motivated, stay informed and get more people vaccinated faster throughout the month of June."

Classifieds 6.9.21