It’s the “New Guy’s” first day on the job at the family-owned Smart Motors car dealership. Will he successfully fix, or steal it off the lot? Only the hours left until it’s time to clock out will tell. The storyline has all the makings for a sitcom, exactly how Bay City writer Robin Weber intended it. ANGST*, an acronym for “Another New Guy Starts Today,” won “Best Comedy Teleplay” at the Portland Comedy Film Festival back in December. The sitcom focuses on the new employees that are always coming and going from the car dealership. Every new “guy” has their own motives for accepting the job; some of them regret having done so, others cause chaos, either intentionally, or unintentionally. What they all have in common is each one is gone by the end of the episode making way for the next one. “It’s that kind of angst that you feel when you’ve worked at a place for a really long time and there’s a new person starting that day,” Weber said.

It’s time for spring cleaning. Declutter the house. Deep clean the garage. Spruce up the yard. But, what to do with all that junk? Don’t leave it in your trunk. Call Coastal Junkers. Local couple Halle Hartell, 21, and Wyatt Myers, 25, started the company in December 2023. Together, they built a business that offers residential and commercial junk removal, cleanouts, and demolition and construction site cleaning services. Their service area covers Astoria to Tillamook. With their branded truck, the couple often shows up to a job together ready to haul away anything unwanted. But, they truly believe that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Yet, each haul doesn’t necessarily end up in the landfill. Sometimes, items are donated, rehomed, or recycled. “The systems we have, in terms of how your junk is taken care of, is a priority for us,” Hartell said. “Our number one concern is how to correctly and efficiently divvy up where things are going so that all materials are getting their best life.” Hartell and Myers each recently completed Tillamook County’s Master Recyclers program, which provided a wealth of knowledge to the young business owners about the trash and recycling industry. “We’re going to take care of your items properly,” Hartell said. “We can tell the customer why we can’t take something and give them advice on what to do with it. If it does have an opportunity for another life, what is the best and most ethical thing to do with it.” Hartell and Myers understand that people’s “stuff” can be hard to part with. Both said they like to take the time to connect with customers and understand how best they can assist in their goals. 

Bulls & Bronc (indoor rodeo event) was a sold out show on March 8, bringing out a crowd of 1,000 to the Tillamook County Fairgrounds. Check out the video The Newsie captured of “Hank the Cowdog” that has 3.7 million views on social media! 

Country Coffee franchise opens in Tillamook, Oregon.

Food Roots will dedicate the majority of its efforts to school gardens and supporting food producers in 2025. The non-profit was the recent recipient of a nearly $25,000 grant from the BottleDrop Fund of the Oregon Community Foundation . The grant will be utilized to fund the Learning Gardens at three Tillamook County schools: Liberty Elementary, East Elementary, and Garibaldi Grade School. “We have amazing school partnerships to nurture this education and food growth. We're excited to be working with teachers and have these gardens be a part of their classrooms,” Food Roots Executive Director Lindsay Ward said. “Then, all the produce that's harvested from these gardens will be donated to the school food pantries. We're able to provide materials, staff time, and volunteer recruitment efforts towards these gardens as a result of coordination between this and other wonderful grants we’ve received.”

Beginning 116 years ago, the Morning Star took sail to deliver a boatload of dairy to the people of the Pacific Northwest. Aboard: products from Tillamook County. Tillamook farmers had more butter and milk than you could imagine. The problem? Tillamook is isolated. There were no real roads connecting the Tillamook Bay to the growing Port of Portland. And the rugged coastal mountain range was dangerous. So, they took to the sea. After months of work and many failures, they found success in the Morning Star. It became Oregon’s first official ship. Building on the “Extraordinary Dairy” brand platform that was introduced by Tillamook County Creamery Association and Leo Chicago, initially launched last May, the 2025 brand campaign tells the tales of the Tillamook origin story which starts with the brand’s dairy boat.

The Jones-Knudson Apartments in downtown Tillamook celebrated their ribbon cutting ceremony on Saturday, Feb. 8. The project has been in the works since 2019 to bring more housing options to the workforce of Tillamook County. Owner Lisa Greiner purchased the building in 2018. The first level of the building was renovated to house her dance studio: Oregon Coast Dance Center . The second story was not set up as housing. “People always ask me what was up there before: it was just one, big, gigantic open room we were using for storage,” Greiner said. “So, it’s super surreal to not have it be storage up there and actually see this come to fruition.”

Local couple takes over Bunker Grille at The Mook