As most of you know from my signature, for the last year I’ve been drumming up support anywhere I can to help out the plight of the Cape Meares Lighthouse in Oregon, a place we visit at least annually, sometimes more often.
A quick resume is in order.
Two drunks armed with rifles shot up the historic national monument on the night of January 10/11 this year, causing $20,000+ worth of repairable damage to the outside windows, but irreparable damage to the irreplaceable first order Fresnel lenses of the actual lantern - the first to appear in the USA. Current estimates of the replacement from the company who made them, in Paris, France, back in 1888, are in the order of a minimum of one million dollars US.
They finally got their time in court yesterday in Tillamook courthouse, where they pleaded guilty. If you have a minute, please read the article in the Tillamook Headlight Herald.
Thank you.
'TILLAMOOK - Accused Cape Meares Lighthouse shooters David R. Wilkes, Jr. and Zachary J. Pyle each pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of criminal mischief in Tillamook County Circuit Court Dec. 22.
Wilks and Pyle were accused of firing shots at the lighthouse in the early morning of Jan. 10, 2010, breaking 15 panes of outer windows and causing extensive damage to the historic Fresnel lens located in the building’s lantern room.
Pyle and Wilks were arrested Feb. 11 in connection with the shooting spree, which caused what has been described as “irreplacable damage” to the 120-year-old structure.
The plea came after months of settlement discussions between the defendants and the Friends of the Cape Meares Lighthouse, the U.S. Coast Guard and the State of Oregon.
Judge Charles Luukinen sentenced the defendants to pay restitution in the amount of $100,000 to go toward repairs to the lighthouse’s lamp house, the U.S. Coast Guard for repairs to navigational aids, to reimburse insurance coverage for stabilization of the entire structure and for expenses incurred by the Friends of the Cape Meares Lighthouse.
They were also each placed on five years of probation and ordered to serve three consecutive jail terms. The first jail term is set to begin on Dec. 27, 2010 and end on Jan. 11 of 2011, the second is to begin on Dec. 27, 2011 and end on Jan. 11, 2012 and the third is to begin on Dec. 27, 2012 and end on Jan. 11, 2013.
“This will give each of you an opportunity to think of what you were doing on the morning of January 11, 2010,” Luukinen said.
For full coverage of the Wilks and Pyle plea hearing, see the Dec. 29 edition of the Headlight Herald.’
A$$holes.
By rights they should have been covered in tar and strung up on the balcony of the lighthouse over winter. But hey, I’m all heart, me.
tac
www.ovgrs.org
Supporter of the Cape Meares Lighthouse Restoration Fund