Holy cow, it’s a long sharkA 9-foot-long sevengill shark, also called a spotted cow shark, washed up on Sunset Beach earlier this month. Seaside Aquarium Manager KEITH CHANDLER said that sevengill sharks aren’t uncommon, but because they usually live in the deep water it’s unusual to see them wash up onshore.

This shark had been dead a long time, Chandler said, and didn’t have any obvious gashes or signs of how it died. The shark was buried on the beach where it washed up.

Former Astoria High School teacher Isabel “Iz” Smoots, who left the North Coast in 1949, turns 90 soon.

Students and friends from the past are welcome to attend her birthday celebration May 20 in Eugene, where she now lives. But party organizers are especially hoping to receive notes, amusing stories and photos to place in a surprise memory book for her.

Smoots taught biology and physiology at AHS starting in the 1940s and took over the post of music director in 1946, directing chorus groups and some band classes while continuing to teach science and acting as the junior class adviser.

She left Astoria in 1949, “but those few years were great years for those of us in the choruses and in music,” recalls Carol Lambert, AHS class of 1949, noting that the former teacher was a guest at her class’s 50th reunion.

“She was a hard taskmaster on hitting the right note at the proper time, but she also had a great sense of humor to go with all that,” says Lambert. “Hope she has a terrific 90th birthday bash and many more to boot. Whoop it up, Iz!”

While Smoots is aware of an “open house” in her honor, she doesn’t know about the scrapbook, which will be presented to her as a surprise at the celebration.

The party will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. May 20, at the Westminster Presbyterian Church, Fellowship Hall, 777 Coburg Road, in Eugene.

Items for Smoots’ surprise scrapbook should be sent no later than May 10 to Gerry Good, c/o Maradee Bell, 1337 Bogart St., Eugene, OR 97401.

To raise the stakes of the annual American Red Cross Spare Change Drive, Tongue Point Job Corps Center’s Student Government Association challenged each of their four dorms to see who could raise the most money. The supervisor of the winning dorm had to kiss a pig at the all-Center business meeting held this week!

Pictured is contest winner, Residence 4 Supervisor Roger Riutta, puckering up for Katie Sue, a piglet owned by local 4-H member Samantha Koskela.

Carol Newman contacted the Ear to mention that a talk by Deborah Lipstadt, author of “History on Trial: My Day in Court with David Irving,” will be presented 7 p.m. Sunday on The Last DJ Sessions on Coast Community Radio, KMUN or KTCB.

Lipstadt spoke in Portland Jan. 23 chronicling her High Court battle in London which she won against Holocaust denier Irving, who accused her and Penguin Books of ruining his career by libeling him. Her victory over hate and prejudice has been celebrated throughout the world, Newman said, noting the broadcast is timely because Tuesday was Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Neah-Kah-Nie students won the second place Sweepstakes slot for the 1A/2A/3A Division at the OSAA State Speech & Debate Tournament. And head coach HOLLY LORINCZ won the title 2007 Speech Educator of the Year.

Team effort and combined points led to the trophy. Senior SHANNON HENDERSON placed fourth in Poetry Reading and senior MEGAN BUCHANAN was fourth in Prose Reading. Junior SARAH ALLEN placed ninth and senior THEO HILL and Henderson just missed the semifinals in Public Debate.

Sophomore KIM KOOPS-WRABACK, junior SIERRA GJERDE and senior JAMES DUNCAN placed high in individual rounds. Assistant coaches LAURIE ALLEN and ERIN NEWBERRY received the trophy for Lorincz who is on maternity leave.

At Tuesday’s meeting of the Warrenton City Commission, Mayor GIL GRAMSON proclaimed this week as Warrenton Volunteer Week. All 100 volunteers were honored, including seven reserve police officers, 32 volunteer firefighters and dozens of citizens who serve on 11 committees, advisory boards and task forces, which include planning, budget, community center, library, parks, public works, revenue review, storm water master plan, Hammond Marina multi-purpose building, Hammond Marina task force and the Warrenton Business Association. Some serve on more than one, bringing the total number of members to 107.

“Without these volunteers, a lot of things we are now providing the city would not happen,” Gramson said. Just about all the people in the Commission chambers at City Hall rose from their chairs when Gramson asked volunteers to stand up. Each received a pin inscribed with the words: “City of Warrenton – Making a Difference.” At a reception before the Commission meeting, the volunteers were treated to cake and punch.

The excitement of the large crane passing under the Astoria Bridge Thursday morning was a whole lot of fun, thanks in part to the skill of the Columbia River Bar Pilots who made it look effortless (if only we knew). The Ear wondered how many folks started their day in Astoria by catching a glimpse of the impressive vessel on their drive to work, settling into their desks and logging on to the Columbia River Maritime Museum’s Web site at (www.crmm.org) to watch the 8 a.m. spectacle on the Web cam. Thanks to everyone who offered The Daily Astorian photos. Those efficient folks from Astoria Police Department, the Oregon Department of Transportation and their Washington counterparts had the Astoria Bridge reopened to traffic at 8.09 a.m. Congrats to all on a job well done. The next test is Longview, Wash., where the Port of Portland folks say the clearance at 1 p.m. this afternoon under the Lewis and Clark Bridge may be as little as 36 inches!

Astoria’s Tapiola Playground project is profiled in the current issue of Local Focus, a monthly magazine published by the League of Oregon Cities. The project, which received one of the LOC’s 2005 Awards for Excellence, is the first in a series of profiles of award-winning city projects. The story features a photo of the 15,000 square foot super playground structure located in Tapiola Park. It emphasizes cooperation between city parks department staff and community volunteers, led by WENDY BEREZAY, who raised more than $200,000 in donations and grants, including $7,000 from the city.

The Award for Excellence program, which began in 1983, recognizes cities for their outstanding achievements in addressing critical local issues. Entries are judged on three criteria: reducing the cost of government, improving the quality of life in the city and increasing the quality of municipal services. KEVIN BECK, Astoria’s Parks and Community Services director, said earlier what sets the LOC award apart is that it is evaluated by a panel that includes city staff and elected officials, state legislators and media representatives.

The first volume of “West by Northwest,” an adventure book by local authors and illustrators, has banked its first $1,000 for local charities.

After paying for printing, funds raised through book sales benefit local organizations. The North Coast authors, illustrators and editors are unpaid, and merchants do not receive commission for sales.

Editors Eckley Guerin, Pat Williams and Lori Andriesian recently made out a check to the Wildlife Rehab Center of the North Coast.

The $500 donation will likely buy food, medical supplies and lab equipment to care for sick and injured animals at the volunteer-operated wildlife center, which has been trying to raise money to build a new hospital and replace the converted trailer it now operates in.

In addition, book proceeds resulted in a $500 contribution to the Clatsop Emergency Food Bank at First Presbyterian Church, which editors donated after the holidays.

Copies of “West by Northwest” are available at many local businesses. Call 325-8850 for more information.

Amy Cowan of Astoria has been very busy. A 1992 Astoria High School graduate, she graduated from University of Hawaii with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry in 1999 and a master’s degree in physiology in 2002. Next month, she will graduate from the John A. Burns School of Medicine. She will be starting her residency training in orthopedic surgery at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland.

Wayne Dunlap, above center, from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development office presented a pair of checks to the Miles Crossing Sanitary Sewer District April 21 at the Youngs River Lewis and Clark Water District office in Jeffers Gardens. The checks were huge, both literally and figuratively, measuring several feet across and totaling nearly $3-million. The money is part of the funding package for an $8.7 million project that will replace the low-lying region’s failing septic tanks with a modern vacuum collection sewer system and open the way for more development. The festive occasion included cookies and coffee and was timed to coincide with Earth Day.

Accepting the checks on behalf of the sewer district were TOM TETLOW, right, president pro tem, and board member ARNIE JYLHA, left. Looking on were several residents of the sewer district, from left to right, JOHN RIEKKOLA, Clatsop County Commissioner RICHARD LEE and TOM IVERSON. BILL MITCHELL is behind Riekkola.

How about this for our 15 minutes of fame? Under the heading “Block that metaphor!” the New Yorker magazine Monday liberally quoted from The Daily Astorian: “Rather than wallowing in tears, let this passionate community strike while the iron is hot. It probably won’t cost the National Park Service a single penny, will be no skin off its nose, will heal the community and it presents a golden opportunity for first-person interpretation.” All we can say is: Phew!

There’s a new club in town. It’s the Astoria Mother of Twins Club, newest member of the Northwest Mother of Twins Organization, whose purpose is to educate, inform and support mothers of multiples.

The new club will meet at 7 p.m. on the first Monday of each month at the Columbia Memorial Hospital meeting room.

For more information, contact Sandra Cherek at 861-0285.

Send us your ears! If you have an item for In One Ear, send it to Patrick Webb, Managing Editor, The Daily Astorian, P.O. Box 210, Astoria OR 97103 or e-mail pwebb@dailyastorian.com. Include a daytime phone number for follow-up calls.