10 years ago this week — 2013

At about 9 a.m. Wednesday, an unexplained explosion rocked the cruise ship Ironwood on its way downriver, blacking out the vessel and disabling its steering. It ground to a halt on a sandbar just outside Youngs Bay with hundreds of people aboard.

Calls got out to the Astoria 911 dispatch and the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Columbia River Command Center, and the first motions of a mass rescue began.

Of course, it was all fake, and the Ironwood, Tongue Point Job Corps Center’s former buoy tender, only held 30 students. However, more than 17 agencies from Clatsop County stationed at five locations played out the mass rescue and maritime security simulation to prepare for the worst and improve interagency cooperation.

WARRENTON — Jim Rankin and Missy Johnson have a mission. These two U.S. Marine Corps veterans want to see that no local veterans go unnoticed or unappreciated for their service to the country.

Unlike the reception men and women returning from Vietnam faced more than 40 years ago, Rankin and Johnson believe that every veteran deserves recognition from their community. One result of this commitment was the annual “Welcome Home Veterans and Military Appreciation Day” held in the Lum’s Auto Center showroom in Warrenton Saturday.

Citing environmental, community and tourism benefits, the state Land Board honored the Colewort Creek Restoration Project Tuesday with the 2012 Wetland Project Award. The project, managed by the Columbia River Estuary Study Taskforce, improved wetland functions within a 45-acre wetland complex in the Lewis and Clark National Historical Park.

SEASIDE — In a mix of sporadic rain and even occasional hail Saturday, residents of the Hamlet community picked up cans, bottles and a few abandoned car tires alongside the road.

The cleanup was the first of its kind since the group adopted Hamlet Road with the namesake of their community center and nonprofit group: Hamlet Historical Schoolhouse.

At the start of the road, where it meets Oregon Highway 53, their sign marking the adoption was erected last week by Clatsop County.

Four miles of winding road, past forestland, logging roads and creeks, the simple schoolhouse has stood since 1911 and has been a focal point for the community ever since.

50 years ago — 1973

PORTLAND — Port of Astoria Manager George Grove testified in opposition today at a hearing on the proposed log export embargo co-sponsored by U.S. Sen. Bob Packwood.

Grove cited the effects on international trade relations between the United States and Japan and on the Port’s financial position as a reason for opposing the log export embargo.

“It should be the policy of Congress to enact a foreign trade policy that will open up and maintain access to foreign markets enabling a flow of goods and services in both directions,” Grove said in prepared testimony released prior to today’s hearing.

“The proposed restrictions on the exportation of logs would be injurious to the national welfare,” he asserted.

The Astoria reserve fleet site east of Tongue Point now is in the process of being sold by the federal government, and Port of Astoria commissioners feel they should get first crack at purchasing it.

Port commissioners voted Tuesday to send a letter to Oregon’s congressional delegation expressing their interest in the site after learning that two federal agencies that are interested are first in line.

The Ports of Astoria and Portland now hold a joint lease on the site, which expires in June.

The Philippine Bear, an 800-foot-long lighter aboard ship vessel that whisked into Astoria last Wednesday, then whisked out again the same day, was hard to miss.

It’s like adding a new skyscraper to the skyline. But for Astoria, it’s possibly more than that.

Regardless of how soon or even whether the lighter aboard ship concept catches on, merely witnessing the spectacle of this fleet of six mammoth vessels operated by Pacific Far East Lines is a worthwhile experience in itself.

The ships’ profiles don’t begin to tell the whole story. For example, the overall length of the vessel is 820 feet, the width is 100 feet and gross tonnage is 26,406.5 tons.

There is enough room on board to carry 50 lighters which are 61 feet long, 31 feet wide and 13 feet tall, as well as 550 containers. The total cargo space comes to 1.65 million cubic feet.

The statistics don’t match up to the sensation of standing next to this giant taking in its volume with very wide open eyes.

Once the trade route is firmly established, vessels are expected to call roughly every three weeks, providing ample opportunities to trundle down to the Port and see these amazing seagoing vessels. No one will need a telescope to see them.

Even with the ceiling on meat prices, the cost of meat is still too high for many. Savings are possible, however, for those willing to recognize that meat isn’t the only source of protein.

Astorian Karen Guy prepares a main dish with moong dal, a type of Indian lentils that are high in proteins. She sauteed onion, garlic and spices — cumin, mustard seed, turmeric and cayenne — and then steamed them with a cup of moong dal for 20 minutes in two cups of water and served the Indian dish with yogurt.

75 years ago — 1948

The Pacific Ocean has washed eight more Japanese mines onto Oregon and Washington shores, bringing to 33 the number sighted this month in the Northwest, U.S. Coast Guard authorities said today.

New mines were reported beached at Waldport, Agate Beach, Sand Lake and Seaside and in Neah Bay, Washington.

Lt. Don F. Winslow, mine disposal officer of the 13th naval district headquarters in Seattle, was expected to arrive Monday afternoon to disarm and explode the Seaside mine and one south of the Peter Iredale shipwreck.

Tentative plans, subject to Lt. Winslow’s judgment, were that the mine would be disarmed at Seaside, then carried by truck to the deserted beach north of Gearhart to be exploded.

SEASIDE — Pity the poor thief who used to steal sandwiches almost every day from Nancy McBride’s locker at Seaside High School. McBride, a thoughtful young lady, prepared beautiful sandwiches of lettuce, mayonnaise, butter — and a well-known brand of dog food.

The dog food sandwiches were stolen three days in a row. Then, quite suddenly, they began to leave McBride’s locker alone.

SEASIDE — Residents of Seaside, Cannon Beach and Gearhart can stop debating one of their favorite questions: How much has the population of their area increased since the census of 1940?

The answer, from a highly reliable source, is 85%.

Records of residential accounts of the Pacific Power and Light Co. indicate that southwest Clatsop County has increased in population from about 4,950 in 1940 to an estimated 9,150 in April 1948.

SEASIDE – The Seaside City Council passed a new ordinance Tuesday night licensing coin-operated amusement devices, $25 a month for each machine.

The new ordinance prohibits payout-type slot machines, any devices in which chance predominates over skill, devices intended for gambling and prohibits people under 18 years of age from operating any of the amusement devices.

GEARHART — “Cowboy Jim,” the silent young man who worked at the Gearhart riding academy and always wore tape on the fingers of his hand to hide the letters L-O-V-E, was arrested by the FBI at Hillsboro just after midnight this morning on a 3-year-old kidnapping charge.

Directly responsible for his arrest were a 12-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy, both of Gearhart, who had heard his description on the “Gang Busters” radio program.

“Cowboy Jim,” who had worked at the riding academy here since August under the name Jim Williams, admitted to FBI agents in Portland today that he was John Harvey Bugg, 29, who is wanted for kidnapping the sheriff at Greenfield, Missouri on November 26, 1945, and forcing him at gunpoint across the Oklahoma state line.

Full credit for Bugg’s discovery and arrest was given by the FBI to Pauline Virgin, 12, and her cousin, Navarre Smith, 14, who live at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Leroy Virgin, of Gearhart.

Pauline, who had gone horseback riding with Bugg many times, heard this description on a broadcast of “Gang Busters:” “John Harvey Bugg, 29; the letters L-O-V-E tattooed on the fingers of his left hand; another tattoo on his left hand; tattoos on both shoulders and chest; cowboy; likes horses; may limp.”

“That’s Cowboy Jim!” Pauline said.