10 years ago this week — 2014

SEASIDE — North Coast wrestling is starting to make its move, when it comes to the annual Seaside Pacific Rim Armed Forces Wrestling Tournament.

Three of the four schools from Clatsop County finished in the top eight of the 16-team field. Three local wrestlers won individual titles and another took second, and three others, plus two Ilwaco wrestlers, won their final consolation match for third.

Not a bad showing for the locals.

The Bonneville Power Administration is planning to inundate about 221 acres of farmland near the confluence of the Wallooskee and Youngs rivers back into tidal marshland and salmonid habitat.

And the agency is looking for public comment on the Wallooskee-Youngs Confluence Restoration Project by Jan. 27.

“We’d be breaching the levees where appropriate,” said Rudy Salakory, aquatic restoration manager for the Cowlitz Tribe, about the levees separating the farmland on three sides from the Wallooskee and Youngs rivers.

The tribe, which performs restoration projects around the region, has been selected to maintain the land after bringing the issue to the attention of the Bonneville Power Administration.

The levees around the point of land, jutting southwest from Oregon Highway 202, would be breached at the locations of historical tidal inlets. An access road to the property and a transmission line would be modified to withstand the tides, while a house, barn and outbuildings would be removed.

OCEAN PARK, Wash. — In a move certain to spawn controversy, the Washington Department of Ecology is formally starting the process to approve two chemicals intended to control burrowing shrimp and type of invasive duckweed in Willapa Bay.

Ecology staff have begun inviting public comment on what to include in an environmental impact study that will examine the use of a nicotine-like pesticide to reduce the huge populations of burrowing shrimp that live in Willapa Bay and Grays Harbor.

Billions of these shrimp — inedible by humans — churn up the bottom and make it unsuitable for most types of shellfish farming.

NASELLE, Wash. — The questions were coming fast and furious for Jordan Poyer Friday afternoon at the Naselle Youth Camp.

“What’s the worst mistake you ever made in high school?”

“How much is your autograph worth?”

“How come you aren’t that big?”

And yes, the questions from residents were a bit humbling.

But Jordan Poyer picked off everyone like a Matt Barkley pass, answered in his completely honest way, and when it was all over, the couple hundred students he had just spoken to, ages 14 to 20, lined up to get his autograph.

And, it’s safe to say, the Cleveland Browns just gained another 100 or so fans.

50 years ago — 1974

Comet gazers of all ages have been making pilgrimages to the Astoria Column each night for the past two weeks in hopes of seeing Comet Kohoutek.

Many of them don’t know exactly what they expect to see — a flash of light streaking across the sky or a fuzzy white dot near the horizon — but they brave the subfreezing temperatures and gusty winds anyway.

One of the worst sustained windstorms on the North Coast continued today, causing power outages, interrupting other services and drenching the area in over 3 inches of rain.

The National Weather Service at the airport said no relief will come immediately as a series of storms continue to surge over the North Coast.

The Oregon Lewis and Clark Trail Commission voted Monday to adopt a watered-down resolution expressing concern about the possible effects of an aluminum smelter near Fort Clatsop National Memorial.

An earlier draft of the resolution called for a moratorium on construction of the plant until “definite knowledge regarding the probable effects of the operation on the surrounding area are available.”

That wording of the resolution that was adopted urged giving extra consideration to protecting and preserving the present and future historic integrity of Fort Clatsop.

By 7:30 p.m. Monday night, there were about a dozen people shivering in the audience section of the Lewis and Clark Theater, waiting for a chance to audition.

Tryouts are always something to get nervous about, but there was another reason to shiver.

“We won’t be able to heat the building until dress rehearsal, and as you’ve probably noticed, sometimes it’s cooler in here than it is outside,” Hilary Boehm told the prospective thespians.

Boehm is the director of the Lewis and Clark Theater’s season opener, “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.”

WARRENTON — The Warrenton City Commission wants the State Highway Department to scrap its present plans and rebuild the Skipanon Bridge with 18 to 20 feet of vertical clearance as city resident Herb Palmberg has been recommending.

The fact became clear during a commission work session on the bridge problem Wednesday night.

The commission also wants to attach some stiff conditions to its request for a higher span.

It wants approaches up so they won’t disrupt downtown business, it wants the bridge’s alignment straightened out even if it means right of way must be acquired and it demands the city not be stuck with the bill for dredging the channel once the higher bridge is up and boat traffic picks up.

The consensus was clearly that City Manager Dick Baldwin should be instructed at the next regular commission meeting to draft a letter to the State Highway Department putting the body’s views on record.

75 years ago — 1949

The Columbia River estuary was still a sea of ice today, and the hillsides around Astoria carried out the effect after Tuesday night’s light snowfall and freezing temperature left a glaze of ice on streets.

The pilot’s office reported Tuesday morning that the river ice has not yet interfered with shipping.

But hillside ice on Astoria streets made travel difficult early Wednesday morning.

City officials who have been sniffing the air busily the past few days have just about decided to blame the Columbia River for the big stink that has been bringing numerous complaints to the city hall.

An investigation indicated no sewer could be at fault enough to cause all the kicks. The investigation showed, too, that the complaints invariably came when the northeast wind blew.

The investigation further showed the Tongue Point naval station, east of town, experienced the same bad smell when the east wind blew — which seemed to show conclusively it couldn’t be a sewer. None exists east of Tongue Point.

City officials have a theory, which they admit they can’t prove: Last summer’s floods killed a lot of grasses and sedges along the Columbia River banks. This stuff, when decomposed, smells awful.

A lot of this stuff has been frozen into the chunks of ice coming downriver. As the ice nears Astoria, the theory goes, it melts, releasing the dead sedge and its odor, which is carried by the northeast wind to offend the senses.

Shore workers of the Columbia River Fishermen’s Union voted to open the security clause of the union’s contract with packers and ask for a 25-cent-an-hour cost of living increase, Henry Niemela, executive secretary of the union announced Tuesday morning.

SEASIDE – A lady parked her car on Broadway. As she was getting out of the car, another lady crossed from the opposite side of the street and said, “I wonder if you would mind pulling your car up a few feet.”

The driver asked, “why,” to which the lady said, “Well, my husband and I are sitting over in the beer tavern across the street and the sun shining on your car reflects into our eyes and we can’t see a thing.”

The car was not moved.

Early catches of smelt were made in the Columbia River near Clatskanie during the first part of December but ice in the river has halted smelt fishing operations.

Henry Niemela, executive secretary of the Columbia River Fishermen’s Protective Union, explained recently that the smelt does not seem to come into the river when the water is cold.

Further, gillnetting the smelt in the freezing cold is too difficult.

It was sledding time again in Astoria Friday morning after a generous snow blanket fell over the city’s hills.

The snowfall amounted to about 3 inches with a moisture content of 1/4 inch at 6 a.m. Friday, and more snow arrived after 6 a.m.