10 years ago this week — 2015

OLYMPIC PENINSULA, Wash. — Eyes are on the Quinault Indian Nation as it tests technology that could help dramatically improve rule enforcement in Washington’s $62 million commercial crab fishery.

Three Quinault fishermen have been using an electronic crab pot monitoring system to track gear use. This entails placing quarter-coin-sized radio frequency tags in their crab pot buoys over the summer and since November.

As the pots were pulled aboard, they scanned the buoys in front of a sensor: “Basically like you’re scanning groceries at the store,” said Quinault fisherman Pete Wilson, who was one of the three participants in the pilot program.

The sensor transmitted the identification number and the GPS location to a computer.

With every pot registered to only one owner, fishery managers hope this will be a simple way to track boat activity and gear use.

WARRENTON — Marine plastics researcher and Seaside native Marc Ward estimated that he and more than 50 other volunteers pulled out more than a quarter-ton of microplastics Feb. 15 from what he’s termed the “Columbia River South Jetty Mega Sink.” And that, he said, is probably only a third of it.

The Mega Sink is located in a tidal inlet just north of the South Jetty and Parking Lot C in Fort Stevens State Park on Clatsop Spit.

CATHLAMET, Wash. — The arrival of the Oscar B, the $5.7 million ferry replacing the Ferry Wahkiakum on the Columbia River, will be celebrated with a commencement ceremony next month.

The Oscar B arrived in Astoria Friday after an overseas trek from Whidbey Island, Washington, where it was constructed by Nichols Brothers Boat Builders of Freeland. The new ferry is scheduled to arrive in Westport by Friday, with service possibly starting the following week.

Every chance he gets, Chase Millsap rides his bicycle.

Millsap, a 23-year-old from Ocean Park on the Long Beach Peninsula, commutes daily on his bicycle to his job at Jack’s Country Store. On days off, he rides his Trek Domane road bike from the peninsula down the North Coast toward Seaside and Cannon Beach.

The 30-to-50-mile rides help Millsap train for various competitions, such as the Seattle to Portland Bicycle Classic, a 200-mile ride he completed in about 15 hours last year.

Millsap regularly wakes up early, rides to Ilwaco, catches a transit bus across the Astoria Bridge and continues riding his bike over the Youngs Bay Bridge, staying along U.S. Highway 101.

50 years ago — 1975

CANNON BEACH — Approval of a proposed levee to keep Elk Creek from flooding downtown Cannon Beach is up to the city, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers representative told the city council Monday.

“We aren’t trying to push the project, just display what we have come up with in our studies of the problem,” Corps representative Jerry Johnston said. “The levee is the least costly alternative to flooding.”

The proposed 2,300-foot-long levee would be a dirt mound, 60 to 100 feet wide at its base, that would follow the south of the creek from the Elm Street Bridge to Highway 101.

Not everyone gets to celebrate their birthday with thousands of other people on television.

And it isn’t everyone who receives birthday greetings and congratulations from Oregon’s senators and representatives in Washington, D.C.

But then few people reach their 107th birthday as Arminta Garrett of Astoria has. She celebrated her Feb. 22 107th birthday all last week.

Being 107 isn’t the only thing that makes “Grandma Garrett,” as she is affectionately called by almost everyone who knows her, different and refreshing.

She has an almost simplistic view of life, based on logic and a strong sense of faith, that seems too good to be true.

Grandma Garrett says the key to life is to “live as the Father does.” a statement that exemplifies her attitude toward life in general.

Astoria police advise any person whose home is burglarized to call police immediately and leave the house exactly as it was found after the burglary.

Faced with a recent rash of burglaries, police have asked for the victims’ help in investigating the crimes.

A victim who cleans or straightens up a room that has been disturbed by burglars hinders the police officers’ ability to collect evidence, police say. Handling of any disturbed items could destroy fingerprints left by the burglars.

One police officer said it would be best if persons who notice a door open, indicating a burglary, call police and let officers be the first ones in the house.

The Astoria Cooperative Preschool recently visited The Daily Astorian as part of their program of getting to know the community.

A neat little troop of wide-eyed 3-year-olds enthusiastically strolled through the newspaper’s press room, composing room and mail room, comparing the papers’ process with what they’ve been doing in the classroom.

Teacher Susan Curley explains that the preschoolers have been pasting together their own newspapers and making up stories to go with pictures they’ve trimmed out of old papers.

Their visit to the newspaper building is one of several field trips planned to introduce the preschoolers to their community.

A restrictive class meets every Tuesday evening at Clatsop Community College.

Not only is it restricted to members of the female sex, but it is restricted to a small number of women students to show individual attention on the part of the instructor.

The latter, incidentally, is the only male present when the class convenes at the college.

“Women Know Your Car” has, over the years, proved to be one of the most popular of the many vocational classes in the local college’s curriculum.

Each term there is a waiting list but each term the enrollment is kept down to less than a dozen.

75 years ago — 1950

Plaques dedicated to Lewis and Clark now at the old coast artillery batteries at Fort Stevens will come into the possession of the Clatsop County Historical Society as the fort itself is dismantled.

Walter Johnson, president of the society, was notified of the plan Monday in a letter from E.B. Herron, acting chief of the nonindustrial division of the U.S. government’s surplus-disposal organization.

S.H. Boardman, state parks superintendent, advised that the plaques be released to the local historical society, Herron informed Johnson.

The United States Air Force will establish a radar station and a detachment of men to man it within two months, it was revealed here today.

The Astoria Chamber of Commerce immediately announced that it is instituting a vigorous effort for establishment of fighter planes at Clatsop airport.

“We believe this radar station is the opening wedge toward reactivating the airport here for Northwest air defense purposes,” said Al Hetzel, chamber secretary.

The announcement of the station at Fort Stevens brought here by Maj. Arnold Seeborg, a former Astorian who is now public information officer for the Air Force in the Northwest, stationed in Seattle.

Arnold brought the following release: ”Plans for partial reactivation of Fort Stevens, near Astoria, were announced today by the commanding general, 25th air division. A small detachment of a United States Air Force unit in the Northwest area will be organized at this site for the purpose of training with electronics equipment peculiar to air force operations.”

It was emphasized that only a small portion of the Fort Stevens site will be occupied and that no further expansion is contemplated.

The Shepard-Morse Lumber Co. will shut down the night shift of its mill at Westport permanently March 1, it was announced today.

The reduction of operations results from high prices of logs and difficulty of obtaining an adequate log supply. The company buys logs on the open market and frequently has had to bring them from a long distance to keep the mill operating.

The night shift layoff will involve 110 to 115 men. The day shift, which will continue operating, employs about 240 men, company officials said.

Astoria received its worst drenching in at least 17 years between Wednesday night and Friday morning, and southwest storm warnings were still up, effective until 11 p.m. Friday.

Rainfall from 6 p.m. Wednesday to the same hour Thursday was 4.41 inches. Records as far back as January 1933 showed no equal downpour for any 24-hour period during that time.

In the city itself, the 48 hours ending Thursday evening brought 5.43 inches of rain.

Clatsop County’s employment picture has brightened with the return to work of 600 men during the past two weeks, but Guy Parker, manager of the state employment office here, said Thursday that he does not expect jobs to open for the full labor force “any time this spring.”

About 60% of this area’s unemployed loggers have resumed work, Barker said, accounting for most of the recent improvement.

Slides hampered traveling conditions on three highways in Clatsop County today, state police reported today.

The Lower Columbia, Nehalem secondary and Fishhawk secondary highways were all closed or partially closed to traffic as recent heavy rains loosened dirt and rocks on banks bordering the highway.