Water under the bridge

Published 10:00 am Monday, March 9, 2026

Compiled by Bob Duke

From the pages of Astoria’s daily newspapers

10 years ago — 2016

Long before Michelle and Jason, an Astoria couple in their 30s, moved into their new house last month, they knew every inch of it in almost forensic detail — its quirks and cracks, its bones and frailties, its past and potential.

They had no choice, for when they took ownership of the house last June, they didn’t simply purchase it, they agreed to really own it — to seize it by the beams and rehab it with their own untrained hands.

And they could afford to make this demanding plunge into home ownership thanks to the Community Action Team’s Self-Help Acquisition Rehabilitation Program.

In a region where affordable housing is hard to come by, SHARP helps low-income families in Clatsop, Columbia and Tillamook counties buy houses using U.S. Department of Agriculture loans and restore them with “sweat equity” — the labor invested in improvements and maintenance that boosts a home’s value. It is one of three programs in the nation that follows this model.

SEASIDE — Drones are everywhere these days, it seems, as eyes in the sky at weddings and special events, providing assistance for law enforcement and offering a glimpse into otherwise unnavigable geographic territory.

But risks from drone flights — including potential accidents, terrorism and privacy concerns — drew attention at a meeting of the Seaside Municipal Airport Advisory Committee, as members debated whether to enact regulations on the evolving technology.

“This is all a new world,” Randall Henderson, the committee’s chairman, said. “There are no regulations at all.” Henderson said the city of Seaside had yet to propose a policy, and he was “not in any hurry” to do so.

“But on the other hand it’s incumbent upon us to explore what’s legal and what’s safe and hear from all parties involved,” Henderson said.

Warrenton Police Chief Mathew Workman did not mention her by name, But when he told the City Commission in February about a woman who feeds elk from her car window, everyone knew it was Connie Loomis.

The 76-year-old caregiver in Hammond is not exactly incognito. She shared the photos she took of elk snaking on fruit with the police department and the newspaper. Her email address is a play on “Elk Whisperer” and her birth year.

Loomis quibbles with the police chief’s description of her driving into the center of a herd and passing out treats. She says the elk come to her, most of the time.

They come right to my car,” she explained. “They like apples and pears. And they also like honeydew melon.

Her fun will soon end. The City Commission approved an ordinance Tuesday night prohibiting people from feeding wildlife, a direct response to Loomis and others who feed the North Coast’s robust population. Violators could face fines up to $250.

50 years ago — 1976

SEASIDE – The largest Republican Dorchester Conference ever met here last weekend and solidly rejected emotion-charged resolutions to limit abortions and to slow construction of nuclear power plants in Oregon.

Conference delegates supported resolutions calling for tougher sentences for criminal offenders and for tax incentives to private industry to provide jobs in times of high unemployment rather than turning to government-created jobs.

SEASIDE – U.S. Sen. Mark Hatfield, R-Ore., called Friday for new political structures such as neighborhood governments to counteract the rise of a “bureaucratic welfare state” in the United States.

Hatfield, the keynote speaker at the Dorchester Conference here, credited the “excesses of the bureaucratic welfare state” for dissolving much of the spirit of democracy in our country.”

Retired Astoria optometrist Harvey C. Rones always has been an inventor of sorts, tinkering with one piece of optical paraphernalia or another to see if he can improve or refine it..

Since his retirement in 1962, the spry 82-year-old has spent many hours in the basement of his home at 2078 Irving working on such things as redesigning the trifocal and building a machine called the cinemascope.

Part of his endeavors involved improving an eye and vision scope, an instrument for measuring a person’s ability to focus quickly, and to improve that ability.

Clatsop County commissioners agreed today to lease and operate the City of Astoria’s jail for $1,300 a month.

The figure was arrived at after negotiations between city and county officials, during which the city asked for a $2,000 a month rent, while the county offered $700 a month.

The final agreement, which must be approved by city councilmen, calls for the county to pay utility bills for the jail, which cost about $5,000 a year.

In addition, the city will contract with the county for the detention of its prisoners in the jail. That should cost the city about $6,000 a year.

Clatsop County has been forced to find another place to house its prisoners because its present jail doesn’t meet state fire, safety and corrections standards.

Utilities cannot prove nuclear power plants are safe and radioactive waste storage methods are effective, a backer of an initiative to halt nuclear plants told Clatsop College students Wednesday.

Speaking as part of the school’s Nuclear Awareness Week, David Lawrence said that until utilities can provide such assurances they shouldn’t be allowed to build more nuclear power plants.

The program continued today as a spokesman from Portland General electric gave another view on the nuclear plant issue.

The Clatsop County Solid Waste Committee has pinpointed part of the 700-acre Alumax site in Warrenton as the best location for a proposed composting plant to process garbage from Tillamook and Clatsop Counties.

“Our committee felt this would be the most desirable site for the composting operation,” said committee chairman John Dooley today.

Dooley said the Alumax site was picked over other industrial sites in the Warrenton area because there is no residential development in the area and any traffic generated from the facility wouldn’t be disruptive.

75 years ago — 1951

Snow that piled up to six inches during the night Monday brought more difficult driving conditions to Clatsop County and forced five schools to close down operations Tuesday.

William Jones, Knappa school superintendent said this morning that three school buses were banged up a bit in two accidents on the slippery roads Monday. No students were injured.

In the morning a school bus and milk truck skidded together and in the afternoon two of the school buses slid into each other on the rugged roads. One of the buses was extensively damaged, Jones said.

Employment remained at a high level in Clatsop County during February, according to Robert Morrison, manager of the Oregon State Employment service here.

Total unemployment in the area, including Clatskanie, a branch office of the Astoria division of the employment service, was estimated at 755 last month. Of the total 400 were women. Last year during the same month 2600 workers were estimated unemployed.

Nearly all the unemployed women were workers laid off from local packing plants, who are scheduled to go back to work soon, at least temporarily.

The “bomb” that was washed up on the sand at Surf Pine beach and discovered by Ed Mowick, Hammond, Wednesday, turned out to be a non-explosive high speed bubble target, Point Adams Coast Guard officials reported today.

The high-speed bubble targets look like bombs but have no explosive charges in them, the Coast Guard said. “There really isn’t any way to tell them from a bomb from external appearances.”

The local salmon packing industry is moving toward the 1951 fishing season with most of the 1950 pack off its hands, a survey among packers indicates.

Also, the 1950 pack has been sold at prices generally higher than was obtained for the 1949 pack, which move to market only slowly.

However, the increased prices have forced retail prices up so much in eastern markets – half pound cans were seen selling in eastern stores at as high as 59 and 62 cents – that packers fear a buyers resistance will develop soon.

Traffic on the state highway department operated ferries between Astoria and Megler was higher during the first two months of 1951 than any January or February since the department took over operation of the cross-river ferries in June, 1946.

The early year traffic increase led ferry superintendent Floyd Simon, to expect a bigger year than 1947, the tops for traffic since the highway department began operating the system.

Simon said that from 1947 until February of this year a total of 511,177 vehicles were handled here.

The Oregon house of representatives ignored charges today that Cannon Beach is a “Barbary coast” and voted 43 to 14 against a bill that would have prohibited the driving of autos along the beach.