10 years ago this week — 2014

After crews worked all weekend, the North Coast forest fires are 75% contained, officials said today.

Crews from the Oregon Department of Forestry and multiple North Coast fire departments battled the two blazes near Arch Cape that, at their largest, engulfed nearly 300 acres of coastal forestland.

At its peak from Thursday through Friday morning, approximately 120 firefighters, representing fire crews from the Oregon Department of Forestry, Astoria, Knappa, Gearhart, Seaside, Cannon Beach, Hamlet and Nehalem Bay, were battling the blazes.

As of this morning, the two fires are about 75% contained, according to Neal Bond, the incident commander for the Oregon Department of Forestry’s Astoria District.

LONG BEACH, Wash. — A dune fire erupted on the beach between 10th Street N. and 12th Street N. in Long Beach on Saturday. Fire engines and a tank truck fought the fire around 2 p.m.

The fire was confined to the grass and trees in the sand dunes. Long Beach Police said the cause of the fire is under investigation. It is believed that the fire was accidentally started by teenagers playing with candles.

The nearly century-old shipyard facility belonging to the Astoria Marine Construction Co. has been added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Best known for constructing Korean War-era minesweeper warships, the Astoria Marine Construction Co. site in recent years has been a mainstay for repairing local fishing vessels.

The complex of 15 buildings and structures, located on the Lewis and Clark River, is now one of more than 40 Astoria properties listed in the register.

The Columbia River won’t be despoiled on his watch, U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden assured the audience at the Columbia River Maritime Museum on Saturday.

During his 683rd town hall as a senator, several people asked Wyden about the transport of fossil fuels and other natural resources along the water.

Astoria resident and famed photographer Robert Adams asked Wyden if he’d tell someone he loved to move to the lower Columbia River, with its environment under threat from potential “Mississippification” by the transport and export of natural resources.

The Columbia River already plays host to the transport of light sweet crude oil from Port Westward heading to refineries in Washington state and California.

“If you ask me ‘Would I advise somebody to come here?’ I’d say ‘look outside, and make your own judgment about your elected officials,’” said Wyden, who touted partnerships with local officials such as state Sen. Betsy Johnson, and Clatsop County Commissioner Peter Huhtala, to a cascade of applause.

“But I think the people I just mentioned … are not going to be willing to put in place policies that play Russian roulette with this special place.”

50 years ago — 1974

The night of March 18, 1973, was a stormy one off the Oregon Coast, not the kind of night that a U.S. Coast Guard rescue crew would relish being out in.

But that night, an emergency call came into U.S. Coast Guard Air Station in Astoria from the freighter Astride Bakke, saying one of its seamen needed immediate aid.

The ship was 75 miles southwest of Astoria in rough seas and high winds.

Lt. Cmdr. David Corson, pilot of a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter, his co-pilot Lt. Mickey Strong and air survival crewman Darrell Gellakosa took off from the air station and headed southwest.

It was their job and they did it well. The injured seaman was hoisted into the helicopter despite the weather conditions and evacuated.

These three men were commended for their action Wednesday morning at an awards ceremony at the Astoria Air Station by Coast Guard District Commander Adm. C.A. Richmond, from Seattle.

The odds for becoming an Eagle Scout are low, but they must be almost nonexistent for three members of one family to be initiated at the same time, as brothers Jeff Edwards, Steve Edwards and John Corbin were Saturday at B.P.O.E. Lodge 180 Astoria.

It is apparently the first time in the history of scouting that three brothers have ascended to the Eagle rank at the same time. Also receiving the honor was Dan Galloway.

Modular homes are under construction at Astoria and Warrenton High School. Students are building the houses as part of school programs.

At Astoria High School, construction students are putting together their third house in three years. A three-bedroom model will be put up for bid beginning at about $13,000. The house should be done by the time school winds to a close in May.

State and local authorities say that despite complaints about children walking to school in the dark, there is no firm proof that winter daylight saving time has caused any significant increase in accident rates.

The end of the month means the end of gas supplies for many Astoria gas stations.

A survey made by the Astoria office of the AAA this morning showed only five stations open, and all of these limiting either the dollar amount or number of gallons of gas they will sell to a customer.

Of the five stations surveyed, two were limiting sales to $4 per customer and two had set a 10-gallon limit. The other was planning to close when its daily allocation of 575 gallons was gone.

The Astoria School District’s inability to obtain gasoline may cause curtailment of all transportation to extracurricular activities, including varsity athletic contests.

Astoria Superintendent Roy Seeborg said the district hasn’t gotten a gasoline delivery since Christmas. No deliveries are scheduled either, as two petroleum companies still are arguing over who must supply the school system.

Federal regulations say current allocations are to be based on what was delivered during the same period in 1972. Union Oil supplied the district with gas in 1973, but Arco provided petrol in 1972.

Neither company believes it is required to come up with gasoline for Astoria school buses in 1974.

75 years ago — 1949

Are teachers’ salaries still so low that a young person is unwise to prepare for the teaching profession?

This question is the outcome of a recent AstoriaSchool Board meeting at which the scarcity of bright young people preparing to teach was deplored.

Few high school-age girls now indicate any ambition to teach. Few, if any, high school boys express any such desire.

The reason they most often cite is that the profession does not pay enough money to justify the training and the so-called “grind.”

Independently of school officials, a survey was conducted in Clatsop County to determine how teachers’ salaries now compare with those offered in other lines of work here.

The survey indicated that, for young women, financial rewards are higher and the future more promising in the teaching profession than in any other type of work available for them in this vicinity.

The old enemy, high cost of living, still is close upon the heels of teachers who must support dependents. And none of them plan to die rich.

This week’s bad weather has sent unemployment figures for this area soaring, Guy Barker, manager of the Astoria branch of the state compensation commission, said Saturday.

Barker said his office was swamped this week with applications for unemployment relief. One extra clerk was added to the office staff to help out during the rush.

When a thaw and warmer weather arrives, Barker anticipates that employment will rise to a level higher than ordinary for this time of year. But at present, the closing down of sawmills and logging operations because of the cold has painted a bad job picture for the area served by his office.

Weather forecasters saw a break on the Northwest’s weather horizon after 29 days. The cold air that covered the region was expected to retreat before a “warm front” predicted to bring rain.

Tomorrow’s minimum in Portland was expected to rise to 30 degrees after lows ranging from 10 to 18. Western Oregon was told to look for minimums between 28 and 36.

Coast Guardsmen in the Columbia River area were resting today after a hectic weekend of aiding five distressed vessels.

Late Saturday afternoon a 58,000-gallon oil barge, towed by the tug Peggy Belle, ran aground a mile and a half upriver from the ferry channel.

Jim Russell, master of the tug, tried to push the barge free and in doing so ran the tug aground.

A call was sent out to the U.S. Coast Guard and the cutter Balsam was dispatched. However, the Balsam was unable to approach because of insufficient water.

A picket boat from the Point Adams lifeboat station was then dispatched. The picket boat came alongside and made sure that the tug and barge were in no immediate danger and the picket boat and the Balsam both stood by until about 10 p.m.

At that time, the 36-foot motor lifeboat Triumph relieved the Balsam. The Triumph and the picket boat stood by until 1 a.m. when the incoming tide floated both the tug and the barge and they proceeded on their way.

Extensive property damage resulted from a series of weekend automobile accidents in Astoria, reports at the city police station revealed Monday morning.

Skidding on ice or snow or poor visibility resulting from mist were blamed for most of the accidents.