142nd YEAR, No. 234
MONDAY, MAY 25, 2015
ONE DOLLAR
STATE CHAMPS!
Time
to go?
Government
hunters prepare
to kill seabirds
Lady Fish make history for gold
By DAVID BALL
For The Daily Astorian
By JEFF BARNARD
Associated Press
E
UGENE — The discus ring
at Hayward Field is locat-
ed away from the crowd
behind the towering scoreboard
on the west end of the stadium.
Most of the fans in the grand-
stands weren’t aware of what had
just happened, but Astoria junior
Halie Korff knew exactly what
she had accomplished, thanks to
a large throng of teammates who
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disc.
Korff put together a solid se-
ries of throws in the preliminar-
ies to land her in second place in
the competition. Her heave of 124
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rounds, and the Lady Fish had the
points they needed to overtake
Newport for the 4A team title in
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“There was a lot of pressure
going into that, but I got off a
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that helped calm me down,” Korff
said. “I had all my teammates there
cheering for me, so I knew exactly
what was going on.”
The storied history of Astoria
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exciting chapter: “State Champi-
ons, 2015.”
A new plaque will now adorn
the trophy case at Astoria High
School, honoring the 2015 Astoria
girls track team, which wrapped up
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day afternoon at Historic Hayward
Field in Eugene.
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to knock off coastal rival Newport
by seven in the battle for the 4A
crown.
The two teams battled back and
forth on the leader board through-
out the two-day meet with the Lady
Fishermen picking up points in 12
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anced effort overcame a Newport
sprint crew that piled up big points
with 1-2 sweeps in the 200- and
400-meter races.
Astoria put athletes on the
awards stand in all but one of the
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Saturday’s session when Darian
Hageman claimed the triple jump
crown, pulling ahead of Sutherlin’s
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trip down the runway.
“Being a freshman I didn’t re-
ally expect to do that,” Hageman
said. “But it was really cool to
break the school record and get the
win.”
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farther than her previous best on
the day.
Government hunters have begun
scouting an island at the mouth of
the Columbia River as they prepare
to shoot thousands of hungry sea-
birds to stop them from eating baby
salmon.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
spokeswoman Diana Fredlund said
hunters from the U.S. Department
of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services
agency went to a small uninhabited
island off Ilwaco, Wash., Thursday
to survey the land before carrying
out plans to reduce the population
of double crested cormorants from
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Double crested cormorants are
large black birds with long necks,
hooked bills and webbed feet that
dive beneath the surface to eat small
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plan with the corps next week before
starting to kill the birds.
See CORMORANTS, Page 7A
At the
helm
Cutter Alert
welcomes new
commander
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
ABOVE: Astoria’s Natalie Cummings hugs
Kaylee Mitchell after finishing the 4A girls
4x100 meter relay race at the OSAA 2015
Track and Field State Championships at
Hayward Field in Eugene Saturday. Astoria
placed second in the event on the way to
winning the 4A girls state championship.
More photos at www.dailyastorian.com.
LEFT: Astoria’s Kaylee Mitchell runs in the
4A girls 1500 meter relay the state cham-
pionships in Eugene Saturday. Mitchell
placed second in the event.
Photos by JOSHUA BESSEX
The Daily Astorian
See CHAMPS, Page 12A
Cmdr. Patrick Culver on Friday
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U.S. Coast Guard cutter Alert based
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Culver took command from
Cmdr. Brian
Anderson, who
joined the Alert
in 2013.
Anderson
passed com-
mand of the
\HDUROG
cutter Friday
under a white
tent next to the
Columbia Riv-
Cmdr.
er
Maritime
Patrick Culver
Museum, sur-
rounded by his wife and children;
friends and family of both men; lo-
cal dignitaries from Astoria; Coast
Guard colleagues; and the men and
women Culver now commands.
See CULVER, Page 7A
Former recipient helps mothers, children
Nutrition info
helps Clatsop
County families
T
ory Sutherland has experienced both
sides of the Women, Infants and
Children program in Clatsop County.
Sutherland raised her two chil-
dren, a son and daughter, through the
nutrition education program when it
started in Clatsop County more than
30 years ago. Not long after, she
joined the WIC team and now works
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new mothers in the community.
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pants,” Sutherland said. “I came in
for immunizations, and they said, we
have this new program.”
WIC, funded in communities
nationwide by the U. S. Department
of Agriculture, provides supple-
mental food options for pregnant,
breast-feeding and postpartum wom-
en, infants and children up to 5 years
old. Over the years, the program has
evolved into providing referrals for
dental care, immunizations, family
planning and other early develop-
ment needs.
When WIC was founded, Suther-
land said, anemia, a condition in
which the blood doesn’t have enough
healthy red blood cells, was a huge
focus for the program.
“That has improved anemia dramat-
ically,” Sutherland said. “Now, what we
give families has changed, and nutrition
changes as education evolves.”
A main focus for WIC is the im-
portance of breast-feeding.
Nurse and WIC lactation con-
sultant Trina Robinson meets with
new mothers to educate them and
assist with any breast-feeding needs.
Breast pumps are offered to mothers
who need them.
“People use to think breast-feed-
ing and formula was 50/50. Now,
I’m seeing it turn,” Robinson said.
“Breast is best.”
Guidelines
WIC participants must meet cer-
tain income guidelines to receive the
program’s services.
See SUTHERLAND, Page 12A
KYLE SPURR — The Daily Astorian
Women, Infants and Children certifier Tory
Sutherland poses with a baby doll Thurs-
day outside the WIC clinic in Astoria.