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DailyAstorian.com // MONDAY, JULY 2, 2018 146TH YEAR, NO. 1 ONE DOLLAR Bacteria spikes in Cannon Beach outfalls Higher levels at Chisana Creek, Ecola Court By BRENNA VISSER The Daily Astorian Photos by Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian Taylor Ballard is crowned Miss Oregon 2018 at the pageant held in Seaside Saturday. i CROWNING i WONDER Ballard wants to help people ‘feel comfortable in their own skin’ i S CROWNING By BRENNA VISSER The Daily Astorian EASIDE — For Taylor Ballard, the road to the Miss Oregon crown has been one of personal growth. The Portland woman rose above 23 contes- tants from across the state Saturday in the 71st annual Miss Oregon Scholarship Pageant at the Seaside Civic and Convention Center. She will compete in the Miss America pageant this September in Atlantic City. Ballard, who was Miss Northwest Wonder- land of Portland, was inspired to start competing in 2014 on the suggestion of a friend. She saw the pageant as a way to get scholarship money for her public relations degree at Portland State University, improve her communication skills and hone her dance moves. After her first competitions, Ballard took a year off to reflect and work through body insecurity issues. It was a year of struggling to find a balance in her own daily eating and exercise habits, which she said swung between “diets and binge eating” — but also a year that provided mental clarity. Her platform, “confidence under construction,” was inspired by her time both in and out of pageants. “I wanted to work on myself to turn those insecurities into strengths,” she said. “I wanted to feel confident in my own skin to help others do the same.” WONDER CROWNING S See MISS OREGON, Page 7A CANNON BEACH — Bacteria levels last week at the Chisana Creek outfall near Tolovana State Park measured more than three times what is considered safe by the U.S. Environmental Protec- tion Agency. Routine sampling conducted through the Ore- gon Beach Monitoring Program found readings at two freshwater outfalls to exceed the state’s recre- ational water standard of 130 mpn, or most prob- able number, a testing method used to estimate the number of colony forming units of bacteria in water samples. The Chisana Creek outfall registered at 465 mpn. The Ecola Court outfall pipe hit 134 mpn. The cause of the spike is unknown. The city is in contact with the state Department of Environmen- tal Quality and is conducting additional in-house tests to identify the problem, City Manager Bruce St. Denis said. “This has been an ongoing situation that has resulted in extensive testing (including DNA test- ing) and research in the past,” St. Denis wrote in an email. “Numerous projects have been undertaken to address isolated contributing sources but the overall situation keeps reoccurring. This is com- mon for municipal beach outfalls.” Cannon Beach has a history of high bacteria test results, especially after rain washes waterways out and during the height of tourism season when pub- lic infrastructure is heavily used. In July 2015, a sewage leak led to a spike in bacteria readings in the Ecola Creek watershed. In general, sources of contamination to surface waters include wastewater treatment plants, sep- tic systems, domestic and wild animal manure, and storm runoff, according to the EPA. Ingesting bacteria contaminated water can result in illness, according to the Oregon Health Authority. See BACTERIA, Page 7A WONDER Brenna Visser/The Daily Astorian Hannah Garhofer performs a dance routine at the Miss Oregon pageant. A sign at the Chisana Creek outfall at Tolo- vana State Park warns people on the beach about possible contamination in the water. After health scare, teacher commits to wellness Oien rebounds from thyroid cancer By HANNAH SIEVERT The Daily Astorian S Hannah Sievert/The Daily Astorian Sara Oien is an Astoria High School teacher. ara Oien’s life was busy enough. She and her husband, Chris, have two young boys and triplet girls. She was teaching social studies full time at Astoria High School. Her life felt like spinning on a hamster wheel. There was always something to do and not a lot of time to rest. Then, last sum- mer, she found out she had cancer. A small bump Oien found in her neck turned out to be papillary carcinoma, a com- mon type of thyroid cancer. “It was a surreal experience to navigate your normal life, but also know you have this really scary diagnosis,” she said. With the bad news came an out- pouring of support from educators. The well-wishes, posters and dinners given to her by fellow teach- ers, students and neighbors was a huge help during a difficult time. Oien had a thyroidectomy in November, and has been cancer-free for the past seven months. See OIEN, Page 7A