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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (March 2, 2015)
Conduct, drive the trolley Loggers head to state NORTH COAST • 3A SPORTS • 4A MONDAY, MARCH 2, 2015 142nd YEAR, No. 174 ONE DOLLAR Veteran surprised with long lost honor $OEHUW0RUULVHDUQHGDOLIHVDYLQJPHGDO for a 1948 rescue while in the Coast Guard By DERRICK DePLEDGE The Daily Astorian JOSHUA BESSEX — The Daily Astorian Albert Morris receives applause during a ceremony at Clatsop Post 12 American Legion. During the ceremony, Morris was presented with a copy of the original citation of Morris’ 1949 Silver Lifesaving Medal, as well as a replica of the legion’s Gold Medal of Valor. Morris received the Medal from Baltimore Post 27 in 1949. 2QDZHHNHQGWKDWRYHUÀRZHGZLWK ¿VKWDOHVWKLVRQHZDVDZKDOH $OEHUW 0RUULV ZDV D \HDUROG ERDWVZDLQ¶VPDWHWKLUGFODVVRQWKH86 Coast Guard Cutter Balsam in 1948 WKDWZDVGLVSDWFKHGWRWKHVLQNLQJWXJ Neptune off the coast of Washington state. Braving rough seas and raging wind, Morris and another guardsman VFUDPEOHGGRZQWKHFDUJRQHWWRKHOS some of the 11 crewmen from the tug ERDUGWKHFXWWHU At one point, Morris jumped into DUXEEHUERDWVHSDUDWLQJWKHYHVVHOVWR SODFH OLQHV DURXQG VWULFNHQ FUHZPHQ VWUXJJOLQJWRFOLPEDERDUG 7KH866HFUHWDU\RIWKH7UHDVXU\ greatest generation and one of our fel- low Coast Guardsmen and a true Coast Guard hero,” said retired Coast Guard Vice Admiral Ray Riutta, who present- awarded Morris the Silver Lifesaving ed Morris the long lost decoration with Medal — the guard’s second-class hon- Capt. Daniel Travers, the commander or for heroic rescues — in 1949 for his RI 6HFWRU &ROXPELD 5LYHU DQG &DSW “outstanding courage, initiative, and Sean MacKenzie, the deputy com- mander. unwavering devotion to duty.” :KLOH 0RUULV¶ PHGDO FRXOG QRW EH But the medal and citation, along with other honors Morris had earned, recreated, MacKenzie said the Coast disappeared while he was serving on *XDUG KLVWRULDQ¶V RI¿FH ZDV DEOH WR :DNH ,VODQG VRPH \HDUV DJR +H REWDLQDFRS\RIWKHFLWDWLRQIURPWKH National Archives. thought they were lost forever. 0LNH 3KLOOLSV WKH FRPPDQGHU RI On Saturday afternoon at Clatsop Post 12 American Legion, the Coast the American Legion post, also present- Guard and Morris’ friends from the ed Morris with a replica of the legion’s legendary Salvage Chief — where he Gold Medal of Valor, which Morris had ZRUNHGDIWHUUHWLULQJIURPWKHJXDUG² ¿UVWUHFHLYHGIURP%DOWLPRUH3RVWLQ surprised him with a copy of the origi- 1949. The ceremony was the highlight of a nal citation. “It is our great honor to present reunion for former crew of the Salvage this to you, an award that you earned See HONOR, Page 10A VRPDQ\\HDUVDJR$PHPEHURIRXU Oscar B Packed to the gills with poets is here Salty wordsmiths wash up in Astoria to stay for FisherPoets New, larger ferry slipped into its new home Friday By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian T KHUH ZHUH VRPEHU QRVWDOJLF DQGFRPHGLFJRRGE\HVSDVVLQJ EHWZHHQ WKH VDOW\ )LVKHU3RHWV Sunday at the Astoria Event Center. More than 80 of them had traveled to $VWRULD IURP 2UHJRQ RWKHU 86 VWDWHV%ULWLVK&ROXPELDDQG)LQODQG for the 18th annual FisherPoets, a cel- HEUDWLRQRIFRPPHUFLDO¿VKLQJDQGLWV stories. ³, ZDQW WR WKDQN HYHU\ERG\ SHU- VRQDOO\´ VDLG *HDUKDUW¶V -D\ 6SHDN- man, part of a core group of vol- unteers organizing the FisherPoets *DWKHULQJDORQJZLWK-RQ%URGHULFN RI &DQQRQ %HDFK ³%HFDXVH OLNH , VDLGWKH¿UVWQLJKW«\RXJX\VDOOJHW DFUHZVKDUHEXWWKHUHVWRIXVWKDWJHW WRVWD\KHUHZHJHWWRVSOLWWKHERDW¶V VKDUHDQGWKDW¶VWKHELJJHUVKDUH ³:HJHWDELJSD\EDFNIURPWKLV and we sure appreciate it when every- ERG\FRPHV<RXJRWKURXJKDVPXFK WURXEOH DV ZH GR WR JHW KHUH DQG LW GRHVQ¶W VHHP OLNH D ORW DIWHU ZH VHH how people enjoy this.” FisherPoets venues across down- WRZQ$VWRULDZHUHSDFNHGWRWKHJLOOV Friday and Saturday. Most of the FisherPoets came from the West Coast, including 29 from :DVKLQJWRQIURP$ODVNDIURP 2UHJRQ DQG ¿YH HDFK IURP %ULWLVK &ROXPELDDQG&DOLIRUQLD2QHRUWZR each traveled from Idaho, Hawaii, Ar- NDQVDV0DLQH0DVVDFKXVHWWV5KRGH Island and Florida. The honor of this \HDU¶V IDUWKHVWÀXQJ )LVKHU3RHW LQ a festival that last year attracted two %%&UHSRUWHUVZHQWWR-HQ3LFNHWWD ¿VKHUZRPDQRIWZRGHFDGHVLQ$ODV- NDOLYLQJLQ-\YlVN\Ol)LQODQG ³:KDWEULQJVPHEDFNKHUHLVWKH community here and FisherPoets,” 3LFNHWWVDLGZKRHQGXUHGDGD\ORQJ commute and 10 hours time differ- By KYLE SPURR The Daily Astorian JOSHUA BESSEX — The Daily Astorian FisherPoet Dave Densmore, of Astoria, reads a poem chastising young, cocky, fishermen during a per- formance at Astoria Event Center Saturday. View more photos online at www.dailyastorian.com MORE INSIDE Read about an Astorian who opened his West Coast combination boat for tours on Page 10A. ence for the reunion. “It’s just some- WKLQJ,QHHGWRGRWRFRPHEDFNKHUH and see all my friends and hear their stories, and their poems and songs. And I can relate to them so much. It’s DOLWWOHELWOLNHFRPLQJKRPH,IHHOOLNH a salmon that has found my stream.” 3LFNHWW D IUHHODQFH ZULWHU DQG SRHW UXQV D EORJ DW KWWSSLFN- ¿VKWDOHVEORJVSRWFRP VKDULQJ KHU VWRULHV RI EHLQJ D ¿VKHUZRPDQ LQ $ODVND 6KH LV DOVR VWXG\LQJ IRU D JOSHUA BESSEX — The Daily Astorian 3K' LQ SV\FKRORJ\ IURP WKH 8QL- Jen Pickett, of Jyväskylä, Suomi, performs spoken word poetry at YHUVLW\RI-\YlVN\Ol See FISHERPOETS, Page the Astoria Event Center Saturday. Behind her, ASL interpreter Judi Webb, of Portland, translates Pickett’s poem. 7KH2VFDU%WUDYHOHGDORQJZD\E\ VHD WR LWV SHUPDQHQW ORFDWLRQ EHWZHHQ Puget Island, Wash., and Westport, where it will serve as the last ferry on WKHORZHU&ROXPELD5LYHU On Friday morning, the Oscar B reached its destination. 7KHQHZIHUU\¶VDUULYDOPDUNHGWKH HQGRIDQHDUO\¿YH\HDUSURFHVVWRUH- SODFHWKHRULJLQDODJLQJ)HUU\:DKNLD- NXPLQVHUYLFHVLQFH :DVKLQJWRQ¶V :DKNLDNXP &RXQW\ 3XEOLF :RUNV 'LUHFWRU 3HWH 5LQJHQ who is planning to retire at the end RI WKH \HDU VDLG WKH SURMHFW KDV EHHQ DW WLPHV FRPSOLFDWHG EXW XOWLPDWHO\ ZRUWKLWWRVHHWKHQHZIHUU\GRFNHGLQ his county. 7KH PLOOLRQ 2VFDU % QDPHG DIWHUIRUPHUVNLSSHUDQGRZQHU2VFDU Bergseng, made it to Puget Island at DP )ULGD\ IURP :KLGEH\ ,VODQG north of Seattle, where it was construct- HGE\1LFKROV%URWKHUV%RDW%XLOGHUV of Freeland, Wash. A captain drove it E\VHDGRFNHGLWLQ$VWRULDODVWZHHN DQGPDGHWKH¿QDOSXVKWR3XJHW,VODQG Friday. “The phrase I have used is ‘we GRQ¶WNQRZZKDWWKHIXWXUHKROGVEXW ZHKDYHKHOSHGWRVHFXUHWKHSRVVLELOL- ties’,” Ringen said. “It’s a good feeling. ,W¶V EHHQ D WRXJK SURMHFW FKDOOHQJLQJ IRUDVPDOOFRXQW\WRWDNHWKLVRQ,QWKH ELJSLFWXUHLW¶VZRUWKZKLOH´ While awaiting the Oscar B’s arriv- al, Legacy Contracting Inc. of Salem KDVZRUNHGWRXSJUDGHWKHIHUU\ODQG- ings on each side of the river in West- port and Puget Island. See OSCAR B, Page 10A 6WDF\%XUUFRYHUVJDPXWRIOLNHO\FDWDVWURSKHV Cannon Beach hires new emergency consultant CANNON BEACH — The city of Cannon Beach has hired its new emergency preparedness consultant. Stacy Burr, a Eugene resi- dent and the owner of Stacy M. %XUU&RQVXOWLQJRI¿FLDOO\WRRN over the part-time position Jan. ¿OOLQJ WKH UROH OHIW E\ %LOO 9DQGHUEHUJZKRVWHSSHGGRZQ in fall 2013. She will advise city manag- ers, the emergency prepared- ness committee and the prede- ployment container committee Submitted — which manages the tsunami storage container program — on how to strengthen and expand their efforts to protect Cannon Beach’s residents and visitors during emergencies, Stacy Burr, of Eugene, is the new emergency pre- paredness coordinator for Cannon Beach. especially natural disasters. Her duties will include up- dating the city’s “incident action SODQ´ D SOD\ERRN IRU KDQGOLQJ emergencies; conducting on- site Incident Command System training; developing Cannon Beach’s Community Emergen- cy Response Team (CERT); and pursuing federal Department of Homeland Security grants for SURMHFWV OLNH XSJUDGLQJ FULWLFDO infrastructure, City Manager Brant Kucera said. %XUUZLOO³KHOSXVEXLOGRXU emergency systems up to the EHVW RI RXU DELOLW\ LQ D VPDOO WRZQ WR EXLOG XS WKH SODFHV ZKHUH ZH DUH ZHDN DQG WR UH- inforce the places where we are currently strong,” said Paula 9HWWHU D PHPEHU RI WKH HPHU- gency preparedness committee. “We’re really excited to have KHURQERDUG´ Cascadia Though Burr will cover the gamut of potential catastrophes, the long-anticipated Cascadia 6XEGXFWLRQ =RQH HDUWKTXDNH and tsunami is her top priority. ³7KDW¶VWKHELJJHVWHPHUJHQ- cy we could have to face,” said %RE0XVKHQYLFHFKDLUPDQRI the emergency preparedness committee. “And we have no idea, of course, when that’s go- ing to happen.” When it does happen, the city will need to create shelters, GLVWULEXWH IRRG DQG ZDWHU VHW up sanitation, provide medical care, do crowd control — all re- TXLULQJ ZHOOWUDLQHG YROXQWHHUV Burr will help the emergency preparedness committee attract more people to serve during an emergency, Mushen said. See BURR, Page 10A