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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (March 12, 2015)
Ready to Go Volt Prelude to a festival BUSINESS • 4A COAST WEEKEND THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 2015 142nd YEAR, No. 182 ONE DOLLAR SPEEDY DRIVERS FIRE UP COAST GUARD MOMS In the zone County approves enterprise zone By KYLE SPURR The Daily Astorian JOSHUA BESSEX — The Daily Astorian Jessica Jones and Kelly Shoemaker, at left, and other Coast Guard mothers are fed up with drivers speeding on West Klaskanine Avenue and Alameda Avenue. They expressed their concerns to the city during a “Meet the Mayor” event March 4. Moms say signs, humps not enough to protect kids See ZONE, Page 10A Students may get step up By DERRICK DePLEDGE The Daily Astorian J essica Jones thinks some drivers who careen down narrow, winding West Klaskanine Avenue in Astoria take sick satisfaction from the radar speed sign installed by the U.S. Coast Guard. The speed limit is 25 mph, there are two speed humps and there are yellow signs warning of children — even blind and deaf children — at play in the neighborhood, but drivers routinely flout the law. A similar pattern occurs on nearby Ala- meda Avenue, where a safety corridor sign has been posted by the Coast Guard, even though, technically, it is not a state safe- ty corridor where traffic fines are double. (There are currently no blind and deaf chil- dren, either.) “People like to see how far they can push it,” said Jones, a mother of two whose hus- band serves in the Coast Guard. “Everybody likes to push boundaries.” Fed up, Jones and more than a half dozen others who live in the Coast Guard housing tract have pleaded with the city for help. The women dominated a “Meet the Mayor” event on traffic safety with Mayor Arline LaMear at City Hall earlier this month and are in talks with the city about ideas to calm traffic. “People want something done,” Jones said. “We’re afraid for our children.” Clatsop County has joined the Port of Astoria and city of Warrenton in approving the Clatsop Enterprise Zone. The Clatsop County Board of Commissioners unanimously ap- proved a resolution Wednesday to send an application to Business Or- egon requesting Clatsop Enterprise Zone designation. The application for the zone is due to Business Oregon by April 10. There are four enterprise zones available in 2015 with potentially IRXURU¿YHDSSOLFDQWV The enterprise zone would ex- HPSWSURSHUW\WD[HVIRUWKUHHWR¿YH years on new commercial investment as a way to attract businesses, which would in turn have to meet employ- ment and job-creation requirements. It would not affect existing zoning regulations or the existing tax base. “Establishment of an enterprise zone in Clatsop County is not a pan- acea, but will function as another tool in our economic development toolbox to attract and encourage in- vestment in Clatsop County,” Coun- ty Manager Scott Somers said. AHS looks at advanced placement courses JOSHUA BESSEX — The Daily Astorian A car passes a caution sign placed in the road along Alameda Avenue. Jessica Jones puts out the sign in an attempt to get drivers to slow down as they drive through the neighborhood. ‘People want something done. We’re afraid for our children.’ — Jessica Jones Coast Guard mother who is fed up with speeding drivers Busy place In hilly Astoria, there are numerous streets and intersections that pose poten- tial traffic hazards. But the West Klas- kanine-Alameda junction has a danger- ous combination of speed, a steep hill, two playgrounds for children, and a busy school bus stop. Construction of new Coast Guard hous- ing has only added more peril to the mix from large trucks and equipment. “I’m afraid to see a child get hit,” said Kelly Shoemaker, a mother of four whose husband is in the Coast Guard. “Little kids, even if you educate them, they don’t always listen. It’s part of being a kid — it’s learn- ing your lessons. “And I’m afraid that you’re going to turn your back, with the small yards that we have, and one kid’s going to walk out, and then that’s going to be it. Not only will the driver have to live with that, but the parent’s going to have to live with that. “So it concerns me.” See SPEEDERS, Page 10A By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian Depending on the budget and student interest, stu- dents at Astoria High School could next year take advanced placement courses. The Astoria Craig School Board Hoppes approved Su- perintendent Craig Hoppes’ recommendation to form AP English courses for 11th- and 12th-graders, while potentially training a science and social studies teacher to make those courses AP in the future. See AP COURSES, Page 10A Zinger’s ice cream churns up for spring break By MIKE WILLIAMS EO Media Group SEASIDE — Spring break represents a question mark for Mike and Mona Exinger, owners of Zinger’s Homemade Ice Cream in Seaside. If it’s sunny, they’ll sell a lot of product; it’s dreary, cool and wet, not so much. “We’ve had spring breaks that were almost like summer, and then we’ve had spring breaks where I changed the music in the store to Christmas carols because it was snowing outside,” Mike said. “I fig- ured, it if it’s going to look like Christmas, it’s going to sound like Christmas.” MIKE WILLIAMS — EO Media Group The freezers were empty in February as Mona and Mike Exinger, owners of Zinger’s Homemade Ice Cream, pre- pared to come out of hibernation in time for spring break. Zinger’s is among the tourist-dependent business- es shifting into high, or at least higher, gear as the coast wakes up from its winter slumber and welcomes visi- tors back to the area. Zinger’s has plenty at stake with opening in mid- March. Ice cream is all they do. And it’s all made in the store, along with the waffle cones and bowls. “People think you’ve got to have something other than ice cream, but because we’re making it, we want to con- centrate on the one thing we do best,” he said. “We start- ed out with a store that had a lot of different things, and over time we got rid of the taffy, we got rid of the can- dy … because we wanted to concentrate on the one thing and make it the very best we could do.” The couple open in the spring and run all out through the summer. They used to close only for a few weeks in December. They extended it when they start- ed making their own ice cream. The December 2007 storm made the decision eas- ier that year. It knocked out power for several days. “And of course we wound up with soup,” Mike said. They eventually decided to close around the end of September. “It’s just so slow, plus there’s no preservatives in the ice cream, so if you’re not moving it, it sits there, it gets funny,” he said. “And See ZINGER’S, Page 10A