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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (April 14, 2015)
Rain wins Seaside Invite Arts, experiences up for bid SPORTS • 4A NORTH COAST • 3A TUESDAY, APRIL 14, 2015 142nd YEAR, No. 205 CROWN Z TO GP Products evolve with mill Sardine ¿VKHU\ nixed West Coast season called off amid drop in numbers By JEFF BARNARD Associated Press JOSHUA BESSEX — The Daily Astorian A forklift operator moves packages of Brawny paper towels. By MIKE WILLIAMS EO Media Group W AUNA — When Crown Zellerbach opened the mill at Wauna in 1965 it manufactured Chiffon, Marina and Nice N Soft bath tissue; the No. 3 paper machine started making newsprint in 1967. The brands have changed since then, and the plant, now owned by *HRUJLD 3DFL¿F QR ORQJHU PDQX factures newsprint. The mill is ever evolving, adapting to corporate branding, product trends and eco- nomic realities. Now the Wauna Mill is known for MD and Angel Soft toilet tissue and Brawny paper towels. Clatsop County’s largest private employer also produces Vanity Fair, GP’s top-selling table napkins. In addition, the mill manufactures private-label products. The company declines to discuss its private con- tracts in deference to its clients. No. 6 and Brawny Fisheries managers have decid- ed to call off the West Coast sardine ¿VKLQJVHDVRQWKDWVWDUWVLQ-XO\EH cause of rapidly dwindling numbers, hoping to save an iconic industry from the kind of collapse that hit in the 1940s and lasted 50 years. Meeting outside Santa Rosa, Cal- LIRUQLDWKH3DFL¿F)LVKHU\0DQDJH ment Council voted Sunday to close WKHVHDVRQVWDUWLQJ-XO\ It had little choice. Estimates of sardine abundance have fallen be- ORZWKHOHYHOIRUDPDQGDWRU\¿VKLQJ shutdown. “We know boats will be tied up, but the goal here is to return this to DSURGXFWLYH¿VKHU\´'DYLG&UDEEH a council member and commercial ¿VKLQJ ERDW RZQHU VDLG LQ D VWDWH ment. The council next will decide ZKHWKHURYHU¿VKLQJKDVEHHQDIDF tor in the latest collapse, which could trigger an emergency shutdown of the current season, which runs WKURXJK-XQH,WYRWHV:HGQHVGD\ 0DGH IDPRXV E\ -RKQ 6WHLQ beck’s novel “Cannery Row,” the once-thriving sardine industry crashed in the 1940s. It revived in the 1990s when ¿VKHULHV GHYHORSHG LQ 2UHJRQ DQG Washington waters, but population estimates have been declining since 2006, and catch values since 2012. See FISHERY, Page 5A JOSHUA BESSEX — The Daily Astorian Jim O’Brien tests the tensile strength of samples of Brawny paper towels. The strength is measured both while the paper towels are dry and wet. The samples are also tested for absorbency. The No. 6 paper machine, one of the latest additions to the mill, cranks out Brawny paper towels at a staggering rate. Large rolls are stored in a cavernous warehouse before moving on to the next step, known as converting. 6SHFL¿FDWLRQV RI WKH PDFKLQH such as capacity, roll width and other details, are trade secrets the company is unwilling to share; the information could help competitors. Every hour technicians sample the product to ensure it measures XSWRVSHFL¿FDWLRQV,W¶VSODFHGRQD machine and tugged in multiple di- rections until it tears. Then another JOSHUA BESSEX — The Daily Astorian sample is tested wet. “Obviously with towel or tissue, Bundler operator Craig Zacher inspects a freshly wrapped package those products people use when they of Brawny paper towels at the Wauna converting plant. get wet, especially towels, … we ac- tually test the strength when it’s wet Puzey, mill quality manager. bency and other criteria. It’s all part as well as (when it’s dry),” said Craig The towels are tested for absor- of making customers happy, said Kristi Ward, public affairs manager for the Wauna Mill. “That’s why we do this,” she said. “We want our customers happy with the product when they open it. We want it consistent ev- ery time they buy it, performing the way they want it to.” If a batch fails to meet minimum standards, it does not go on to the next stage. Instead it gets re-pulped and becomes another batch of pa- per. That doesn’t happen often. “We’re testing every hour, and we’re on top if it pretty good,” Puzey said. “It’s not very often you’d see something spike, be- cause if that were to happen they’d see an indication in their process control parameters.” OLYMPIA, Wash. — Residents of Eastern Washington are frustrat- ed with the more populous Westside of the state. And nowhere was that frustration more prominent than one day last month in the Capitol. On the docket were cougars and wolves, two hot-button issues that split the state right down the center of the Cascade Range. In one hearing, Eastside ranchers were asking senators to loosen the state’s law against using hounds to chase cougars and keep the predators away from livestock. In another hearing, an Eastside By HILLARY BORRUD Capital Bureau The state’s longstanding east-west divide has popped up several times this legislative session, and it usually involved agriculture. Divisive issues such as wolves, cougars, trails and even honeybees have all surfaced this session in the state Capitol. It’s not surprising, or new. The is- sues change, but the division between Eastern and Western Washington — sometimes called the Cascade Curtain — predates statehood. As the pioneers debated how best to divvy up the Or- egon Territory into states, they argued about East versus West. More than 125 years later, some Eastside lawmakers want a re-do. See WASHINGTON, Page 5A See INSURANCE, Page 5A See MILL, Page 12A Washington’s east-west divide predates statehood county commissioner told legislators that his constituents were fed up with wolves. They continue to attack cattle and sheep, costing ranchers tens of thou- sands of dollars. All the while wolves remain protected under state and fed- eral endangered species laws that draw most of their support from Westside groups and individuals. In the weeks since, lawmakers have agreed to take a close look at the wolf problem. The hounds, however, will remain on the leash. For the day, Eastern Washington was 1 for 2. Not bad, considering the Westside’s population — and represen- tation in the Capitol — is more than three times as large as the Eastside’s. State mulls higher ZLOG¿UHSUHPLXPV and deductible 6$/(0 ² 2I¿FLDOV DW WKH 2UH gon Department of Forestry are get- ting anxious, as the Oregon heads LQWR¿UHVHDVRQZLWKRXWWKHZLOG¿UH insurance policy the state has tradi- tionally purchased. Forest landowners, lawmakers DQGRWKHUVWDWHRI¿FLDOVDUHPXOOLQJ over a proposal that would more than GRXEOH 2UHJRQ¶V ZLOG¿UH LQVXUDQFH deductible, from $20 million to $50 million. “As far as the Department of For- estry is concerned, if there’s going to be a policy, we’d like to see it in place as soon as possible because the ODVWWZR\HDUVZH¶YHVHHQ¿UHVHDUO\ in the season,” said Rod Nichols, a spokesman for the Oregon Depart- ment of Forestry. “Because of the dry, warm conditions, we could see ¿UHVHDUO\RQEHVXEVWDQWLDO7KLVLV WKH¿IWK\HDUQRZRIGURXJKWLQWKH Northwest and Oregon.” The state usually has a policy in place by April, but the past two cost- O\ZLOG¿UHVHDVRQVFDXVHGLQVXUHUVWR reconsider whether to issue coverage to the state. The state “sent a contin- gent to London” earlier this year to present a case for Lloyd’s to contin- ue insuring the state, said Tim Keith, administrator of the Emergency Fire Cost Committee that oversees mon- ey raised through fees paid by forest landowners. Oregon State Forester Doug Decker is currently discussing the proposal with lawmakers and WKH RWKHU RI¿FLDOV ZKR ZLOO GHFLGH whether to purchase a policy this year. One Washington, two sides By DON JENKINS EO Media Group Oregon XQGHU¿UH