142nd YEAR, No. 220 TUESDAY, MAY 5, 2015 ONE DOLLAR Hold the chowder: Council scraps new food cart Astoria rejects proposed gillnetter next to the Bowpicker By DERRICK DePLEDGE The Daily Astorian Teresa Estrada Neat idea, wrong location. That was the message from the As- toria City Council Monday night on Cindy Price Teresa Estrada’s request to sell clam chowder from a vintage gillnetter next to the popular Bowpicker on Duane Street. The council found that leasing city property for T’s Astoria Chowder FRXOGSRVHDFRQÀLFWZLWKDSDUNLQJORW leased to the U.S. Coast Guard. 7KH %RZSLFNHU ZKLFK VHOOV ¿VK and chips from an old gillnet boat, is the only food cart that leases city property. The city grandfathered the Bowpicker after the city purchased land near 17th and Duane streets from the Columbia River Maritime Museum in 2013. The city plans to improve the gravel parking lot for the Coast Guard, which is studying whether to base two new fast-response cutters in Astoria, possi- bly at the 17th Street Dock. “I am choosing to favor the Coast Guard over you,” City Councilor Cin- dy Price told Estrada. Price said her decision was not based on “cronyism,” but “making a better decision for Ward 3 and for Asto- ria, to have that space available for (the Guard) when they’re ready to make their plans.” Councilor Zetty Nemlowill said she did not want to potentially jeop- ardize the Coast Guard’s expansion, which could be an economic boon to the city. See COUNCIL, Page 12A Mock search and rescue makes it real Haul-out hurdles Port installs new obstacles for sea lions at the East End By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian HOLLY PHIPPS — Seaside High School Seaside High School senior Christian Avila, foreground, and Astoria High School sophomore Sydney Morris assess the injuries on SHS student Jacqueline Hernandez, who posed as a victim during the final simulation for the Community Emergency Response Team programs for both high schools. The 11 members from the schools had to perform a mock search and rescue at the Seaside School District facility Friday. Students from SHS, AHS ¿QLVK&(57 FHUWL¿FDWLRQ Quake, no tsunami By KATHERINE LACAZE EO Media Group S EASIDE — Fabricated moans, groans and pleas of “help me” emanated from the basement of the Seaside School District facility on South Franklin Street. Junior Caitlynn Howe, play- ing the role of incident command- er, quickly briefed her team of 10 Astoria and Seaside high school students, carrying backpacks of supplies and wearing bright yellow UHÀHFWLYH YHVWV RQ WKH VLPXODWHG situation. After receiving assignments, the students, who are part of the Community Emergency Re- sponse Team programs at both high schools, dispersed through- out the building to look for and HOLLY PHIPPS — Seaside High School Seaside High School students Will Kautz, from left, Connor Adam and Caitlyn Howe communicate during a stimulation performed as part of their final for the CERT training program. Seven Seaside stu- dents and four students who did an identical program at Astoria High School this semester joined as one team for the final simulation. treat victims, who were played by students in Seaside High School teacher Vanessa Unger’s drama class. )ULGD\¶V VLPXODWLRQ ZDV WKH ¿- nal exercise for the students, four from Astoria and seven from Sea- VLGH WR EHFRPH FHUWL¿HG )RU WKH exercise, the concocted incident was an earthquake, but no tsuna- mi followed. A majority of the community made it to the tsunami evacuation sites and were account- ed for, but seven were not. The CERT members had to go back to the building to conduct search and rescue for the missing victims. Once found, the victims — who had been realistically decked out in makeup by Seaside junior Hol- ly Phipps — shared information they were given ahead of time so the student CERT members could assess their injuries and identify them as immediate, delayed or mi- nor/walking wounded. The injuries ranged from mi- nor scrapes and bruises to a stick through the leg and a spinal inju- ry. One victim was uninjured, but she played the role of a woman who was hysterical and upset for her friend, who had been severely See CERT, Page 12A Marine returns, just in time for lunch Sgt. Jordan Law sneaks in to surprise his family at Fort George Brewery By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Jordan Law’s family sat down for what they thought would be a simple lunch at Fort George Brewery Monday. But Jordan and his mother, Sheryl, had so much more in store. KATU, supposedly doing a piece on the iconic brewery, surrounded the Law family for interviews. As they talked, Jordan and his partner, Cameron Holliday, descended the Astoria Column staircase from Fort George to surprise his family, as the en- tire pub joined in congratulating the family on their JOSHUA BESSEX — The Daily Astorian reunion. “I just got back from the Middle East, begin- U.S. Marine Sgt. Jordan Law hugs his sister, Lexis Law, and his ning of April” said Jordan, who’d most recently mother, Sheryl Law, after surprising his family at Fort George Brewery Monday. Sgt. Law returned from Kuwait after a combat See MARINE, Page 7A tour lasting seven months. A small group of people gath- ered on the East End Mooring Basin causeway Friday, taking in the most- ly California and few, larger Stellar sea lions covering every square foot RI 2 'RFN DQG DQ DGMDFHQW ÀRDWLQJ cage used by Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife since 2008 to trap and brand the pinnipeds. In the background, with its own audience of sea lions, Port of Asto- ria staffers started stringing orange VDIHW\ IHQFLQJ DORQJ WKH ¿UVW ¿QJHU pier of P Dock, one of the three the Port has left at the East End Mooring Basin. By Monday, the sea lions had gotten through the plastic fencing, and the Port had switched to chicken wire. “We’re using P as kind of a proto- type,” Port Permit and Project Man- ager Robert Evert said, while over- seeing work Friday. The Port hopes to push the sea lions off the docks and over to the rocky breakwaters where some al- ready congregate, preventing the damage the animals cause to utilities on the docks, and attracting boats, which create revenue from moorage. Evert guessed that the Port needs 12,000 feet of construction tape, at about $70 per 100 feet, to cover both sides and ends of its 5,600 linear feet of dock at the basin. See PORT, Page 7A Residents take the Corps to task over Walmart Federal agency should have done more to protect wetlands, lawsuit claims By DERRICK DePLEDGE The Daily Astorian WARRENTON — A citizen’s JURXSKDV¿OHGDIHGHUDOODZVXLWDJDLQVW the Army Corps of Engineers over the Walmart project, claiming the Army Corps failed to adequately protect wet- lands. Clatsop Residents Against Walmart (www.c-r-a-w.org) alleges the Army Corps improperly allowed the multina- WLRQDOGLVFRXQWUHWDLOHUWR¿OOZHWODQGV for the project east of U.S. Highway 101. The Army Corps, the suit claims, has an obligation to protect aquatic re- sources, the quality of the environment, and the robustness of the administrative and environmental permitting process. “The legal issues are whether the Corps did an adequate impact analysis and an adequate alternatives analy- sis,” said Karl Anuta, a Portland attor- ney representing the citizen’s group. “They’re required to do both and we think that, in this instance, there were other alternatives that would have in- YROYHGOHVVZHWODQG¿OOVWKDWZHUHQRW See CORPS, Page 12A