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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (July 31, 2015)
8A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JULY 31, 2015 Programming: Elements of robotics, drones may be taught next year Continued from Page 1A Riehl, the camp’s instructor and the computer services di- rector at the college. “That’s the neat thing about this is you can start building things right out of the box,” he said. Scratch and Python Students hooked up their Raspberry Pi to comput- ers to program using two programming languages, Scratch and Python. They created their own video games early on in the camp using Scratch, then moved on to interacting with the outside world by hooking up other devices, such as LED lights, buttons, heat sensors and small cameras. Elena couldn’t decide whether her favorite part involved the LED lights they made flash or a tiny camera they were able to program to take photos and video. How to code Georges 2ates Larsen helped teach the teenagers how to code to make their electronics respond. He cir- cled the room with Riehl to assist anyone with questions Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian A Raspberry Pi and temperature probe sit on a desk during the Raspberry Pi camp at Clatsop Community Col- lege Thursday. Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian Parker Fergus, 13, left, watches as J.J. Heacock, 14, right, controls a brushless motor system operated with the help of a Raspberry Pi during Raspberry Pi camp at Clatsop Community College Thursday. or a program that wouldn’t run. 2ates Larsen had discov- ered Riehl was holding the camp and got involved. “I love programming. I love kids. And I love teach- ing them programming,” 2ates Larsen said. “I’ve en- joyed doing this.” After one more year at the college, he plans to transfer to Portland State University to study mathematics with a possible minor in computer science. 2ates Larsen is president of the Remotely 2perated Vehicle Club, which actual- ly uses the Raspberry Pi for their underwater vehicle. He demonstrated to the class how the club uses the Raspberry Pi to control the vehicle’s motors via a con- troller. Next year, Riehl would like the program to include el- ements of robotics and drones. “If they can get really excited about programming at this age, there’s no tell- ing what they can do,” Rie- hl said. “That’s where we’re going to get the next gener- ation of software.” Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian Instructor Georges Oates Larsen, shows the class how to record videos during the Raspberry Pi camp at Clatsop Community College Thursday. Slough: Project involves 2,317-acre watershed full of salmon habitat Continued from Page 1A opening made water spew through at a high velocity. The adults could just make it through, but it was a deadly spot for young salmon, Ferri- er said. For now, the area looks a little bit like a disaster — as do all restoration projects when they first begin, said Ferrier. But refuge biolo- gists are looking forward to the months after work wraps up in the fall. With the culvert gone, the daily influence of tides will wash through the slough and it is common to see fish return in encouraging and even surprising numbers, Ferrier said. “It’s not cheap, but there are big impacts,” she said. Big gain in habitat The overall project in- volves a 2,317-acre water- shed full of important salm- on habitat. The refuge owns the land and, over the years, has “Ideally we would have proceeded from the down- stream to upstream direc- tion in terms of these im- provements,” said Cleve Steward, one of the Sus- tainable Fisheries Founda- tion’s executive directors and the current project manager on this part of the Greenhead Slough project. “But because of the fund- ing and just the sort of me- chanics of getting all this work done, it didn’t work out that way.” Madeline Kalbach/Submitted Photo A newly installed box-style culvert provides tidal-level access to extensive acreage south of U.S. Highway 101 near Long Beach, Wash. picked away at fish passage projects upstream when money has become avail- able, restoring four differ- ent streams, nearly 10-miles worth of spawning habitat for cutthroat trout, chum and other salmonids. But the final piece, the old culvert, was more com- plicated. Various groups held easements or right-of- ways in this area next to the highway — the Bonneville Power Administration and the Washington State De- partment of Transportation, to name two. Also, over the years, people interested in pushing the project through have come and gone. It was the same story for funding sources, too. Then in July, McMurry announced her group had landed $75,000 from the state, this in addition to a $373,524 grant from the Washington State Salmon Recovery Funding Board that the Friends of Willapa National Wildlife Refuge landed in 2014. Money drives work flow With these kinds of large, expensive, long-term projects, you have to be op- portunistic, Steward said. They were confident they would be able to get to the lower stream eventually. “You don’t say ‘no’ just because things are out of se- quence,” Steward said. The Sustainable Fisher- ies Foundation is another partner with the refuge and is managing the funds brought in by the Friends of Willapa National Wild- life Refuge. “It was a very collabo- rative process,” said Stew- ard. A list of partners on the refuge’s informational page about Greenhead Slough names 19 different groups, agencies and departments. “We got great support from the state agencies, in particular the Washington Department of Transpor- tation and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife,” Steward added, saying such cooperation can make or break a project like this. “We rely so much on them and if they’re able to engage with us early and effective- ly then the project goes so much more smoothly ... it really helped us to make sure the project was done correct- ly and within the schedule and budget we have.” Major work will wrap up this summer, with planting and seeding of the area to continue in the fall. Crashes: Alcohol, drugs are not listed as a cause in any of the fatal crashes Continued from Page 1A For the sheriff’s of¿ce, the focus is on county roads which have a relatively low amount of fatal crashes. Wil- liams points to lower speed limits on the local roads as a main factor. “You take away speed and that has a lot to do with how a crash turns out,” he said. On scene The sheriff’s of¿ce, 2re- gon State Police and local po- lice departments often work together when responding to fatal accidents. Fatalities com- monly occur after a vehicle crashes into a ditch, guardrail or the person is ejected from the vehicle, the data shows. State troopers are regularly called to fatal crashes, even if the crashes do not occur on state highways, because of their enormous amount of training for that type of inves- tigation, Williams said. Despite the training, Wil- liams said, law enforcement of¿cials are not always able to deal with family or friends of the deceased, who may be at the crash scene. “2ne of the challenges we have always dealt with is the trauma on the scene and help- ing the families that may be there or show up,” he said. The sheriff’s of¿ce re- lies on a chaplain program, where local church leaders re- spond with law enforcement to a fatal crash and assist the friends and family through the trauma. Chaplain programs are becoming more popular around the country. Williams estimates at least 70 percent of sheriff’s of¿ces in 2regon have such programs. “It has truly been a blessing,” he said. “They can concentrate wholly on the family and the trauma and assist them through that. We have a very devoted group of chaplains that will come out at a drop of a hat.” Safety improvements A key reason for maintain- ing the crash data is to im- prove the safety of roadways across the state, according to Department of Transportation spokesman Lou Torres. The data allows the state to pinpoint and prioritize stretches of roadway that may be problematic. The de- partment is then better able to funnel money to roadways with the most crashes for safe- ty improvement projects. “We really have to know if there is an intersection or stretch of road we need to work on or improve for safety reasons,” Torres said. Last year, the department identi¿ed a nearly 7-mile stretch of U.S. Highway 101 from Camp Rilea Armed Forces Training Center to Surf Pines Lane as a priority safety improvement project. The plan is in place and individual projects will begin as funding becomes available. The ¿rst project will add a J-turn near Cullaby Lake. Work is funded and scheduled to be- gin in 201. 2ther proposed projects through the corridor in- clude adding center turn lanes, widening the shoulders and im- proving intersections. Causes 2D2T’s fatal crash data lists multiple causes for the crashes. Speed, fatigue and reckless driving are all found in the data. So is improper passing, not yielding and fol- lowing too closely. But alcohol or drugs are not listed as a cause in any of the fa- tal crashes over the past decade. Williams has a hard time believing not one crash was caused by impairment. 2ne possible explanation is that crash data is collected before toxicology reports are avail- able or drivers are charged with crimes. 2D2T insists the data is up to date. “If there was alcohol or drug impairment, it would show up as a cause,” Torres said. “I can’t explain what is not there.” DID YOU KNOW? YOU MUST MOVE OVER- IT’S A LAW! Fo r a ll em ergen cy vehicles in clu d in g TO W TR UCKS ! IT IS A CLASS B TRAFFIC VIOLATION for failure to maintain a safe distance from EMERGENCY VEHICLES, ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE VEHICLES, TOWING VEHICLES AND AMBULANCES UNDER ORS 811.145, WITH A MINIMUM FINE OF 260 dollars. Information provided courtesy of A ffordable TOWING & REPAIR, LLC. North Co. 503-458-5588 South Co . 503- 338-6402