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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 9, 2015)
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2015 NORTH COAST 3A Seaside father kills son while hunting deer near Meacham EO Media Group MEACHAM — A Gresh- am man died Wednesday eve- ning near Meacham after his father shot him in what the Umatilla County Sheriff’s Of- ¿ce is calling a hunting acci- dent. Sheriff Terry Rowan said the case, though, remains open. “You treat this like any oth- er death investigation and try to answer all the questions,” he said, Louis Neil Branze, 76, of Seaside, and his son David Jo- seph Branze, 47, were in the area deer hunting, Rowan said, with at least two other people. “They’ve been hunting up there for around 40 years,” he said. One of the other hunting party members at 6:24 p.m. called 9-1-1 and reported an accidental shooting near the Summit Ranger Station cabin off Forest Service Road 3113. Rowan said none of the other members witnessed the shoot- ing. Deputies responded and discovered Louis Branze “¿red a shot at a deer and ap- parently accidentally struck David Branze,” according to a written statement from the sheriff’s of¿ce. “David Branze died as a result of the gunshot wound.” Members of Umatilla and Union County search and res- cue teams found the body. The area is “very rugged and steep so the recovery took several hours to complete,” according to the written statement. Rowan said the state med- ical examiner could perform an autopsy Saturday, but he is awaiting con¿rmation. Katherine Lacaze/EO Media Group Lifeguard Lindsey Wolfe watches over the Sunset Pool from a new lifeguard stand. Sunset Pool completes scheduled maintenance Women’s locker, shower room get makeovers Prayers are answered as Pearl is returned to owner A social media campaign ended happily with sighting in Cannon Beach Pickford said they believe Pearl was tracking Labavitch, and that she’d hid during the day and moved at night. Labavitch gave her food along with fresh water. Her husband, Fred, a veterinarian in Portland, looked Pearl over. The dog had lost 9 pounds, but was ¿ne, overall. It was a happy ending after an abundance of worry. At one point, someone had suggested the family contact the Oregon Department of Transportation in case a dog was found hit on the road. “It’s been a horrible expe- rience, but also a wonderful experience,” Krista Labavitch said. “The people in Cannon Beach were great, very nice and friendly.” Business owners allowed the family to put up Àiers. Car- rier put notice of the missing dog in the chamber’s newslet- ter, on the counter in the Visitor Center and contacted police, who also shared posts on Face- book. Pickford called it a team effort. Fred Labavitch has had his Sunset Animal Clinic veteri- nary practice for 42 years. In that time he has encountered people who have lost their dogs, but has never been in the situation himself. “Cannon Beach should be proud of itself,” he said. “I just felt so good about how it was handled.” By DANI PALMER EO Media Group CANNON BEACH — Cannon Beach residents proved just how dog-friendly they are when they helped Portlander .rista Labavitch ¿nd her dog, Pearl, after a weeklong search last month. Pearl, a 7-year-old Bernese mountain dog, went missing Sept. 24. Someone tried to pet the skittish dog from behind and “she just bolted,” La- bavitch said, pulling the leash from her daughter’s grip. Construction workers tried to catch Pearl, but lost sight of her on South Hemlock Street. Labavitch then traveled to Can- non Beach to search for her, going home after ¿nding “no sign of her.” She encountered Kate Pick- ford with Clatsop Animal As- sistance when she came back the next day, who volunteered her time to search and posted Pearl’s photo and information on the organization’s Facebook page. It resonated with people. “We reached up to 30,000 people in the area,” Pickford said. “It was one of the most active posts on our page.” Locals quickly shared the post and wrote they were keep- ing an eye out for Pearl. On Sept. 26, Labavitch got a call from Cannon Beach police Submitted Photo Pearl, after being returned to her owners. that the dog had been spotted at Les Shirley and later near the place she’d disappeared from. They tried to catch her, but she took off again. “The police were awe- some,” Labavitch said. “They kept in contact with us, and they were very kind. They treated Pearl like a person, not a dog.” She and her friend, Sandee Sanders, searched all weekend with no luck. Locals Margo and Fred Silvester offered them a place to stay while they did so, and Pickford continued to post updates on Facebook. Labavitch took time off from work to search and tried to stay positive, but it was hard at times. “Pearl is a member of our family,” she said. “They’re not just pets, they’re family.” On Sept. 29, Labavitch got a call Pearl had been seen near Hug Point. They looked there, then moved onto Arch Cape. Around 7:30 a.m., the fam- ily got a call from Cannon Beach Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Court Car- rier. He’d taken the initial call from the Labavitchs — who were frantic, like he would be as a dog owner himself, he ad- mitted — and recognized the dog from her trailing leash as she crossed U.S. Highway 101. He stopped and called to her, as did another passer-by, but Pearl “jetted into the South Wind site.” A while later, Labavitch walked with her shih tzu, Na- varre, up the logging road where Carrier had spotted Pearl and called for the Bernese mountain dog. “I sat down and I just prayed,” she said. “I heard some rustling in the bushes, looked over and she came out to us.” By KATHERINE LACAZE EO Media Group SEASIDE — The Sunset Pool cleaned up its act during its recent annual maintenance shutdown. The pool, part of the Sun- set Empire Park & Recre- ation District, was closed from Sept. 19 through Sept. 27 while staff members thor- oughly cleaned and painted the facility. “We try to keep it from showing signs of age and wear, like putting foundation over wrinkles,” executive di- rector Skyler Archibald said. Most importantly, the wom- en’s shower and locker room got new Àooring and grates so water from the shower drains properly, Archibald said. In the past, water from the showers would puddle in areas in the bathroom. Staff sopped it up several times per day to prevent sanitary issues, “but it was unsightly,” Archibald said. The area also got new partition walls and toilets. A new, taller lifeguard stand was positioned so the person on duty can oversee both bodies of water, the lap pool and warm-water pool, at one time. District staff did most of the work, including paint- ing and power-washing. The women’s bathroom project cost about $17,000 and the district contracted with a company in Portland. District staff originally estimated the maintenance would take two weeks to complete and set a reopening date of Oct. 5. Since the work was ¿nished early, the pool reopened a week earlier, on Sept. 28. “We try to schedule it at a time when it will impact as few people as possible,” Ar- chibald said. Most patrons, he added, “understand there’s just certain things we can’t do when we’re open. This is a necessary thing we have to do to keep the place looking nice.” PLEASE ADOPT A PET! Milo N in e-yea r-old Bea gle. M ilo’s ow n er d ied ; he n ow a w a its a n ew life a n d a n ew frien d w ith sw eet expecta tion . www.dogsncats.org CLATSOP COUNTY ANIMAL SHELTER • 861-PETS 1315 SE 19th St. • Warrenton | Tues-Sat 12-4pm BAY BREEZE BOARDING THIS SPACE SPONSORED BY W A NTED Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber Your local solar experts N orth w es t H a rdw oods • Lon gview , W A Contact: Steve Axtell • 360-430-0885 or John Anderson • 360-269-2500 360-642-7697 Environmental Assessment & Cleanup Heritage Square Project Update All-You-Can-Eat Plea s e join u s for a p res en ta tion a bou t the com p leted en viron m en ta l a s s es s m en t a n d u p com in g en viron m en ta l clea n u p of Herita g e S q u a re, u s in g ou r EPA Brow n field s G ra n t. City s ta ff a n d the con s u lta n t tea m w ill be on ha n d to a n s w er q u es tion s . This u p d a te is p a rt of a 30-d a y p u blic com m en t p eriod (for the p rop os ed clea n u p ) tha t is s ched u led to en d by Novem ber 3rd , 2015, a n d w hich ca n be exten d ed if n eces s a ry. Tuesday, October 13th Open House 6:00-7:30pm; Presentation 6:00pm Astoria City Hall Council Chambers 1095 Duane Street Grid-tie 3.5kw solar Home packages from $5,612 * Finnish Brotherhood Auxiliary $ 15 .00 /person 295W Panels from $1.32/W *High output UL listed panels for Grid tie!!! Laksloda Luncheon Cabin or RV package $1,704 Full sine wave Inverter MPPT charge controller Two 327W 20.5% efficient panels *Price after federal tax incentive, price $7,380 before incentives. (Scalloped Potatoes with Salt Salmon) Saturday, Oct. 17 • NOON SUOMI HALL • 244 W. MARINE DR. • ASTORIA Public cordially invited O CTO BE R 10, 2015 D O O RS O P E N AT 4 P .M . D IN N E R AT 6:30 P .M . 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Each franchise independently owned and operated. CCB# 177717 Oregon Coast 503-738-5242 1370 Commercial Street, Astoria Call Jeanne at 503-791-8373 or 503-325-7671
