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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2015
Submitted Photo
Daily Astorian/File Photo
Jeff Ter Har/File Photo
Seaside’s 2015 state champions, from left to right: Kevin
LaCoste, Sam Hinton, Shane Fritter, Trenten Meyer, Aaron
Richardson.
Knappa’s Tyson Burnard, center, celebrates with Chase
Rusinovich, No. 10, and Dale Takalo, No. 5, after winning
the 2A Baseball State Championship at Volcanoes Stadi-
um in Keizer in June.
2015: It was a year of champions
Continued from Page 1A
In addition to state and fed-
eral approval, the company
must also get access to property
on the peninsula where the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers has
long held an easement — the
subject of two federal court rul-
ings against Oregon LNG.
Supporters hope that Ore-
gon LNG, if the project goes
forward, makes good on its
promise to create hundreds of
temporary jobs and more than
100 permanent jobs, and gen-
erate more than $90 million
in additional tax revenue. Op-
ponents argue that the project
would increase traf¿c conges-
tion, decrease property values,
endanger tourism and affect
public safety during a Cascadia
Subduction Zone earthquake
and tsunami.
High times
On Oct. 1, Oregon’s licensed
medical marijuana dispensa-
ries began legally selling up to
a quarter-ounce of dried recre-
ational marijuana to adults 21
and older who don’t carry medi-
cal marijuana cards.
After the initial wave of
purchases, sales on the North
Coast continued to hold steady.
Currently, Astoria has four dis-
pensaries, Seaside has two, and
Warrenton has one in develop-
ment.
Cannon Beach, which
doesn’t have a dispensary, is still
deciding how and whether to re-
strict marijuana sales within city
limits.
Year of the Champions
Last year saw ¿ve local
sports teams win state champi-
onships at their respective levels
of competition.
It all began in March, when
the Astoria Dance & Drill
team placed ¿rst out of the
eight schools in their division
(4A/3A/2A/1A small school) to
win the state title.
In the spring, three more lo-
cal teams won the big blue tro-
phy.
On May 19 at Quail Valley
Golf Course, the Seaside boys
golf team became the ¿rst team
in school history to win back-to-
back state titles. Led by senior
Sam Hinton, the Gulls shot a
¿nal round 23 team score to
¿nish 20 strokes ahead of run-
ner-up Valley Catholic.
Aaron Richardson, Shane
Fritter, Kevin LaCoste and
Trenten Meyer rounded out the
Seaside scoring.
Four days later at Hayward
Field in Eugene, the Astoria
girls track team struck gold by
winning the 4A state title, the
¿rst championship for the pro-
gram since 1981. The Lady
Fishermen were led by the trio
of Darian Hageman, Halie Korff
and Kaylee Mitchell.
On June 5 at Volcanoes
Stadium in Keizer, the Knappa
Loggers topped off a perfect
27-0 season with a 3-0 win over
Monroe in the Class 2A state
championship game. It was the
second state title for the Log-
gers and coach Jeff Miller since
2010.
More recently, the Seaside
boys cross country team won
The Pizazz dance team, displays the first-place trophy
from the OSAA 4A/3A/2A/1A Small bracket tournament.
From left are choreographer Carole Simmons, head coach
Jeanne Peterson, assistant coach Alice Thompson. Sec-
ond row, standing: Lindsay Grant, Bella Marincovich-Mal-
lares, Jessica Barber, Patience Womack, Julia Jenkins, Ka-
tie Koch, Maia Mahoney. Front row: Ally Berger, co-captain
Claire Helligso, co-captain Emily Harris, captain Brooke
Cross, co-captain Megan McCall-Devos.
the 4A state championship at
Lane Community College in
Eugene.
And the Lower Columbia
region isn’t done. Expect more
state championships this year.
Some of the top candidates:
Seaside boys and girls basket-
ball this winter, along with both
basketball teams in Ilwaco and
the Astoria Dance team. Or, how
about possible state champion-
ships for Astoria and Knappa
baseball in the spring?
Seaside and Ilwaco boys golf
are always in the running, while
Astoria girls track and Seaside
boys cross country are already
heavy favorites to defend their
respective state championships.
Crab, clams make a
comeback
Fresh Dungeness crab is
back on the catch menu after
¿shery managers determined
the ¿shery is ready to open
Monday along the entire Ore-
gon coast and Washington north
to Destruction Island, as well as
Grays Harbor and Willapa Bay.
Crabbers can set their pots Fri-
day.
Fishery managers from
Washington to California ap-
proved the opening after a
monthlong delay because of
high levels of domoic acid.
Razor clam harvesting along
Clatsop County beaches from
the Columbia River to Tilla-
mook Head south of Seaside
opened earlier this month, after
samples indicated safe levels of
domoic acid.
Daily Astorian/File Photo
Daily Astorian/File Photo
Seaside’s Bradley Rzewnicki crosses the finish line to win
the 4A boys OSAA Cross Country State Championship at
Lane Community College in November in Eugene.
Astoria’s Natalie Cummings hugs Kaylee Mitchell af-
ter finishing the 4A girls 4x100 meter relay race at the
OSAA 2015 Track and Field State Championships at
Hayward Field in Eugene in May. Astoria placed second
in the event on the way to winning the 4A girls state
championship.
Fake Willy makes
Astoria a global spectacle
Thousands of the sea lions
migrating into the Columbia
have taken up seasonal resi-
dence at the Port’s East End
Mooring Basin, drawing in tour-
ists, causing damage to docks
and scaring away boats. The sea
lions are in addition to the sev-
eral thousand harbor seals native
to the region who regularly enter
the Columbia to feed.
The Port has employed sur-
veying tape, pennant strings
and beach balls in mostly un-
successful attempts to dissuade
the animals from lounging
on the docks. Last summer,
whale-watching company Is-
land Mariner in Bellingham,
Washington, offered to bring
down a parade Àoat resembling
an orca and modi¿ed into a
boat.
The spectacle drew in news
outlets from across the country,
including segments by “Good
Morning America” and “The
Today Show.” Al Jazeera sent a
crew to follow the whale from
its homeport in Bellingham to
Astoria.
But Fake Willy had issues
with seaworthiness, capsizing
multiple times before ultimate-
ly coming to rest on its side at a
dock in the basin, still surround-
ed by sea lions. The orca’s own-
er, Terry Buzzard, said he would
bring an improved version down
for last summer’s Buoy 10 salm-
on ¿shery. So far, Fake Willy
has not returned. But expect to
see sea lions when the ¿sh are
running.
See 2015, Page 12A
Daily Astorian/File Photo
A sea lion passes a trio of beach balls along the East
Mooring Basin.
Thank you
for being our
reader in 2015.
Steve Forrester
Editor & Publisher
T HE D AILY A STORIAN