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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (March 10, 2016)
143RD YEAR , NO. 176 ONE DOLLAR DailyAstorian.com // THURSDAY, MARCH 10, 2016 COAST WEEKEND: IS YOGA FOR YOU? Astoria schools fed up with food service After 20 years, district votes not to use Chartwells By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian Astoria School District will make its own meals The Astoria School Board, after lamenting over a lack of communi- cation in recent years and inconsis- tencies in the food being served to children, voted Wednesday to handle food services in-house The decision ends a more than 20-year relationship between the dis- trict and Chartwells, a large food ser- vice company serving school districts, colleges and independent schools Chartwells has a joint contract with Astoria, Warrenton-Hammond, Sea- side and Ocean Park, Washington, school districts e[piring in -une The company brought a full con- tingent to the meeting, including a dietitian, chef and Dedee Fish, the new director of dining services overseeing the four districts, to talk about their plans to improve the food services Darla Moll, regional vice pres- ident for Chartwells since Septem- ber, pleaded with the district to give the company another year to improve ONE TOUGH TURTLE service, communication and menu options But board members and Superin- tendent Craig Hoppes were uncon- vinced They said that while there have been concerns for years over the quality and communication in Chartwells’ food service operation, See FOOD SERVICE, Page 10A The big bluster on the coast Portland man killed by fallen tree during ¿ erce evening windstorm EO Media Group and Associated Press Alan Berner/The Seattle Times Lesanna Lahner, full-time veterinarian at the Seattle Aquarium, checks Tucker the Turtle as he recovers in a quarantine tank. Tucker makes dramatic comeback Olive ridley sea turtle stranded at Cannon Beach almost ready to return to the sea Clatsop County By LYNDA V. MAPES Seattle Times S EATTLE — Tucker the Turtle has had a tough time Tucker was far from his warm home waters off the Paci¿ c Coast of Me[ico Perhaps he was swept off course by December storms Or maybe domoic acid from the toxic algae bloom that bedeviled West Coast waters even into the fall last year fouled his navigational senses What- ever the cause, he was carried on ocean cur- rents farther and farther north — and growing colder and colder He slowly became inert, unable to swim, his body nearly shut down See TURTLE, Page 10A Hurricane-force winds and heavy rain lashed the Columbia-Paci¿ c region on Wednesday in a storm that toppled trees, left thousands without power and killed a Port- land man driving near Seaside After more than three hours of intense wind, top gusts topped the “century mark” on the Washington coast Wednesday night An offshore buoy recorded 100-plus gusts at water level, while on land the wind reached 10 mph at pm at Radar Ridge, a west-facing hill located above Naselle <outh Camp in south Paci¿ c County In Oregon, a Portland man died after a large alder tree fell onto his vehicle on 8S 2 near Seaside Oregon State Police said 37-year-old Nicholas Harris was pronounced dead at the scene early Wednesday evening The highway was closed for about 2 1/2 hours during the investigation A house was struck by a falling tree in Ocean Park, Washington, during the night Alan Berner/The Seattle Times In a quarantine pool, veterinarian Lesanna Lahner checks Tucker as he rehabs at the Seattle Aquarium. He’s an olive ridley about 2 feet long and is believed to be 15 to 20 years old. Ted McLean, Clatsop County assistant public works director, said almost every county road was impacted by the storm with trees falling and momentarily blocking the roadways County crews went out four times last night, he said The most damage was up and down the coastline from Cannon Beach to Astoria, McLean said T he outlying areas such as -ewell and Knappa were not as impacted Some À ooding occurred in the -ohn Day area, near <oung s River and in *earhart “It seemed like the impact of the storm mainly impacted the Astoria- Seaside corri- dor out to <oungs River,” McLean said Crews from Warrenton Public Works are removing several trees from the roads out- side the downtown core, according to Craig Walter, public works foreman “The downtown core has survived pretty well,” Walter said In Gearhart, a City Council meeting was packed when the power went out, so they See STORM, Page 10A Velellas blow back on North Coast beaches Purple critters wash up on coast By LYRA FONTAINE EO Media Group CANNON BEACH — Millions of bluish-purple jel- lies called Velella velellas have been washing ashore again on North Coast beaches, blown in b\ ¿ erce western winds This year’s population has been slightly different in that it consists mostly of juvenile Velellas, while last year they were larger, said Melissa Keyser, the Haystack Rock Awareness program coordinator “We’re seeing little tiny ones, some of them as small as a grain of sand,” Tiffany Boothe of the Seaside Aquar- ium said “When we get them a little later, they’ve grown up more, so they’re to inches” The Seaside Aquarium ¿ rst spotted them in early March Beach visitors have asked the aquarium why the beach is “stained purple” The creatures, which are slick when stepped on, can sting to capture prey, but human skin is too thick to feel the stings Velellas give off an odor because they are decomposing Tiffany Boothe/ Seaside Aquarium See VELELLAS, Page 10A Velella velellas are washing up along the North Coast.
