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.