DailyAstorian.com //
143RD YEAR, NO. 194
WARRENTON SPRING
SPORT PREVIEWS
PAGE 4A
TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 2016
ONE DOLLAR
GULL GOLFERS REEL IN
ANOTHER FISH INVITE
SPORTS • 9A
&%¿UH
captain
resigns
Gardner’s leave comes
at time of recall
By LYRA FONTAINE
EO Media Group
Erin Burkett/USGS and Jeff Goertzen/Orange County Register
Earthquake early warning systems like ShakeAlert work because the warning message can be transmitted almost instantaneously,
whereas the shaking waves from the earthquake travel through the shallow layers of the Earth at fast speed .
Quake alert: Stirred, not shaken
How much warning can you have before the earthquake?
By KYLE SPURR
The Daily Astorian
A
n earthquake early warning system is
being developed for the West Coast to
alert the public before the shaking starts.
The U.S. Geological Survey and four partner universi-
ties are seeking $16.1 million in federal funding to launch and
maintain the West Coast Earthquake Early Warning System. If
funded, the system could be up and run-
ning within two years.
Oregon lawmakers are showing their
support for funding the system. U.S. Sen s.
Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley recently
penned a letter urging Congress to prior-
itize the system. The senators explained
how the system uses sensors to detect
where an earthquake might hit. The $16.1
million funding could buy hundreds of
additional sensors.
“This is proven technology that will
Sen. Jeff
save lives and reduce the economic
Merkley
impact of an earthquake by far more than
the cost to build this warming system,”
the senators wrote.
See GARDNER, Page 12A
U.S. Geological Survey/Department of the Interior
Crews work to install the earthquake sensing equipment in California.
System prototypes
Sen. Ron
Wyden
CANNON BEACH — Fire Capt . Matt
Gardner has resigned from the Cannon
Beach Rural Fire Protection District .
Gardner, who was second in command
at the fire department, said his decision
was not influenced
by the firing of for-
mer chief Mike Bal-
zer and a recall elec-
tion of fire board
directors.
“It’s been an honor
and privilege to serve
the community and
I wish the Cannon
Beach Rural Fire
Protection
District
Matt
well,” Gardner said
Gardner
in a statement. “In an
effort to avoid speculation, confusion or
misrepresentation, my decision to resign
from the Cannon Beach Rural Fire Pro-
tection District is a personal decision and
one that has nothing to do with the current
controversy .”
Gardner, who resigned in March, began
work this week as plant operator for the
Arch Cape Water and Sanitary District.
In 2012, the U.S. Geological Survey
went live with a test system, ShakeAlert,
that has been issuing warnings . The test
system relies on data from about 650 sen-
sors on land along the West Coast, with
more than 00 sensors in the Paci¿ c
Northwest.
The system needs about 1,600 sen-
sor stations to accurately detect an
Presiding judge weighs
in on rare opening in
County Circuit Court
earthquake.
Test users include San Francisco’s Bay Area Rapid Transit,
the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority,
Boeing production facilities in Washington state and Intel pro-
duction facilities in Oregon.
Doug Given, the earthquake early warning coordinator for
the U.S. Geological Survey, said the test system has become
more reliable, but the additional sensor stations are needed.
By KYLE SPURR
The Daily Astorian
See ALERT, Page 12A
MORE INFO
Overview: http://www.shakealert.org
How ShakeAlert works:
https://www.youtube.com/user/ShakeAlert
Early warning documentary: https://vimeo.com/24997485
U.S. Geological Survey/Department of the Interior
Spinning back to happier days
Pinwheels symbolize
child -abuse prevention
The Daily Astorian
A garden of spinning blue pinwheels sprouted
in front of the Clatsop County Courthouse
Monday.
The county, along with Northwest Parenting
and Clatsop Court Appointed Special Advocates
(CASA), are supporting Prevent Child Abuse Ore-
gon’s Pinwheels for Prevention campaign. The
campaign focuses on community activities and
public policies that prioritize healthy child devel-
opment to avoid abuse and neglect.
At Monday night’s Astoria City Council meet-
ing, Mayor Arline LaMear read a proclamation rec-
ognizing April as child -abuse prevention month.
See PINWHEELS, Page 12A
Brownhill
endorses
McIntosh
for judge
Edward Stratton/The Daily Astorian
Clatsop County, Northwest Parenting and Clatsop
Court Appointed Special Advocates are sponsor-
ing pinwheel gardens at several locations around
the county as part of a national campaign by Child
Abuse Prevention America, and as part of National
Child Abuse Prevention Month in April.
Clatsop County Circuit Court Judge
Paula Brownhill has endorsed lawyer Dawn
McIntosh for a rare vacancy on the court.
McIntosh is one of three candidates vying
to replace Judge Philip
Nelson, who is retiring
this year after 24 years
on the bench. Deputy
District Attorney David
Goldthorpe and Munic-
ipal Court judge Ronald
Woltjer are also cam-
paigning in the May
election.
The winner would
Paula
join Brownhill and
Brownhill
Cindee Matyas as the
c ounty’s three circuit
court judges.
Brownhill’s
endorsement puts the
court’s presiding judge
of a different path than
District Attorney Josh
Marquis, who has
backed Goldthorpe.
Brownhill noted
McIntosh’s
broad
Dawn
legal experience in her
McIntosh
endorsement. McIn-
tosh, a former prose-
cutor who works for McIntosh and Long in
Gearhart, handles domestic relations, juve-
nile and criminal cases in Clatsop and Tilla-
mook courts.
See JUDGE, Page 12A