143RD YEAR, NO. 202
ONE DOLLAR
WEEKEND EDITION // FRIDAY, APRIL 15, 2016
OLD FILM CASTS NEW
LIGHT ON NORTH COAST
FRIDAY EXTRA • 1C
ASTORIA, SEASIDE
TAKE LOSSES
SPORTS • 7A
Smith to
go to state
hospital
for testing
Judge ¿ nds reason to
doubt mental ¿ tness
By KYLE SPURR
The Daily Astorian
Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian
From left: Jerry Reagor, Pat O’Brien and John Anderson, speak at a panel discussion about the construction of the Astoria Bridge
held in the Fort George Lovell Showroom on Wednesday.
‘The worst weather I ever worked in, period’
Fifty years later, workers recall Astoria Bridge construction
By KYLE SPURR
The Daily Astorian
W
orking high above the Columbia River to build the
Astoria Bridge a half century ago, crews braved tor-
rential rain and high winds. The workers would hang
on to ropes and walk across the bridge on small wooden
planks, often while rain came at them horizontally.
John Anderson, who worked
as a crane operator on the bridge,
jokes that the driest people on the
job were probably the divers in
the water.
“It’s the worst weather I ever
worked in, period,” he said.
Anderson was joined by two
other workers this week for a
panel discussion in Astoria as a
part of “Bridge Talks,” a monthly
series hosted by the Clatsop
County Historical Society. The
presentations and discussions
mark the bridge’s 50th anniver-
sary this summer.
50 years later
McAndrew Burns, the exec-
utive director of the Clatsop
County Historical Society, is
planning to recreate a ribbon-cut-
ting dedication that was held
Aug. 27, 1966. The recreation
See SMITH, Page 10A
Short-term
rental rules
confound
Gearhart
will likely happen during Astoria
Regatta weekend.
An exhibit on the story of the
bridge opened this week inside
the historical society’s Heritage
Museum. I nformation on the
bridge has also been complied
online at www.astoriamegler50.
com.
While researching the bridge
history for the exhibit and anni-
versary events, Burns was able
to track down more than a dozen
people who worked on the 4.1-
mile span .
Three were able to come back
to Astoria this week and share
their experiences.
Jerry Reagor, a general inspec-
tor, and Pat O’Brien, owner of
Astoria Ready M ix, spoke on the
panel with Anderson.
Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian
See WORKERS, Page 9A
The Astoria Bridge opened on July 29, 1966, connecting Astoria to the
Washington side of the river at the unincorporated town of Megler.
Regulations could
prompt legal action
By R.J. MARX
The Daily Astorian
Warrenton to part ways with South Jetty High
Program serves
school-age prisoners
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
WARRENTON — The Warren-
ton-Hammond School District will
cut ties in June with South Jetty
High School, an outreach program
that helps young prisoners earn their
diplomas.
Superintendent Mark Jeffery
gave notice Wednesday to the state
Department of Education, citing
¿ nancial and programmatic issues.
³My decision is no reÀ ection on
the work that Rich and his staff have
done,” Jeffery told the school board
Tuesday, referring to South Jetty
See WARRENTON, Page 7A
A Clatsop County Circuit Court judge
ordered accused murderer Jessica Smith be
sent to the Oregon State Hospital to deter-
mine if she is mentally ill or faking her
behavior.
Judge Cindee Matyas found there is rea-
son to doubt Smith’s mental ¿ tness to pro-
ceed based on her
recent suicide attempt
and an inconclusive
report from a court-ap-
pointed psychologist.
The judge ordered
Smith stay at the state
hospital for up to a
month to be evalu-
ated and observed. A
court hearing that was
scheduled for later this
Jessica
month was canceled.
Smith
After the hospital
stay, Smith will be transferred back to Clat-
sop County Jail. A status hearing is sched-
uled for late May .
GEARHART — R esidents sounded off
on short-term rentals Thursday night as more
than 100 ¿ lled the ¿ rehouse and spilled out-
side at a Planning Commission hearing.
Those who spoke — and more than 60
signed up to do so — were responding to
proposed rules that could sharply limit the
number of properties used as short-term rent-
als. The new rules limit the number of vaca-
tion rentals to 35, to be obtained by a lottery
process.
Proposed rules specify that the use of a
home for a vacation rental shall not exceed
one rental within seven consecutive calen-
dar days and limit the number of guests per
bedroom, off-street parking spaces and sep-
tic system capacity. The regulations also
mandate a 24-hour owner representative and
notice to neighbors .
Three minutes each
The Daily Astorian/File P hoto
Graduates walk across the yard to the South Jetty High School
graduation ceremony. The Warrenton-Hammond School District will
cease providing educational services for the prison this summer.
Speakers, limited to three minutes each,
covered the gamut, from adoption of the pro-
posed rules to calls to abandon the regulation
process altogether.
“Short-term rentals are part of the core of
Gearhart,” resident Harold Gable said.
Gable and others urged “universal
enforcement” of the present ordinances
rather than adoption of the regulations.
Lynn Nichols and a handful of those who
declared themselves “neutral” asked the
See GEARHART, Page 10A
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