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DailyAstorian.com
143RD YEAR, NO. 231
w eekend
Every Thursday • May 26, 2016 •
arts & entertainment
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PAGE 10
PEEK INTO THE PAST
CELEBRATING A
LONGER LIFESPAN
‘Absolute
high note’
Another Coast Guard
leader retires here
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
Astoria will soon add another to its
collection of retired U.S. Coast Guard
commanders.
Capt. Daniel Travers, who passes his
command of Sector Columbia River to Capt.
William Timmons Friday after more than a
quarter century of ser-
vice, will become the
third commander in a
row to retire in Astoria,
after Bruce Jones and
Doug Kaup.
“This is an absolute
high note for me,” Tra-
vers said, adding Sec-
tor Columbia River is
the best command he
Capt. Daniel
has ever had.
Travers
Jones retired in
2014, handing the
reins to Travers before starting his new posi-
tion hundreds of feet from Air Station Asto-
ria, transporting Columbia River Bar Pilots
for Brim Aviation at the Astoria Regional
Airport. Travers will also be hundreds of feet
away from his old command, fl ying for and
managing the base for air medevac service
Life Flight Network.
See TRAVERS, Page 10A
Photos by Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian
Students from Lewis and Clark Elementary School look at the new display honoring the Lewis and Clark River Bridge and the
Old Youngs Bay Bridge during a dedication Tuesday . The display at the west end of the Lewis and Clark bridge features historical
facts, as well as art and poems from students.
Old Youngs Bay,
Lewis and Clark River
bridges get makeovers
and monument
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
Case between activists,
Corps will hinge on
motions fi led
C
onde B. McCullough designed 13
bridges along the Oregon Coast when
he was the state bridge engineer from
1919 to 1935 .
The oldest among them were the Old
Youngs Bay and Lewis and Clark River
bridges, built in 1921 and 1924 .
On Tuesday, the state Department of Trans-
portation unveiled an interpretive display on the
western approach to the Lewis and Clark River
celebrating the handcraftsmanship behind the
historic bridges and the artwork of future gener-
ations who will continue crossing them.
The state, in the midst of a three-year, $16
million refurbishment of the two spans, was
required to mitigate the impact on their historic
structures.
“With the dedication of this interpretative
center, we’re celebrating our past, we’re cele-
brating the present and we’re going to be cel-
ebrating the future as well,” said state trans-
portation Director Matthew Garrett, fl anked
Tuesday by his employees, local luminar-
No trial in
Wal-Mart
wetland
squabble
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
to give councilors more informa-
tion about how a project would be
fi nanced.
“I think we really do need to come
to some kind of a consensus,” LaMear
said. “And it’s not going to be an easy
consensus. There are going to be peo-
ple that don’t like it. There are going
to be people that love it. But we’ve
got to come to a consensus.”
City Councilor Russ Warr is skep-
tical the council can reach consensus
until knowing more about fi nancing.
“We skirt around the money. We hire
a consultant. Then we don’t like what
they’re doing, so we hire another
consultant,” he said. “And we’ve run
around in circles for the last couple of
years.”
The case by Clatsop Residents Against
Walmart against the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers will likely be decided without a
trial.
Lawyers for both sides waived a pretrial
order due last week, agreeing that a trial is
highly unlikely as they seek summary judg-
ment from the U.S. District Court of Ore-
gon. Under the Administrative Procedures
Act, which dictates how courts review
claims against the decisions of government
agencies, the case will largely be decided
by motions each side has fi led.
The citizen’s group, formed in 2010 to
oppose the multinational retailer opening a
location on the North Coast, fi led suit against
the Corps a year ago, claiming the agency
failed to adequately protect wetlands and
review a wetland fi ll permit near the North
Coast Retail Center. The Corps issued a per-
mit for Peaksview
LLC, which owns a
strip of land on the
southeastern corner of
Ensign Lane and U.S.
Highway 101, to fi ll
0.37 acres of wetland
for construction of a
big box retailer.
Karl Anuta, the
lawyer for the resi-
dents group fi ghting
Karl
Wal-Mart, said a trial
Anuta
is only necessary if the
facts of the case are in dispute. Instead of
factual disagreements, he said, CRAW and
the Corps are in disagreement as to how the
law applies to the facts.
The Corps’ lawyer, Sean Martin, said in
a case like this, both sides make their fi lings,
and the court decides whether the Corps was
justifi ed in granting the wetland fi ll permit.
See LIBRARY, Page 7A
See SQUABBLE, Page 7A
Lewis and Clark Elementary School students look at the new interpretive display
Tuesday. More photos online at DailyAstorian.com
ies, parents and the student poets from Lewis
and Clark Elementary School whose work
was sandblasted into and painted all over the
display.
Behind the crowd was a series of purposely
rusted panels festooned with historic drawings,
biographical information and student poems
and drawings about the meaning of the bridge
to the young artisans, many of whom regularly
cross the Old Youngs Bay Bridge in school
buses on their way to school in the Lewis and
Clark neighborhood.
Several of the children were chosen to read
their poems to the audience. Fifth-grader Ash-
ley Sisley remarked on the simple utility of the
spans.
See DISPLAY, Page 10A
Six options unveiled for library
City Council
could make a
decision in July
By DERRICK DePLEDGE
The Daily Astorian
After diving into new details on
the options for a renovated public
library, the Astoria City Council
indicated Wednesday night that a
decision could come in July.
The City Council has been strug-
gling with alternatives since dis-
carding a plan last year to expand
the library into the vacant Waldorf
Hotel next door. Councilors pursued
a new library with housing at Heri-
tage Square, but hesitated when the
SEE THE OPTIONS
View all the options for a new
or renovated library online at
DailyAstorian.com
initial price tag was too high.
At a special meeting of the City
Council and the Library Board, city
consultants presented a fresh set of
cost estimates on six options.
City staff and the Library Board
prodded the City Council for direc-
tion, and Mayor Arline LaMear, a
retired librarian among the most
eager for a new library, pointed to
July.
The Library Board intends to
make a recommendation on one of
the options, while city staff will try