Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (June 2, 2016)
coast w eekend Every Thursday • June 2, 2016 • coastweekend.com DailyAstorian.com // THURSDAY, JUNE 2, 2016 143RD YEAR, NO. 236 ONE DOLLAR arts & ente rtainment THE LOCAL LIE THE LOCAL LIE COAST WEEKEND • INSIDE LOGGERS LOOK TO REPEAT AS CHAMPS SPORTS • 7A Highway upgrades slated near subdivision Projects on busy stretch of U.S. Highway 101 By KYLE SPURR The Daily Astorian Photos by Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian Shamek Daniels, center, swims to an emergency life raft with other Job Corps students during a training exercise Wednesday at the Tongue Point Job Corps Center in Astoria. JUMPING IN, JUST IN CASE Future seamen tested on survival in the water By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian T he seamanship program at Tongue Point Job Corps Center is preparing for a sea- man’s worst-case scenario. Students in the program, who come from all around the country to train as mariners, took turns Wednesday donning survival suits and leaping off the training vessel Ironwood into the Columbia River. Surrounded by his students before the prac- tice, instructor Jason Linnett, formerly of the U.S. Coast Guard and Navy, found the nearest piece of wood on the Ironwood to knock on, thankful he has never been on a sinking ship in more than 20 years of working on the water. “The water is 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year,” he said. “When we’re out doing our things, it’s trying to get in this boat. It’s trying to fi nd any little way that it can to fi ll this boat with water and take it straight to the bottom.” The state Department of Transportation wants to improve safety and ease traffi c con- gestion on a stretch of U.S. Highway 101 in Clatsop Plains where an 87-lot subdivision is planned. The Westlake Village subdivision is pro- jected for 285 acres between U.S. Highway 101 and Sunset Lake . The property will be carved into 1-acre lots for single-fam- ily homes and land devoted to open space. Work will be done in phases and the proj- ect will likely not take shape for about three years. The new housing development was approved by the Clatsop County Plan- ning Commission in May with conditions, including an expectation that the state would install a southbound right turn lane and a northbound left turn lane on the high- way. A traffi c impact study required the improvements . Bill Johnston, a state transportation plan- ner, said adding the turn lanes and access to Westlake Village helps offset the develop- ment, but still does not account for the hun- dreds of added motorists in the area. “It’s actually loading the corridor with more traffi c,” Johnston said of the housing project. In 2014, the Department of Transpor- tation identifi ed a nearly 7 -mile stretch of U.S. Highway 101 from Camp Rilea Armed Forces Training Center to Surf Pines Lane as a priority to improve safety and reduce traf- fi c congestion. A plan is in place and individ- ual projects will begin as funding becomes available. See HIGHWAY, Page 10A Job Corps Seamanship student Noah Wooten slips into an immersion suit before jumping off a training vessel into the water . A Job Corps Sea- manship program student jumps off the Ironwood train- ing vessel while participating in a training exercise Wednesday at the Tongue Point Job Corps Center. Dive practice Linnett and the other instructors dumped a plastic tub over the side, out of which popped a self-infl ating, 25-person raft. Students formed a line and started slipping on their bright orange neoprene immersion suits. One by one, they hopped off the deck of the Ironwood, legs crossed, into the shal- low, 50-degree waters near the dock. Their legs ballooned with the rising air in their suits on impact, spinning some students around as they tried to orient themselves. See TRAINING, Page 10A Brookfi eld names will replace Jim Crow Some found the old place names racist By NATALIE ST. JOHN EO Media Group WAHKIAKUM COUNTY, Wash. — Jim Crow Creek, Jim Crow Hill and Jim Crow Point will become Harlow Creek, Beare Hill and Brookfi eld Point. The new names will honor the long-gone Columbia River cannery town of Brookfi eld and a few of the people who lived there, scrub- bing the Jim Crow designations that many found racist. T he state Committee on Geographic Names unanimously agreed in May to adopt the new names pending fi nal approval in October. See NAMES, Page 10A Photo courtesy of Joe Budnick The Augustine (Gus) Budnick family stand in front of the post office in the former Columbia River town of Brookfield, Washington. Smith returns from state hospital Hearing on her mental state set for this month By KYLE SPURR The Daily Astorian Accused murderer Jessica Smith returned to Clatsop County Jail Tuesday after a month- long stay at the Oregon State Hospital to deter- mine if she is mentally ill or faking her erratic behavior. Clatsop County Circuit Court Judge Cindee Matyas found reason to doubt Smith’s mental fi tness Jessica to proceed based on a Smith suicide attempt in jail and an inconclusive report from a court-ap- pointed psychologist. Smith was transported to the state hos- pital May 3, where she was observed and evaluated. A report from the state hospital will be sent to the court. A hearing on the results is scheduled later this month. The report is expected to uncover whether Smith suffers from a mental disease or defect and if she is able to understand the nature of the court proceedings. If she is found to lack the fi tness to proceed, the report will offer a recommendation for treatment and services to restore her capacity. See SMITH, Page 5A
