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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (June 21, 2016)
4A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, JUNE 21, 2016 Pirates, Fishermen split twinbill at Aiken Field The Daily Astorian Astoria Ford’s summer baseball team scored 10 runs on eight hits in the opener, but their bats fell silent in Game 2, as Hixson Trucking of Neah-Kah-Nie managed a doubleheader split with the Fishermen Monday at Aiken Field. Astoria Ford won Game 1 of the Junior State base- ball twinbill, 10-3, before the Pirates bounced back with a 4-0 victory in Game 2 under the lights. After giving up a solo home run in the irst inning of the irst game, Astoria pitcher Trey Hageman settled into a groove and allowed just three hits over the next ive innings, with 11 strikeouts and two walks to pick up the win. Tyler Lyngstad came on in relief in the sixth and inished off the Pirates, who had just four hits. Meanwhile, the Fishermen pounded out four extra base hits, which included a two-run SCOREBOARD SPORTS SCHEDULE TODAY Junior State Baseball — Knappa at Warrenton (2), 4 p.m. WEDNESDAY Junior State Baseball — Astoria Ford at Neah-Kah-Nie, 6 p.m. THURSDAY Junior State Baseball — Seaside at Warrenton (2), 4 p.m. FRIDAY Junior State Baseball — Knappa at Clatskanie (2), 3 p.m. triple by Jared Lucore in the bottom of the irst. Mackenzie Pierce’s single to left scored Lucore for a 3-1 Astoria lead. The Fishermen were back at it in the second inning, as Will Reed had a one-out, ground-rule double to left, and scored moments later on a sin- gle by Calvin Kaul. A double by Hageman brought in Kaul, and Astoria had all the runs it would need. Hageman and Kaul each had two hits and drove in a pair of runs, while the Pirates committed six errors in the opener, and three pitchers combined to walk seven and hit two batters. The tables were turned in Game 2, as Neah-Kah-Nie starter Bryce Bridge went the distance on the mound, allow- ing just four hits with six strikeouts and four walks over seven innings. Playing its young fresh- men-sophomore lineup, Asto- ria Ford committed four errors over the irst three innings, and trailed 4-0 after three. Bridge retired nine of the inal 10 batters he faced. The same two teams meet for a single game Wednesday at Neah-Kah-Nie. Daily Astorian/File Photo Jon Gizdavich was a standout baseball player during his years with the Gulls. Gizdavich Tourney set for this Sunday The Daily Astorian AP Photo/Alex Brandon A hexacopter drone is flown during a drone demonstration at a farm and winery on potential use for board members of the National Corn Growers in Cordova, Md. Routine commercial use of small drones got a green light from the Obama administration Tues- day, after years of struggling to write regulations that would both protect public safety and unleash the economic potential and societal benefits of the new technology. White House clears small, commercial drones for takeoff By JOAN LOWY Associated Press WASHINGTON — Rou- tine commercial use of small drones was cleared for takeoff by the Obama administration Tuesday, after years of strug- gling to write rules that would both protect public safety and free the beneits of a new technology. The Federal Aviation Administration has created a new category of rules for drones weighing less than 55 pounds. The long-anticipated rules would mean drone opera- tors would be able to ly with- out special permission. Currently, commercial oper- ators have to apply for a waiver from rules that govern manned aircraft, a process that can be time-consuming and expensive. Since 2014 the FAA has granted more than 6,100 waiv- ers and another 7,600 are wait- ing for approval. Many more small companies have been using drones without FAA per- mission, say industry oficials. Unless those operators make a serious mistake that brings them to the FAA’s atten- tion, there’s not a lot the agency can do to track them down. The new rules would provide an easier way for those businesses to operate legally. The rules also would effec- tively lift the lid on lights by other potential operators who have held off using the technol- ogy — real estate agents who want bird’s-eye videos of prop- erties, ranchers who want to count cattle and a multitude of other businesses. Big change Under the new rules, oper- ators must register their drones online and pass an aviation knowledge exam for drone pilots at an FAA-approved test- ing center. That would give them a drone pilot certiica- tion that’s good for 24 months. That’s a big change, since oper- ators currently have to have a manned aircraft pilot’s license. Operators must also present identiication for a security vet- ting similar to that applied to general aviation pilots. Operators also have to fol- low many of the rules that apply to model aircraft hobby- ists, including keeping drones within sight at all times and not lying over people or higher than 400 feet. Speed would be limited to about 100 mph. The minimum age for commercial operators would be 16. Drone lights will be permit- ted during the day. They will be permitted at twilight only if the drone is equipped with anti-col- lision lights. Operators could still seek waivers for nighttime lights. Drone industry ofi- cials have long complained that restricting drone lights to day- time precluded a great many uses like some search and res- cue operations, agricultural operations best done after dark and roof inspections of com- mercial building roofs that use heat sensors. The rules would still pre- vent delivery drones from ly- ing across cities and suburbs clasping small packages, in part because that would entail lying over people. Amazon and Goo- gle announced two years ago that they are working on drone delivery systems for goods pur- chased online, and Google ofi- cials have said they expect deliveries to begin sometime in 2017. Earlier this year, the Sen- ate passed an aviation bill that would require the FAA to issue regulations within two years to enable drone deliveries. The House has been unable to pass its own version of the bill due to unrelated controversies. New rules Congress has been prod- ding the FAA for more than a decade to write rules to enable broad access to the national airspace by civilian drones. Initially, the agency put its emphasis on inding ways to enable larger drones like those used for military missions to safely ly at the same altitudes as airliners and other manned aircraft. After several years, the agency shifted its focus to small drones when it became clear that the market for their uses was developing much faster. But the FAA’s slow pace led frustrated lawmakers to include a provision in a major aviation bill four years ago set- ting deadlines for the agency to issue regulations to safely integrate small drones into the national airspace by August 2014 and other drones by Sep- tember 2015. The rules expected this week would fulill that irst deadline. The agency is also working on an array of other safety rules and standards to further broaden the circum- stances under which drones can be lown. In April, FAA oficials said they are work- ing on regulations that would permit small, commercial drones to ly over people and crowd based on recom- mendations from an indus- try advisory committee. The recommendations called for allowing drones weighing about a half-pound or less to ly over people virtually without restriction and cre- ated three other categories of other drones that could ly over people if certain require- ments are met. Drones larger than a half- pound in the other three cat- egories would have to main- tain a distance from people of at least 20 feet overhead and 10 feet laterally. Manufactur- ers would have to crash-test drones and certify that they are unlikely to cause serious injury if the drones struck someone. The second annual Jon Gizdavich Memorial Tour- nament is set for 1 p.m. Sunday at Broadway Field, where former Seaside base- ball players are welcome to come and celebrate the life of a former teammate — and raise money for a good cause. It’s a win-win, said Sea- side coach Joel Dierickx, who helped organize last year’s event. Nearly 30 former Gulls showed up and played two alumni games, and raised a good deal of scholarship money. “We were able to give away a $2,000 scholarship this year,” Dierickx said. “We were pretty excited about that.” Gizdavich was a Class of 2007 graduate of Seaside High School, and was near- ing his graduation from Ore- gon State University when he lost his life following a car accident in Corvallis, in January 2013. After last year’s event, Dierickx said, “To me, Jon was always the epitome of someone who consistently cared about other people and was a pleasure to be around. He had to overcome some things, but was about ready to graduate from college.” To start a scholarship in his name, Dierickx said at the time, “was a no-brainer. The goal was to bring every- body together and give a lit- tle something. I talked to Bri Hostetler, who was Jon’s girlfriend, and she and Terry (Horner), his mother, jumped on board. It just steam-rolled from the idea.” Seaside graduate and for- mer teammate Ross Knutsen also helped with some of the organizing. “His mother is going to be here again, and hope- fully the rest of his family,” Dierickx said of Gizdavich. “His father is in town, and his family and friends are all looking forward to it.” For the players, Dierickx is expecting “everybody from last year, plus more. We’re hoping for a great turnout. “If it gets to be a lot of guys, we’ll break them up into three teams, and each will play each other twice.” For more details, see the tournament’s Face- book page, “Jon Gizdavich Alumni Weekend.”
