10A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, JUNE 23, 2016
Levee: ‘I’m keeping
my ingers crossed
that we can solve a
multitude of problems’
Co. and has at times clashed
with CREST over land use
issues.
Meanwhile, CREST has
told Knight the task force is
interested in replacing one
segment of the levee system
on the Skipanon River’s east
bank, according to Denise
Lofman, CREST director.
Because the move will
restore estuary habitat, the
task force can use funds from
Bonneville Power Admin-
istration’s ish and wildlife
program.
“Getting the levees cer-
tiied is certainly the right
thing to do, and we want
to help with the process,”
Lofman said. “It’s a win-win,
because there will be a new
levee, and there will be ish
and wildlife beneit.”
She added that CREST
started discussing the levee
replacement with Knight after
Oregon LNG, a company
that sought to build a lique-
ied natural gas facility on
property leased from the Port
on the Skipanon Peninsula,
announced in the spring it was
canceling the energy project.
“As long as Oregon LNG
was going to be using the
peninsula, we weren’t going
to do anything,” Lofman
said.
The levee project could
help the Port save up wetland
mitigation credits needed to
offset future work such as
repairing the agency’s piers
after recent storm damage.
“I’m keeping my ingers
crossed that we can solve
a multitude of problems,”
Knight said.
Continued from Page 1A
Photos by Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian
Cotton Ferrell, center right, and others eat their lunch on Tuesday at Warrenton Grade School. The school provides a free
lunch on weekdays throughout the summer until Aug. 26 through the federally funded Summer Food Service Program.
Lunches: Program served more than
1,150 students a day last summer
Continued from Page 1A
to eat, chatter with friends and
horse around together on
nearby playgrounds.
Christian Saputo, 15, sat
outside the Warrenton Com-
munity Library Wednes-
day, eating a corn dog next
to his younger sister Franki
Ramirez, 7, as a growing
crowd of kids played on a pic-
nic space next to the library.
Saputo said his parents
work all day, and his mom
asked him to walk his sister
to the library. “I don’t mind
making a lunch, but Franki
likes to get out and social-
ize,” he said, adding he irst
learned about the program
while living at Sunset Lake
Resort & RV Park.
The Moss family, whose
father Dalan is a school board
member, sends at least ive
kids across the athletic ields
outside the grade school
each day to grab lunch, trade
Pokemon cards, play outside
and socialize with their peers.
“It gives them a break
from us, because kids can
be kind of annoying,” said
14-year-old Kale, sitting with
his three brothers and sister.
Michelle DeVos, head of
Warrenton’s preschool pro-
Amanda Oseguera,
right, and Stepha-
nie Davis, Warren-
ton-Hammond food
service manager,
prepare food for the
free summer lunch
program on Tuesday
at Warrenton Grade
School. More
photos online at
DailyAstorian.com
gram, walked in Tuesday
with 16 preschoolers and
nine grade schoolers to the
feeding site inside the grade
school.
“It’s all about school read-
iness,” she said, adding she
uses the program to get her
younger students used to
using a cafeteria.
Hungry Oregon
While most of the kids
coming to her for lunch
wouldn’t go hungry other-
wise, Davis said hers none-
theless might be the only
well-balanced meal some
students get for the day.
Nearly 1 in 6 Orego-
nian families faced insecu-
rities in access to nutritious
food between 2012 and 2014,
according to the Department
of Agriculture. Of those,
more than 6 percent skipped
meals and faced hunger
because they could not afford
food.
Vicki Duffy, who works
in food service for Warren-
ton, said she has never run
out of lunches in eight years
of the Summer Food Ser-
vice Program. She packed
20 lunches on Wednesday,
but still fell eight short, as
organizers in the first week
try to gauge how many peo-
ple will be taking advantage
of the program.
“It just breaks my heart,”
Duffy said of having to turn
away eight children. I have
eight kids who wanted lunch.
They’ll get it tomorrow …
and the rest of the summer,
too.”
Knight said the Bonne-
ville Power Administration
could pay to help move the
levees in Warrenton back to
create more wildlife habitat
as part of requirements to off-
set the environmental impact
of its hydroelectric dam net-
work. The agency earns wet-
land mitigation credits by
doing wetland restoration
projects, many of them over-
seen by the Columbia River
Estuary Study Taskforce.
Though the timeline
and other details remain
unknown, Warrenton City
Manager Kurt Fritsch has
expressed enthusiasm for
Knight’s idea.
“This proposal quite
frankly is like a manna
from heaven for the city,
should it come to fruition,
and addresses so much of
our inancial need concern-
ing levee improvements
and eventual certiication,”
Fritsch told the City Com-
mission in a memo.
Knight said he irst
learned of the idea from Port
Commissioner Stephen Ful-
ton and contacted the task
force, which had worked on
such a plan in the late 2000s.
He said CREST staffers are
now evaluating lands behind
the levees and preparing to
contract with an engineer to
determine which parts of the
levees might work for a proj-
ect with Bonneville.
While moving the levees
at the airport might not cre-
ate enough mitigation credits
to entice Bonneville, he said,
there appears to be enough
opportunity for work on the
Skipanon Peninsula. The Port
is also having a hydrological
study done at the airport to
assess the rising water table.
Fulton works on wetlands
issues for Warrenton Fiber
OREGON CAPITAL
INSIDER
Get the inside
scoop on state
government
and politics!
$
99
/ MO *
1023E COMPACT TRACTOR
–
BEST-IN-CLASS
–
6-YEAR
POWERTRAIN
WARRANTY **
Father Nick: ‘He is not only beloved,
he has the ability to reach people’
Continued from Page 1A
said. “People’s needs are the
same everywhere. When peo-
ple lose a loved one or family
members, it’s the same.”
Flashing his famous smile,
he added: “Except there are
some differences in the social
aspects.”
Raised in Tanzania, East
Africa, on the slopes of Mount
Kilimanjaro, the highest
mountain in Africa, Nilema
attended seminary to study
accounting before his call to
the ministry. He served with
a small parish near Mwanza
in the Lake Victoria region,
before an assignment at Saint
Therese Parish in east Port-
land in July 1992 as a member
of the Associated Life Com-
munity of Priests, a mission-
ary order that ills the need for
priests.
In 1997, Nilema arrived in
Seaside, which, he said, was
even smaller than his Tanza-
nian birthplace. He devoted
his attention to the commu-
nity, especially the ill, the
elderly and those with special
needs. He formed a ministry at
Providence Seaside Hospital
and administers to families in
Astoria at Columbia Memorial
Hospital. He is a key founder
of the emergency shelter with
Alan Evans of Helping Hands
Reentry Program in Seaside.
He initiated a Sunday Supper
at the church that has nour-
ished thousands in his years
here. His ministry extends
from Astoria to Wheeler. “My
family here is not only the
Catholics,” he said. His call-
ing, he said, is to serve all
people.
FAREWELL SEND-OFF
A farewell celebration takes place4-7 p.m. Friday, at Our Lady
of Victory Parish Hall and at St. Peter the Fisherman Parish
Hall in Arch Cape after the 5:30 p.m. Mass on Saturday.
Building a new church
Dedication of the new
8,400-square-foot church in
2012 was the culmination of a
20-year effort by congregants,
replacing the 97-year-old
Our Lady of Victory Catho-
lic Church with a new build-
ing more than twice its size.
At the time, church council
President Chris Rose cred-
ited Nilema for moving ahead
despite the obstacles.
“We had four priests before
Father Nick who all knew we
needed a new church,” Rose
said. “Father Nick had the
courage to say, ‘Let’s do it.’”
The building features a
hand-carved life-size wooden
cruciix from Nilema’s home-
land of Tanzania.
Working with law enforce-
ment in Seaside is a role
Nilema has participated in
since his arrival. “When they
need my help, they call me,
when I need their help I call
them,” Nilema said.
Nilema was especially
close with Sgt. Jason Good-
ding, the Seaside police ofi-
cer shot while making a
felony warrant arrest in Feb-
ruary. “With Jason it was
heartbreaking because I
worked with him so closely,”
Nilema said.
In mourning Goodding
earlier this year, Nilema
called the death “a big, big
loss for our community.” The
oficer had a passion for what
he was doing, and “he was so
willing to ask for help” when
he needed advice or support
to better serve Seaside.
“He was always telling
me, ‘You know, Father Nick,
we have to put our efforts
together to help take care of
our people,’” Nilema said.
Nilema is returning to the
Moshi Diocese in northern
Tanzania.
Arriving in Seaside will
be a longtime colleague
of Nilema’s, Joseph Bar-
ita, 59, of Moshi, Tanzania.
The two men grew up in the
same town in East Africa, and
studied together at a semi-
nary as young men. Barita
and Nilema were ordained
together on July 3, 1988, and
both have served in Oregon
parishes. Barita irst served in
the United States in the Arch-
diocese of Los Angeles, com-
ing to the country in 2000.
From 2010 to 2014 Barita
served as pastor at St. Fred-
eric in St. Helens.
Barita returned briely to
Tanzania when his father was
ill, but is now coming to Sea-
side to take on the responsibil-
ities of his predecessor.
“He is not only beloved,
he has the ability to reach
people,” said parishioner
Kay Foetisch-Robb of Father
Nick, as he is affectionately
known. “Small children run
up to him, old people. He has
the ability to reach anybody.”
COMPACT TRACTOR, MIGHTY SAVINGS
The 1023E is redefining what a sub-compact tractor can do. And that means
it can redefine what you can get done . . . all at some serious savings. When
you add quick-attach features like the AutoConn ect™ Drive-over Mower Deck
and an iMatch™ Quick-Hitch that allows you to easily pair with dozens of
implements, the 1023E saves you time too.
Get yours today for just $99 per month * .
JohnDeere.com/Ag
&ODWVRS3RZHU(TXLSPHQW
*Offer valid on new 1023E Compact Tractor purchases made between 4/11/2016 and 8/2/2016. Prices and model availability may vary by dealer. Subject to approved
installment credit with John Deere Financial. Monthly payment of $99.00 based upon 20% down plus 0.0% for 84 months on the 1023E Compact Tractor. Taxes, setup,
GHOLYHU\IUHLJKWDQGSUHSDUDWLRQFKDUJHVQRWLQFOXGHG(OLJLELOLW\IRUWKHGRZQSD\PHQWRIIHULVOLPLWHGWRTXDOLƟHGFXVWRPHUVDQGVFKHGXOHGPRQWKO\SD\PHQWVZLOOEH
UHTXLUHG6RPHUHVWULFWLRQVDSSO\RWKHUVSHFLDOUDWHVDQGWHUPVPD\EHDYDLODEOHVRVHH\RXUGHDOHUIRUGHWDLOVDQGRWKHUƟQDQFLQJRSWLRQV9DOLGRQO\DWSDUWLFLSDWLQJ
US dealers. **Beginning 1/1/2016 all Compact Utility Tractors purchased new from an authorized John Deere Dealer come standard with a 6 year/2000 hour
ZKLFKHYHUFRPHVƟUVW3RZHUWUDLQ:DUUDQW\6HHWKH/LPLWHG:DUUDQW\IRU1HZ-RKQ'HHUH7XUI8WLOLW\(TXLSPHQWDWGHDOHUIRUGHWDLOV
$'(&8)
&3(;'$&