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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 10, 2016
Bridge: Commemorative tokens will mark the occassion
Continued from Page 1A
ceremony with this year’s Miss Ore-
gon, Alexis Mather.
After the speakers, those at the
rededication will be invited to take a
drive across the 4.1-mile bridge to the
Dismal Nitch Rest Area. Commem-
orative tokens will be handed out to
mark the occasion.
State Department of Transporta-
tion spokesman Lou Torres said the
bridge rededication is a big day for the
state department.
ODOT director Garrett plans to
speak about the history of the bridge,
the continued work being done and
the bridge’s importance today.
“It’s a bridge we maintain and
operate. We have a really strong inter-
est in everything that goes on with the
bridge,” Torres said.
In conjunction with the rededica-
tion, about 10 to 15 bridge workers
will gather Saturday for a reunion.
Gallegos will not be able to make it
this weekend, he said, but he plans
to be back in Astoria this fall for his
birthday.
Bridge workers will also join in
the Grand Land Parade during the
Astoria Regatta.
Satisfaction
Gallegos recalls the excitement he
felt starting work as a cement inisher
on the Astoria Bridge right out of high
school in 1964. His older, half-brother
helped him get the
job.
“I had worked
at other jobs in
Seaside and the
surrounding area
and never was
paid over $1.25
an hour, and now
Jim Gallegos I was going to
work and would
in 1964.
be paid journey-
man wages of $4 per hour, plus haz-
ard pay of 20 cents per hour,” Gal-
legos said. “My life was in for a big
change.”
During his job orientation, Gal-
legos was handed a life jacket and
told to paint the last four digits of his
Social Security number on the vest.
He was told the numbers would help
identify him if he fell in the water.
After the irst day, Gallegos said,
he got used to working more than 50
feet above the river.
He looks back fondly on those
hard-working days.
“I get ecstatic. It’s a great feeling,
the personal satisfaction of working
there,” he said. “It’s still standing.”
The Daily Astorian/File Photo
The Astoria Bridge is just as impressive by air as it is from the ground in 2002.
An editorial cartoon in the Chinook Observer mentioned the Astoria Bridge in 2002 as
the states were considering ever larger tankers.
Walmart: Divisive issue regularly draws
opponents from neighboring communities
Divisive issue
Walmart’s plan to build in
Warrenton is a divisive issue
for North Coast residents, one
that regularly draws opponents,
including from neighboring
communities.
“This request should be
denied because, number one, it
was a mistake to grant the per-
mit in the irst place,” said Sara
Meyer, an Astoria resident and a
member of CRAW, at Tuesday’s
meeting.
Among her objections, the
project, she said, “only looks at
short-term construction employ-
ment and a few part-time
employees at this site. It does
clatsop community college presents its 3 rd annual
Conference on
extraordinary living
Continued from Page 1A
The win for Walmart came
a week after a judge dismissed
a case brought by a local oppo-
sition group, Clatsop Residents
Against Walmart, against the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The citizens group, formed
in 2010 to oppose the retailer’s
move to Warrenton, sued the
Army Corps more than a year
ago, claiming the agency failed
to adequately protect wetland
and consider alternatives in its
review of a wetland ill permit
application by Peaksview LLC,
which owns land Walmart plans
to build on. The Corps issued
Peaksview a permit to ill 0.37
acres of wetland for construc-
tion of a big-box retailer.
Karl Anuta, the attorney for
the citizens group, said he plans
to ile a supplemental memo
appealing the judge’s ruling.
“In his view, they didn’t need
to look at the studies Walmart
had supposedly done,” Anuta
said. “They just asked about
them. We don’t agree. That’s
what our supplemental memo
will be around.”
Walmart intends to begin
construction in spring 2017,
assuming the federal litigation
has been resolved, Skip Urling,
Warrenton’s community devel-
opment director, said.
Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian
The Astoria Bridge opened on Aug. 29, 1966.
for people 50+
Keith Pinkstaff,
Warrenton’s har-
bormaster since
1998, is retiring
this week. At
Tuesday’s City
Commission
meeting, Mayor
Mark Kujala pre-
sented Pinkstaff
with an award of
appreciation.
Lunch provided
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Live Life to the Fullest
Saturday, Sept. 10, 2016e, 8:30am-4pm
Clatsop Community College, Columbia Hall
Erick Bengel
The Daily Astorian
not address the long-term eco-
nomic health in the city.”
CRAW, she said, “wants
you to know that we are not
anti-business. We support busi-
ness and smart, sustainable
growth. Walmart is the opposite
of that.”
Meyer, a plaintiff in the law-
suit against the Army Corps,
added that the citizens group
worries the money spent at
Walmart won’t recirculate in
the community. “They will, ulti-
mately, take that money out of
this community. That is why we
ight them,” she said.
Should construction get
underway, CRAW’s members
will monitor Walmart’s adher-
ence to safe-building and envi-
ronmental practices, Meyer
said. “We expect the city to
be supportive of aggressive
enforcement” when violations
are reported.
Betty Stennick, of Ham-
mond, shops at Walmart in
Longview, Washington, and
could not disagree more. “I
believe the sooner that Walmart
gets built, the better we’re all
going to be.”
“I say ‘yes’ on Walmart, and
let’s hurry up. We need it here.
Both Fred Meyer and Safeway
need more competition,” she
said, eliciting an “amen” from
an audience member. “And after
that, maybe WinCo will come in
— the more the merrier.”
Harbormaster retires
In other business Tuesday
night, Kujala — wearing a sport
coat for the occasion — pre-
sented an award of apprecia-
tion to Keith Pinkstaff, who has
served as the city’s harbormas-
ter for 18 years and is retiring
this week.
“On behalf of the city of
Warrenton, we all want to thank
you for all of your service,” the
mayor told him.
Pinkstaff said he is grateful
to the commission and city staff
for their support and for help-
ing him improve Warrenton and
Hammond’s harbors and mari-
nas over the years.
“I’m here to help the city.
I’m not going anywhere,” he
said, “so thank you.”
Edward Stratton contributed
to this report.
Keynote address from Jill Harding from Lewis & Clark NHP
“Hey Doc - What’s Up?” Q&A with health providers and experts on aging
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AARP: Disrupt Aging Discussion
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