DailyAstorian.com // WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2016
144TH YEAR, NO. 89
COBBLED TOGETHER
NATURAL GRAVEL BEACHES PROTECT DUNES AT CLATSOP SPIT
ONE DOLLAR
Wing gets
15 years in
daughter’s
murder
Agreed to testify
for reduced time
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
Edward Stratton/The Daily Astorian
Scientists with the state Department of Geology and Mineral Industries visit Clatsop Spit regularly to track the movement of
materials in a gravel berm constructed at the base of the South Jetty. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers hopes the gravel berm
will help blunt waves and prevent further erosion from threatening the jetty’s function.
Dorothy Wing, the mother of murdered
toddler Evangelina Wing, was sentenced
Tuesday to more than 15 years in prison for
first-degree manslaughter and two counts of
first-degree criminal mistreatment.
Wing had faced a life sentence for mur-
der by abuse and six counts of criminal mis-
treatment. She pleaded
guilty in January to
the lesser charges after
agreeing to truthfully
testify against her for-
mer boyfriend Randy
Roden, who was con-
victed Monday in the
murder of her daughter
in Seaside nearly two
years ago.
Dorothy
The couple called
Wing
911 Dec. 20, 2014,
after
discovering
Evangelina unresponsive. An autopsy later
found the girl had died from blunt-force
trauma. Wing’s two sons were also found
badly injured and hospitalized. The two were
later taken into protective custody and now
live with family in California.
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
See WING, Page 7A
O
ver the past 90 years, the coast-
line on the northern tip of Clatsop
Spit has eroded by more than 1,100
feet. By 2010, wave action from the
Pacific Ocean again threatened to breach the
remaining dunes and reconnect Trestle Bay, a
lagoon off of the Columbia River, directly to
the ocean.
While the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
is spending millions to reinforce the jet-
ties around the mouth of the Columbia with
large riprap boulders, the agency has turned
to natural gravel beaches to protect the dunes,
with promising results after three years of
monitoring.
“A lot of our beaches are naturally cobbled
beaches,” said Rod Moritz, a hydraulic engi-
neer with the Army Corps. “It’s a very effec-
tive wave absorber.”
Between July and October 2013, contrac-
tors for the Corps excavated 5 to 7 feet into
the sand where the South Jetty meets the Clat-
sop Spit. They deposited more than 30,000
cubic yards of gravel and cobble stones in
a cul-de-sac-shaped berm arcing 1,100 feet
along the coastline.
The berm, known as a dynamic revetment,
emulates natural, gravelly beaches. The larger
rocks in the berm move onshore in the face
of waves and high tides, as opposed to sand
being pulled offshore.
Saddle
Mountain
road has
reopened
Edward Stratton/The Daily Astorian
Coastal geomorphologist Jonathan Allan and field geologist Laura Gabel, both from
the state Department of Geology and Mineral Industries, have been monitoring a
berm at the base of the Columbia River’s South Jetty since late 2013. The U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers hopes the berm will blunt waves and prevent erosion.
In 2013, contrac-
tors deposited
34,000 cubic
yards of layered
gravel, cobble
and pebbles to
recreate a rocky
beach at the base
of the Columbia
River’s South
Jetty for the U.S.
Army Corps of
Engineers. The
agency hopes
the berm will
prevent further
erosion of the
Clatsop Spit.
See GRAVEL, Page 9A
‘A lot of our beaches
are naturally
cobbled beaches.
It’s a very effective
wave absorber.’
State Department of
Geology and Mineral
Industries
Rod Moritz
a hydraulic engineer with the Army Corps
But campground
remains closed
By ERICK BENGEL
The Daily Astorian
The campground at Saddle Moun-
tain State Natural Area will remain closed
through the winter, but the vehicle road
leading up to it reopened Tuesday after
a brief closure that caused outcry among
hikers.
The state parks department recently
closed the gate between the U.S. Highway
26 entrance and the day-use area. Drivers
could park outside the gate, but hikers and
hunters had to walk an additional couple of
miles to reach the Saddle Mountain trail.
Ben Cox, park manager of the Nehalem
Bay Management Unit — which oversees
Saddle Mountain and other parks and recre-
ation sites — said he closed the road out of
concern for visitors’ safety after the mid-Oc-
tober storms ripped through the North Coast
and knocked down trees at the park.
See MOUNTAIN, Page 9A
Chefs go head to head for United Way
Event draws
region’s top
cooking talent
By R.J. MARX
The Daily Astorian
SEASIDE —Some jobs
really are a piece of cake.
The region’s best chefs and
their teams assembled Tues-
day night for the premier
local dining competition,
Iron Chef Goes Coastal, at
the Seaside Civic and Con-
vention Center.
Seaside’s Sea Star Gelato
presented a real Hood straw-
AND THE
WINNERS ARE
Best dessert: Frite and
Scoop
Best appetizer: Silver
Salmon
Best table presentation:
Fort George
Best beverage: Public
Coast
Best chef: Team of John
Sowa, Jonathan Hoffman
berry cheesecake at the
ninth-annual
competition.
“You got to try it,” Tracy Nye
said. “Oregon is the best ber-
R.J. Marx/The Daily Astorian
Visitors enjoy savory appetizers at Street 14 Cafe’s station.
ry-growing area of the world
and Hood strawberries are
the granddaddy of them all.
They’re only in season two
weeks out of the year so
they’re pretty special.”
At their side, the Christian
Culinary Academy of Cannon
Beach was prepared for the
competition.
The academy’s president
and chef Ira Krizo and students
offered profiteroles, which
he described “as a miniature
cream puff that has cognac,
almond extracts and vanilla
extracts.” The chef adds a
cherry and Cabernet sauce
with some amaretto vanilla
candied almonds on the side.
The Iron Chef Goes Coastal
event is the biggest fundraiser
of the year for Clatsop County
United Way, according to
United Way Board Member
Christine Lolich.
See CHEFS, Page 7A