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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 13, 2016)
ILWACO WRESTLES WAY TO TOP AT ANNUAL WARRIOR INVITE SPORTS • 10A DailyAstorian.com // TUESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2016 144TH YEAR, NO. 118 ONE DOLLAR Seaside ex-Mayor Larson dies at 80 It’s a bird, a plane … a buoy? Outgoing leader fought long bout with cancer By R.J. MARX The Daily Astorian SEASIDE — Seaside’s longtime Mayor Don Larson died Sunday afternoon at his home in Seaside after a long bout with can- cer. He was 80 years old. “This is a major-league loss is the best way I can put it,” City Manager Mark Win- stanley said. “The mayor was one of the most outgoing may- ors that I have ever experienced.” Larson served as Seaside’s mayor from 2002 to November, when he stepped down from his post. Prior to becoming mayor, he Don served on the city’s Larson Planning Commission before being elected to the City Council in 2002. A member of Clatsop County’s Pub- lic Safety Board, Larson was recognized as Mayor of the Year by the League of Oregon Cities in 2009. See LARSON, Page 7A Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian A U.S. Army Chinook helicopter from Washington’s Joint Base Lewis-McChord flies over the Columbia River delivering a stranded buoy picked up from a beach near the entrance of Tillamook Bay to the U.S. Coast Guard’s Aids to Navigation Team Astoria on Tongue Point for repair on Monday. The buoy weighs 14,000 pounds and was high and dry on the beach, necessitating a pickup by helicopter. U.S. Army copter helps deliver stranded buoy Johnson steps aside By R.J. MARX The Daily Astorian The Daily Astorian T he U.S. Coast Guard needed to recover a buoy that usually marks the navigational channel into Tillamook Bay but had beached south of the entrance. The device was beached too far inland to be recovered by a boat, and at 14,000 pounds was too heavy for the Coast Guard’s Jayhawk helicopters. A U.S. Army Chinook helicopter from Joint Base Lewis-McChord helped out Mon- day, landing on the beach, roping the buoy and lifting it off the beach. The Army air crew flew the buoy along the North Coast and into the mouth of the Columbia River, dropping the device in front of the Coast Guard’s Aids to Navigation Team at Tongue Point. The crew of the cutter Fir, a buoy tender, pulled the device in. Barber is named Seaside mayor Petty Officer 1st Class Levi Read/U.S. Coast Guard A U.S. Army Chinook helicopter from Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington pre- pares to pick up a 14,000-pound buoy that washed ashore just south of the entrance to Tillamook Bay. The Army flew the buoy, which normally marks the navigable chan- nel into Tillamook Bay, to the U.S. Coast Guard’s Aids to Navigation Team in Astoria. SEASIDE — Jay Barber became mayor Monday night, following in the footsteps of former Mayor Don Larson, who died Sunday. At the council’s last meeting, Barber put his name forward to fill Larson’s unexpired term. City Council President Don Johnson did the same. But before a City Council vote was held, Johnson withdrew his name from consideration. “There comes a time to step back and let others carry the torch as Mayor Larson and I have done for many years,” Johnson said. “I believe it is now time for me to pass that torch. It pleases me to nominate Jay Barber to fill the mayor’s term.” See BARBER, Page 7A Astoria violated drinking water standard Water is still safe to drink By DERRICK DePLEDGE The Daily Astorian Submitted Image The Bear Creek watershed is the source of Astoria’s drinking water. Astoria violated a federal drinking water standard this year after using a higher than normal amount of chlorine to treat organic matter in the water supply. The city said residents do not have to boil water or take any other precautions. Peo- ple who are elderly, pregnant, have an infant or have severely compromised immune systems, however, could be at increased risk and should seek medi- cal advice about drinking city water. The city expects to have the problem fixed by the end of December. Customers will be noti- fied next week of the viola- tion to satisfy a public disclo- sure requirement by the Oregon Health Authority. The contaminant level in the water is not an emergency. The city has to notify custom- ers within 24 hours when there is an emergency. “I’m still drinking the water,” said Ken Cook, the director of the city’s Public Works Department. R.J. Marx/The Daily Astorian See WATER, Page 7A Jay Barber is sworn in as Seaside may- or by City Manager Mark Winstanley.
