SEASIDE HOLIDAY CLASSIC TIPS OFF
SPORTS • 10A
144TH YEAR, NO. 121
WEEKEND EDITION // FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2016
ONE DOLLAR
Lee will
not run
in 2018
Low tide approaches on the Columbia River as seen from the Astoria Column on Tuesday.
Serves as chairman
of county commission
King tides provide peek at rising seas
The king tide as seen from the Astoria Column on Tuesday.
Photos by Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian
Studying tides
helps plan for
major fl oods
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
he second of this winter’s three
king tide events hit Monday
through Thursday, sending tidal
surges up to more than 10.5 feet
around Warrenton and Astoria.
King tides, also known as perigean
spring tides, are the highest-predicted
tides of the year. They occur with the
orbital alignment of the earth, sun and
moon, pushing tides higher than usual
and providing a glimpse into a future of
rising sea levels.
T
King tides surge in Warrenton, North Coast
King tides, which occur when the earth, moon and sun align, brought tidal surges of more than
10 feet Monday through Thursday in Warrenton’s Skipanon River.
12 feet*
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
Scott Lee, the chairman of the Clatsop
County Board of Commissioners, will not
seek re-election in 2018.
Lee, 52, joined the c ommission in 2011,
his fi rst time holding public offi ce. He was
part of a sea change in the May 2010 elec-
tion that saw him replace Jeff Hazen, Peter
Huhtala replace John
Raichl and Debra
Birkby replace Rob-
ert Mushen. Lee was
named chairman of the
commission in January
2014, and won re-elec-
tion three months later.
His term expires at the
end of 2018.
For the past 12
Scott Lee
years, Lee has worked
at Bikes and Beyond.
He started managing and eventually took
co-ownership with Arlene Fencsak after
her husband and the shop’s founder, Rich-
ard Fencsak, died of cancer in 2008. She is
retired, Lee said, and he would like to move
on to something new.
See LEE, Page 9A
King tides over 10 feet MLLW*
10
8
6
4
2
0
-2
Dec. 10
Source: NOAA
Dec. 11
Dec. 12
Dec. 13
Dec. 14
Dec. 15
Dec. 16
*Tide heights relative to Mean Lower Low Water (MLLW), the standard chart datum for the U.S. coastline.
Oregon
reimburses
schools for
lead testing
Edward Stratton and Alan Kenaga/EO Media Group
Watching for water
By PARIS ACHEN
Capital Bureau
By the time the tide peaked at around
10.5 feet Tuesday, water from Youngs
River had risen within inches of the lanes
of travel on Oregon Highway 202, one of
the most striking local examples of tidal
effects on infrastructure.
“The biggest effect is erosion along the
shoulder of the road,” said Kevin Werst, a
transportation maintenance manager with
the state Department of Transportation.
When tides peak in Seaside, the city’s
Public Works Director Dale McDowell
said, he sends staff to monitor The Cove,
a thin strip of rocky beach littered with
driftwood and popular with surfers and
other beachgoers.
“We basically station a guy down by
The Cove, because the waves can throw
logs up,” he said, adding the city will
sometimes close the entire beach down.
SALEM — The Oregon Emergency
Board on Wednesday approved reimburs-
ing schools more than $2 million for about
53,000 tests for lead in school water supplies.
The board established a $5 million
reserve fund in September and authorized
the state Department of Education to accept
applications from schools for reimbursement
of costs associated with testing for elevated
lead levels in drinking water.
The 53,000 tests come from school dis-
tricts that represent 89 percent of public
school students in the state, according to the
nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Offi ce.
School districts had until Dec. 1 to sub-
mit invoices for reimbursement. They could
make requests for tests conducted since
March . The money only covers the cost
of collecting and testing water supplies.
See KING TIDES, Page 9A
A car drives along Oregon Highway 202 south of Astoria during a king tide on Tuesday.
During king tides, parts of the highway can be covered with water.
See LEAD TESTING, Page 9A
‘Gentleman’ Grier was Masons’ chaplain for 45 years
Seaview man
left legacy of
friends, deeds
By PATRICK WEBB
For EO Media Group
SEAVIEW, Wash. — Look
up “gentleman” in a dictionary
and you will fi nd a defi nition
that fi ts Norm Grier.
“Gent·le·man (ˈjen(t)lmən/
noun): A chivalrous, courte-
ous, or honorable man.”
Grier, who died Monday,
was both a gentleman and a
gentle man.
His family mourns. They
have lost a beloved husband
and father, who was grandfa-
ther to six and great-grandfa-
ther to 17.
Grier was 88. He died at his
home in Seaview with his wife
of 55 years, Willa, daughters
Debe Wroble, Lori Grier and
Paralee (“Punky”) Suomela
close at hand. He had been suf-
fering for about a year from
advanced heart failure and had
been in home hospice care for
the past week.
His church has lost a devout
congregant. Jim Tweedie, for-
mer pastor of Ocean Beach
Presbyterian
Church
in
Seaview, remembers Grier
with fondness.
“Norm Grier loved his fam-
ily, he loved his church, and he
greeted each person he met as
if they were the best friend he
ever had,” said Tweedie, who
retired this summer. “He loved
a good story and he loved ren-
dering trees into fi rewood. He
savored each moment in life
as if it was the most important
moment he had ever had the
privilege to enjoy.
“He spoke slowly and lis-
tened carefully. He walked
humbly with God. He came
closer to being like Adam
before the fall than any person
I have ever known.”
Lost brother
Norm Grier
took great
pride in his
family, some
of whose
photos were
displayed in
his Seaview,
Wash.,
home.
Ilwaco Freemasons mourn
See GRIER, Page 6A
EO Media Group
File Photo