MONDAY, MARCH 13, 2017
144TH YEAR, NO. 182
ONE DOLLAR
STATE CHAMPS!
Photos by Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian
Seaside’s Payton Westerholm, center, celebrates a state championship win with his team and other students on Saturday in Forest Grove. Seaside defeated Valley Catholic, 71-63.
Gulls bring home fi rst state hoops trophy
By GARY HENLEY
The Daily Astorian
F
OREST GROVE — Small in stature, big in heart.
And pretty good in quickness, defense, passing,
ball-handling, speed, shooting ability, etc.
Add it all up, and it equaled an unbeatable com-
bination for the Seaside High School boys basketball pro-
gram, over the course of the 2016-17 season. And ultimately,
it gave the Gulls’ their fi rst-ever state championship.
With their 71-63 win over Valley Catholic at Forest Grove
High School late Saturday night, the Gulls indeed made
school history, as they returned home with the town’s fi rst
state championship in boys basketball.
Was there ever a doubt?
See CHAMPS, Page 7A
LADY GULLS TAKE THIRD
Seaside Seagulls’ Attikin Babb takes a shot during the
first half in the 4A state championship game on Saturday .
Seaside girls make history of their own.
See story on Sports • Page 10A
Seaside ’s Jackson Januik goes up for a shot against Valley
Catholic in the 4A state championship game on Saturday .
Garhofer: From princess to queen New cutter makes
a stop in Astoria
Miss Clatsop County crowned
By R.J. MARX
The Daily Astorian
SEASIDE — “Oh my
goodness!” Hannah Garhofer
said after being crowned
Miss Clatsop County . “So
many emotions right now!
I’m thankful for this opportu-
nity to serve Clatsop County,
because it truly takes a vil-
lage to raise a child. And they
have raised me for the past 20
years.”
Garhofer was one of three
young women awarded the
Miss Clatsop County Schol-
arship Program’s top honors
Saturday night at the Seaside
Civic and Convention Cen-
ter. Winners receive schol-
arship awards while serv-
ing as ambassadors to the
community.
Nicole Ramsdell, 15, of
Astoria was selected Miss
North Coast’s Outstanding
Teen. She attends Astoria
High School.
Peyton Sims was named
Miss Clatsop County’s Out-
standing Teen. Sims, 13, is
an eighth-grader at Broadway
Middle School in Seaside.
See CROWNED, Page 5A
Named for
man involved
in daring rescue
By JACK HEFFERNAN
The Daily Astorian
R.J. Marx/The Daily Astorian
Miss North Coast Teen Nicole Ramsdell, Miss Clatsop
County Princess Taylor Betts, Miss Clatsop County Teen
Peyton Sims and Miss Clatsop County Hannah Garhofer.
Gearhart fi refi ghter,
55 years and counting
Blissett has
seen tragedy,
enjoyed friends
GEARHART — Jon Blis-
sett joined the Gearhart Volun-
teer Fire Department in 1962,
and today is the department’s
oldest active member.
Blissett looks back at
55 years of fi refi ghting and
the changes he’s seen in the
community.
Q: How old are you?
I’ll be 80 this time next year.
I feel great.
Q: Tell me about your
background in Gearhart.
I owned the Chevron gas
station in Gearhart right next to
the fi re station. Then the DEQ
(Department of Environmen-
tal Quality) got into the situa-
tion with the tanks. They were
See BLISSETT, Page 5A
Nearly 80 years after and
roughly 2 miles east of the
site of her grandfather’s dar-
ing rescue mission, Linda
Jarmer could have been mis-
taken for a U.S. Coast Guard
crew member herself.
A motor lifeboat glided
east along the Columbia
River on Saturday morning
next to the soon-to-be com-
missioned John F. McCor-
mick Sentinel-class cutter.
While the vessels were still in
motion, Jarmer, whose grand-
father was the boat’s name-
sake, took a wide step from
the lifeboat onto the cut-
ter while dressed in a large,
orange dry suit.
Jarmer made her way to
the top deck to meet the 24
crew members on board. “It’s
only right you came aboard
the John F. McCormick that
way,” Lt. j. g. Joe Petry said.
The 154-foot fast response
cutter left Key West, Flor-
ida, fi ve weeks ago and will
dock at its home port in Ket-
chikan, Alaska, next week.
There, a commissioning cere-
mony will take place in April.
Another cutter, the Bailey T.
Barco, will be commissioned
there in June.
Following the ceremony,
the cutter will begin sea res-
cue and commercial fi shing
enforcement missions.
Two may dock here
The John F. McCormick is
one of 21 Sentinel-class cut-
ters — the fi rst on the W est
C oast— that have been put to
use by the Coast Guard. Out
of the 58 planned cutters, two
may be docked in Astoria.
The newest cutter was at
the 17th Street D ock the past
two days and will leave for its
fi nal destination today . T he
public was invited to tour the
ship Sunday.
See CUTTER, Page 5A
R.J. Marx/The Daily Astorian
Jon Blissett has served with
the Gearhart Volunteer Fire
Department for 55 years.
Petty Officer 1st Class Levi Read
Coast Guard c utter John F. McCormick transits up the Co-
lumbia River next to the 52-foot motor lifeboat Triumph II .