LETTERS: 100 WORDS FOR 100 DAYS OF PRESIDENT TRUMP PAGE 7A DailyAstorian.com // MONDAY, MAY 1, 2017 144TH YEAR, NO. 217 ONE DOLLAR Airport bond looks to future Coast Guard picks Astoria for two new cutters The Daily Astorian The U.S. Coast Guard has selected Astoria as the new home for two fast response cutters by 2021, a decision that will expand the agency’s footprint on the North Coast and provide a sig- nificant financial boost to the city. The 154-foot Sentinel-class cut- ters replace the 1980s-era, 110-foot, Island-class patrol boats on the coast, which are nearing the end of their ser- vice life. Astoria had been competing with Newport for the two new cutters. “I’m exceedingly pleased to get this news,” Astoria City Manager Brett Estes said. “I think it’s going to be able to add on to the existing Coast Guard presence in our community.” Estes said the Coast Guard expan- sion will add to the region’s economic base. “To be able to have more Coast Guard presence, more Coast Guard See CUTTERS, Page 4A U.S. Coast Guard The Sentinel-class fast response cutter is a new Coast Guard patrol boat that is capable of deploying inde- pendently to conduct missions that include port, water- ways and coastal security; fishery patrols; search and rescue; and national defense. Named after Coast Guard enlisted heroes, the cutters are replacing the aging Is- land-class 110-foot patrol boats. All it’s cracked up to be Money to help finance hangar, development By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian Two years ago, Life Flight Network established its first coastal base at Astoria Regional Airport. The base, a small modu- lar trailer wedged between the airport’s main terminal, fueling station and the manufac- turing company Lektro, was meant to be temporary. The helicopter medevac service received a state grant last year to help finance a new, nearly $1 million hangar and crew quarters. Port of Astoria staff identified the best permanent location for the hangar at the southern end of the airport. But the Port, which cannot afford to accommodate Life Flight’s move, is asking county voters in the May 16 election for $1.96 million in bonds over three years to build the infrastructure and make several nearby, undeveloped par- cels shovel-ready. The bond measure has become a hot-but- ton political issue and a dividing line in each of the three contested Port Commission races. See BOND, Page 4A Charter academy surpasses student goal Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian Cannon Beach school to open in the fall Many festival attendees showed up for the Crab, Seafood & Wine Festival wearing a wide variety of brightly colored themed hats. Rotary crab feed helps fund scholarships By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian F or the past 35 years, the Astoria Rotary Club has been in the crab business. Since the beginning of the Astoria Warrenton Crab, Sea- food & Wine Festival, the Rotary has organized a crab feed with whiskey soup. Astoria Superintendent Craig Hoppes, president of the Rotary, said the group bought 800 pounds of crab this year. Between 35 and 40 volunteers prepared and served crab legs and a whiskey soup through- out the festival. The profits go toward the Rotary, includ- ing three or four scholarships the group funds each year for graduates in Astoria and Knappa. “The hard part has been … our profit on it is based on the price of crab, and that fluctu- ates year to year, and then we try to fluctuate the prices of our crab dinner,” Hoppes said. The Rotary buys the crab from Bornstein Seafoods, which also provides the shrimp for the Astoria Clowns’ iconic clown bread. Co-owner Andrew Bornstein said each group can buy up to 1,000 pounds in any given year. By BRENNA VISSER The Daily Astorian Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian Rotary Club member Dan Bartlett begins preparing the group’s fa- mous whiskey crab soup at the Crab, Seafood & Wine Festival on Saturday. More crab festival photos online at DailyAstorian.com CANNON BEACH — The Cannon Beach Academy is officially set to open this fall almost four years after the town lost its elementary school. The charter school had until today to enroll at least 17 kindergartners and 17 first- and second-graders combined. As of Friday, 18 kindergartners are enrolled and the first- and second-grade class has been maxed out with 22 students, board member Phil Sim- mons said. “We as a team, and as a community, have been working on this for years,” Simmons said. “When they first closed the elemen- tary school, some families had to move, and I was a little concerned there wasn’t going to be enough interest. But in my heart I knew that there was, and this victory supports this interest.” See ACADEMY, Page 8A Couple fills a niche with taxi, coffee shop Saw visitors waiting for bus ative Ghanaian Richard Afornorpe jaunted along the famous Portland Interna- tional Airport carpet in 2002 to meet his future wife, Kristina, and her family. They had met on a dat- ing site while he still lived in Ghana. After flights to Swit- zerland, New York, Seattle and finally Portland, Afornorpe prepared to meet the person with whom he would spend the rest of his life. “I was happy, excited,” Afornorpe said with a sheep- Job search N ish smile, “but it’s a very new environment.” The Afornorpes have owned Downtown Coffee Shop for a little more than a year. Richard has been driving the Downtown Coffee Shop taxi — a white Cadillac Esca- lade — since last June. He has, for the most part, settled in with his wife and seven foster children — ages 7 to 22. But it took a while. Following their airport meeting, the couple returned to Kristina’s hometown to settle into an Emerald Heights apart- ment. Afornorpe spent nearly two years searching for a job. In the meantime, many of his days were spent at home doing laundry. “I wasn’t used to just sitting at one place and doing noth- ing,” Afornorpe said. “Sitting down can be depressing, espe- cially since I didn’t know a lot of people here.” Afornorpe often would kill time with strolls around Edward Stratton/The Daily Astorian See COUPLE, Page 4A Kristina and Richard Afornorpe in the Downtown Coffee Shop.