COAST WEEKEND: FULL STEAM AHEAD FOR ASTORIA REGATTA INSIDE DailyAstorian.com // THURSDAY, AUGUST 3, 2017 145TH YEAR, NO. 24 ONE DOLLAR Johnston steps down as Astoria Police chief STAY COOL! RECORD HEATWAVE CALLS FOR SPECIAL MEASURES AS THE NORTH COAST SWELTERS Resigned earlier as assistant city manager By KATIE FRANKOWICZ and JACK HEFFERNAN The Daily Astorian Astoria Police Chief Brad Johnston announced his retirement Wednesday after 25 years with the police department. In a message posted on Facebook, John- ston, who had also served as assistant city manager, said he was moving on to other opportunities. He described his departure as “sudden, but necessary,” but did not offer any other explanation. Astoria City Manager Brett Estes said he received Johnston’s notice Wednes- day . Johnston’s retirement Brad is effective immediately Johnston and Deputy Chief Eric Halverson will take over his duties until an interim chief is found. The city plans to begin recruiting for a new police chief soon. “Eric is doing a great job at fi lling in at this point in time,” Estes said. Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian See JOHNSTON, Page 7A People cooled off in the waters off Cannon Beach as Cannon Beach and Astoria set new record highs. By KATIE FRANKOWICZ The Daily Astorian s temperatures punched into the 90s up and down the North Coast on Wednesday, everyone was telling each other to, “Stay cool.” “Stay cool!” said vendors at the Clat- sop County Fairgrounds, their faces shin- ing with sweat as they passed corn dogs, cotton candy and cold drinks to sweating customers. “Stay cool out there!” chimed a nurse at an assisted -living center in Astoria as doors swung open and visitors walked from an air -conditioned entryway straight into a wall of hot air. A It was an order nobody could obey as smoke from wildfi res in British Colum- bia stained the sky gray and purple, spread along the Columbia River and hid Wash- ington state from view. Astoria saw a high of 93 degrees Wednesday afternoon, beating a previous record for Aug . 2 of 88 degrees, according to the National Weather Service. On this same day last year, the high was a more familiar 68 degrees. Cannon Beach logged a 95 -degree day Wednesday, breaking a record there as well. The record for the hot- test day in Astoria still belongs to July 1, 1942, when temperatures hit 101 degrees. See HEATWAVE, Page 7A Five Zero Trees now makes six in Astoria 93 Wednesday’s high temperature in Astoria, which beat the previous record of 88 degrees. 101 the temperature reached during the hottest day on record in Astoria on July 1, 1942 New pot store opens 95 Wednesday’s record-high temperature in Cannon Beach. By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian The faded red canopy and yellow walls of the former clothing stores at 1161 and 1169 Commercial Street have gone black, embla- zoned with a large, white sign for Five Zero Trees . The Portland-based marijuana store recently opened a new location in Astoria, joining fi ve other such businesses around the city. Co-owner Case Van Dorne said he and his business partners Jason Cain and Joel Jennings have long been coming to Asto- ria to visit and fi sh and had been looking to locate a store locally for about a year, notic- ing how quickly the city was blooming into a destination. He started the company with Jennings in 2013 in southeast Portland. The company is also trying to open a location in Cannon Beach, hopefully in the fall , Van Dorne said At 5,000 -square feet split between two storefronts, Five Zero Trees is one of the largest marijuana stores in the city. Sunset-seekers at the Astoria Column were disappointed by clouds of smoke drift- ing south through the region from wildfires in British Columbia. Edward Stratton The Daily Astorian See POT SHOP, Page 7A Bone appetit: Pup-friendly bistro in Cannon Beach The Bistro offers fi ne dining for Fido By BRENNA VISSER The Daily Astorian CANNON BEACH — It may not be the Vietnam- ese-style caramel chicken or the pear-brined pork chop, but at The Bistro, dogs can now get more than table scraps. Jack Stevenson has intro- duced a gourmet dinner option for dogs to his upscale menu. The “Bistro Dog Food Offer- ing” lists an entree of chicken, brown rice, sweet potatoes, carrots, peas, tomatoes, olive oil and salt all garnished with a sprig of parsley for $4.50. Cannon Beach is already known as dog-friendly, the restaurant owner said, but he thought he would take it a step further. “What can we do for dogs? Businesses around here all have snacks, so I decided to do what I hadn’t seen yet: to make dog food,” he said. Stevenson said he has been surprised by the buzz the new menu item has created since he unveiled it last week. Already he has had 30 dogs order the meal, with more emails and calls coming in every day ask- ing about it. “I’ve gotten a lot comments like, ‘Are you kidding?’ and, ‘Oh, my gosh!’ from custom- ers when they see the menu,” he laughed. “But so far it has been very well received. Peo- ple who love their dogs really love them, so they like the idea of feeding them healthy, nutri- tious food.” Gary Hayes brought his Wheaten terrier mix, Gracie, to try the new dish when it was fi rst introduced. He’s a regular at The Bistro, partly because there is dog-friendly outdoor seating, so the idea his dog could join him for dinner as well was exciting. See BISTRO, Page 7A Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian Patrons of The Bistro restaurant in Cannon Beach who bring their dogs with them now have a new menu to choose from after owner/chef Jack Stevenson decided to offer gourmet dog food as an option in the already ca- nine-friendly community.