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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 15, 2017)
DailyAstorian.com // TUESDAY, AUGUST 15, 2017 145TH YEAR, NO. 32 ONE DOLLAR Seaside residents push back on growth Traffic, development fears in urban renewal By BRENNA VISSER The Daily Astorian Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian Josh Saranpaa, executive director of the Wildlife Center of the North Coast, watches as an osprey takes off after being re- leased back into the wild near Ilwaco High School on Saturday. Two osprey were released after a successful rehabilitation. A family reunion Wildlife rehabilitation center releases osprey chicks By KATIE FRANKOWICZ The Daily Astorian I LWACO, Wash. — It was easy to lift the large dog cage from the car and carry it down to a small field near the Ilwaco High School football field on Washington’s Long Beach Peninsula. It was easy for Liz Todd, a volunteer with the Wildlife Center of the North Coast, to carefully pull back the towels covering the cage door. It was easy to see the two osprey chicks inside staring at her through startled, orange eyes. But then it was hard, and had been hard ever since Todd and her partner, fel- low volunteer Bill Elliott, looked for the chicks’ parents earlier that morning and saw nothing. The adult birds had been agitated for days, calling for the chicks. The vol- unteers thought this would make for an easy release: Anxious parents in the trees would see or hear their young and the family would be reunited. Happy ending. But now they weren’t there. Josh Saranpaa, the wildlife center’s director, needed to make a decision. The chicks, found on the ground near this field two weeks before, had only just started flying and didn’t know how to hunt for their own food yet. Should he release the birds now and hope the parents showed up? Once they were out there would be no getting them back into the cage. Or should he take them back to the center, release them several weeks later — by which time the parents would have migrated but the chicks would be stronger fliers — and hope they somehow learned to hunt on their own? He had already been extraordinarily lucky with these chicks. He wondered how far he could press his luck. He told Todd to open the cage door. SEASIDE — In a heated public hearing, residents expressed concerns to the Seaside City Council Monday about the impact of a proposed southeast urban renewal plan. The hearing was a chance for city coun- cilors to consider whether the urban renewal district is in compliance with city goals. It also is the last stop before city councilors vote Aug. 28 whether to adopt the urban renewal plan, which has been in develop- ment since January. While the city has heralded the $68 mil- lion program as an efficient way to pay for long-term infrastructure projects, some residents and the Oregon Coast Alliance argue that plans to include unincorporated forestland outside of the urban growth boundary do not follow the city’s compre- hensive plan. Others were concerned about overdevel- opment, traffic and how projects would be implemented. But the largest sentiment com- ing from the audience was the feeling there was not enough public comment leading up to the vote. “All we want to do is be heard. I don’t See SEASIDE, Page 4A Feds award money to boost quake warnings ShakeAlert system could save lives ABOVE: From left to right: Liz Todd, Bill Elliott and Josh Saranpaa watch as two released osprey made their return to the wild in Ilwaco last weekend. BELOW: Two osprey were brought to Ilwaco over the weekend by staff and volunteers with the Wildlife Center of the North Coast. Rescue The Wildlife Center of the North Coast, a nonprofit bird rehabilitation See REUNION, Page 4A Associated Press SEATTLE — The U.S. Geological Sur- vey has awarded $4.9 million to six universi- ties and a nonprofit to help advance an early warning system for earthquakes along the West Coast. The federal agency says the ShakeAlert system could give people seconds or up to a minute of warning before strong shaking begins. The University of Washington, Central Washington University and University of Oregon are among those receiving grants. Congress provided $10.2 million in money to the earthquake hazards program earlier this year. U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell and U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer of Washington state pushed for funding, saying such an early warning system is critical. The grants will help scientists thoroughly test the system and improve its performance. New seismic stations also will be installed to boost speed and reliability of warnings. Club has second thoughts on a divisive symbol Sons of Beaches will not fly the Confederate flag By JACK HEFFERNAN The Daily Astorian Charlottesville suffered through riots, an act of domes- tic terrorism and a deadly helicopter crash on Saturday. Astoria enjoyed a parade. But in both towns, at roughly the same time, people viewed a symbol that lies at the heart of racial tensions in the United States. The Sons of Beaches, an off-road enthusiast group, made its way along the Astoria Regatta’s Grand Land Parade route Saturday afternoon with a float and several trailing cars and trucks. The float — featuring an image of the famous Iwo Jima Memorial, photos of local sol- diers who died in Iraq and Afghanistan, and several American flags and decals of other battle flags through- out U.S. history — had just received the Admiral’s Award, one of the parade’s most dis- tinguished prizes. But bumper stickers with the Confederate decal on the side of a trailer beneath the float, along with a Confederate flag carried by a red truck behind it, have caused a stir. “This is not how I wanted Regatta to end,” Astoria Regatta President Dan Tra- vers said. “I’m sorry it’s being marred by this situation which is an obvious mistake.” Sons of Beaches’ leader Jay Pitman said he was not aware of the events in Charlottesville at the time of the parade and, had he known, would have had second thoughts about display- ing the symbols. “I want to apologize to the city of Astoria and the Regatta Sons of Beaches See FLAG, Page 4A Sons of Beaches displayed a Confederate flag and decals in the Grand Land Parade on Saturday.
