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.