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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 22, 2017)
3A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2017 Boat crash on river leads to citation The Daily Astorian A man needed to be pulled from the water Monday fol- lowing a two-boat crash on the Columbia River near lower Desdemona Sands, although no serious injuries occurred. Curtis Lowery, 58, was trolling for salmon in the area in an aluminum 19-foot Duck- worth with one passenger — Joseph Goldsyby, 58. The Duckworth’s starboard side was seriously damaged when it collided with an aluminum 22-foot Alumaweld at about noon. The second boat was operated by Robert Mongue, 67, and also carried Elizabeth Mongue, 67, Sarah Mongue, 40, and Sarah’s young child. Lowery was thrown from his boat after the collision but was rescued by the Mongues. Robert Mongue was cited for failure to maintain a look- out and unsafe operation. The Clastop County Sheriff’s Office is still investigating the incident. The Sheriff’s Office said accidents can happen quickly and without warning, and the best way to prepare is to wear lifejackets and keep a vigi- lant eye on possible hazardous situations. Red Cross shelters evacuees from coastal Oregon fire Associated Press GOLD BEACH — A wild- fire burning for more than a month has grown dramatically in recent days, forcing evacua- tions in southwest Oregon. The Red Cross said Mon- day it provided shelter to about 50 people who evacuated their homes because of the light- ning-caused blaze that’s scorch- ing the Kalmiopsis Wilderness. Curry County residents living along U.S. Highway 101 north of Brookings were warned to evacuate Sunday afternoon after strong winds pushed the fire to the south and west. Fire officials told the Mail Tribune newspaper they’ve received reports of some struc- tures being burned. The fire that was less than an acre on July 12 has now charred more than 140 square miles, and an estimated 3,000 people have been warned to evacuate. The evacuation notices do not include the city of Brook- ings or Gold Beach, and High- way 101 from Brookings to Gold Beach remained open. More than 400 firefighters are battling the blaze. August is peak wildfire season in the Pacific North- west, and firefighters are busy throughout Oregon. In central Oregon, a wild- fire that led to the evacuations within the path of totality of Monday’s eclipse increased in size to more than 16 square miles. Officials say 644 firefight- ers are battling the fire west of Sisters that is 20 percent con- tained. For safety reasons, all ground and air efforts stopped for about 45 minutes during the darkest part of the eclipse. Astoria will share pools with Seaside Sunset Pool closing for repair work By KATIE FRANKOWICZ The Daily Astorian The Astoria Aquatic Center will get a boost in traffic in October after the City Council approved an agreement Monday that will allow people from Seaside’s park and rec- reation district to use the facility. The Sunset Empire Park and Recreation District is closing its Sunset Pool for repair and renovation proj- ects from October through December. During this time, members will be able to use Astoria’s facilities instead. The district will pay Astoria for the services provided. Mayor Arline LaMear said it is already difficult to reserve a lane at the Aquatic Center and asked if the parks department is worried about even more congestion with the new agreement. Parks Director Angela Cosby agreed that the fall and winter months can be particularly busy, espe- cially in the evenings when local swim teams are prac- ticing. She said she encour- ages residents to come early to avoid the crowd. Parks staff plan to talk with Seaside’s swim teams to better coordinate practice times while the Sunset Pool is closed. In other business: • The City Coun- cil amended an agree- ment with the Verna S. Oller Aquatic Trust, which allows residents in the southern portion of Wash- ington state’s Pacific County to use the Astoria Aquatic Center. The trust covers the drop-in costs. However, managers of the trust reported that a handful of Pacific County pool users go to the Aquatic Center so often that their Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian People from Seaside will be able to use the Astoria Aquatic Center while the Sunset Pool is closed for repair work. daily “drop-in” charges for a month exceed the cost for a regular monthly pass, an unsustainable situation for the trust. The amendment would make it so that Pacific County individuals who visit the pool more than eight times a month would have their extra visits rolled into a monthly pass — $44 for youth or seniors, $60 for adults, slightly more than what Astoria residents pay. Cosby said the trust pays the Aquatic Center $58,000 to $60,000 each year. “So it is in our best interest to keep a good working relationship with them.” • City councilors approved a contract for $30,000 of repairs to Astoria’s Bear Creek Dam. A recent study revealed that the dam does not need to be further modified to protect against seismic fail- ure, but some work is needed to improve the structure and associated systems. Dam Maintenance Man- agement will repair a barrel gate and 63-year-old valves. The same contractor repaired and rebuilt other critical valves at the dam last year. Eclipse’s high tides break net, dump salmon Associated Press BELLINGHAM, Wash. — The public is being asked to help mop up a salmon spill from an imploded net holding 305,000 fish at a Cooke Aqua- culture fish farm near Cypress Island. The Seattle Times reported Lummi fishers out for Chi- nook on Sunday near Samish, south of Bellingham Bay, were surprised to pull up the Atlan- tic salmon — escapees that turned up in their nets again on Monday. The Washington Depart- ment of Fish and Wildlife is urging the public to catch as many of the fish as possible, with no limit on size or num- ber. The fish are about 10 pounds each. No one knows yet how many escaped. But Ron Warren, fish program assistant director for the Wash- ington Department of Fish and Wildlife, said the net had some 3 million pounds of fish in it when it imploded Saturday. Warren said the spill was caused by tides pushed unusually high by Monday’s approaching total solar eclipse. The department has been monitoring the situation and crafting a spill-response plan with Cooke. Lummi fishers were incensed at the Atlantic salmon intruding in home waters of native Washington Pacific salmon. “It’s a devastation,” said Ellie Kinley, whose fam- ily has fished Puget Sound for generations. “We don’t want those fish preying on our baby salmon. And we don’t want them getting up in the rivers.” WE START BY LENDING AN EAR. W A NTED Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber N orth w es t H a rdw oods • Lon gview , W A Contact: John Anderson • 360-269-2500 The U.S. Navy is preparing a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement/Overseas Environmental Impact Statement (EIS/OEIS) to assess the potential environmental effects associated with ongoing and future at-sea military readiness activities conducted within the Northwest Training and Testing (NWTT) EIS/OEIS Study Area beyond 2020. We take time to understand your business needs, so we can help solve them. 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