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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, AUGUST 25, 2017
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IN ONE EAR • ELLEDA WILSON
BUNNY BRIGADE
nce again, Portland has been out-weirded. Valdez, Alaska,
is in the news for an unusual problem: It’s been overrun
by rabbits, the Alaska News Dispatch reports, although no one
seems to know how or why it happened — it’s not exactly a rab-
bit-friendly environment, after all (http://tinyurl.com/AKbunnies).
One of the stranger rumors of how the rabbit bloom came
about is that groups of rabbits were set free in the 1980s to enter-
tain tourists. Maybe even several times. That one kind of takes
the cake as far as theories go.
No matter how they arrived, the rabbits are there to stay. Some
residents hate them, their poop, and their veggie garden raids, and
some love them, coddle them and feed them all winter. Since the
city code doesn’t yet address feral domesticated rabbits as “deleteri-
ous exotic wildlife,” it’s a full on bunny bonanza in Valdez. For now.
O
BEACH BLANKET BLACKMAIL
rom the Tuesday, Aug. 25, 1885 issue of The Daily Morning
Astorian: “A few days since, while the Astoria camp people
were bathing in the surf, an amateur photographer went down to the
beach and proceeded to make an instantaneous view of the bathers.
Just at the critical moment an Astoria belle stooped to arrange her
stocking, and as the ‘apparatus won’t lie,’ even for beauty, the young
lady looms up in the photograph like Tillamook rock in a storm.
“At last accounts the stooping belle was trying to raise enough
coin to purchase the negative. She has offered $13 ($318 now) for
it, but the photographer stubbornly demands more, and declares
that he will print an unlimited number of photographs if the cen-
tral figure doesn’t come to time inside of two days.”
The young “belle” was in quite a pickle, as the rules of eti-
quette and “conduct for a female” were very complicated and
strict during the Victorian era. For her to be caught possibly show-
ing her bare ankle in public — much less arranging her clothing
— was quite vulgar (http://tinyurl.com/victrules).
If the photo became public, her family would be disgraced.
Worse yet, the young lady’s reputation would be in tatters, and
her chances of landing a “proper” husband — a must — would
be ruined. Scandalous!
F
THE HEART OF THE MATTER
hen a female blue whale washed up in western New-
foundland in 2014, scientists took the opportunity to pre-
serve her heart (http://tinyurl.com/heartwhale).
Jacqueline Miller of the Royal Ontario Museum led the charge
to remove the 400-pound organ. “It took four staff onsite plus
myself to push the heart out of the thoracic cavity … and into a
dumpster bag,” she told Smithsonian Magazine.
A Research Casting International team helped, then froze the
heart for transport, defrosted it, sealed the cavities and pumped it
full of formaldehyde. Then the heart was shipped to Germany to
be plastinated (water and fat are replaced by plastics).
This May, almost three years later, the 6.5-foot tall heart
arrived at the Royal Ontario Museum, and is now on display. It
is pictured, courtesy of the museum. If you happen to be in that
neck of the woods, the exhibit is there until Sept. 4.
Be prepared to be impressed. “It’s large enough to squeeze
into a Smart car,” Miller noted.
W
ON THE ROAD TO FAME
heyenne Stapleton, a teenager who lives in Jewell,
recently tried out for American Idol in Portland. “It
went great,” she said. “I had a fast pass, so I didn’t have to
wait for hours. They auditioned people fast and it wasn’t
like I expected it to be.”
“You had four judges,” Cheyenne explained, “two
judges on each side.” No, they are not the judges you
see on TV, but they are people who work in the music
industry. “You had six lines of four, and they pulled
you all up, asked for paperwork, and told you to go
back to where you were standing. Then they would start
with the person on the right side of the line and would
go down the line until every person sang. After, they
would call you up and let you know if anyone got it
or not.
“You had 90 seconds to sing a song, and I sang ‘Girl
Crush’ by Little Big Town. When I was singing in front
of the judges, I was so happy. I never get nervous, and I
just felt at peace. Singing is something I love.” Sadly, the
audition in Portland didn’t work out for her, but she isn’t
the least bit discouraged. “It is sad that I didn’t make it
through,” she admitted, “but I know there are many more
chances!”
You can follow Cheyenne’s career, cheer her on and
hear her sing on her Facebook page, “Country Singer,
Cheyenne Stapleton.”
“I started singing when I was just a little kid, about 4,
but then when I was 10 to 11 I realized that I could actu-
ally sing, and I just never stopped,” she said. Not sur-
prisingly, her idol is Carrie Underwood, who became an
American Idol at the end of the show’s fourth season in
2005.
“My grandpa, who passed away almost three years
ago, really helped me through everything,” Cheyenne
recalled. “He was always by my side, kept telling me to
never give up, and so to this day I never give up, because
I know he would never want me to. Now my family and I
are just on the road to fame!”
C
SOLVED: A 72-YEAR MYSTERY
HAPPY CAMPERS
irst there was Goat Yoga going viral and putting Oregon in
the spotlight a few months ago, and now there’s the Dog-
gie School Bus video making the rounds, and even being picked
up by the U.K. Daily Mail. The photo shown is from the Doggie
School Bus Facebook page.
Doggies, and their people, are delighted with babysitter/dog
trainer Arat Montoya’s services in West Linn, which include
pickup, drop off, overnight stays and socialization. When the
pups literally leap off the Doggie School Bus with joy, they are
cut loose in “fenced in pastures” to run freely for two-hour inter-
vals, with rest hours at Montoya’s house, his website, http://
aratmontoyapetcare.com, says. “They learn how to play and rest
as a group, and end each day as a happy camper.”
Ah, if only humans could learn to get along together as well.
F
RIMAS: PHONE HOME
o word yet from Astoria’s wayward sailor, 60-something
Russian immigrant Rimas Meleshyus. In late May he set
off from Hilo, Hawaii, on his life’s mission, a sail (drift, actu-
ally) around the world, but as he neared Fiji, his satellite feed
went dead.
His last Facebook post, dated Aug. 3 but actually sent July 30,
mentioned that he had been through a strong gale, his tiller was
broken and he had no control of the boat in a dangerous current.
Worse yet, he hadn’t been able to contact the Fiji Coast Guard.
Now he’s been out of contact for more than three weeks. A
recent post on his Facebook page says the New Zealand and
Fijian Coastguard and Navy have launched an official search, and
Rimas has been declared missing at sea.
One can only hope Rimas landed safely on one of the small
islands around Fiji. It’s easy to picture him happily ensconced
and enjoying the sun and soft breezes, resting up for his next
adventure until he surfaces to tell us what happened on this one.
N
NOTES FROM ILWACO
maritime history mystery has been solved by none
other than Microsoft co-founder and billionaire Paul
Allen: He led a search team that found the USS India-
napolis, which was lost 72 years ago in the Philippine
Sea during World War II, the U.S. Naval Institute News
reports (http://tinyurl.com/ussind). The ship is pictured in
its heyday, courtesy of the U.S. Navy.
As an aside: Local yachting fans might remember that
Allen moored his lovely toy, the 176-foot Meduse, off
Mill Pond in 2012 for a bit, causing quite a stir.
Back to the Indianapolis: Near the end of World War
II, the ship had just delivered parts of the “Little Boy”
atomic bomb (the one dropped on Hiroshima) when it was
torpedoed on July 30, 1945, sinking in 12 minutes.
She sank so fast, in fact, no distress signal was sent,
and because the mission was secret, no one initially
realized the ship was missing. Of the 1,196 aboard, 800
survived the sinking, but several days of being in the
water and attacked by sharks winnowed the final num-
ber of survivors down to 316. Nineteen are still alive
today.
People have been looking for the wreck for years, but
it took a Navy historian finding records of the last sight-
ing of the ship to narrow the probable search area down to
600 square miles — which is when Paul Allen, his team
of 13 and his research vessel the R/V Petrel entered the
picture. Collaborating with the U.S. Navy, they found the
Indianapolis in 18,000 feet of water. Now considered a
war grave, the location is still a secret.
“I’m very happy that they found it. It’s been a long 72
years coming,” 93-year-old Indianapolis survivor Arthur
Leenerman commented. “I have wished for years that
they would find it.”
A
rom the Sunday, Aug. 26, 1888 issue of The Daily Morning
Astorian, some news from Ilwaco, Washington:
• Public school starts Sept. 3 for 108 children.
• Business was good at two popular hotels, Sea View and Tin-
ker’s, and “a large amount of building lots and whole blocks have
been sold.”
• The reporter found that men liked coming to Ilwaco by train,
but the ladies “much preferred the old way of coming through the
woods and along the beach in a big wagon.”
• “The gentleman in charge of the signal service building is
reported to be yearning for a mother-in-law.”
• A body washed ashore, dressed as a fisherman, but with no
identification, and “nothing in pants pockets but two small, cheap
wooden-handled knives. … He was buried near where found.”
The reporter speculated it was a man seen the week before who
was intoxicated when he set sail for Shoalwater Bay.
• “We learn there are five divorce suits ready for the next term
of court at Oysterville.”
• “Water melons and cholera morbus (old term for acute
severe gastroenteritis) are in town.”
F
COMMUNITY NOTES
SATURDAY
Angora Hiking Club — 9 a.m.,
Sixth Street parking lot. Black Lake
hike. For information, call Roger
Westerman at 213-448-9441.
Sit & Stitch — 11 a.m. to 1
p.m., Homespun Quilts & Yarn, 108
10th St. Bring knitting, crochet or
other needlework projects to this
community stitching time. All skill
levels welcome.
Columbia Northwestern Mod-
el Railroading Club — 1 p.m., in
Hammond. Group runs trains on
HO-scale layout. For information,
call Don Carter at 503-325-0757.
Spinning Circle — 1 to 3 p.m.,
Astoria Fiber Arts Academy, 1296
Duane St. Bring a spinning wheel.
For information, call 503-325-5598
or go to http://astoriafiberarts.com
SUNDAY
National Alliance on Mental
Illness (NAMI) Support Group
— 2 to 3:30 p.m., Seaside Public
Library, 1131 Broadway. Family to
Family Support Group, for anyone
with friend or loved one suffering
from a serious brain (mental) illness.
For information, contact Myra Kero
at 503-738-6165, or k7erowood@q.
com, or go to www.nami.org
Seekers Group — 6 to 7:30
p.m., Pioneer Presbyterian Church,
33324 Patriot Way, Warrenton.
Group discusses issues facing re-
ligious faith in the modern secular
world. All are welcome. For informa-
tion, call 503-861-2421.
Scandinavian Workshop —
10 a.m., First Lutheran Church, 725
33rd St. Needlework, hardanger,
knitting, crocheting, embroidery
and quilting. All are welcome. For
information, call 503-325-1364 or
503-325-7960.
MONDAY
Line Dancing — 5:30 to 8 p.m.,
Seaside American Legion, 1315
Broadway. For information, call
503-738-5111. No cost; suggested
$5 tip to the instructor.
Chair Exercises for Seniors
— 9 to 9:45 a.m., Astoria Senior
Center, 1111 Exchange St. For in-
formation, call 503-325-3231.
Mothers of Preschoolers —
10 to 11:30 a.m., Crossroads Com-
munity Church, 40618 Old Highway
30, Svensen. MOPS group is a time
for moms to relax and enjoy each
others’ company. For information,
call Tracy Wilson at 727-514-1611.
Senior Lunch — 11:30 a.m.,
Bob Chisholm Senior Center, 1225
Avenue A, Seaside. Suggested do-
nation $3 for those older than 60;
$6.75 for those younger than 60.
For information, call Michelle Lew-
is at 503-861-4200.
Columbia Senior Diners —
11:30 a.m., 1111 Exchange St. Cost
See NOTES, Page 2B