A MUSICAL REFORMATION WEEKEND BREAK • PAGE 1C
145TH YEAR, NO. 80
ONE DOLLAR
WEEKEND EDITION // FRIDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2017
County schools
struggle with
absenteeism
FORTY & EIGHT
Improved model of antique train to be ready for holidays
24 percent of students not
regularly attending, followed
by Knappa with 22.3 percent
and Jewell with 21.1 percent.
Warrenton-Hammond School
District was at 14.5 percent,
By EDWARD
the lowest in the county. War-
STRATTON
renton had posted a 9 percent
The Daily Astorian
chronic absenteeism rate in
2014-15 that doubled to 18.5
Clatsop County school percent in 2015-16 before
districts showed mixed decreasing last year .
results in addressing chronic
Facing continual atten-
absenteeism among
dance issues, Asto-
students last school
ria this school year
year .
launched Strive for
Astoria School
Five, an attendance
District closely fol-
campaign with a goal
lowed the state aver-
for students to miss
age, with nearly 20
no more than a week
percent of students
of school the entire
Craig
missing at least 10
year.
Hoppes
percent of possible
Astoria Superin-
school days last year,
tendent Craig Hop-
a 1 percent increase from the pes said the campaign has
prior year , according to fi g- raised awareness about atten-
ures released by the state dance, an issue the school dis-
Department of Education.
trict plans to highlight often
Seaside School District led throughout the year.
the county in chronic absen-
See SCHOOLS, Page 7A
teeism last school year with
Seaside led the
county in missed
school days
Photos by Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Jeff Daly makes adjustments to the foam board he is using as a template for the remodel of an antique train .
Students and teachers
drop, cover and hold on
Seaside schools
prepare with
earthquake drill
By BRENNA VISSER
The Daily Astorian
SEASIDE — As every-
one at Seaside High School
waited for the Great Oregon
ShakeOut drill to begin, biol-
ogy teacher Suzanna Kruger
went over some earthquake
preparedness basics.
“When you feel shaking
and you drop, you also need
to?” Kruger asked, leaving
her zoology students to fi ll in
the rest.
“Cover the back of your
head,” the students said in
unison.
“And when you are under
the table, what do you need to
do?” Kruger asked again.
“Hold on to it,” the class
said back. “In case the table
moves.”
At 10:19 a.m. Thurs-
day, Kruger and her students
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
A
s a child in the 1950s, Jeff Daly remembers hearing the bell and whistle of
the American Legion’s Forty & Eight train during Astoria Regatta parades.
“There was no way you didn’t know it was coming,” he said. “Kids were
just enthralled with it, and you were really lucky if you could get a ride on it.”
Driving through Gearhart one day in 2014,
Daly noticed the nose of the train sticking out
behind the Yankee Trader antique store just off
U.S. Highway 101. K nown for restoring odd automo-
tive remnants from Astoria’s history such as a 1948
Chrysler clown car, he acquired the train and towed
it north.
Daly hopes to have a new and improved train ready
for the downtown holiday lighting ceremony next
month, and fully equipped for a trip to next summer’s
Burning Man gathering in Nevada.
Returning World War I veterans in the newly cre-
ated American Legion formed Forty & Eight in 1920
as an invitation-only honors society.
See TRAIN, Page 6A
See DRILL, Page 7A
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
The Compleat Photographer
Students take shelter under a table at Seaside High
School during an earthquake drill .
T he Clatsop Voiture 547’s driving Forty & Eight train during an Astoria Regatta parade in the late 1950s.
Dogs make a splash at Seaside pool
Pups get free
swim before
renovations
By R.J. MARX
The Daily Astorian
SEASIDE — At Sunset Rec, the
cry “everybody into the pool” is
usually met with cheers from chil-
dren of all ages.
On Thursday night, the cheers
of delight were replaced by enthu-
siastic barking . For one time and
one time only, the city-owned and
managed pool opened for dogs in a
free swim to precede six weeks of
renovations.
Howls, cries and whimpers
accompanied the activity — and
those were only the owners. The
dogs were poised and ready , espe-
cially the many Labrador retriev-
ers and labradoodles experienced
in nearby ocean waters.
“The big project is the replas-
ter of the interior of the pool,” Sky-
ler Archibald, executive director of
Sunset Empire Park and Recreation
District, said.
Along with a new pool surface,
the district plans on adding under-
water lights, new overhead lights
and a renovated men’s locker room.
The resurfacing, which hasn’t been
done since the pool’s opening in
1976, is budgeted at $80,000. T he
other repairs are about $35,000.
Rules for the doggy swim were
simple: “We don’t want them fi ght-
ing with each other, but other than
that, it’s fair game,” Archibald said.
“Since we’re going to be cleaning
and draining the pool tonight, they
can do whatever they need to do.”
Seaside’s Nissa Roberts brought
Stella, a black Lab, who shook her-
self off after one round in the water
and prepared for another.
“She’s a baby, so this is kind of
new and exciting,” Roberts said.
Seaside’s Michael Anderson
was accompanied by three dogs,
including one of the largest of
the night, Goliath, an 8 1/2-year-
old 177-pound Old English M as-
tiff. “He swims in the ocean all the
time, but he doesn’t really like the
pool so much,” Anderson said.
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
See DOGS, Page 7A
Playing fetch was a popular activity during
the dog swim in Seaside .