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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 2, 2017)
CANNON BEACH’S STORMY WEATHER ARTS FESTIVAL COAST WEEKEND • INSIDE DailyAstorian.com // THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2017 145TH YEAR, NO. 89 Students and families warned of cougar risk Cougar said to have snatched cats By R.J. MARX The Daily Astorian SEASIDE — Seaside Heights Elementary School moved all stu- dent activities inside Monday after a reported cougar sighting . Staff escorted students home and monitored crosswalks. Residents of Creekside Village Apartments are being warned their small pets could be in danger. Superintendent Sheila Roley said a neighbor reported to Principal John McAndrews “that she believed she had seen a cougar in the neigh- COUGAR WATCH Information provided by the Seaside School District from the Oregon Depart- ment of Fish and Wildlife : • Cougars typically are out at dawn and dusk. borhood last weekend.” Roley consulted with an Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife fi eld biologist for guidance . Seaside police, Clatsop County and Oregon State Police have all been notifi ed of the sighting . • Cougars avoid lots of noise. • Males have a very large territory of up to 50 square miles and move through- out it. Females have a territory of about 10 square miles. Animals gone missing The alert came after residents of the Creekside Village Apartments wit- nessed a fi ght that left a house cat dead or missing at the hands of a violent unknown predator, possibly a cougar. “Our manager informed us and I thought the public should be aware,” resident Jennifer Paluch said Wednesday. See COUGAR, Page 7A ONE DOLLAR • It is rare to have a cougar stay in the same area for more than a few days be- fore moving on unless they are near a good supply of livestock who are out at night. National Park Service • It would be extremely un- likely that a cougar would approach a playground full of children during the day. Residents at Creekside Village Apartments fear a cougar could be responsible for the disap- pearance of house pets. Dredging keeps Wahkiakum, Westport ferry route afl oat County manager offered to resign Moore now says he plans to keep job By JACK HEFFERNAN The Daily Astorian Clatsop County Manager Cameron Moore told county commissioners in a Sep- tember email that he would resign in March to ensure that county staff could come for- ward with concerns about management without fear of retaliation. Moore, an experienced administrator who was hired last year to bring more stability to a county that had seen nine managers Cameron in 16 years, made the offer Moore after Commissioner Lianne Thompson claimed county staff were unwilling to share their concerns due to fear of retaliation. See MOORE, Page 7A Westport tops Astoria in commercial fi sh catch Washington state port had a strong year By KATIE FRANKOWICZ The Daily Astorian Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian Vehicles board the Oscar B ferry near Westport for the ride to the Washington state side of the Columbia River. New dredging to start after Thanksgiving By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian E ric Ferguson is one of three full-time captains with Wahkiakum County who ferry about 80,000 people a year between Puget Island, Washington, and Westport on the Oscar B, the only remaining interstate ferry on the Colum- bia River. Running perpendicular to the fl ow of the Columbia, the 1,900-foot-long chan- nel requires dredging every few years to allow the Oscar B passage. Recently awarded the contract by the Army Corps of Engineers, regional dredger J.E. McAmis is scheduled to start the mainte- nance anew after Thanksgiving. At the top of each hour, captains pull out of the landing at the tip of Puget Island, only a few feet separating the bot- tom of the Oscar B from the northern banks of the Columbia. A side-scan sonar shows the deepening river as the ferry crosses the shipping channel and the shal- lowing as it approaches the entrance to the Westport Slough. “This summer, we really noticed it,” Ferguson said. “We got the low tides, and that’s when we noticed we’re getting down to a few feet of water under us.” J.E. McAmis was contracted to remove a total of 35,000 cubic yards, or about 30 barge loads, of sediment around the Puget Island landing and near the entrance to the Westport Slough. The A port in Washington state beat Astoria at commercial fi shery landings and the value of the catch last year. Westport, Washington, came in 10th on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s annual report on fi sher- ies. The report includes information about the quantity and value of commercial fi sh- ery landings, as well as what species were brought to shore. Astoria trailed Westport at 12th place, with 94 million pounds landed in commer- cial fi sheries last year. In 2015, Astoria had been ahead of See FERRY, Page 7A See CATCH, Page 7A Astoria Co-op meets fundraising goal Investors raise $1.5 million for larger store By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian The Astoria Co-op Grocery has reached its $1.5 million fund- raising goal to help build a new store at the corner of 23rd Street and Marine Drive, where it hopes to move by the end of next year. The grocery launched the campaign about a month and a half ago during its annual meet- ing, making available up to 25,000 $100 shares, with a min- imum investment of 25 shares at $2,500. The campaign started with $430,000 worth of shares sold in the weeks prior to its launch and reached the goal of $1.5 million on Halloween, according to Gen- eral Manager Matt Stanley. “We reached it really the last day,” Stanley said. “We were pushing with our campaign team right to the last minute.” Around 175 Astoria Co-op members in Oregon invested in the shares, with an average investment of more than $8,500 per person and some individual investments as high as $100,000, Stanley said. People who invested under $10,000 receive an annual div- idend of 3 percent, with shares paid back as the store rebuilds cash reserves. Investors above that amount receive a 4 percent annual dividend. One of the higher-level inves- tors was Stanley’s father-in-law, Tom Owen, who moved from Springfi eld to Astoria a couple of years ago and said the c o-op’s shares offered a better investment return than some of his individ- ual retirement accounts , while providing an opportunity to sup- port the community and a local business. “I look at this as at least fi ve years,” Owen said of the return on his investment. The offering for shares is still open, and the c o-op is still trying to sell up to another $1 million worth , Stanley said. The store See CO-OP, Page 7A Astoria Co-op Grocery Astoria Co-op Grocery is planning a new $8 million, 12,000-square-foot location at 23rd Street and Ma- rine Drive. Are you a member of Coast Community Radio? If so, Thank You! We hope to see you SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 4 TH ! If not, please join us and become a member! Join today! Coast Community Radio Annual Complimentary Breakfast and Board Member Election A chance to nosh, mingle and vote with other members! Coast Community Radio: KMUN /KTCB /KCPB SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 4 TH , 9 AM FELLOWSHIP HALL OF GRACE EPISCOPAL CHURCH 1545 FRANKLIN ST, ASTORIA Join Saturday! P.O. Box 269 · Astoria, OR 97103 503.325.0010 · CoastRadio.org
