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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 8, 2017)
KOLACHKIES: THE PIES THAT BIND US WEEKEND BREAK • 1C 145TH YEAR, NO. 115 VOLUME 12 • ISSUE 12 CHRONICLING JOY OF BUSINESS IN COLUMBIA-PACIFIC REGION DECEMBER 2017 PROUDLY PUBLISHED EVERY MONTH MARSHA KALINIAK ABRAHAM HONMA Artistic Bouquets & More, Seaview Crossover Car Stereo, Warrenton PHOTOS BY LUKE WHITTAKER HANGING ON SMALL, LOCAL BUSINESSES WEATHER THE CHANGING ECONOMY / STORY ON PAGES 6-11 JIM HAUGEN SCOTT SAGE Universal Video, Seaside Astoria Shoe Fix, Astoria COAST RIVER BUSINESS JOURNAL INSIDE ONE DOLLAR WEEKEND EDITION // FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2017 Dungeness crab fishery put on hold ON THE EDGE Crabs still low in meat By KATIE FRANKOWICZ The Daily Astorian Commercial Dungeness crab fishermen in Ore- gon and southwest Washington state may not get out on the water at all this year after recent testing shows crabs are still too low in meat yield. Fishery managers with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife announced the fishery opener will be delayed until at least Dec. 31. Half of the areas where crab was tested still do not meet the criteria for opening. The fishery had already been delayed until Dec. 16 after a first round of tests in November found the meat yield was low. Delaying the opener will give the crabs more time to plump up. Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian Marge Glaser rides the bus to the Port of Astoria to pay a bill. Glaser says she relies on easy access to the bus to get around town and is worried she will lose that when she moves from her home because of a rent spike. In the struggle to find housing, elderly on fixed incomes have few options By KATIE FRANKOWICZ The Daily Astorian s Marge Glaser counts down the days until a rent spike in January will force her out of the Astoria apartment that has been her home for the past 25 years, there are things she could do. But with a Social Security income of less than $800 month, her options are limited. The 74-year-old doesn’t drive. She walks everywhere. There are things she doesn’t want to give up, like her dog, Dorothy, and things she cannot give up. She isn’t home- less. Not yet. But she’s worried she’s teetering on the edge — and she is not alone. A The cost of housing continues to go up on the coast while the compe- tition for lower-priced apartments is fierce. Glaser has applied for low-in- come housing, yet the wait list is years-long. Helping Hands Re-entry Outreach Center reports an 18 percent increase in seniors it has served across the coastal region in the last year. They are peo- ple who, because of sudden illness, the death of a spouse or partner, or medi- cal bills and rent increases, have fallen through the safety net. Social services geared at getting people back on their feet face a dif- ferent set of challenges when it comes to helping the elderly. In theory, a 23-year-old who is homeless because of drug addiction can clean up, enter ‘WITH CRAB YOU DON’T REALLY KNOW UNTIL YOU GET OUT THERE.’ Dan Ayres | coastal shellfish manager for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife The fishery traditionally opens Dec. 1, but in some years has not opened until January. Delayed openers are not unexpected, but are difficult for crab fishermen and seafood processors to plan around, industry leaders say. When crabbers finally get on the water, they are not sure what they will find. “We saw OK volume in our testing work but it’s not really designed to be an abundance sur- vey,” said Dan Ayres, coastal shellfish manager for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. “With crab you don’t really know until you get out there.” See DUNGENESS, Page 7A They are people who have “no rain- bow at the end of the storm,” Alan Evans, the Helping Hands director, said. Wait-listed treatment, go to therapy, find a job and rebuild. For the elderly, it’s a different conversation. Seniors who can no lon- ger enter the workforce, who survive on fixed incomes, may never be able to reclaim the stability they once enjoyed. Their health concerns are more likely to worsen rather than improve with time. Lack of housing has been a frequent debate at Astoria City Council meet- ings and work sessions, and during Planning Commission discussions of new development projects over the past few years. City staff are investigating ways to incentivize the building of low- er-priced and affordable housing. Often the conversation revolves around workforce housing, a term that does not have a strict definition. When city councilors talk about workforce See ON THE EDGE, Page 7A ‘THERE’S NO AFFORDABLE HOUSING AND MOST OF THEM HAVE LIMITED TRANSPORTATION.’ Larry Miller | Astoria Senior Center’s director Luke Whittaker/EO Media Group The commercial Dungeness crab season has been delayed until Dec. 31. A Columbia River gillnetter joins historical collection The Endeavor among a lineup of old boats By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian After plying the Columbia River for more than half a century, the fishing boat Endeavor is getting a spot in the Columbia River Maritime Museum’s growing hall of boat history. The boat came to the museum from David and Tim Fastabend, who inherited the vessel from their father, Don, along with Astoria Marine Construction Co. David Fastabend said his father went fishing in the Endeavor on weekends and at night when he wasn’t working on boats. “He fished, picked nets all by himself,” David Fastabend said. “He fished until he was 75.” Don Fastabend and the Endeavor retired in 2006. The vessel was kept at a shipyard and well-maintained. But with Oregon intent on phasing out gillnetting on the main stem of the Columbia, there was little reason to keep the boat, David Fastabend said. The nets were given to friends in the Quinault Indian Nation, and the maritime museum was approached about the boat. The museum in 2013 acquired two expan- sive buildings from former construction store Astoria Builders Supply. In a back warehouse, the museum has amassed a collection of about See GILLNETTER, Page 7A Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian Jeff Smith, senior curator at the Columbia River Maritime Museum, points out distinctive features of the fishing boat Endeavor, which recently earned a spot in the muse- um’s collection.
