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.