COAST WEEKEND: PHOTOGRAPHER
CAPTURES LOCALS AND THEIR STORIES
145TH YEAR, NO. 143
ONE DOLLAR
DailyAstorian.com //
Neighbors cope with Uppertown fires
Three houses, a garage and a truck have been damaged
By JACK HEFFERNAN
The Daily Astorian
An orange post at the top of a steep, dead-
end section of Harrison Avenue in Uppertown
featured two notes with distinct messages
Wednesday.
One was a line of yellow caution tape that
read, “FIRE LINE DO NOT CROSS.” The
other — a white placard atop a short wooden
post — read, “Be a good neighbor. Please
pick up the poop.”
Views from residents on or near 38th
Street and Harrison Avenue on Wednes-
day were similarly mixed. They expressed
their fears and offered uneasy laughs as they
reflected on a series of recent fires in the
neighborhood and thought about how to pre-
vent more incidents.
Since Jan. 6, small blazes have left burn
marks on three houses, one of which was
burned twice. Fires destroyed a pickup truck
and scorched a garage with a Suzuki motor-
cycle, four recycling bins and a lawnmower
inside.
Multiple police agencies, Astoria fire,
the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Fire-
arms and Explosives, the Clatsop County
Erik Burgher
See FIRES, Page 7A
IDENTITY CRISIS
CANNON BEACH ACADEMY STILL BUILDING A BRAND
Fires have unsettled an Uppertown neighborhood.
California
sea lion
population
rebounds
Success story tempered
by conflicts with fish
By KATIE FRANKOWICZ
The Daily Astorian
Photos by Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Students at the Cannon Beach Academy take time away from the classroom for recess on the playground.
By BRENNA VISSER
The Daily Astorian
C
ANNON BEACH — Nearly halfway through
the first school year, the Cannon Beach Acad-
emy is still a mystery to many in the community.
“Half think we are an elite school where you pay
tuition. The other half think we are only for Span-
ish-speaking students. Neither are true,” said Amy
Moore, the bilingual charter school’s executive direc-
tor. “We have people who still don’t know what
grades we are.”
The academy, which serves kindergarten through
second grade, is trying to overcome the sense of con-
fusion and enroll more students for next school year.
In order to keep a charter with Seaside School Dis-
trict, the academy has to eventually grow to serve up
to fifth grade.
See ACADEMY, Page 7A
California sea lions are doing just fine.
Thanks for asking.
More than fine, actually.
The sea lions have fully rebounded
with an estimated population of more than
250,000 in 2014, according to a recent study
by scientists with the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration. In 1975, the
population was estimated at less than 90,000.
The study reconstructed the population’s
triumphs and trials over the past 40 years.
“The population has basically come
into balance with its environment,” co-au-
thor Sharon Melin, a research biologist at
the Alaska Fisheries Science Center, said
in a statement. “The marine environment
is always changing, and their population is
at a point where it responds very quickly to
changes in the environment.”
The rebound is a victory for the federal
Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 that
makes it illegal to kill or harass sea lions.
But as in other instances of animal popula-
tions beating the odds — wolves, for exam-
ple — it’s a success story that comes with
challenges.
As the California sea lion population
has grown, the animals have expanded
their range, bringing them into conflict with
humans and endangered fish.
‘Where you sit’
In Astoria, male California sea lions have
taken over an entire stretch of docks at the
Port of Astoria’s East Mooring Basin. Port
employees have attempted numerous deter-
rent tactics over the years, everything from
fluttering wind dancers to a fake killer whale.
Nothing has really worked.
Theresa Dennis teaches a class at the Cannon Beach Academy.
See SEA LIONS, Page 7A
Upward Bound helps students reach college
Program funded
by federal grant
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
Warrenton freshman Mar-
lie Annat knows she’s inter-
ested in music, but not how she
would make a living.
Seaside freshman Jude
Gomez knows he wants to be a
lawyer, but needs help figuring
out where to go for his under-
graduate degree.
Annat and Gomez were
among 27 students inducted
this fall into Upward Bound,
a student support program to
help low-income and first-gen-
eration college hopefuls finish
high school and beyond.
Upward Bound is funded
by a five-year, $313,000 fed-
eral grant and administered
through Clatsop Community
College. The program takes
up to 73 high schoolers at a
time from Astoria, Warrenton
and Seaside. Students receive
in-depth academic support
in high school and assistance
applying for college and finan-
cial aid, including weekly
meetings with an adviser.
“I’m a customizable high
school counselor,” said Matt
Bisek, a college and career
adviser who meets with 50 stu-
dents each week in Seaside
and Warrenton. “If you get into
this program, I’m working for
you.”
Each summer, Upward
Bound students spend six
weeks in an academy tak-
ing English, math and foreign
language courses at the col-
lege. They do field projects
with local community groups
and go on field trips around
the state, including visits to
several university and college
campuses.
Gomez has always been
a good student, with reading
and math instilled early by his
See PROGRAM, Page 7A
Edward Stratton/The Daily Astorian
Several students were inducted Wednesday into the Up-
ward Bound student support program at Clatsop Com-
munity College, including, from left to right, Seaside
High School junior Dalton Smith, Seaside freshmen Josh
Brown and Jude Gomez and Warrenton High School
freshman Marlie Annat.