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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (March 14, 2018)
SEAVIEW SUDS SUCCEED COAST RIVER BUSINESS JOURNAL INSIDE VOLUME 13 • ISSUE 3 CHRONICLING JOY OF BUSINESS IN COLUMBIA-PACIFIC REGION MARCH 2018 PROUDLY PUBLISHED EVERY MONTH BREW MASTER SEAVIEW SUDS SUCC EED SEE PAGE 6 HIGH DEMAN D Razor clams increasing in international market ly popular | Page 8 Kirk Hurd was promoted to head brewer at North Jetty Brewery on March 1. PHOTO BY LUKE DailyAstorian.com // WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 2018 145TH YEAR, NO. 182 Tsunami sirens may go up in Warrenton WHITTAKER ONE DOLLAR NIGHT WATCH PROPERTY WATCH PROGRAM HAS UNSEEN IMPACTS DOWNTOWN A step toward better emergency preparedness By KATIE FRANKOWICZ The Daily Astorian WARRENTON — A devastating 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan triggered a warning up and down the Oregon Coast. The warning turned out to be unnecessary for the most part, but it marked the moment when a number of people in Astoria and Warrenton found out their cities did not have tsunami warning sirens. That could change in Warrenton. The city received six Whelen warning sirens from Clatsop County’s Emergency Management Division last year. The county received the decommissioned sirens from a military site in Umatilla County and dis- tributed several to other cities. Warrenton’s sirens have been sitting in storage while the city and county identified appropri- ate sites and applied for grants to fund their installation. On Tuesday, the Warrenton City Com- mission approved an agreement with the county for the sirens. Tiffany Brown, the county’s emergency management director, applauded the city for taking additional steps to keep the commu- nity safe. Photos by Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian At least two locations in downtown Astoria have fences in place to prevent loitering. See SIRENS, Page 3A By JACK HEFFERNAN The Daily Astorian Columbia Memorial begins raising an endowment A t night, the Columbia River Maritime Museum can become a destination for the homeless. The riverfront location — away, but not too far from downtown — and architecture — exterior covers that offer some shelter from the weather — can be ideal. “I think they tend to be the areas that provide some sort of shelter, that is out of the way but not too out of the way,” Astoria Police Sgt. Andrew Randall said. The museum was one of the first to sign up a year ago when police rebooted Property Watch, a program allowing officers to supervise specific properties after hours on the owners’ behalf. More than 40 businesses have signed on this year, most of which are located in or near the downtown core. Based on the results in Astoria, the Seaside Police Department is exploring a program of its own. A one-year contract between Astoria businesses and police allows officers to remove people engaging in disorderly activity or loitering. State law does not allow police to prevent people from using public spaces — including for panhandling, sitting or lying down. Police ran a similar program in 2015 that covered four rental properties. After it was temporarily discon- tinued, then-Chief Brad Johnston called for the pro- gram to be revisited to address aggressive behavior downtown. It is based on similar programs in Beaver- ton and Pendleton. See NIGHT WATCH, Page 3A Target is $5 million By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian The Columbia Memorial Hospital Foun- dation has launched a capital campaign to create a $5 million endowment, starting with a pledge from an auxiliary group. “CMH is 138 years old and we have no endowment,” said Penny Cowden, the foundation’s executive director. “And that’s one thing the CMH foundation wants to fix.” The foundation recently completed a $3 million capital campaign for the Penny Knight Cancer Collabo- Cowden rative between the hospi- tal and Oregon Health & Science University. After that campaign, the foundation started looking at how it could secure the hospital’s financial future, Cowden said. The Columbia River Maritime Museum was one of the first to participate in the Property Watch program. See ENDOWMENT, Page 4A Boat-dismantling facility planned for Ilwaco Cash salvo boosts industries By NATALIE ST. JOHN Chinook Observer Natalie St. John/Chinook Observer State Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz made a Monday visit to the Port of Ilwaco boatyard. ILWACO, Wash. — In June, newly elected Commis- sioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz promised local leaders she would bring economic opportunities to rural Wash- ington. This week, she came back to Pacific County to deliver the goods. During an event Monday at the boatyard in the Port of Ilwaco, Franz announced a $3.5 million package of state Department of Natural Resources-sponsored proj- ects that could create as many as 64 new jobs and help pre- serve many more. The package includes $950,000 to build a derelict vessel deconstruction and recycling facility at the port, $1.5 million to help reopen an alder sawmill in Raymond and more than $1 million for research on how to stop bur- rowing shrimp from destroy- ing oyster beds. The projects are part of Franz’s “Rural Communities Partnership Initiative,” an effort to help leaders in rural areas with economic devel- opment. The planned proj- ects will be carried out in collaboration with local lead- ers, other public agencies, and, in some cases, private companies. In a brief speech, state Sen. Dean Takko, D-Longview, said he was initially skeptical when Franz, who leads the state Department of Natural Resources, promised to help Pacific County. “I’m sorry to say that,” Takko said. “This time, I think we’ve really got some- one who cares about the rural areas.” See ILWACO, Page 4A