DailyAstorian.com // MONDAY, JULY 2, 2018
146TH YEAR, NO. 1
ONE DOLLAR
Bacteria
spikes in
Cannon
Beach
outfalls
Higher levels at Chisana
Creek, Ecola Court
By BRENNA VISSER
The Daily Astorian
Photos by Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Taylor Ballard is crowned Miss Oregon 2018 at the pageant held in Seaside Saturday.
i CROWNING i
WONDER
Ballard wants to help people ‘feel comfortable in their own skin’
i
S
CROWNING
By BRENNA VISSER
The Daily Astorian
EASIDE — For Taylor Ballard, the road to the
Miss Oregon crown has been one of personal
growth.
The Portland woman rose above 23 contes-
tants from across the state Saturday in the 71st annual
Miss Oregon Scholarship Pageant at the Seaside Civic
and Convention Center.
She will compete in the Miss America pageant this
September in Atlantic City.
Ballard, who was Miss Northwest Wonder-
land of Portland, was inspired to start competing in
2014 on the suggestion of a friend. She saw the
pageant as a way to get scholarship money for her
public relations degree at Portland State University,
improve her communication skills and hone her dance
moves.
After her first competitions, Ballard took a year off
to reflect and work through body insecurity issues. It
was a year of struggling to find a balance in her own
daily eating and exercise habits, which she said swung
between “diets and binge eating” — but also a year that
provided mental clarity.
Her platform, “confidence under construction,” was
inspired by her time both in and out of pageants. “I
wanted to work on myself to turn those insecurities into
strengths,” she said. “I wanted to feel confident in my
own skin to help others do the same.”
WONDER
CROWNING
S
See MISS OREGON, Page 7A
CANNON BEACH — Bacteria levels last
week at the Chisana Creek outfall near Tolovana
State Park measured more than three times what is
considered safe by the U.S. Environmental Protec-
tion Agency.
Routine sampling conducted through the Ore-
gon Beach Monitoring Program found readings at
two freshwater outfalls to exceed the state’s recre-
ational water standard of 130 mpn, or most prob-
able number, a testing method used to estimate
the number of colony forming units of bacteria in
water samples.
The Chisana Creek outfall registered at 465
mpn. The Ecola Court outfall pipe hit 134 mpn.
The cause of the spike is unknown. The city is in
contact with the state Department of Environmen-
tal Quality and is conducting additional in-house
tests to identify the problem, City Manager Bruce
St. Denis said.
“This has been an ongoing situation that has
resulted in extensive testing (including DNA test-
ing) and research in the past,” St. Denis wrote in an
email. “Numerous projects have been undertaken
to address isolated contributing sources but the
overall situation keeps reoccurring. This is com-
mon for municipal beach outfalls.”
Cannon Beach has a history of high bacteria test
results, especially after rain washes waterways out
and during the height of tourism season when pub-
lic infrastructure is heavily used. In July 2015, a
sewage leak led to a spike in bacteria readings in
the Ecola Creek watershed.
In general, sources of contamination to surface
waters include wastewater treatment plants, sep-
tic systems, domestic and wild animal manure,
and storm runoff, according to the EPA. Ingesting
bacteria contaminated water can result in illness,
according to the Oregon Health Authority.
See BACTERIA, Page 7A
WONDER
Brenna Visser/The Daily Astorian
Hannah Garhofer performs a dance routine at the Miss Oregon pageant.
A sign at the Chisana Creek outfall at Tolo-
vana State Park warns people on the beach
about possible contamination in the water.
After health scare, teacher
commits to wellness
Oien rebounds from
thyroid cancer
By HANNAH SIEVERT
The Daily Astorian
S
Hannah Sievert/The Daily Astorian
Sara Oien is an Astoria High School teacher.
ara Oien’s life was busy enough. She
and her husband, Chris, have two young
boys and triplet girls. She was teaching
social studies full time at Astoria High
School.
Her life felt like spinning on a hamster
wheel. There was always something to do
and not a lot of time to rest. Then, last sum-
mer, she found out she had cancer.
A small bump Oien found in her neck
turned out to be papillary carcinoma, a com-
mon type of thyroid cancer.
“It was a surreal experience to navigate
your normal life, but also know you have
this really scary diagnosis,” she said.
With the bad
news came an out-
pouring of support
from educators. The
well-wishes, posters
and dinners given to
her by fellow teach-
ers, students and neighbors was a huge help
during a difficult time.
Oien had a thyroidectomy in November,
and has been cancer-free for the past seven
months.
See OIEN, Page 7A