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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 12, 2018)
WEEKEND EDITION // FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2018 146TH YEAR, NO. 75 ONE DOLLAR Seafood processor plans worker housing A dormitory in Warrenton By KATIE FRANKOWICZ The Daily Astorian Photos by Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian From left, Steve Burke, Randy Bohrer and Dennis Vinson review plans for the Prairie Cemetery in Knappa. Prairie Cemetery in Knappa gets a retouch Nonprofit leads a two-year renovation See HOUSING, Page 7A ELECTION 2018 Barber and Chapman vie for Seaside mayoral seat By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian K NAPPA — On a rolling hillside along Knappa Dock Road is the Prairie Cemetery, a 140-year-old burial ground holding several generations and more than 800 locally connected people. The nonprofit Prairie Cemetery Asso- ciation of Knappa has turned a project to replace a flagpole at the burial grounds into a two-year renovation to add a park- ing lot, pavilion, interpretive center, fenc- ing and veteran’s memorial. The Prairie Cemetery dates back to 1878, when local pioneer Daniel C. Ramey donated a 1-acre plot to Knappa, according to an account in The Daily Astorian. The cemetery has since grown down the hillside from Knappa Dock Road to encompass about 3 acres, includ- ing several distinct sections for early pio- neers, prominent families and plots for cremated remains. The cemetery association, started in the early 2000s to support mainte- nance, has over the past three years built a new sign, repaired or straightened 40 headstones, subsidized new headstones for unmarked graves and contracted a groundskeeper. Steve Burke, the association’s secre- tary and, like most volunteers, a family member of many buried at the cemetery, said the association was looking to replace a flagpole farther away from power lines when volunteers started thinking bigger. The plan evolved to moving the flagpole WARRENTON — Desperate for hous- ing, Pacific Seafood wants to turn a ware- house it owns in Warrenton into a dormitory for workers. The Warrenton Planning Commission approved a development code amendment Thursday night that lays the groundwork for the seafood processor to create housing in a warehouse on industrial land near Carruthers Park and the dog park. The decision, if approved by the City Commission in November, could open the door for other companies to do the same. Lack of housing has became a major issue for employers in Clatsop County, who say they have trouble attracting and retaining employees because workers can’t find places to live, or can’t afford the places they do find. Recently, some companies have decided to provide housing. Tsunami preparedness, housing are issues By R.J. MARX The Daily Astorian Karen Burke looks at a headstone. Steve Burke wipes away dirt from a headstone. to the low ground in the middle of the cemetery, while adding a parking lot and community gathering place. “We found that people don’t want to be buried in the low part of the cemetery, because they think that there’s going to be water entering the graves,” Burke said. With an ideal location for a commu- nity gathering place amid the graves, the association started raising money. Since last year, the association has gath- ered more than $30,000 toward a goal of upward of $50,000 to complete the resto- ration and add the amenities. It received a nearly $6,900 grant in July from the state Commission on Historic Cemeteries. Numerous donations have streamed in from current and former community resi- dents with family buried at the cemetery. Local businesses and volunteers have voluntarily excavated for the parking lot, provided rock and hauled it in. Among those buried are around 100 veterans, including at least two from the Civil War. The association hopes to build a pedestal honoring veterans, Burke said. Under the pavilion’s cover, the SEASIDE — Mayor Jay Barber is stressing continuity as he seeks election in November to the post he was appointed to in 2016, while his challenger, John Chapman, is offering what he calls a common-sense leadership approach. Barber, a former city councilor who filled the Jay vacant seat of former Mayor Barber Don Larson, has lived in Seaside for 11 years. The former president of Warner Pacific University and pas- tor of a community church in Red Bluff, California, Barber and his wife, Jan, have four grown children John and five grandsons. Chapman Chapman, owner and operator of KSWB Pro- ductions LLC/Radio Clatsop, is a 27-year See CEMETERY, Page 7A See SEASIDE, Page 7A No easy solution for Cannon Beach bunnies City has few options for infestation By BRENNA VISSER The Daily Astorian CANNON BEACH — Curbing a growing bunny population may be more com- plicated than city officials anticipated. Last month, residents in Tolovana asked the city to address a bunny infesta- tion they claim is destroying gardens and blanketing yards with thick layers of rabbit pellets. Since then, the city has researched ways to possibly handle the population, but has found the fluffy “Tolo- vana bunnies” appear to slip between the cracks of almost every state and local agency. “Nobody is in charge of bunnies,” City Manager Bruce St. Denis said. Because they are feral, the bunnies have no classifica- tions or protections under the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, spokeswoman Michelle Dennehy said. They aren’t considered live- stock, so the Department of Agriculture doesn’t claim them, either. “If they were brush rabbits, ODFW would be involved,” St. Denis said. It was against fish and wildlife’s code for the bunnies to be released into the wild, Dennehy said, and so there is no place the city can legally relocate them. Another solution could be trapping them and bring- ing them to refuges like the Oregon Humane Society, St. Denis said. But local animal control only serves cats, dogs and limited livestock in unin- corporated Clatsop County. Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian See BUNNIES, Page 7A One of the ‘Tolovana Bunnies.’