Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 9, 2018)
2A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2018 Police probe mysterious string of Tolovana bunny deaths By BRENNA VISSER The Daily Astorian CANNON BEACH — Police are investigating what is causing what appears to be a recent string of bunny deaths in Tolovana. Maggie Kitson, a Tolo- vana resident, noticed a bunny carcass near her front porch on Saturday. After liv- ing in the area for more than 14 years, she had seen her fair share of deceased rabbits, but usually they are tucked away in the bushes or carried off with the predator that hunted it, she said. Rarely did she see a dead bunny without any claw or teeth marks laying out in the open. “I thought, ‘that was odd,’” Kitson said. Over the next few days, Kitson found two more car- casses within the same block of her house. She began to fear that they were being poi- soned, knowing that many people do not like the rab- bits and could be using pes- ticides or other poisons as a bunny deterrent, she said. She posted a photo on Facebook to warn people in the area to keep pets indoors just in case. After finding two more the next day, Kitson decided to call the police. “For me, it’s not about the Photos by Brenna Visser/The Daily Astorian Bunnies eat carrots on Maggie Kitson’s lawn. bunnies. It’s about the poison, getting into our water, harm- ing the animals,” she said. Tensions about the bal- looning Cannon Beach rab- bit population are running high. Over the past few weeks, some Tolovana neigh- bors have asked the city to do more to control the animals, which they say are cover- ing their lawns in pellets and destroying their gardens. The pro-bunny faction is growing in its own right, with more than 4,900 peo- ple around the country sign- ing a petition on Change.org asking the City Council to “not kill the Cannon Beach Bunnies.” The council has researched options to handle the population, but thus far has chosen not to get in the business of pest control. “The hatred I just don’t get. If they are coming on your property and causing a problem ... Well, there are things you can do to prevent that,” Kitson said. “And so what? They are a joy to have around.” As of Thursday, what is killing the bunnies is unclear, Police Chief Jason Schermer- horn said. Officers collected the carcasses and brought them to Seaside Pet Clinic, where an initial autopsy was unable to determine a cause of death. There was no blunt trauma or obvious hemor- rhaging that would indicate poisoning. Maggie Kitson points to where she found one of the dead bunnies in Tolovana. Police are investigating. Disease or natural causes could also be the cause, he said. “One other thing that is a possibility is that these deceased bunnies were found in the morning before the coldest night of the year,” Schermerhorn said. “Dis- ease — if that is the case — spreads faster during colder (temperatures).” Aside from discharging a firearm within city lim- its, property owners gener- ally have the right to trap or otherwise dispose of bun- nies in their own yards. But putting out poison that can be accessible and harmful to other animals or pets could be potentially classified as animal abuse under the city’s municipal code, Schermer- horn said. “Bunnies aren’t protected, so our main concern is find- ing out if anything could harm people’s pets or chil- dren,” Schermerhorn said. Offices close for Veterans Day PROTESTING THE AG’S FIRING The Daily Astorian In observance of Veterans Day, all federal, state, county and city offices and services, including Astoria, Warren- ton, Gearhart, Seaside and Cannon Beach city halls, are closed on Monday. All U.S. post offices are closed, and there is no mail delivery. Astoria, Jewell, Knappa, Warrenton/Hammond, Sea- side (including Cannon Beach and Gearhart schools) and Ocean Beach School District schools and Clat- sop Community College are closed. The Astoria Library, Sea- side Library, Warrenton Library and all Timberland libraries in Washington state, including Ilwaco, Ocean Park and Naselle, are closed. The Port of Astoria offices and services are closed. Garbage collection through Recology Western Oregon (covering Astoria, Seaside, Gearhart and Can- non Beach), city of Warren- ton garbage collection, and Peninsula Sanitation (cover- ing the Long Beach, Wash- ington, Peninsula) are not affected by the holiday. Recology Western Oregon’s transfer station and Penin- sula Sanitation’s transfer sta- tion are open. The Sunset Pool in Sea- side is open. The Astoria Aquatic Center is open. The Clatsop County Her- itage Museum is closed. The Oregon Film Museum and Flavel House are open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the Carriage House is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Uppertown Firefight- ers’ Museum is closed. Lil’ Sprouts is open from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Fort Clat- sop is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Columbia River Maritime Museum is open from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Seaside Museum is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunset Empire Transpor- tation (“The Bus”) is running. The Daily Astorian news- paper will be printed and delivered as usual. FIVE-DAY FORECAST FOR ASTORIA TONIGHT SATURDAY SUNDAY MONDAY 54 35 40 Partly cloudy 57 42 Mostly sunny TUESDAY 59 41 Mostly sunny 58 47 Partly sunny Mostly cloudy Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian Demonstrators wave flags and signs. The Daily Astorian ALMANAC Shown is tomorrow's weather. Temperatures are tonight's lows and tomorrow's highs. ASTORIA 40/54 Astoria through Thursday. Temperatures High/low ....................................... 55°/31° Normal high/low ........................... 55°/41° Record high ............................ 71° in 2016 Record low ............................. 29° in 1977 Precipitation Thursday .......................................... 0.00" Month to date ................................... 1.76" Normal month to date ....................... 2.56" Year to date .................................... 48.49" Normal year to date ........................ 48.78" Tillamook 39/54 Salem 37/55 Newport 42/54 Nov 15 Last Nov 22 New Nov 29 Source: Jim Todd, OMSI TOMORROW'S TIDES Astoria / Port Docks Time 8:37 a.m. 9:22 p.m. Low 2.6 ft. -0.4 ft. City Atlanta Boston Chicago Denver Des Moines Detroit El Paso Fairbanks Honolulu Indianapolis Kansas City Las Vegas Los Angeles Memphis Miami Nashville New Orleans New York Oklahoma City Philadelphia St. Louis Salt Lake City San Francisco Seattle Washington, DC Hi 64 51 36 46 29 42 60 17 85 42 35 67 84 52 86 51 71 53 49 53 39 48 71 48 54 DUII • At 11:25 p.m. Thursday, Neil Alan Christensen, 59, was arrested by Astoria police on the 35350 block of U.S. High- way 101 Business and charged with driving under the influ- Baker 22/45 Ontario 25/54 Burns 13/45 ence of intoxicants. His blood alcohol content was 0.14 percent. • At 7:09 p.m. Thurs- day, Lance Sullivan, 69, was arrested by Seaside police on South King Street and Avenue J and charged with DUII. • At 2:41 p.m. Thurs- day, Ashley Nicole Haney, 28, was arrested by Warren- ton police on the New Youngs Bay Bridge and charged with DUII. PUBLIC MEETINGS Klamath Falls 17/53 MONDAY Cannon Beach Rural Fire Department Board, 6 p.m., Fire-Rescue Main Station, 188 Sunset Ave. Seaside City Council, 7 p.m., City Hall, 989 Broadway. Lakeview 16/50 Ashland 31/58 REGIONAL CITIES City Baker City Bend Brookings Eugene Ilwaco Klamath Falls Medford Newberg Newport North Bend Hi 47 56 65 56 52 53 59 55 57 59 Today Lo 22 22 45 33 42 17 28 38 42 41 W pc pc s pc c s s pc pc pc Hi 45 47 61 53 53 53 56 53 54 56 Sat. Lo W 16 pc 19 s 43 s 25 s 39 s 14 s 26 s 34 s 39 s 37 s City Olympia Pendleton Portland Roseburg Salem Seaside Spokane Springfi eld Vancouver Yakima Hi 49 52 53 58 56 53 40 56 54 50 Today Lo 35 30 40 36 37 41 23 32 39 24 W c pc pc s pc c c pc pc r Hi 50 47 54 54 55 54 39 52 52 52 Sat. Lo 31 27 36 29 30 38 23 28 34 23 W s pc s s s s pc s s pc TOMORROW'S NATIONAL WEATHER NATIONAL CITIES Today Lo 36 46 19 26 11 25 44 11 72 19 12 43 51 27 73 29 50 44 20 42 18 30 44 41 39 La Grande 28/45 Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2018 Tonight's Sky: Orion and friends emerging above the eastern night sky before midnight. High 7.9 ft. 9.0 ft. ON THE RECORD Roseburg 36/54 Brookings 47/64 Dec 6 John Day 30/46 Bend 22/47 Medford 28/56 UNDER THE SKY Time 3:07 a.m. 2:20 p.m. Prineville 21/50 Lebanon 33/53 Eugene 33/53 Sunset tonight ........................... 4:50 p.m. Sunrise Saturday ........................ 7:09 a.m. Coos Bay Moonrise today ........................... 9:05 a.m. 40/56 Moonset today ........................... 6:36 p.m. Full Pendleton 30/47 The Dalles 34/55 Portland 40/54 SUN AND MOON First Demonstrators gathered Thursday at 16th Street and Marine Drive in Astoria in response to Pres- ident Donald Trump’s firing of Attorney General Jeff Sessions. REGIONAL WEATHER W sh r sn s sn sn pc sn pc c s s s pc s c r r s r sn s s r r Hi 51 49 33 56 33 39 62 23 82 36 38 67 79 44 87 43 60 47 48 45 38 49 67 50 47 Sat. Lo 35 33 26 24 24 25 44 15 70 22 29 44 52 29 74 25 51 34 35 32 27 28 47 37 32 Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day. W s pc pc s pc pc pc c sh pc pc s s s t s pc pc pc pc s s s pc pc Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain, sf-snow fl urries, sn-snow, i-ice. OBITUARY POLICY The Daily Astorian publishes paid obituaries. The obituary can include a small photo and, for veterans, a flag symbol at no charge. The deadline for all obituaries is 9 a.m. the business day prior. Obituaries may be edited for spelling, proper punctuation and style. Death notices and upcoming services will be published at no charge. Notices must be submitted by 9 a.m. the day of publication. Obituaries and notices may be submitted online at www.dailyastorian.com/forms/ obits, by email at ewilson@dailyastorian.com, placed via the funeral home or in person at The Daily Astorian office, 949 Exchange St. in Astoria. For more information, call 503-325- 3211, ext. 257. The Daily Astorian Established July 1, 1873 (USPS 035-000) Published daily, except Saturday and Sunday, by EO Media Group, 949 Exchange St., PO Box 210, Astoria, OR 97103 Telephone 503- 325-3211, 800-781-3211 or Fax 503-325-6573. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Daily Astorian, PO Box 210, Astoria, OR 97103-0210 www.dailyastorian.com MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The Associated Press is entitled exclusively to the use for republication of all the local news printed in this newspaper. SUBSCRIBER TO THE NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE MEMBER CERTIFIED AUDIT OF CIRCULATIONS, INC. SUBSCRIPTION RATES Effective July 1, 2015 HOME DELIVERY MAIL EZpay (per month) ................$11.25 EZpay (per month) ............... $16.60 13 weeks in advance ........... $36.79 13 weeks in advance ........... $51.98 26 weeks in advance ........... $70.82 26 weeks in advance ......... $102.63 52 weeks in advance ......... $135.05 52 weeks in advance ......... $199.90 Circulation phone number: 503-325-3211 Periodicals postage paid at Astoria, OR ADVERTISING OWNERSHIP All advertising copy and illustrations prepared by The Daily Astorian become the property of The Daily Astorian and may not be reproduced for any use without explicit prior approval. COPYRIGHT © Entire contents © Copyright, 2018 by The Daily Astorian. Printed on recycled paper
