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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 20, 2018)
3A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2018 ‘World’s Smallest Harbor’ could shrivel unless dredged Silt building up at Depoe Bay By TOM BANSE Northwest News Network If you’ve traveled the Ore- gon Coast, you might remem- ber the signs marking Depoe Bay’s claim to fame: the “World’s Smallest Harbor.” But now that harbor is getting even smaller because of accu- mulating silt. City officials in Depoe Bay are on tenterhooks because of the problem. Silt buildup ren- ders the fuel dock inaccessi- ble at low tide. And launching a boat that draws more than 2 feet of water is becoming diffi- cult at low tide, too. Now officials are wait- ing to hear if the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers will dredge the harbor next season so that the local charter fishing and whale watching economy can survive. The harbor urgently needs dredging so recreational fish- ermen can launch and fuel up reliably, said Mayor Barbara Leff. “If the timing of the tides isn’t exactly right and they can’t get in the water and the silt is a problem, they’re going to miss out on fishing,” Leff said. “If they miss out on fish- ing that is lost income to the harbor, to the restaurants and very probably to an inn up there too.” One of the reasons city offi- cials express a high level of urgency is that recent clearcut logging in the hills behind the harbor is likely sending more silt down creeks toward the harbor than usual. “We’re really, really try- ing to push this as an emer- gency,” said Brady Weidner, city superintendent. “We don’t want a world’s smallest beach. That would be a travesty.” A fact sheet carried to Washington, D.C., by a two-member delegation from the city last month character- ized the harbor as “paramount to the community’s economic Depoe Bay City leaders in Depoe Bay are anxiously awaiting word if silt accumulating at the south side of their harbor will be dredged in 2019. vitality and for ensuring pub- lic safety.” Depoe Bay is home to a large charter fishing fleet. It’s also become a popular port for whale watching tours. However, the harbor does not record much in the way of commercial fish landings, nor does it handle maritime cargo, which are primary metrics the federal government weighs when allocating harbor main- tenance funds. The Army Corps of Engi- neers said Depoe Bay is com- peting for a limited pool of funding with almost 900 other small or low-use harbors around the country. The Army Corps’ 2019 work plan is now being finalized at headquarters. “We’re hoping to know if Depoe Bay competed success- fully by the end of Novem- ber,” said Corps of Engineers spokeswoman Kate Groth by phone from Coos Bay. “There’s a lot of competition.” The last time the port was dredged was in 2014. The Corps of Engineers had the harbor on an every-five-years dredging cycle, which would mean its turn would normally come in 2019. The city of Depoe Bay has a small tax base and population — around 1,500 residents. The funding request to the Corps of Engineers for harbor dredging totals $878,000. Mars getting 1st US visitor in years, a 3-legged geologist Tom Banse/Northwest News Network The ‘World’s Smallest Harbor’ at Depoe Bay is 6 acres in size. &450&"2,97*4)"../.&"$)'/2"5.*15&,9%*''&2&.4,"$+2*%"93)/00*.(&80&2*&.$& &450&"2,97*4)"../.&"$)'/2"5.*15&,9%*''&2&.4,"$+2*%"93)/00*.(&80&2*&.$& Be “One of a Kind” not one of the crowd. Celebrate the day after Thanksgiving in our small Be #&"$)4/7./''&2*.(#*(&8$*4&-&.40&23/.",3&26*$&".%2&'2&3)-&.437)*,&9/53)/0 “One &450&"2,97*4)"../.&"$)'/2"5.*15&,9%*''&2&.4,"$+2*%"93)/00*. of a Kind” not one of the crowd. Celebrate the day after Thanksgiving in our small #&"$)4/7./''&2*.(#*(&8$*4&-&.40&23/.",3&26*$&".%2&'2&3)-&.437)*,&9/53)/0 Be “One of a Kind” not one of the crowd. Celebrate the day after Thanksgiving By MARCIA DUNN Associated Press CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Mars is about to get its first U.S. visitor in years: a three- legged, one-armed geolo- gist to dig deep and listen for quakes. NASA’s InSight makes its grand entrance through the rose-tinted Martian skies on Monday, after a six-month, 300 million-mile journey. It will be the first American spacecraft to land since the Curiosity rover in 2012 and the first dedicated to exploring underground. NASA is going with a tried- and-true method to get this mechanical miner to the sur- face of the red planet. Engine firings will slow its final descent and the spacecraft will plop down on its rigid legs, mimicking the landings of ear- lier successful missions. That’s where old school ends on this $1 billion U.S.-European effort. Once flight controllers in California determine the coast is clear at the landing site — fairly flat and rock free — InSight’s 6-foot arm will remove the two main science experiments from the lander’s deck and place them directly on the Martian surface. No spacecraft has attempted anything like that before. The firsts don’t stop there. One experiment will attempt to penetrate 16 feet into Mars, using a self-ham- mering nail with heat sensors to gauge the planet’s internal temperature. That would shat- ter the out-of-this-world depth record of 8 feet drilled by the Apollo moonwalkers nearly a half-century ago for lunar heat measurements. The astronauts also left behind instruments to measure moonquakes. InSight carries the first seismometers to mon- A Coast Guard lifesav- ing station on the harbor is well-positioned so its motor lifeboats can get out on any tide. But the senior officer for Coast Guard Station Depoe Bay nevertheless wrote a letter of support last month in favor of dredging. Officer in Charge C.R. Hinote said while the Coast Guard station has its own fuel tank, it would like to have unhindered access to the city fuel dock for emergency occasions. “Due to the current state of depth of water at low tide in Depoe Bay Harbor, the Coast Guard cannot safely utilize this fuel pier,” Hinote wrote. #&"$)4/7./''&2*.(#*(&8$*4&-&.40&23/.",3&26*$&".%2&'2&3)-&.437)* "3+&4$"3& *3$/6&2*.(2&"352&34/(*'4".%+&&0 "3+&4$"3& *3$/6&2*.(2&"352&34/(*'4".%+&&0 !/52,/2*34 0&$*",/''&23'2/-"- "- !/52,/2*34 0&$*",/''&23'2/-"- "- "3+& *3$/6&2*.(2&"352&34/(*'4".%+&&0 )/03/0&.",,%"9 Bruce’s Candy )/03/0&.",,%"9 !/52 Bruce’s Candy *4$)&. 0&$*",/''&23'2/-"- "- &450&"2,97*4)"../.&"$)'/2"5.*15&,9%*''&2&.4,"$+2*%"93)/00*.(&80&2*&.$& *4$)&. Be “One of a Kind” not one of the crowd. Celebrate the day after Thanksgiving in our small Bruce )/03/0&.",,%"9 "../.&"$)0" "../.&"$)0" #&"$)4/7./''&2*.(#*(&8$*4&-&.40&23/.",3&26*$&".%2&'2&3)-&.437)*,&9/53)/0 2*%"9 B. BOUTIQUE 2*%"9 Dena’s Shop on Dena’s Shop on /6&-#&2 2% 4)&/2.&2 /6&-#&2 2% 4)&/2.&2 "3+&4$"3& *3$/6&2*.(2&"352&34/(*'4".%+&&0 2*%"9 /(3,,/7&% !/52,/2*34 /(3,,/7&% /6&-#&2 2% /5.% /5.% Bruce’s Candy 0&$*",/''&23'2/-"- "- )/03/0&.",,%"9 NASA Illustration shows the InSight lander drilling into the sur- face of Mars. itor for marsquakes — if they exist. Yet another experiment will calculate Mars’ wob- ble, providing clues about the planet’s core. It won’t be looking for signs of life, past or present. No life detectors are on board. The spacecraft is like a self-sufficient robot, said lead scientist Bruce Banerdt of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “It’s got its own brain. It’s got an arm that can manipu- late things around. It can lis- ten with its seismometer. It can feel things with the pres- sure sensors and the tempera- ture sensors. It pulls its own power out of the sun,” he said. By scoping out the insides of Mars, scientists could learn how our neighbor — and other rocky worlds, including the Earth and moon — formed and transformed over billions of years. Mars is much less geologically active than Earth, and so its interior is closer to being in its original state — a tantalizing time capsule. InSight stands to “revo- lutionize the way we think about the inside of the planet,” said NASA’s science mission chief, Thomas Zurbuchen. But first, the 800-pound vehicle needs to get safely to the Martian surface. This time, there won’t be a ball bounc- ing down with the space- craft tucked inside, like there were for the Spirit and Oppor- tunity rovers in 2004. And there won’t be a sky crane to lower the lander like there was for the six-wheeled Curios- ity during its dramatic “seven minutes of terror.” “That was crazy,” acknowl- edged InSight’s project man- ager, Tom Hoffman. But he noted, “Any time you’re try- ing to land on Mars, it’s crazy, frankly. I don’t think there’s a sane way to do it.” No matter how it’s done, getting to Mars and land- ing there is hard — and unforgiving. Earth’s success rate at Mars is a mere 40 percent. That includes planetary flybys dating back to the early 1960s, as well as orbiters and landers. While it’s had its share of flops, the U.S. has by far the best track record. No one else has managed to land and oper- ate a spacecraft on Mars. Two years ago, a European lander came in so fast, its descent system askew, that it carved out a crater on impact. This time, NASA is bor- rowing a page from the 1976 twin Vikings and the 2008 Phoenix, which also were sta- tionary and three-legged. “Mimosa Madness” “Mimosa Madness” 2*%"9 /6&-#&2 2% Josephine’s *4$)&. Josephine’s *4$)& "../ Dena’ 4)&/ /(3 "5."/$" /5.% "5."/$" "../.&"$)0" "((*&".%&.29 "((*&".%&.29 Josep “Mimosa Madness” Dena’s Shop on "$)&,,&534*$ "$)&,,&534*$ 4)&/2.&2 /53&/'"3)*/. "5 /53&/'"3)*/. &"/,&3)/& /(3,,/7&% "((* &"/,&3)/& /54*15& /54*15& /,,/753/."$&#//+ /,,/753/."$&#//+ /5.% )& *.&)"$+ *-/3""%.&33 )& *.&)"$+ *-/3""%.&33 "934"$+/,*%"93"../.&"$) "934"$+/,*%"93"../.&"$) /9"(&3/93 Josephine’s “Mimosa Madness” /2"'5,,,*34/'"934"$+/,*%"93&6&.43 /9"(&3/93 /-*$3".% /2"'5,,,*34/'"934"$+/,*%"93&6&.43 /-*$3".% 6*3*4777$"../.#&"$)/2(&6&.43 "-&3 6*3*4777$"../.#&"$)/2(&6&.43 "5."/$" "-&3 /,,/753/."$&#//+ "((*&".%&.29 *-/3""%.&33 "934"$+/,*%"93"../.&"$) "$)&,,&534*$ "$)& /53& &"/ /54*1 )& /9"( /2"'5,,,*34/'"934"$+/,*%"93&6&.43 /-*$ /53&/'"3)*/. 6*3*4777$"../.#&"$)/2(&6&.43 "-& Follow us on Facebook /,,/753/."$&#//+ @MimosaMadness & @HaystackHolidaysCannonBeach *-/3""%.&33 "934"$+/,*%"93"../.&"$) For a full list of Haystack Holidays events visit www.cannonbeach.org/events &"/,&3)/& /54*15& )& *.&)"$+ /9"(&3/93 503.436.2623 /2"'5,,,*34/'"934"$+/,*%"93&6&.43 /-*$3".% 6*3*4777$"../.#&"$)/2(&6&.43 "-&3
