Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 30, 2018)
SEASIDE SEAGULLS WINTER SPORTS PREVIEWS PAGES 8A-9A WEEKEND EDITION // FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2018 146TH YEAR, NO. 110 Portland toll plan would cover downtown Hope is to reduce traffic congestion By JEFF MAPES Oregon Public Broadcasting Oregon transportation officials unveiled a proposal Thursday to eventually toll two stretches along Portland-area freeways. The proposal calls for tolls along 7 miles of Interstate 5 through the heart of Portland, as well as a stretch of Interstate 205 around the Abernethy Bridge in the Oregon City area. Oregon Transportation Commission Chair Tammy Baney said it will be several years before tolls could be implemented. The transportation commission is expected next week to approve an application to the Fed- eral Highway Administration for the two tolling projects. There would have to be an extended environmental review before any federal approval. Officials say the tolls would help pay for widening projects along the two freeways. And they hope tolling would help reduce congestion by encouraging travelers to seek alternatives. “This is part of quality of life for the entire region,” Baney said at a press briefing at the Portland office of the Oregon Department of Transportation. “If we have the congestion increase that we’ve continued to have over the last four or five years, it’s not an equa- tion that works.” Officials say they don’t yet know how much tolls would cost. But they’ve par- ticularly been interested in how tolls were implemented in the Seattle area. They vary depending on the time of day and amount of congestion. Whatever happens here, offi- cials say they would use electronic tolling instead of old-fashioned toll booths. The drive toward tolling came from a 2017 bill passed by the Oregon Legislature that directed the agency to move forward with congestion pricing on I-5 and I-205 in the Portland area. ONE DOLLAR A DIRE PICTURE National climate assessment will help guide local decisions By KATIE FRANKOWICZ The Daily Astorian he Northwest is already feeling the effects of climate change and the situation is only expected to get worse, especially the weather, according to a national climate assessment. Next year, for the first time, climate change data will be included in Clat- sop County’s Natural Hazards Mitigation Plan, a collection that details how commu- nities intend to minimize, prepare for and respond to disasters like flooding, coastal erosion, drought, tsunamis and wildfires. The natural events are expected to be exacerbated by the more severe weather patterns associated with climate change. The county’s plan is updated every five years and ensures eligibility for federal disaster funding. The plan is separate from the national assessment, but will likely draw on data presented in the 1,600-page report. The assessment paints a dire picture for the future of the Northwest and predicts more severe weather and major impacts to nat- ural resource sectors from forestry to fisheries. Tiffany Brown, the county’s emer- T Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian Personnel at Bell Buoy Crab Co. off- load crab at the Port of Chinook. gency services manager, met with stake- holders this week and hopes to discuss the hazards plan update with the county Board of Commissioners in January. She sees the requirement to include climate change data as another lens, a useful and necessary way to understand how best to prioritize projects and prepare for a variety of disas- ters in the long term. But she is also aware just how divisive talk about climate change has become. “So let’s couch it in the most scien- tific thing we have at the county level, the Natural Hazards Mitigation Plan,” Brown said. “Let it (include) the raw data that came directly from the federal government and let it live there and let us come to the document as a community or as individual stakeholders and take what we need.” The county’s plan outlines situations that can be rare but that are — with the exception of a Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake and tsunami, last experienced here some 300 years ago — familiar. Cli- mate change and how it will specifically impact the North Coast is more difficult to sort out. A difficult 2015 The national assessment lumps together Oregon, Washington state and Idaho gen- erally as the Northwest and does not break the region down into more specific regions. However, 2015 — a year of drought and wildfires, low water, lack of snow and major agricultural losses across the Northwest — provides some insight. The extreme climate events figure heavily in the national report, illustrating some of what researchers believe could constitute the Northwest’s “new normal.” See CLIMATE, Page 5A See TOLL PLAN, Page 5A AP Photo/Don Ryan Tolls could be coming to Portland. Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian Nate Kelly, right, and Flynn Shaw, background, work on the crab fishing vessel Swell Rider. Gourmet sandwich cart makes debut in Astoria New food cart on Duane Street By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian A local chef is opening a gourmet sandwich cart Mon- day on Duane Street, with plans for a future noodle bar inside the former J.C. Penney store. Jason Lancaster recently parked his custom-made food cart outside the Art Garden at 11th and Duane streets. After passing a health inspection Thursday, Lancaster said he will be ready to go Monday as Sasquatch Sandwiches. “I’m really trying to cap- ture that downtown lunch crowd — quick, fast, easy to go,” he said. Lancaster plans an inter- national spin on classic sand- wiches with items like a Korean Reuben with pick- led cabbage, a chicken curry cashew salad sandwich and num pang, a Cambodian sand- wich reminiscent of banh mi. On the side, he’ll have house- made macaroni salad, pick- les and kimchi coleslaw, along with daily soup specials. “Mine are all going to be composed sandwiches, much like you’d get out of a fine-din- ing restaurant,” he said. “You’re going to get a com- posed sandwich hitting all the flavor profiles.” Originally from Seat- tle, Lancaster has worked at See FOOD CART, Page 5A Edward Stratton/The Daily Astorian Jason Lancaster will open Sasquatch Sandwich Shop, his new gourmet sandwich food cart, Monday along Duane Street in Astoria.