DailyAstorian.com // MONDAY, JANUARY 7, 2019
146TH YEAR, NO. 135
Gearhart
Crossing
closes over
weekend
ONE DOLLAR
Crab fleet
brings in catch
Owner declines to
comment on the closure
By BRENNA VISSER
The Daily Astorian
GEARHART – Gearhart Crossing,
a local pub, deli and grocery, closed on
Sunday.
While a “store for sale” sign has been
up in the window for months, the deci-
sion to close was first publicly announced
on Facebook on Saturday.
“It is with great sadness and a heavy
heart that I announce the closing of Gear-
hart Crossing Pub and Deli. Throughout
the eight years of ownership, we have
done our best to serve the people of the
Gearhart community,” the owners, Terry
and Molly Lowenberg, wrote in a state-
ment on the Gearhart Crossing Facebook
page. “We appreciate your support during
our time here ... We are forever grateful
for your support and encouragement.”
Molly Lowenberg declined to com-
ment on the closure, but confirmed that
the business is still up for sale.
The brew pub, which sits at the city’s
main intersection, was at times the center
of controversy.
See Crossing, Page A7
Photos by Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Victor Marcus and Justin Rogers offload Dungeness crab at the Ilwaco Fish Co.
First crabs of
the season
Sen. Wyden
promises to
fight to help
Coast Guard
By KATIE FRANKOWICZ
The Daily Astorian
T
Calls for end to shutdown
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden said he would
go to the mat to ensure members of the
Coast Guard are paid amid a government
shutdown entering its
third week.
Wyden was in Astoria
on Sunday for his 918th
town hall since join-
ing the U.S. Senate in
1996, part of a promise
to visit each of Oregon’s
Ron Wyden
36 counties at least once
a year while in office. He
recently won the Town Hall Project’s Sen-
ate MVP award for public accessibility.
He started by honoring the impact of
Josh Marquis, who is retiring after 25
years as Clatsop County’s top prosecutor.
See Wyden, Page A7
MORE INSIDE
Jonathan Kingsland and Cole Wasson prepare the fishing vessel Chandalar for the
crab season at the Warrenton Marina.
Kelton
Haggren
helps get a
crab boat
ready to
travel to
California
from
Warrenton.
Still no breakthrough on government
shutdown negotiations.
hough rough seas kept some
boats at the dock, many com-
mercial Dungeness crab fisher-
men began pulling gear and delivering
crab to processors over the weekend.
Oregon and Washington state fish-
ermen set gear over the New Year’s
holiday under blue skies, but then
faced stormy weather leading up to
the official opening of the fishery on
Friday.
The fishery was closed in Oregon
south of Cape Arago due to elevated
levels of the marine toxin domoic acid,
but could open this week pending the
result of additional tests.
Despite an ongoing federal gov-
ernment shutdown, the Coast Guard
continues to monitor the fleet. Rescue
crews responded to two commercial
boats in distress before fishermen even
began pulling gear. One boat they res-
cued had lost its rudder 17 miles off
the Columbia River entrance.
Industry leaders settled on a price
of $2.75 per pound to get the fleet on
the water, said Rex Leach, a fisherman
based out of Charleston and Coos Bay,
who has been involved in price negoti-
ations for many years. It’s a dime less
than the opening price last year, but up
from a starting offer of around $2.30.
“And then we’ll let market forces
take over,” Leach said.
See Catch, Page A8
Page A5
New downtown parking officer starts patrol
A background in
hospitality and
restaurants
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
J
effery Weaver sees his
biggest challenge as
being diplomatic with park-
ing scofflaws downtown.
Weaver, who starts today
as Astoria’s community out-
reach officer, plans to keep
his patrols sporadic to pre-
vent people from catching
on and skirting the rules.
“It won’t hurt my feel-
ings, I know that,” he said of
difficult interactions. “I’m
pretty thick-skinned. I just
hope people see me as less
of a ticket-writer, and more
of a tool for the city they can
use.”
A Warrenton native,
Weaver has spent most of
his adult life on the North
Coast working in hospital-
ity and restaurants. A cider
fan, he recently got a job
at Reveille Ciderworks. He
saw an ad on Facebook and
applied to replace Ronni
Harris as the Astoria Down-
town Historic District Asso-
ciation’s community out-
reach officer.
“I just see it more as pro-
viding a valuable service to
the community, rather than
being a guy nobody likes,”
Weaver said. “There’s a big
need for parking downtown.
That’s why there’s a two-
hour limit. I just see it as a
good opportunity to get to
know people downtown, be
an ambassador.”
Edward Stratton/The Daily Astorian
See Weaver, Page A7
Jeffery Weaver is the new community outreach officer for the
Astoria Downtown Historic District Association.