HUMMASTI: AN UNDISCOVERED TALENT COAST WEEKEND
Every Thursday
Jan. 24, 2019 • coastweek
end.com
An
undiscovered
talent
Two novels by local
teacher and writer
Neil Hummasti publish
ed years after his death
ALSO INSIDE
Windless Kite Festival
in Long
The photo of Neil
DailyAstorian.com // THURSDAY, JANUARY 24, 2019
146TH YEAR, NO. 148
Graduation
rates show
improvement
Schools in the county,
state still lag behind nation
Hummasti, taken
Beach, Wash., Jan. 26-2
7
Arnie Hummasti
in the 1970s
ONE DOLLAR
CLEANING UP BY
COW CREEK
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
Graduation rates across Clatsop
County and throughout the state were on
the uptick last school year, according to
state fi gures.
The state defi nes on-time graduation
as taking four years. Overall, schools
statewide have increased the graduation
rate at least fi ve years in a row, slowly
creeping up from 72 percent in the 2013-
14 school year to 78.7 percent last year.
Oregon schools still lag behind the 84
percent national graduation rate recorded
in the 2015-16 school year by the National
Center for Education Statistics.
Astoria High School recorded a 77.7
percent graduation rate , which Principal
Lynn Jackson said was the highest in his
12 years as an administrator. He pointed
toward a focus statewide on making sure
students are on track as they enter high
school.
“That transition in that eighth- and
ninth-grade year, that transition is vital
for students creating a solid academic
standing,” he said. “It is very diffi cult to
help students catch up on credit or skill
defi ciencies when they’re in their 11th
year.”
Jackson also pointed to Measure 98,
passed by voters in 2016 to improve
career-technical, college credit and
Brenna Visser/The Daily Astorian
See Graduation, Page A7
Ron Weber, a neighbor, is concerned about the blight from an abandoned property.
Neighbors want county to handle derelict property
Family sues
over Warrenton
teen’s death
A $3.4 million claim
By MOLLY YOUNG
The Oregonian
Attorneys for a Warrenton boy killed
in 2017 sued Oregon’s child welfare
agency Tuesday, alleging the state failed
to prevent the 15-year-old’s death.
The lawsuit seeks $3.4 million for
the surviving relatives of Trevor Sec-
ord. The Warrenton High School foot-
ball player died in January 2017 after
a pickup truck stuck and killed him on
U.S. Highway 101 while he was drink-
ing with friends.
The lawsuit alleges case workers at
the state Department of Human Services
ignored red fl ags in the months before he
died.
Secord was hospitalized in August
2016 for alcohol poisoning with a blood
alcohol level more than fi ve times the
legal limit for adults. But case work-
ers decided not to investigate further,
according to the complaint.
“Trevor’s mother wanted help in
this case,” said Portland attorney David
Paul, who fi led the lawsuit with Cannon
Beach attorney Brent Corwin on behalf
of Secord ‘s estate. The lawsuit identi-
fi es Secord’s by a different last name,
Crossgrove.
By BRENNA VISSER
The Daily Astorian
O
ut near Elsie, neighbors have
been watching a house slowly
fall apart .
Diane Jette and others who live in
Evergreen Acres can’t stand the eye-
sore and fear the waste from unknown
chemicals in the home and several
abandoned cars could be polluting
nearby Cow Creek.
“God only knows what’s going
into the creek,” she said.
Complaints were logged, but no
progress was made, largely because the
property owner could never be found ,
according to Clatsop C ounty records.
But in October, the county foreclosed
on the house over back taxes.
With the property now under the
county’s control , some neighbors
want the blight taken care of once and
for all .
“We want you to clean this up,
now, since we know who the own-
ers are,” Ron Weber, a neighbor, told
county commissioners Wednesday
night.
The situation highlights the com-
plicated issue of derelict and aban-
doned homes — a problem that has
Brenna Visser/The Daily Astorian
Diane Jette walks through a blighted property near Elsie that has concerned her for
years.
been steadily growing.
“It’s tough, because if it’s not tax
foreclosed, we can provide notices
and fi nes, but otherwise there is no
legal recourse,” said Monica Steele,
the interim county manager .
See Elsie, Page A7
‘THERE SHOULD BE NO INDIFFERENCE TO RURAL AREAS. (THEY) SHOULD
GET THE SAME RESPECT AS ANYWHERE ELSE IN THE COUNTY.’
Ron Weber, a neighbor
See Suit, Page A1
Former Astoria city councilor, trolley champion dies
Morden was a prominent
community volunteer
By KATIE FRANKOWICZ
The Daily Astorian
Don Morden, a former Astoria
c ity c ouncilor who was instrumen-
tal in keeping the Astoria R iverfront
T rolley running, died Tuesday.
Morden, 90, “passed peace-
fully with his daughter by his side,”
according to a Facebook post by the
t rolley’s “Old 300” group.
“Don loved the Old 300 and was
a dedicated volunteer,” they wrote.
“He will be missed.”
Morden had the distinction of
being the fi rst Astorian to ride the trol-
ley after Robert “Jake” Jacob found it
in Gales Creek, former Mayor Willis
Van Dusen recalled.
“Don
Morden
was a great Astorian
and will be missed,”
Van Dusen said. “He
was at the top of his
fi eld in the areas he
Don Morden
cared most about.
Don was a success-
ful businessman, a dynamic city
councilor, civic activist, he was a pil-
lar in his church, a loving father and
most important a wonderful husband
to the love of his life, Anne.”
“It was a privilege to work with
Don,” Van Dusen added. Morden
and Van Dusen’s service on the City
Council overlapped. “He will be
remembered as a man who made his
town a better place to live,” he said.
“Don was a good friend of Astoria
and a good friend of mine.”
Morden represented the city’s
South Slope neighborhoods on the
City Council for 12 years until he
decided to retire from offi ce in 2004.
During his time on the c ouncil, Coast
Guard housing was developed in his
ward and Mill Pond Village, pre-
viously a vacant and contaminated
lumber mill site, took shape on the
east end .
Morden also served on the Asto-
ria School B oard, as well as on city
steering committees. He was an orig-
inal board member of the Sunset
Empire Transportation District .
Morden was born in Iowa but
later lived in Illinois and South-
ern California. He moved to Astoria
with his family in 1974.
He and his wife, Anne, were high
school sweethearts, born only fi ve
days apart. They raised four chil-
dren and founded Columbia Choco-
lates in Astoria. Don Morden was an
active swimmer and runner during
his early years in Astoria, participat-
ing in races like the Great Columbia
Crossing, Van Dusen said.
Don and Anne Morden were
known as dedicated community
volunteers, and volunteered at the
Columbia River Maritime Museum,
in particular, for more than 20 years.
In 1992, the couple received the
George Award, a prestigious local
honor recognizing people who “con-
sistently stepped forward to meet
community needs, instead of ‘letting
George do it.’”
See Councilor, Page A7