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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, FEbRuARY 1, 2019
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IN ONE EAR • ELLEDA WILSON
INVASION OF THE BEACH
A
small herd of elephant seals has taken over a pop-
ular tourist spot in Northern California, the AP
reports. They got away with it because they moved
in during the federal government shutdown, and there
were no park staff members around to shoo them away,
as was the custom. The interlopers are shown, courtesy of
Point Reyes National Seashore.
And, while the 60 adults were lounging around and
enjoying their new residence, 35 pups were born. A bit
more room was needed, so the group has spread out into
the parking lot, as well.
Now that the uninvited guests have settled in, there are
no plans to move them. The park staff is, however, consid-
ering making the best of the situation, and offering guided
tours of the seal colony.
TRUE TALES
W
ell, it’s true, and Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr
nailed it: The more things change, the more they
stay the same. These two snippets from The
Daily Morning Astorian prove the point.
Old-timers’ lament: There’s a lot of dressed and half-
dressed kids running loose around this town every night
that ought to be at home. They are not learning any good
on the streets after dark.
These youngsters, 15 or 20 years from now, will be
doing the kinds of business that the men of today are doing,
though for their own good, it is to be hoped some of them
will be in better business — and running the streets after
dark is a poor preparation for a life career. (Feb. 1, 1888)
Sound familiar?: A godly and goodly business firm of
Portland have written a horror-stricken letter to The Ore-
gonian, wherein it appears they are deeply grieved to know
that Astoria is in the hands of the roughs.
OLDEST CAT IN OREGON?
I
s Brujo the oldest cat in Oregon? Quite possibly.
“I’ve known my husband for 18 years,” Astorian Sue
Korpela said, “I’ve had Brujo for 25.”
She adopted the stray 6-week-old kitten in 1993, when
she was living in Kodiak, Alaska. A trip to the veterinarian
was in oder, so she took him to Dr. Brad Pope for shots
and neutering. Yes, it’s the same Dr. Pope who is now in
Warrenton.
Sue named the kitten Brujo because “he used to be kind
of mean, and Brujo means warlock in Spanish,” she told
Alistair Gardiner of the Kodiak Daily Mirror, who wrote
a story about Brujo last October.
In 2005, Sue moved back to Astoria, where she was
brought up. Brujo, unsettled by the move, disappeared
after a few weeks. Eleven months later, she spotted him
at Landwehr’s market at Miles Crossing. It was only 2.2
miles from home, yet it was sheer luck she found him.
Sue and her husband like to travel, so they bought an
RV so Brujo can come along. “He loves it,” she told Gar-
diner, “it’s like a little home for him.” They even took
Brujo to the solar eclipse last year, and he had his own set
of eclipse glasses.
Nowadays, he stays home and takes it easy, but still
does a little hunting. “Brujo’s hunting techniques consist
of hiding in the grass and waiting for a chipmunk to come
his way or finding a vole hole and waiting and listening,”
Sue said, although one time a chipmunk landed on Bru-
jo’s back while he was lurking, and gave him quite a turn.
Happily, Brujo’s disposition has mellowed with retire-
ment. “Now he follows me around like a puppy dog,” Sue
noted, “and will come when I call him.”
So, is Brujo the oldest cat in Oregon? The last Guinness
World Records holder, Courderoy, 27, of Eugene, disap-
peared in 2016 (bit.ly/courdgone). Sue wrote to Guinness
about Brujo, and they replied with a link to an application
with an $800 fee. Consequently, the oldest cat question
remains unanswered, but there’s no question about this:
Brujo rules.
WHERE IS COLUMBIAVILLE?
BLESSED AND THANKFUL
M
any local businesses stepped up to the plate,
offering credit at no interest to Coast Guard
families during the federal government shut-
down, when they weren’t getting paid, as a gesture of grat-
itude for all the Coast Guard does.
Main St. Market in Warrenton was one of them. On
Jan. 16, on their Facebook page, they extended credit, and
also offered to take 5 percent off the total bill. “All we ask
is that when government reopens,” the post added, “you
come in and pay off the balance on the account. Thank you
for all you do to keep us safe.”
Well, they sure didn’t have to wait long, thanks to a
good Samaritan. “A huge thank you to the anonymous
customer who came in and paid off all of the current Coast
Guard charge accounts!” the market posted on Jan. 25.
“We are so blessed and thankful to live in this amazing
community!” Indeed.
IS THAT YOU, BIGFOOT?
O
n Jan. 2, Austin M. Craig posted a video of a
friend’s Bigfoot sighting in Provo, Utah, on Red-
dit (bit.ly/provoquatch). A screenshot is shown.
“We’ll see if we can find footprints and definitely will
take video and pictures,” Austin wrote, “and at the very
least get some kind of scale for comparison.”
Well, the friends made the arduous climb to where
the Bigfoot stood, but they only found human footprints.
However, the spotter below said the men were half the size
of the critter in the video.
Kelly Shaw of the Rocky Mountain Sasquatch Orga-
nization saw the video on Reddit, and his interest was
piqued. Shaw went to Provo to investigate. He found and
filmed both human and Sasquatch tracks in the vicinity of
the sighting, so he’s convinced Bigfoot was there (bit.ly/
ksprovo). Are you?
‘A LARGE ANIMAL’
DISCOMFORT ZONES
R
O
n the heels of the 319th anniversary of the Jan. 26,
1700 Cascadia Subduction Zone megaquake and
tsunami, the Northwest Association of Networked
Ocean Observing Systems (NANOOS) and the Oregon
Department of Geology and Mineral Industries (DOG-
AMI) have released a redesigned free phone app with
maps of tsunami evacuation zones, and it’s available for
both Androids and iPhones.
The image shown is of downtown Astoria, and the yel-
low area is the tsunami evacuation zone — a place you
really don’t want to be when the time comes, and you’ll
only have 15 to 20 minutes to get outta there after the
earthquake before the tidal wave arrives.
Not certain if your home or work is in or near a tsu-
nami inundation zone? Just start zooming in on the big
map to your area of interest, and a list of brochures with
detailed maps appears on the right. It’s not a bad idea to
study them, and get familiar with where the high ground
areas are on the North Coast — and how to get to them.
Just in case.
ecently, this column ran the following squib from
the Jan. 18, 1889 edition of The Daily Morning
Astorian: “A post office has been established at
Columbiaville, Columbia County, and John A. Walsh
appointed postmaster.”
But where is Columbiaville? An internet search
revealed zip. Nada. Just to give you some idea of what is
involved to research such a nugget:
Betty Huber, the Columbia County clerk and recorder,
had never heard of Columbiaville, either, and recom-
mended asking the local historical society. Erin McCown
of the Columbia County Museum Association was equally
stumped, and asked the museum board. The president,
Joanne Pellham, is going to look into it further. One
director thought Columbiaville might have been Colum-
bia City’s original name.
The museum association curator, Les Watters, referred
the Ear to Ray Palmer, who has an interest in the history
of the postal service. He’s away, but will look into it when
he gets home, and in the meantime, alerted Ted Shepard,
another member of the Pacific NorthWest Postal History
Society, who offered to help.
Mr. Shepard was not able to come up with anything
about Columbiaville or Postmaster Walsh, and suspects
the post office order was rescinded — but there’s no record
of that, either. Once again, Columbia City came up, hav-
ing been re-established on Dec. 10, 1889, but the postmas-
ter didn’t match.
Finally, the Ear contacted Shawna Gandy at the Oregon
Historical Society. Columbiaville does not appear in “Ore-
gon Geographic Names,” which means it’s very obscure,
but the reference desk is going to do some research.
With all these fine researchers on Columbiaville’s trail,
hopefully someone will find it. Stay tuned.
E
ver wonder how Oregon is doing in the Bigfoot
sightings department?
Well, a Sasquatch was spotted by a woman
in Vernonia at 7:30 a.m. on June 24, 2018. The Bigfoot
Field Researchers Organization ruled it a Class A sighting,
which is as good as it gets (bit.ly/bigvern).
Here’s what she reported: “I let my dog out at about
6 a.m. this morning, he usually stays out 1-2 hours but
demanded back in immediately. About 7:30, and there
was the strong smell of sewage and I could hear branches
breaking along the side of my home …
“I got up and went to the bathroom, as I was walking in
I could see something and took a closer look. A large ani-
mal, blackish, walking upright going up the hill into the
cemetery behind my home.”
BFRO investigator Scott Taylor spoke to her at length
the same day, and documented her account in detail.
“There is no doubt,” he concluded, “that this witness was
fortunate enough to view a Sasquatch walking by.”
Just so you know, the last BFRO report for a Class
A Bigfoot sighting in Clatsop County was in September
1993 near Fort Stevens. Is Sasquatch avoiding us?
COMMUNITY NOTES
SATURDAY
Sit & Stitch — 11 a.m. to
1 p.m., Homespun Quilts &
Yarn, 108 10th St. Bring knit-
ting, crochet or other nee-
dlework projects to this com-
munity stitching time. All skill
levels welcome.
Detachment 1228 Marine
Corps League — noon, El
Compadre, 119 Main Ave.,
Warrenton. For information,
contact Lou Neubecker at
503-717-0153.
Columbia Northwestern
Model Railroading Club —
1 p.m., in Hammond. Group
runs trains on HO-scale layout.
For information, call Don Car-
ter at 503-325-0757.
Spinning Circle — 1 to
3 p.m., Astoria Fiber Arts Stu-
dio, 1296 Duane St. Bring a
spinning wheel. For informa-
tion, call 503-325-5598 or go
to astoriafiberarts.org
Astoria Warming Cen-
ter Neighborhood Meet-
ing — 4 p.m., First United
Methodist Church Fellowship
Hall, 1076 Franklin Ave., enter
on 11th Street. An opportu-
nity to share ideas, concerns
and information on the Good
Neighbor Commitment and
the current season.
SUNDAY
Seniors Breakfast —
9 a.m. to noon, Astoria Moose
Lodge, 420 17th St. Cooked
to order from menu, includes
coffee. Cost is $5 for seniors
62 and older, $7.50 for those
younger than 62. Breakfasts
are open to the public. Pro-
ceeds after expenses help sup-
port local and other charities.
Line Dancing — 5:30 to
8 p.m., Seaside American
Legion, 1315 Broadway. For
information, call 503-738-
5111. No cost; suggested $5
tip to the instructor.
MONDAY
Chair
Exercises
for
Seniors — 9 to 9:45 a.m.,
Astoria Senior Center, 1111
Exchange St. For information,
call 503-325-3231.
Grace and Encourage-
ment for Moms — 10 to
11:30 a.m., Crossroads Com-
munity Church, 40618 Old
Highway 30, Svensen. GEMS
group is a time for moms to
relax and enjoy each oth-
ers’ company. Free child-
care is provided. For informa-
tion, call Christina Leonard at
503-298-3936.
Senior Lunch — 11:30 a.m.,
Bob Chisholm Senior Center,
1225 Avenue A, Seaside. Sug-
gested donation $3 for those
older than 60; $6.75 for those
younger than 60. For informa-
tion, call Suzanne Bjaranson at
503-861-4202.
Columbia Senior Diners
— 11:30 a.m., 1111 Exchange
St. Cost is $6. For information,
or to have a meal delivered,
call 503-325-9693.
Warrenton Senior Lunch
Program — noon, Warren-
ton Community Center, 170
S.W. Third St. Suggested dona-
tion of $6 for seniors and $7
for those younger than 60. For
information, or to volunteer,
call 503-861-3502 Monday or
Thursday.
Astoria Rotary Club —
noon, second floor of the
Astoria Elks Lodge, 453 11th
St. Guests always welcome.
For information, go to Astori-
aRotary.org
Knochlers
Pinochle
Group — 1 p.m., Bob Chisholm
See Notes, Page b4