THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2019 • B1
WATER UNDER
THE BRIDGE
COMPILED BY BOB DUKE
From the pages of Astoria’s daily newspapers
10 years ago
this week — 2009
T
he latest Astoria project to get a boost from fed-
eral stimulus money is the Denver Street Com-
bined Sewer Overfl ow project.
The $4 million funding package, channeled through
the state Department of Environmental Quality, consists
of a $2 million grant and a $2 million loan at zero-per-
cent interest.
“Our focus has been acquiring grants for priority proj-
ects in the area of water and sewer infrastructure,” City
Manager Paul Benoit said.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration’s research fl eet is going to
Newport.
Astoria at one time looked to be a contender
for the location and several local governments
lobbied for the ships to be located on the North
Coast. But local leaders gave up the effort in
January, in part because of the cost of submit-
ting an application.
Today’s announcement came through the
congressional offi ces of Northwest senators and
representatives.
The Astoria Children’s Museum and the Indoor Play
Park are coming together under one name and one roof.
The two organizations will be known as “Captain
Gray’s Port of Play” and the new, single organization will
be moving to the Gray Elementary School gymnasium in
September.
The school already contains the Head Start program, a
daycare, and the alternative high school classes. It makes
sense for the Port of Play to join their ranks with its mix
of creative and active education, said Elaine Sproul, trea-
surer of the Astoria MOMS Club and one of the organiz-
ers of the play park.
It makes equal sense for the two organizations to
become one.
One of the most valuable Pacifi c groundfi sh
is at risk of being labeled overfi shed — a night-
mare scenario for the West Coast commercial
trawl fl eet.
A new stock assessment for petrale sole shows
the population is far below the federal “over-
fi shed” level, which could lead the Pacifi c Fish-
ery Management Council to halve catch limits
immediately and possibly cancel the catch alto-
gether until fi sh counts rebound.
But the assessment wasn’t initially adopted
by the council’s scientifi c committee, which post-
poned a vote on the date in June to take a closer
look at the numbers. Two more meetings on the
subject have been set for Aug. 31 and Sept. 1-2.
The council is scheduled to vote on groundfi sh
seasons in mid-September.
50 years ago — 1969
The hum of heavy equipment lulls residents to sleep
at night in areas adjoining the Northwest Aluminum site
in Warrenton as 20-hour a day work continues at the 200-
acre site.
Helped along by favorable weather, the two crews of
Construction West have put in 10-hour shifts for the past
two weeks.
An estimated 400,000 cubic yards of earth remains
to be moved before grading work is completed. If rainy
weather doesn’t interfere, the job may be fi nished by
Labor Day.
Nearly three million cubic yards of earth will have been
removed once the huge industrial site has been leveled.
After logging 7,389 hours of fl ight time and
fl ying on 704 assistance cases, ADC Master Chief
Clyde M. “Crash” Causley — last enlisted heli-
copter pilot in the Coast Guard — called it quits
Aug. 1, ending a 28-year military career.
Causley, stationed at Astoria Air Station since
1964, plans to reside in the Astoria area after
vacationing for a time. It was fi tting, then, that
his crewmen brought him some fi shing equip-
ment for a retirement gift.
Albacore catches delivered to local canneries have shot
upward, the area’s largest packing fi rm is running at full
capacity, and the best is yet to come.
That’s the optimistic outlook here as the tuna picture
continues to improve.
Besides processing salmon, Bumble Bee Seafoods is
handling 100 tons of tuna a day with a substantial addi-
tional amount stacking up in cold storage.
1969 — Retired Coast Guard helicopter pilot Clyde
Causley.
2009 — Balloon artist Dennis ‘Friend Lee’ Bunnell bows to Julian Whitset after transforming the 6-year-old Warrenton
boy into a samurai warrior at the Clatsop County Fair.
A Bumble Bee spokesman said “tuna are coming in
very strongly now.” He said boats were running anywhere
from four or fi ve tons up to 24 tons per boat. “We’re oper-
ating to capacity,” the offi cial said.
July was a lean month for the Port of Asto-
ria, with the sting of strike activity contributing
heavily to a reduction in exports of more than
100,000 tons compared to July 1968 totals.
Only 10 ships docked here in July — 11
fewer than in the same period a year ago —
with exports dwindling to 41,833 tons. However,
inbound cargo fi gures improved.
Tonnage was 2,866 in July, up 1,037 tons from
the same month last year.
The Oregon Highway department is having timber
cleared from its Sunset Highway right-of-way for 2.5
miles eastward from Saddle Mountain junction to the west
end of the four-lane segment near David Douglas Park.
This is being done so the highway can be widened to
four lanes.
The logging operation removes a timber “greenbelt”
along the highway that kept motorists from seeing logged
areas back from the highway. Result has been consider-
able fuss by Portlanders who have made Seaside trips and
become disturbed by removal of the trees.
75 years ago — 1944
An SP&S freight engine and a carload of wood plunged
through the open draw of the John Day River bridge fi ve
miles east of Astoria, and into about 25 feet of water at
2:15 p.m. Monday. It is believed to be a total loss.
The engineer, G.A. Baldwin, and the fi reman, Kenneth
Reigie, escaped injury along with Elmer Williams, brake-
man, when they jumped after the No. 395 locomotive top-
pled through the open draw pulling its tank car and the
loaded wood car with it. There were 26 cars on the Asto-
ria-bound freight train, and the other 25 cars remained
safely on the tracks.
Railroad offi cials here said that Baldwin, making his
1969 — The crew of Astoria Sea Scout ship Flying Cloud
took their sailboat out for a cruise on Youngs Bay. Sailing
provides both recreation and training for the boys.
fi rst run on the line, apparently missed the approach sig-
nals and came upon the draw too fast. It had been opened
for a passing boat, and was closing when the freight train
approached. The engineer, fi reman and brakeman leaped
to safety on dry ground before the engine reached the
draw.
The locomotive struck and smashed one of the bridge’s
girders, and then dived into the water, disappearing below
the surface and embedding itself in about eight feet of
muck.
Portland–bound train traffi c Monday was taken to
Svensen by bus, around the damaged track at John Day,
and thence by train to Portland. Trains have continued to
operate between Astoria and Seaside.
Kenneth Murdock, radioman second class,
U.S. Navy, son of Mrs. Florence Murdock,
341 Alameda, recently wrote that he had had
a chance to visit with the Astoria members of
Company L in New Guinea. Kenneth has been
in the Navy for two years.
His letter, written July 29, reads: “Finally
found Company L a short time back. They are
having a pretty rugged time down here. Five of
the fellows from home were killed in action just
before I ran across the outfi t ... I only got to see
my friends for a short time as they were pretty
far up. If you see Mrs. Savel, tell her that I saw
Olavi and that he is fi ne. I am bringing some
stuff home for Jimmy Hope. He is a technical
sergeant and has a reputation for being one of
the best in the division. The fellows have been
overseas for nearly two and a half years now and
they said I was the fi rst one from home they’d
seen that they really knew. Sure hope they get
a chance to go home for a rest soon. That old
infantry is really a tough racket.”
A moon fi sh, one of the strangest ever landed in the
Necanicum River, was caught recently by three Portland
fi shermen, Pat Foley, John Bond and John Patterson.
The fi sh, so named from its unusual shape, being
almost as round and not quite so fl at as a dollar, weighed
20 pounds. It was caught with a fl y rod. Ole Bracken, who
has fi shed in this area for many years, identifi ed the fi sh.
He said that occasionally a moon fi sh is washed up on the
beach or found in a crab hole but this is the fi rst one he
had ever known to enter the river. Authorities say that it is
native to the Atlantic.
1969 — Neil Mendenhall of Warrenton, member of
the Beachcombers 4-H Club, earned grand champion
showman honors at the 4-H, FFA Fair. He is pictured
showing his grand champion hog.