THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, SEPT 10, 2019 • B1
WATER UNDER
THE BRIDGE
COMPILED BY BOB DUKE
From the pages of Astoria’s daily newspapers
2009 – National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration research vessels Sililqua, left, and Murrelet navigate down the Columbia River from the Hammond Boat Basin toward Trestle
Bay Wednesday during the Northwest Power and Conservation Council’s independent Science Advisory Board Estuary Tour.
10 years ago
this week — 2009
S
cientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration Point Adams research station in
Hammond are tracking Columbia River salmon
from the dams on the Snake River tributary to the bellies
of birds on the Pacific Ocean ... and beyond.
Some of their research is narrowly focused on habi-
tat restoration sites in Columbia, Pacific and Wahkiakum
counties, while other projects stray as far as the flocks
of sooty shearwater to nesting colonies in New Zealand.
On Wednesday, NOAA’s Point Adams team took
independent scientists from across the U.S. and Canada
to research sites in the estuary for an up-close view of
their workplace. The trip was a prelude to the Northwest
Power and Conservation Council’s Columbia River Sci-
ence Policy Exchange, which is being held today and
Friday at the Holiday Inn Express in Astoria.
When Jewell High students wrote an edito-
rial for the school’s newspaper, The Jay, con-
demning the Bradwood Landing liquid nat-
ural gas project and its political supporters,
they had no idea the article would make such a
splash when it was published last week.
Now, after former Jewell School Board
member Dave Samuelson complained about
the story, those students are afraid to speak
about why they wrote the piece.
Jewell’s journalism teacher Don Anderson
feels like they’ve been “bullied” into submission.
Law enforcement personnel have even inves-
tigated Samuelson’s call in case it rose to the
level of a threat. One part of the call had Sam-
uelson telling Anderson, “I’m going to come
after you.”
Clatsop County Sheriff Tom Bergin said
they spent some time reviewing the content of
Samuelson’s call, and determined that it was
not a criminal act. “It’s a nonissue for us as far
as law enforcement is involved,” he said.
The article strongly opposed the LNG com-
pany. No student author’s names were included
in the story. Also, the writer did not name any
politicians.
SeaPort Airlines has seen a slow but steady rise in
passengers flying between the Oregon Coast and Port-
land over the past six months.
Weekly ticket sales have doubled from around $6,000
in April to $12,000 in August.
SeaPort CEO Kent Craford says business on the coast
is exceeding expectations.
But Astoria flights are attracting fewer passengers
and generating less income than Newport flights, and the
service as a whole is far from paying for itself.
50 years ago — 1969
The historic fight to keep the beaches open for the
public reached the state Supreme Court today.
The court heard arguments on whether a beach owner
can put up fences to keep the public out.
Peter Herman, assistant attorney general, asserted the
public had acquired recreational rights on the beaches
through long usage.
G.K. Drummond, representing William Hay, a Can-
non Beach motel owner, said that would amount to con-
fiscation and was unconstitutional. He said if the state
wants beaches for the public, it should pay for them.
The case involved Hay’s motel. He does not dispute
the fact that the public has used the beach in front of the
motel for years, but argues his rights were not impaired
by that usage and he retained the right to put up a fence.
Miss Oregon Margie Huhta is on her way
home! After a jampacked week at the Miss
America pageant, full of much excitement and
little sleep, she will board a plane in Washing-
ton, D.C., and arrive at the Portland Interna-
tional Airport at 3 p.m. tomorrow.
The new Miss America, Pamela Ann Eldred,
of Michigan, began her reign on Saturday night.
1969 — The Columbia River Maritime Museum will get the superstructure of a submarine.
1969 – Full moorages at the Port of Ilwaco’s boat harbor is
one of the contributing factors to the port commissioners’
action Monday afternoon hiring an engineering firm to
prepare a new comprehensive plan which will carry them
up to 1985.
Port of Ilwaco commissioners Monday afternoon
voted to hire R.W. Beck and Associates, Seattle analyti-
cal and consulting engineers, to prepare a comprehensive
development plan of port facilities, which will include a
projection of the demand for moorage space, parking,
camper and shoreside facilities in 1975 and 1985.
Destined for display by the Columbia River
Maritime Museum in Astoria is the superstruc-
ture of the submarine USS Loggerhead. The
sub came out of mothballs at the Mare Island
Naval Shipyard near San Francisco last week,
to towing to Zidell Explorations, Inc., Portland,
where it will be scrapped.
Museum director Rolf Klep said tentative
plans are to set up the superstructure, or fair-
water, at the 17th Street waterfront park.
As part of a $69,000 project, construction of under-
ground conduit has started from Pacific Northwest Bell’s
Astoria central office to the intersection of Eighth and
Lexington streets, according to PNB Manager R.E.
Jensen.
Jensen said the project will employ several firsts. The
conduit will be accessible through manholes now being
placed in the streets. These manholes, Jensen added, are
precast, trucked to the work location and set into place
already complete. The conduit between the manholes
will be plastic, smooth and round, rather than the square
fiber conduit used by PNB in the past.
75 years ago — 1944
A big bald eagle that contested the railway right of
way with an S.P. & S. freight train locomotive near the
John Day station early Friday morning died of injuries
sustained in the head-on collision here Sunday after-
noon. The bird, measuring nearly 7 feet from wing tip
to wing tip, stood its ground on the railway track in the
face of the oncoming locomotive, according to Bart Cal-
lahan, engineer of the train, and refused to move an inch
until struck by the pilot step of the engine.
The end of the war in Europe will touch
off perhaps the greatest American celebra-
tion of all time, but it will center in the nation’s
churches of all denominations rather that in the
bars, cabarets and night clubs, a United Press
survey indicated today.
Everywhere, V-day celebrations will be tem-
pered by the knowledge that the job is only half
done – that Japan still must be beaten.
FORT STEVENS — Two 6-inch brass cannon over
60 years old, which were originally at Manila in the
Philippine islands, have been received here and will be
mounted on each side of post headquarters.
The cannon, the old breech-loading type, were
removed from the islands before the fall of Corregi-
dor and were sent here by Maj. Gen. R.H. Lewis, com-
mander at Fort Lewis, Washington. They are believed to
have come from Spain, originally as they bear the Span-
ish word “agraciado” meaning “guarantee” and the date
1783.
Astoria’s two laundries, with less than 30%
of their prewar working force and with a vol-
ume of wartime business almost 100% greater
than before the war, announced today that next
week they will clean up the laundry on hand
and then will be forced to close for lack of help.
GUAM — Marine S-Sgt. Lee A Pierce, 28, Astoria,
one of the last Americans to leave Guam before the war,
came back to the island the hard way.
Member of an engineer unit assigned to the repair of
the Orote airstrip, he landed on D-Day, two hours behind
the first marine assault troops.
The Astoria Leatherneck, who served 13 months
with the small garrison on Guam before hostilities with
Japan, was placed in charge of a 16-man detail handling
rations, fuel, water and ammunition on the beach when
the battle to retake the island began.
For outstanding performances of duty against
the enemy on Bougainville, Pvt. Junior A. Gray of
Warrenton has been awarded the combat infan-
tryman’s badge, it was learned here this week.
Gray, overseas for nine months, is a machine gun
ammunition carrier in a veteran infantry regi-
ment, which fought on Guadalcalal in February,
1943. Again on Bougainville the regiment distin-
guished itself in some of the bitterest fighting of
the island war against the Japs.