A2
THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2019
Speak no evil ...
IN BRIEF
Fire destroys home in Knappa
A home on Simonsen Road in Knappa was destroyed
by fi re on Thursday morning.
No one was home at the time and no injuries were
reported.
In the afternoon, the fi re fl ared up again, but fi refi ght-
ers were able to put it out.
The cause of the fi re is under investigation.
Sunset Beach parking lot,
trail to close for controlled burn
A day-use parking lot at Sunset Beach and a portion
of the Fort-to-Sea Trail will close this week for a con-
trolled burn.
Beach access for pedestrians and vehicles via Sunset
Beach Road will remain open. The portion of the trail
that will close is between the Camp Rilea bridge and the
beach.
The day of the controlled burn will depend on weather
conditions.
The burn will target brush piles, which offi cials say
are prime fuel for wildfi res.
— The Astorian
Man killed in St. Helens
police chase ID’d
ST. HELENS — Police have identifi ed the man in
Wednesday’s police pursuit that ended with police using
deadly force in St. Helens.
Oregon State Police Capt. Tim Fox confi rmed Thurs-
day that the deceased was 32-year-old Michael Veatch of
Longview, Washington.
The Oregonian reported Veatch allegedly used a gun
to threaten someone at a St. Helens Chevron gas station
around 5:30 a.m.
Police said he then fl ed the scene in his vehicle and
his vehicle became disabled.
He then fl ed on foot. A St. Helens police offi -
cer used force against Veatch, offi cials said, and he
died.
Veatch’s partner, Savannah Eastman, said he died
after being hit by a car. Police have not confi rmed how
Veatch died.
Veatch was connected to an April incident in which
Brian Butts shot and killed Cowlitz County Sheriff’s
Deputy Justin DeRosier. At the time, police also arrested
Veatch and questioned him.
— Associated Press
DEATHS
Oct. 9, 2019
VAUGHN, Ann Marie
(Schultz), 66, of Asto-
ria, died in Astoria.
Caldwell’s
Luce-Lay-
ton Mortuary of Asto-
ria is in charge of the
arrangements.
LOFGREN, Joanna
Lee, 73, of Seaside, died
in Portland. Caldwell’s
Luce-Layton Mortuary of
Astoria is in charge of the
arrangements.
ON THE RECORD
Burglary
• Steven Michael
Wolf, 42, was arrested
off Alternative U.S.
Highway 101 on Thurs-
day for violating a
restraining order, inter-
fering with a police offi -
cer, burglary in the sec-
ond degree and escape in
the third degree.
Strangulation
• Tyler James Rich-
ards, 21, of Warrenton,
was arrested Thursday
at Sunset Beach Lane in
Warrenton for strangula-
tion and harassment.
Criminal trespass
• Spencer Alan Wil-
liams, 29, of Fresno,
California, was arrested
Thursday for crimi-
nal trespass in the fi rst
degree, disorderly con-
duct in the second
degree
and
resist-
ing arrest. Police said
he walking on Astoria
Bridge and disrupting
traffi c.
Disorderly
conduct
• Quinlan Eric Kualii
Hundley, 23, of Astoria,
was arrested Wednesday
in the Goodwill park-
ing lot in Warrenton for
disorderly conduct and
resisting arrest.
Gary Henley/The Astorian
Referees Teena Toyas, Zdravko Barbic and Ben Sago appear to do a variation on the ‘three wise monkeys’ as they walk off the
fi eld at the end of the fi rst half of an Astoria vs. Seaside boys soccer game at CMH Field.
Warrenton chooses Bergerson for Hammond dredging
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Astorian
WARRENTON — The
City Commission approved
a nearly $750,000 contract
with Bergerson Construc-
tion to dredge the Ham-
mond Marina, dismissing
a complaint fi led by a rival
bidder.
The city put out bids to
dredge 70,000 cubic yards
of sediment from 10 acres in
the marina, which it recently
took ownership of from the
U.S. Army Corps of Engi-
neers. Bergerson Construc-
tion, a pile-driving and
dock-building
company
that invested in a dredge,
came back with a bid of
$748,560 to dredge most of
the marina.
Underwater Earth Mov-
ers, from Vancouver, Wash-
ington, came back with a bid
of more than $1.6 million,
but protested that Berger-
Bergerson Construction
Bergerson Construction recently purchased a hydraulic
dredge, attaching it to an excavator that is then parked on a
barge and fl oated into small marinas and harbors.
son’s bid omitted informa-
tion about its equipment,
schedule, impact on the
marina and other challenges .
“Bergerson met all of
the criteria in the bid,” City
Manager Linda Engbretson
said Tuesday. “We did not
specify a type of dredge.”
The city has heard noth-
ing further since respond-
ing to the complaint letter,
she said.
Bergerson, located at
North Tongue Point in
Astoria, routinely beats out
competition for work in
the lower Columbia River
region because of its lack
of mobilization costs. City
c ommissioners also appre-
ciated that the money from
the contract would stay
locally with Bergerson’s
employees.
Greg Morrill, the presi-
dent of Bergerson, said the
dredging project will prob-
ably take two seasons to
complete. The company
will dispose of dredge spoils
in the shipping channel and
can only do so on an outgo-
ing tide.
Bergerson’s
dredge,
working in Westport, Wash-
ington, has completed a cou-
ple of projects in the region
as the company grows into a
new market servicing small
ports.
“It seems like small mari-
nas are the types of facilities
that are underserved,” Mor-
rill said. “We’ve crafted our
dredging program around
that need.”
PUBLIC MEETINGS
MONDAY
Youngs River Lewis &
Clark Water District
Board, 6 p.m., 34583 U.S.
Highway 101 Business.
Cannon Beach Rural Fire
Department Board, 6 p.m.,
Fire-Rescue Main Station,
188 Sunset Ave.
Seaside City Council,
7 p.m., City Hall, 989 Broad-
way.
TUESDAY
Astoria Historic Land-
marks Commission,
5:15 p.m., City Hall, 1095
Duane St.
Lewis & Clark Fire De-
partment Board, 6 p.m.,
main fi re station, 34571 U.S.
Highway 101 Business.
Seaside School District
Board of Directors, 7 p.m.,
1801 S. Franklin.
Seaside Planning Com-
mission, 7 p.m., work
session, City Hall, 989
Broadway.
Shoreline Sanitary Dis-
trict Board, 7 p.m., Gear-
hart Hertig Station, 33496
West Lake Lane, Warrenton.
Oregon Coast Aquarium
plans $18 million renovation
A rendering of the Oregon Coast Aquarium.
Established July 1, 1873
(USPS 035-000)
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By JAMIE HALE
The Oregonian
The
Oregon
Coast
Aquarium is already one of
the biggest attractions in the
state, but now it aims to get
even bigger.
The Newport aquar-
ium announced a fundrais-
ing campaign Wednesday
for an $18 million renova-
tion, which would remodel
existing facilities and add a
marine rehabilitation center,
as well as an outdoor play
area.
According to the aquar-
ium, this would be the fi rst
major remodel since open-
ing to the public in 1992. In
that time, the attraction has
drawn some 15 million vis-
itors, offi cials said.
“When the a quarium
opened more than 25 years
ago, it was never built to see
the number of people that
come through our doors,”
Carrie Lewis, CEO of the
Oregon Coast Aquarium,
said in a news release. “It’s
time to update our exhibits.
It’s time to improve the vis-
itor experience. It’s time to
provide a true facility for the
animal rehabilitation that we
do behind the scenes.”
Aquarium workers use
an old, repurposed ware-
house to care for endangered
marine life, and haven’t
been able to offer the kind
of intensive medical care
they’d like to provide for
animals like sea turtles, seals
and snowy plovers, offi cials
said. The renovation would
include a building designed
for that purpose.
In its present state, the
Oregon Coast Aquarium
remains a popular attraction,
drawing more than 420,000
visitors each year, accord-
ing to aquarium numbers.
Its indoor tanks of jellyfi sh,
rays, sharks and sea stars are
comple mented by outdoor
exhibits that hold sea lions,
birds and an octopus.
The
original
40,000-square-foot
facil-
ity was built on 23 acres
of land, and gained inter-
national attention in 1996
when it hosted “Keiko,”
the orca who was featured
in “Free Willy,” before he
was shipped to Iceland for
release into the wild.
It sits on the south-
ern shore of Yaquina Bay
and neighbors the Hat-
fi eld Marine Science Center
and Rogue Brewer’s on the
Bay — a fi tting place for an
establishment that bridges
the worlds of tourism and
science.