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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 19, 2019)
THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2019 • B1 WATER UNDER THE BRIDGE COMPILED BY BOB DUKE From the pages of Astoria’s daily newspapers 10 years ago this week — 2009 S tarting this week, 15 workers will be laid off from Georgia-Pacifi c’s Wauna Mill for an extended period. The layoffs will come from the labor pool, a group of workers who fi ll vacancies as needed in a variety of jobs at the mill. Kristi Ward, public affairs manager for the com- pany, said it’s the fi rst time in “many years” the mill has had to impose involuntary layoffs. The North Coast was picking up the pieces Tuesday after Monday night’s big storm wal- loped the coast with high winds and almost constant rain. The National Weather Service warns that more bad weather is on the way. Sustained winds of 55 mph were reported at Clatsop Spit near Astoria and there was one report of a gust of 62 mph in Seaside. The U.S. Coast Guard closed the bars at the Columbia River and Tillamook Bay Monday and they remained closed overnight. The biggest casualty was the roof of the old City Hall building at Broadway and Roosevelt Drive in Seaside that blew off. Flooding south of Seaside caused U.S. Highway 101 to be closed overnight to all but trucks and large, high-profi le vehicles, with a reported 1 foot of water on the roadway. BAY CENTER, Wash. — Battling 70-knot winds and rain Monday night, the two-man crew on an oyster dredge ship had a harrowing experience trying to get from Bay Center to Nahcotta in extreme conditions. At about 7 p.m., the 57-foot vessel’s skipper, Jim Kemmer, of Long Beach, broadcast a mayday call when his ship, Miss Claudia, overheated and lost power. They were headed toward Nahcotta but had turned back to Bay Center when the engine failure occurred, setting them adrift in Willapa Bay, said Mark Dobney, civilian search and rescue controller for the U.S. Coast Guard in Astoria. The Coast Guard Air Station Astoria sent an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew out to respond to the call for help, but it had to return when winds in Warrenton were 70 knots and even fi ercer in the air, Dobney said. The dredge drifted until it went aground on a sand- bar north of Bay Center. Later, at about 10:15 p.m., the tide refl oated the ship, and the engine was able to restart. The vessel Elia Ann helped guide Miss Claudia into Bay center because the dredger’s motor and pro- peller had sustained some damage. The crew was not hurt and made it into port later in the evening. The roof of the old Seaside City Hall at 859 Broadway littered the sidewalk and street after being blown off by high wind overnight. Water rushes over U.S. Highway 101 near Seaside Helicopters. Flooding from the Necanicum River closed the highway to low-clearance vehicles, though a Subaru wagon, followed by a tow truck, was able to make it north into Seaside. 50 years ago — 1969 The Astoria tug Salvage Chief, veteran of salvage operations up and down the coast and in the Colum- bia River, was scheduled to start on another diffi cult job Wednesday. The tug, skippered by Capt. Reino Mattila of Asto- ria, has been at the scene of the capsizing of a 210- foot Cascade Construction Co. barge in the Columbia River near St. Helens since early last week preparing to begin turning it upright. The barge struck a bank and capsized on Oct. 30, dumping its load of gravel and sinking the 100-foot Knappton Towboat Co. tug Noydena. The tug has already been salvaged by the Salvage Chief and taken to Portland for repair, according to Knappton offi cials in Astoria. Salvage of the Cascade barge, which weighs 498 long tons, will be “quite an engineering project,” according to Capt. Richard Ganon of Cascade. The barge has “quite a large superstructure” and considerable machinery, he explained, and the over- turning operation will involve a series of counter- weight and riding arm levers. This procedure, combined with ballasting and pumping of the hull, is designed to protect the super- structure from damage during the overturning. Drizzling rain and gale winds provided a fi tting welcome for an offi cial arrival of the U.S. Coast Guard c utter Tupelo to the Colum- bia River A ids to N avigation service during change of command ceremonies at Tongue Point Coast Guard b ase in Astoria Friday. The new cutter, a 180-foot buoy tender for- merly based in Toledo, Ohio, arrived at b ase Astoria Monday, following an 8,000 nauti- cal mile journey out of the St. Lawrence Sea- way from its dry dock station at Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, where it underwent extensive repairs. the pressure for housing. And now that the pressure is increasing we fi nd more incidents here of noncompli- ance with the federal rent regulations.” Gage said the increasing pressure on local rents has resulted largely from infl ux of persons attached to the big N avy hospital and by new population in Astoria among people from outside taking up temporary resi- dence in connection with the hospital. He said the prob- lem has become serious enough probably to warrant attention by OPA’s rent enforcement division, which will take a close look at Astoria rents. Offi cial count of votes cast in Clatsop County revealed that the Roosevelt-Truman combina- tion defeated the R epublican Dewey-Bricker team here by 2,117 votes, 6,038 to 3,921. A picketer in front of the Astoria 88 Cent store. The 83rd anniversary of the founding by pioneer Astoria “Finns” of the local Finnish Brotherhood Lodge will be celebrated Satur- day at Suomi Hall with a program of music and speeches, refreshments and dancing begin- ning at 7 p.m. The executive committee of the Astoria Downtown Planning Committee spent most of its Thursday night meeting talking about the city’s parking problems and what to do about them. The verdict: Gather more infor- mation and try to work something out. A second meeting of organizations interested in help- ing the U.S. n aval hospital has been called for Mon- day evening at 7:30 p.m. at the Chamber of Commerce, according to Mrs. A.J. Antonich, chairman. Many groups were not represented at the fi rst meet- ing and Mr. Antonich is asking that men and women from fraternal, social, church, grange and labor groups attend. Seven permanent committees will be named at this time: entertainment, recreation, athletics, books and magazines, crafts and publicity and representatives of each organization should be prepared with names of persons capable of serving on each of these committees. FORT LEW IS, Wash. — Johnny came marching home again today to N orthwest fam- ilies after being away for nearly three years. Some of the fi rst American troops to go overseas after Pearl Harbor — member of the “Northwest’s own” 41st division — have checked in at the war department personnel center at Fort Lewis. A clerk and an offi cial of the Retail Clerks Union, Local 1092, picketed the 88 Cent store in Astoria today during a controversy over union representation. The union offi cial, Michael Swope, of Portland, said the “major purpose of the pickets was because 88 Cent hadn’t signed a pay contract with the clerks yet.” “The housing situation in the Clatsop County area will grow more critical as the naval hospital expands,” said Daniel D. Gage, a rent executive for the Portland branch of the Offi ce of Price Administration. Gage is here on a two-day inspection visit. “It is our experience that problems of rent control are in direct proportion to Condition of Judge Guy Boyington, admitted to St. Vincent’s hospital in Portland Friday night seriously ill, is said to be encouraging today with plans for an emergency operation scheduled for Saturday afternoon awaiting developments. Judge Boyington, a visitor in Portland last week attending a meeting of offi cials of the Association of Oregon Counties, was stricken sud- denly ill with a kidney or bladder disorder late Friday night at a hotel and rushed to the hospital for treatment. Cleanup is underway of fi re wreckage at the Warrenton Lumber Co. plant site on the Skipanon River. A predawn fi re destroyed the main mill on Oct. 26. A 12 1/2 ton ship anchor from the Columbia River Maritime Museum was returned to the museum after being away on loan. Loss of the USS Gambier Bay, a Vancouver-built escort carrier, in the battle off the Philippine islands, was revealed Friday by the Navy. 75 years ago — 1944
