A6
THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2020
Landslides: Major
work will begin in
spring and summer
Continued from Page A1
from a major Cascadia Sub-
duction Zone earthquake
in Astoria will be from
landslides.
The city’s last major slide
went 85 feet deep near First
and Commercial streets.
The slide sent debris down
the hill from First Street
to Hume Avenue and lim-
ited Bond Street to one-way
access. The city in 2018 fi n-
ished a retaining wall and
fully reopened the roadway.
The slide followed the
same footprint as another
in 1954 that destroyed 23
homes in the area. After
the slide in the 1950s, the
houses not destroyed were
moved. The City Coun-
cil purchased the land
and prohibited develop-
ment on it. The 2007 slide
tore up underground utili-
ties, destroyed streets and
heaved around hills. But no
new homes were destroyed.
“There are some homes
on the edge that are still
right on the edge,” Crater
said. “When it slid the sec-
ond time, it went right past
that same boundary.”
The most recent worry
over land movement came
when a neighbor noticed
some at the west end of the
Irving Avenue Bridge near
19th Street. The bridge,
replaced in 2015, is in
an area the state consid-
ers highly susceptible to
landslides.
The city installed a
cover to keep water off the
sloughing soils and recently
fi nished installing an incli-
nometer to measure the rate
of land movement, Crater
said.
“There hasn’t been mea-
surable movement since
February,” he said.
With all the rain the city
has experienced this win-
ter, that’s a really good sign,
and the city believes the
land has moved as far as it’s
going to, Harrington said.
The city has a lot of areas
where the risk of landslides
need to be avoided and mit-
igated, Crater said. But he
and Harrington agree that
modern planning and geo-
technical studies avoid
many of the historical
pitfalls.
Major work will begin
on the geological hazard
ordinance in the spring and
A large landslide
along Commercial
Street in 1954
destroyed 23
houses. The city
did not allow new
houses to take
their place, limiting
damages in a
nearby landslide in
2007.
City of Astoria
Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries
Much of Astoria is at very high (red), high (orange) and moderate (yellow) risk of a landslide.
summer, Harrington said.
A ny changes to land use
would go before the Plan-
ning Commission and City
Council for approval.
“We’re not convinced
there’s a lot to be wor-
ried about,” Harrington
said. “We’re just trying to
make sure people take the
right steps to protect their
investment.”
Faber: ‘All those years of not wanting to be told what to do and it’s exactly what I needed’
Continued from Page A1
“You have two individu-
als that had a lot of obstacles,
had to overcome a lot of chal-
lenges from their past and
then create a new story for
their child and for their fam-
ily because they didn’t want
to re-create history,” Chris
Hoover, a probation offi cer,
said about Faber and her hus-
band during graduation.
“I don’t have words for
how proud I am of both of
you,” he said.
Faber’s drug use started
when she was in high school.
“Looking back at it now
... I didn’t understand why
my mom had put me up for
adoption,” she said. “And
also, my step-mom was a
very controlling person …
My dad was blinded and
it just drove me absolutely
crazy. So, I numbed myself
because of those feelings.”
Faber was adopted by her
uncle and his wife after she
was born. A lthough she saw
her biological mother a hand-
ful of times growing up, she
never knew her biological
father. She said her biolog-
ical mother also struggled
with drug use.
When she was 8 years
old, her adoptive parents
divorced, and then her father
remarried.
She said that’s when
things got rocky.
Faber said her stepmother
mentally and physically
abused her from a young age.
“It made me so angry. I
had so much anger inside of
me that I couldn’t direct any-
where,” she said.
Faber’s adoptive mother
moved to Missouri, where
she would visit her during
school breaks. In Missouri,
she had more freedom to do
what she wanted, and when
she went back to her dad’s
house in Arizona, it was
more strict, and she began to
rebel.
Once in high school, Faber
began to use drugs, which led
to her being expelled from
two high schools. Eventu-
ally, her father gave her an
ultimatum.
“He said, ‘Y ou can either
go live with your grand-
mother on the ranch or go
to Missouri.’ Obviously, I
picked Missouri because I
was able to do whatever I
wanted to do. So I went there,
and I made a life. I made a
criminal life, but it was still a
life,” Faber said.
She earned her GED
diploma and got a job.
“I just barely skimmed
through everything that I
needed to do to be success-
ful,” she said.
Faber then started party-
ing more and then one night
used a drug she thought she
would never use.
“It was that moment when
I was walking to the bath-
room … and I knew, ‘OK ,
it’s all downhill from here.’
I was disgusted with myself
that I had tried it,” Faber said.
“And from that moment
on, I just started getting high
on things I never would have
thought I would get high on,”
she said.
When she was 18 years
old, she got her fi rst driving
under the infl uence charge.
She said drug use, arrests and
warrants became a vicious
cycle.
Faber said she got to the
point where she wanted to
Cutest Baby
photo
contest
get clean, but didn’t know
how to do it on her own. It
wasn’t until she was given
the opportunity to get treat-
ment through d rug c ourt.
“Drug c ourt just doesn’t
give you another option,”
Faber said. “All those years
of not wanting to be told
what to do and it’s exactly
what I needed.”
Through treatment, she
was able to forgive her step-
mother and reconcile her
past. Instead of numbing her-
self, Faber said she had to
begin applying all the things
she learned in treatment to
cope with her stress. She said
she couldn’t have done it
without her faith.
“After a while, it was
almost enjoyable being part
of the community, going to
treatment, doing everything I
needed to do. There was like
a lift in my ego, and all the
while, I’m healing from the
inside,” she said.
She said, in the begin-
ning, most defendants don’t
trust d rug c ourt has their best
interest in mind. B ut then,
she said, “you realize they
are really trying to change
your life.”
2019-2020 | 30TH SEASON
COLUMBIAFORUM
Tuesday, February 18, 2020
Richard Neuberger of Oregon: A man ahead of his time
Richard Neuberger
When Neuberger died at the age of 47 in 1960, he was one of the most consequential Oregonians
of the first half of the Twentieth Century. Through his writing and political career, he moved
the center of Oregon politics from conservative to liberal. He was the first Democrat in 40 years
Oregon elected to the U.S. Senate. He was the second Jew elected to the U.S. Senate.
As one of America’s most prolific freelance writers, Neuberger gave voice to conservation values.
As Senator, he was one of three original authors of the National Wilderness Act. He also moved
the Highway Beautification Act through the Senate.
After decades of research, Forrester has authored a chapter on Neuberger
for Eminent Oregonians: Five Who Matter, which will be published
in early 2021. Subsequently, he will author a full
Neuberger biography.
Tuesday,
February 18, 2020
BABIES BORN BETWEEN 1/1/19 & 12/31/19
Submit a Photo
by email: classifieds@dailyastorian.com
in person: Drop by our Astoria office and
we’ll scan the photo for you
DEADLINE TO ENTER: FEBRUARY 22 ND BY 5 PM
Columbia Forum Sponsors:
• The Astorian/Coast River Business Journal
• KMUN
• Cannery Pier Hotel and Spa
• Craft3
• OSU Seafood Lab
6 pm Appetizers
6:30 pm Dinner
7 pm Program
Lecture-only attendees
arrive 6:45 pm
COLUMBIAFORUM 2019-20
RSVP by Thursday, February 14, 2020
To Attend:
Members: Dinner & Lecture $25 each; Lecture only free.
Non-Members: Dinner & Lecture $35 each; Lecture only $15 each
For reservations, to become a
member or be added to contact list:
Call Debra at 503-325-1211 or
email forum@dailyastorian.com
Forum to be held at
Baked Alaska’s
NEKST EVENT
175 14th St., Ste 100
Astoria
Foot of 12th St.