147TH YEAR, NO. 102
WEEKEND EDITION // SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2020
F
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‘MA
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D
EN
$1.50
Child
care
trouble
Shooting Stars
scales back
By KATIE FRANKOWICZ
The Astorian
Shooting Stars Child Devel-
opment Center will close in
Uniontown and downsize ser-
vices at the end of the month.
The center, which accounts
for 11% of all licensed child
care slots in Clatsop County, will
operate under a different type of
license and be able to care for
only 15 children a day, down
from 50 .
Another day care in Gearhart
is also closing its doors. The pro-
vider at Gearhart Kids Academy
confi rmed the closure but could
not provide details. Gearhart
Kids Academy, which opened
nearly fi ve years ago, serves
from 10 to 14 children at a time.
Denise Giliga, the director of
Shooting Stars, said trouble fi nd-
ing qualifi ed staff led to the deci-
sion to close at the current loca-
tion and downsize. Training to
fi ll the jobs would have taken up
to a year.
See Child care center, Page A3
University of Oregon Archives
A photo of Oregon distance runners in the late 1950s. From left: Mark Robbins, Wilcey Winchell, Ed Baldwin, Phil Knight and Dick Miller.
MILLER WAS STANDOUT RUNNER AT OREGON
By GARY HENLEY
The Astorian
Pacifi Corp
requests
electric rate
increase
Customers could pay
an extra $4.03 a month
Y
ou don’t have to be a
longtime resident of the
North Coast to know
who the Oregon “Tall
Firs” were. Or that four mem-
bers of that legendary Oregon
men’s basketball team — the
fi rst NCAA champions —
were from Astoria.
But the Seaside area had
its own famous Ducks. A
couple of “low profi le” Ore-
gon running legends.
And if you just happen to
have a copy of the Feb. 22,
1960 issue of Sports Illus-
trated lying around, there’s
still time to get a couple of
autographs.
It was 60 years ago this
week that the magazine ran a story, “Masters
of Endurance.”
The feature by Tex Maule featured Univer-
sity of Oregon running coach Bill Bowerman
and his group of distance runners, who also
happened to be some of the best in the nation
at that time.
Among others, the Oregon runners in the
late ’50 s included Dick Miller, a C lass of 1954
graduate of Seaside High School, and Jim
Grelle.
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Astorian
Seaside High School
ABOVE: Dick Miller,
upper right, with
the 1954 Seaside
High track team,
coached by Lou
Robinson.
LEFT: Dick Miller’s
senior photo at
Seaside High.
See ‘Masters of Endurance’, Page A6
Pacifi Corp wants to increase
residential electric rates by
1.6% starting next year to sup-
port a transition toward more
renewable energy, along with
other investments in wildfi re
protection , cybersecurity and
customer service.
Pacifi Corp, owned by invest-
ment fi rm Berkshire Hathaway,
provides power to 1.9 million
people in six W estern states,
including 615,000 retail cus-
tomers in Oregon as Pacifi c
Power. The price the utility can
charge for electricity is over-
seen by the state Public Utility
Commission.
The utility requested an
additional $78 million in reve-
nue — equal to a 6% increase in
energy rates — from the c om-
mission last week. It is Pacifi -
Corp’s fi rst request since 2013,
when it asked for 4.6% and the
c ommission granted 1.9%.
The utility is also proposing
See Pacifi Corp, Page A3
Study fi nds parking available downtown
Findings challenge
public perception
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Astorian
Few issues are thornier than the
availability of parking downtown.
Some swear off shopping or din-
ing because of it, while others con-
sider Astoria spoiled compared to
cities where people pay to park sev-
eral blocks from their destination.
But a parking study and survey
by the Astoria Downtown Historic
District Association has concluded
that, aside from some small pockets
and specifi c times, fi nding parking
is fairly easy.
Sarah Lu Heath, the executive
director of the downtown associa-
tion, presented the fi ndings to the
City Council on Tuesday.
“To stand up and say this isn’t a
problem gives me pause,” she said.
“However, for the last 3 1/2 years,
I’ve been downtown six days a
week, 50 weeks a year, and once in
2017, at the starting time of the high
boat parade during the Regatta, I
could not fi nd a parking spot.”
The study found small pock-
ets of constrained parking between
11 a.m. and 1 p.m. and 5 to 7 p.m.
— peak restaurant hours — in a
few blocks throughout the down-
town core and around the Garden
of Surging Waves, a former parking
lot turned into a park honoring the
region’s Chinese heritage.
Colin Murphey/The Astorian
See Parking, Page A3
A study examined parking downtown.