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INSIDE «
WEEKEND EDITION // SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2021
148TH YEAR, NO. 104
$1.50
CORONAVIRUS
State
grant to
improve
Riverwalk
A TRIBUTE
Dozens of friends, loved ones and patients drove by
the Cove in Seaside on Wednesday evening to pay
their respects to Dr. Ben Cockcroft. The longtime
Providence Seaside Hospital doctor was an avid
surfer who died while snowboarding in February.
A Portland Loo
for downtown
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Astorian
Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian
Astoria is getting a Portland Loo-style
outdoor bathroom at Peoples Park, among
a host of lighting, signage and safety
improvements to the Astoria Riverwalk
between downtown and Uniontown.
The Oregon Parks and Recreation
Department’s Local Government Grant
program awarded the city $428,408.
The city will add $288,937 from urban
renewal and tourism promotion funds.
The city’s community development
and parks departments prepared for the
grant with the help of the Astoria Down-
town Historic District Association and
the Astoria-Warrenton Area Chamber of
Commerce. The project ranked fourth out
of 27 applications statewide.
Jonah Dart-McLean, the city’s parks
director , pitched the project earlier this
month on behalf of the partners.
“I think there’s a lot of components
that made us successful,” he said. “One,
the Riverwalk is a great existing resource,
so it’s offering an improvement to some-
thing that’s already been invested in so
heavily. The city put in millions of dol-
lars over the years since the Riverwalk
was built. And then there was a lot of dif-
ferent facets of the project, too, that made
it attractive.”
The project will improve lighting
along the Riverwalk between Portway
and 17th streets and add buffer strips
along the trolley tracks to improve access
See Riverwalk, Page A2
MORE INSIDE
State updates vaccine rollout • A2
Home
business
divides
neighbors
A memorial is planned for Todd Chase, a
Warrenton fi sherman who died when the
Coastal Reign capsized.
City Council to hear appeal
over noise in Uppertown
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Astorian
N eighbors are fi ghting the conditional
approval of a man’s home auto-detail-
ing business in Uppertown over noise
concerns.
City staff had initially denied an appli-
cation by Will Gutierrez, who details cars
in the garage of a house he rents off of
34th Street, to run a home business, Van-
guard Auto Detailing, over noise and traf-
fi c concerns . After agreeing to limit his
hours of operation and take no more than
three vehicles a week, Gutierrez received
the support of city staff and approval
from the Astoria Planning Commission
in January .
Gutierrez argued that he can’t afford
to lease commercial space for the busi-
ness and pay child care costs for his
newborn.
“My wife works outside of my home,”
he said. “And when my son was born in
July 2020, I realized that by running the
See Business, Page A3
Edward Stratton/The Astorian
Astoria fi refi ghter Mike Groat, left, holds ‘Orville,’ the puppy belonging to John Wesley
Willis, right, that he saved from a house fi re in July.
‘My dog’s in there’
Artist honors fi refi ghters for rescue
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Astorian
Local artist John Wesley Willis said
he has never felt the kind of gratitude
as when Astoria fi refi ghter Mike Groat
emerged from his burning house holding
his puppy, “Orville.”
Willis thanked the Astoria Fire Depart-
ment at a ceremony Wednesday with
“Safe,” an oil painting on wood panel of
a fi refi ghter holding Orville outside the
home they saved.
In July, Willis was repairing an eave
of his historic bungalow on 15th Street
when the epoxy he was using ignited a
roof fi re. Willis grabbed a hose and tried
to battle the blaze. Lucky for him, an
Astoria fi re crew was headed back to the
station from a fi re alarm at Astoria Mid-
dle School, noticed the rising smoke in
the sky and went to work.
While the fi re crew battled the fi re ,
Willis realized Orville, his French bull-
dog and pug mix, had gone inside to
look for him. He’d gotten Orville sev-
eral months earlier, after his previous dog
died of cancer. Willis said he tried to go
into the house but was stopped by the fi re
crew.
“All I know is that I said, ‘My dog’s
in there,’” Willis told Groat on Wednes-
day. “Less than a minute later, you come
out with my dog, safe, and I just have
never been so grateful for anybody help-
ing me.”
See Rescue, Page A3
Memorial
planned for
Warrenton
fi sherman
Family grateful for
community support
By NICOLE BALES
The Astorian
In the week since Todd Chase died, the
Warrenton fi sherman’s family has seen a
fl ood of community support.
Chase, 51, was one of four crew mem-
bers aboard the Coastal Reign, a Warren-
ton-based commercial fi shing boat that
capsized Saturday while crossing the Til-
lamook Bay bar.
Chase and another Warrenton fi sher-
man, Zach Zappone, 41, died.
M ore than 200 people, including
North Coast businesses in the fi shing and
timber industries, have contributed to a
See Memorial, Page A3