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THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, MARCH 2, 2021
THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, MARCH 2, 2021 • B1
WATER UNDER
THE BRIDGE
COMPILED BY BOB DUKE
From the pages of Astoria’s daily newspapers
10 years ago
this week — 2011
S
cott Green had spent more than 20 years working
on the shipping side of the Georgia-Paciﬁ c Wauna
Mill when he thought of an idea that would make
his day a little bit easier.
He never imagined it would make him the winner of
an international award that could change the workplace
for not only him but for other employees at the mill and
someday, in the industry.
Green’s idea and implementation of the Flex-Tube
Bagger is this year’s champion of Humant ech’s “Find It
and Fix It Challenge,” beating 145 inventions that improve
ergonomics, safety and wellness in the workplace.
“This is quite a surprise,” Green said. “I wasn’t even
aware of the award until we were ﬁ nalists. It did ﬁ x a big
problem and it’s nice to get this kind of recognition.”
Green spent several weeks working with the North
Coast f arming e quipment company, Ag-Bag Forage
Solutions, of Astoria, to modify the hay-tarping equip-
ment and then tried it at the mill.
WARRENTON — Air service is leaving Clat-
sop County.
SeaPort Airlines announced that scheduled
ﬂ ight operations between Astoria and Portland
will cease this month. The ﬁ nal ﬂ ight will be
Astoria to Portland March 12.
Scott Green, center, describes some of the modiﬁ cations needed to turn the Ag-Bag Forage Solutions bale wrapper into
a Flex-Tube Bagger, used to wrap stacks of pulp at Wauna Mill in 2011.
renton s chool b oard — met in three discussion
groups lead by Dr. Frank Russell, Astoria coun-
selor Fran Schlieski and James Sharp, of the
Clatsop County Mental Health Clinic.
The group, directed by Schlieski, had no trou-
ble beginning an active conversation and rela-
tions between youth and adults were friendly
as the two generations faced one another from
opposite sides of the room. Considerable stu-
dent discussion of student-teacher relationships
and possible solutions to problems in that area
was followed by a discussion on the need for sex
education in Warrenton .
Petitioners’ concerns about a proposed liqueﬁ ed nat-
ural gas project at Bradwood Landing outside Astoria
have been declared moot by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court
of Appeals.
A ruling released Wednesday dismissed a petition
from project opponents and the state , stating that, since
the project’s company, NorthernStar, has declared bank-
ruptcy, there is little chance of the LNG terminal and
pipeline being built.
Renee Fruiht’s second grade class at John
Jacob Astor Elementary School in Astoria is
trying very hard to not pet the bear of a dog
sprawled in front of them.
”Dolly,” a big, black, drooly Newfoundland,
isn’t making the situation any easier. She’s
rolled on her side, all but grinning at them.
A man who says he’s Capt. Meriwether Lewis
holds Dolly’s leash in one hand and a book in
the other.
He is reading “Seaman’s Journal: On the
Trail with Lewis and Clark” by Patti Reeder
Eubank, a story about the Newfoundland that
traveled with the famous explorers.
Tom Wilson, aka Lewis, started a reading
program through the Lewis and Clark National
Historical Park two years ago with three goals
in mind: teach history, get kids interested in vis-
iting the national park and encourage them to
read often and out loud.
The seasonal park ranger does this by visit-
ing classrooms across Clatsop County, reading
books with a historical bent to Dolly while in
costume.
Seaside Mayor Don Larson asks postal clerk Carol St.
John to take special care in mailing an application to the
National Civic League in 2011.
50 years ago — 1971
The worst shoaling at the Port of Astoria’s slips is
from the mouth of Youngs Bay and other low areas in the
Columbia River estuary during ﬂ ood tide, in the opin-
ion of Dr. Ray Crone, tidal hydraulics authority from the
University of California, Davis.
He said the sediment comes down the Columbia and
Youngs Bay , generally during storms and the beginning
of high ﬂ ows, in late winter and early spring. Some of
it goes out to sea, but most of it settles in large shallow
areas, such as the mouth of Youngs Bay and the middle
of the Columbia River. It deposits in thin layers, but all
during the year — more so in the summer — onshore
breezes churn up the mud, suspends and circulates it.
Anytime the sediment passes a place where it can settle
out, such as the protected area at the P ort’s slips, it will
do so, he said. If there is little wind or wave action, it will
remain there.
Ted Briggs, of American Metal Climax, told
an Astoria audience Monday it’s a “chemical
impossibility” for aluminum plant ﬂ uorides to
hurt the Columbia River e stuary. He said the
plant wouldn’t have any impact on the ﬁ sh or
wood industries and said American Metal Cli-
max would be a vehicle for Clatsop residents to
improve services.
Shawn Korhonen was crowned the Clatsop Community
College homecoming queen in 1971.
High winds threatened to force a tug and its tow onto
Peacock Spit at the mouth of the Columbia River this
morning, but later reports from the tug to the U.S. Coast
Guard’s Air Station Astoria indicated weather conditions
were moderating and the tug was averting the northward
drift.
The Coast Guard reported that the tug, Titan, tow-
ing the old U.S.S. Collier, which was converted into the
barge, Arlington, had two anchors out and engines going
to full speed but was still being pulled backward by its
tow. When the tug ﬁ rst called the Coast Guard Station
Cape Disappointment at 8:15 a.m., it was 4 miles south
of the S outh J etty, but by 11 a.m. it was only a mile south.
WARRENTON — Sex education, dress
codes and student-teacher-school board rela-
tions dominated group discussions Tuesday eve-
ning when nearly 70 adults and young people
got together for a “rap session” at Warrenton
High School.
Some 40 high school youths and 30 adults
— parents, teachers and members of the War-
Seagulls follow a ﬁ shing boat at sunset near Fort Stevens State Park in 2011.
75 years ago — 1946
The engineer aboard the drag boat Afognak, ﬁ shing
for Sebastian-Stuart Fish Co., had one of the narrowest
escapes from drowning reported among the hazards of
offshore ﬁ shing for a long time.
Ofﬁ cials of Sebastian-Stuart Co. in Astoria said that
the engineer was struck hard by a heavy sea, which
carried him off the dragger. He was further beaten by
another big wave as he hit the water in a dazed con-
dition. At the time, the Afognak was off the Columbia
River entrance.
A member of the crew who saw the engineer washed
overboard tossed in a plank, the nearest thing at hand.
Churned in the rough water, the engineer recalls faintly
struggling with his rubber boots, which he successfully
slipped off his feet.
Capt. Ralph Lane, skipper of the Afognak, which was
cruising at the time, swung his boat skillfully to the point
where he expected the engineer to be holding out against
the sea. A crew member saw the victim and tossed in a
ring buoy, ﬂ ying over the engineer’s head, but the line
fell in his hands.
S omeone aboard the Afognak started “ﬁ shing” for
the engineer, who had by now disappeared, with a pike
pole. The engineer was snagged by the seat of his trou-
sers and was hauled aboard unconscious.
The city administration has made engineer-
ing studies of a few tracts in the city where
there are steep slopes with a view to determin-
ing which lots in such areas should be recom-
mended as available for sale to private buyers.
The land planning consultant of the League
of Oregon Cities made a recent inspection here
and advised that no property with a slope of
more than 25% should be sold for construc-
tion purposes.
While city ofﬁ cials have not set up such a
policy, they are examining all such property as
to the possibilities that excavations on it might
start slides.
The Oregon Hydroelectric Commission on Wednes-
day night conducted a public hearing in Clatsop County
Circuit Court on the feasibility of establishing a public
utility district in the county. This meeting was autho-
rized by the commission after the sponsors committee
of the proposed Clatsop County Public Utility District
circulated and ﬁ led petitions for initiating the forma-
tion of the proposed district which would serve its ter-
ritory with publicly-owned power.
The ﬁ shing industry, both commercial
and recreational, is prepared to ﬁ ght fur-
ther encroachments upon a most important
resource unless positive proof is forthcoming
that proposed new projects are justiﬁ ed. This
was the challenge made Monday by Thomas
F. Sandoza, executive vice president of the
Columbia River Packers Association, when he
spoke on “Wealth of the River and Sea” before
the Portland Chamber of Commerce.
Sandoza presented a clear picture of the
salmon industry of the Columbia River and
its tributaries, its history, gradual decline, the
menaces confronting it and the possibilities
of its preservation and expansion if properly
safeguarded.
“Our ﬁ sheries still rate as one of the ﬁ ve
major industries of the state,” he said, “pro-
ducing between $20 million and $30 million
of processed foods each year and supporting
thousands of citizens.”
He said it had probably received less con-
sideration from the state than any other indus-
try. H e recited some of the constructive steps
taken during the past few years to conserve it
and solve the problems facing it.