A2
THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, AUGUST 3, 2021
IN BRIEF
Task force, think tank aim to address
homelessness in Seaside
SEASIDE — At a listening session in July, city coun-
cilors vowed action on homelessness.
At last week’s City Council meeting, they took the fi rst
steps, with the announcement of a homelessness task force
to be led by City Councilor Steve Wright and a homeless-
ness think tank overseen by City Councilor Tita Montero.
Wright anticipated meeting with the task force once a
month, “with a lot of study and hard work involved.”
“One of the things I talked about towards the end, is
we’ve gathered the information,” Montero said. “Now we
need to start formulating what we can do and a way to do
that is through possibly brainstorming.
“I’m calling mine a think tank, so that we can pull
together a variety of ideas and strategies coming from
things that we’ve learned and looking at how can we do
things, what can we do and how can we fund them.”
— The Astorian
Diaper
derby
Ill-fated tuna boat sinks off shore
Two years after a protracted ocean rescue, the tuna boat
Ruby Lily went down about 132 miles off Grays Harbor,
Washington, over the weekend, leading to another com-
plex rescue.
The owner of the boat, who was in a life raft, report-
edly refused assistance from a good Samaritan vessel and
later insisted to the U.S. Coast Guard that he be rescued
by a vessel rather than hoisted into a helicopter.
The man was reportedly in stable condition after being
recovered.
In July 2019, Coast Guard crew aboard three separate
vessels towed the 50-foot Ruby Lily for 116 miles over
four days into Yaquina Bay after it reported a stuck rudder.
— Chinook Observer
PG&E will face criminal charges over
deadly California fi re
Pacifi c Gas & Electric will face criminal charges
because its equipment sparked a wildfi re last year that
killed four people and destroyed hundreds of homes, a
Northern California prosecutor announced.
It would be the latest action against the nation’s largest
utility, which was forced into bankruptcy over devastat-
ing wildfi res ignited by its long-neglected electrical grid.
Shasta County District Attorney Stephanie Bridgett
announced on Facebook on Thursday that her offi ce had
determined that PG&E was criminally liable for the Zogg
fi re.
PG&E said the loss of life and devastation from the
fi re was “heartbreaking” but that the utility does not agree
with the district attorney’s conclusion.
— Associated Press
DEATHS
July 30, 2021
In HOWELL,
Brief
Morgan
Nicholas, 44, of Sea-
side, died in Portland.
Deaths
Caldwell’s
Luce-Lay-
ton Mortuary of Asto-
ria is in charge of the
arrangements.
SHOOP, Allen Carl,
73, of Warrenton, died
in Seaside. Caldwell’s
Luce-Layton Mortuary of
Astoria is in charge of the
arrangements.
MEMORIALS
Saturday, Aug. 7
Memorials
CAMERON, Charles
“Chuck” — Celebration
of life from 1 to 3 p.m. for
friends and family, Ocean
Beach Christian Fellow-
ship, 1311 37th Place in
Seaview, Washington.
RHOADS,
David
Allen — Service at
1 p.m.,
Cranberry
Museum & Gift Shop,
2907 Pioneer Road in
Long Beach, Washing-
ton. Lunch will be served
after the service.
ON THE RECORD
Assault
inal mischief in second
On
the Record
•
Bradley
Scott degree.
Minder, 42, of Asto-
ria, was arrested Sunday
afternoon at Ninth Street
and the Astoria River-
walk for assault in the
fourth degree and crim-
Theft
• Samuelu Tuim-
ato, 22, of Astoria, was
arrested Friday morning at
Walmart in Warrenton for
theft in the third degree.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
TUESDAY
Seaside Community Center Commission, 10 a.m., 1225
Avenue A.
Clatsop County Board of Commissioners, noon, work session,
(electronic meeting).
Port of Astoria Commission, 4 p.m., 10 Pier 1, Suite 209.
Seaside Library Board, 4:30 p.m., 1131 Broadway St.
Clatsop Care Health District Board, 5 p.m., (electronic meeting).
Astoria Library Board, 5:30 p.m., Flag Room, 450 10th St.
Seaside Planning Commission, 6 p.m., City Hall, 989 Broadway.
Cannon Beach City Council, 6 p.m., City Hall, 163 E. Gower Ave.
WEDNESDAY
Seaside Improvement Commission, 6 p.m., City Hall, 989
Broadway.
THURSDAY
Seaside Parks Advisory Committee, 6 p.m., City Hall, 989
Broadway.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
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Anthony Allen got a quick start in the Diaper Derby at the Clatsop County Fair on Friday, leaving all his competitors in the dust
and winning the contest.
State dollars roll in for Ilwaco projects
By BRANDON CLINE
Chinook Observer
ILWACO, Wash. — The
state dollars just keep on
rolling in for the city and
port of Ilwaco.
July saw a pair of proj-
ects for both the port and
city receive state funds
via grants and low-interest
loans, including a port proj-
ect that offi cials say is key
for the community’s eco-
nomic interests.
T he state Department
of Commerce announced
that the Port of Ilwaco was
awarded a $112,500 grant
and $637,500 loan from
the Washington State Com-
munity Economic Revital-
ization Board for the port’s
bulkhead
replacement
project.
The project is a pub-
lic-private
partnership
between the port and Safe
Coast Seafoods.
Guy Glenn Jr., the port
manager , said these state
dollars will be used to pro-
vide matching funds for
a federal port infrastruc-
ture development grant
the port is applying for
through the U. S. Maritime
Administration .
The port’s timber pile
bulkhead has been in place
for more than 50 years and
is considered to be in seri-
ous condition by engineers,
Glenn Jr. said. Bulkheads
are used to retain fi ll and
prevent the sliding of land at
the transition between land
and sea. The port has been
pursuing funding to replace
the bulkhead through the
Federal Emergency Man-
agement Agency since
2017, he said, to no avail.
Luke Whittaker/Chinook Observer
New funding and private investment by Safe Coast Seafoods
will permit replacement of the aging bulkhead that protects
vital working areas at the Port of Ilwaco.
Safe Coast Seafoods is
investing $2.4 million in
the project, and the com-
pany expects to create and
retain up to 90 jobs at their
facility. Along with directly
benefi ting Safe Coast Sea-
foods, Glenn Jr. said the
project will drive pri-
vate-sector investment in
the community and bolster
eff orts to retain private-sec-
tor jobs, “all related to sea-
food processing, commer-
cial fi shing and their support
industries.”
The project has indirect
benefi ts to the port and busi-
nesses located at the port,
Glenn Jr. said, including
charter fi shing businesses.
The tonnage and ex-vessel
value of commercial sea-
food landed at the port’s
commercial seafood busi-
nesses are required metrics
when competing for fed-
eral funding to maintain the
port’s entrance channels.
The port has received about
$11.8 million in federal dol-
lars for annual dredging
operations since 2014.
“It is imperative for us
Hundreds of lightning bolts start new fi res
By ANDREW SELSKY
Associated Press
Lightning bolts struck the
parched forests of southern
Oregon hundreds of times
in 24 hours, igniting some
50 new wildfi res even as the
nation’s largest wildfi re con-
tinued to burn less than 100
miles away, offi cials said on
Monday.
State, federal and con-
tracted fi refi ghters, aug-
mented by helicopters and
planes dropping fi re retar-
dant, pounced on the new
wildfi res in national forests
in southwest Oregon before
they could spread out of
control. The largest one was
estimated at up to 5 acres.
Thunderstorms unleashed
some 700 lightning bolts
that hit the ground and also
brought rain to some places,
but left others dry while trig-
gering multiple fi res, said
Margueritte Hickman, a
spokeswoman for the U.S.
Forest Service.
U.S. Forest Service
Critically dry conditions make forest fuels, like large logs, available to be consumed by fi re.
Firefi ghters and support
personnel worked through
the night to locate and extin-
guish fi res.
“After a storm like this,
it’s important to quickly and
effi ciently suppress these
fi res when they’re small,
not only to protect our com-
munities, but to free up fi re-
fi ghting resources to provide
aggressive initial attack on
the next fi re,” said Dan Qui-
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to support commercial fi sh-
ing and seafood process-
ing businesses operating in
the port for continued fed-
eral investment in main-
taining our entrance chan-
nel, directly benefi ting all
of our recreational users and
charter fi shing businesses,”
Glenn Jr. said. “This project
comprehensively supports
all of our port businesses, in
addition to maintaining our
popular working waterfront
and coastal heritage enjoyed
by thousands of visitors
traveling to the peninsula
annually.”
Glenn Jr. said the port
will pursue other fund-
ing options if the quest
for the MARAD grant is
unsuccessful.
The city also secured
state dollars in July , receiv-
ing $190,933 in grant funds
from the Washington State
Recreation and Conserva-
tion Offi ce to help with the
continued renovation and
improvements at the Ilwaco
City Park.
The project covers p hase
II of improvements at the
park, and focuses on reno-
vating the baseball fi eld and
basketball court. Phase I of
the project was completed
via a 2014 l ocal p arks grant,
and improvements included
a new restroom, picnic shel-
ter and playground.
Baseball fi eld improve-
ments will include new dug-
outs, bleachers, infi eld sur-
facing, the addition of a
batting cage, new fencing
for safety and the instal-
lation of a storage struc-
ture. The basketball court
will be resurfaced, receive
new hoops and new light-
ing, which the city said will
enhance the safety of the
facility.
“The overall goal of
this project is to provide
an under served commu-
nity with additional com-
petitive youth recreational
opportunities,” the city said
in its funding application.
“This project is important to
the community because the
City Park is the only park of
its type on the south end of
the Long Beach Peninsula.
The park provides accessi-
ble recreation opportunities
to youth pursuing competi-
tive sports.”
The city is also provid-
ing $49,305 in matching
funds, including $26,305 in
donated labor, $11,000 in
donated materials, $10,000
in cash and a $2,000 dona-
tion from The Chapman
Foundation, a non profi t
organization.
The project is not
expected to go out for bids
until 2022, and construction
may not be completed until
later that year or 2023, but
no fi rm timeline has been
established yet.
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nones, fi re staff offi cer for
the Rogue River-Siskiyou
National Forest.
The Oregon Department
of Forestry estimated the
number of new fi res at 50.
No towns or homes were
immediately threatened.
The Bootleg fi re, at 647
square miles the nation’s
largest, was 84% contained
Monday, though it isn’t
expected to be fully con-
tained until October. Such
megafi res don’t usually
burn out until late fall or
early winter when moisture
increases and temperature
decreases.
Firefi ghters driving bull-
dozers straightened the rag-
ged edge of a fi re line that
had been gouged out by fi re-
fi ghters to keep the Bootleg
fi re from spreading further
east, the fi refi ghting com-
mand center said.
The U.S. Department
of Agriculture announced
Monday that Agriculture
Secretary Tom Vilsack will
travel to Oregon and attend
a briefi ng Tuesday with
Gov. Kate Brown on wild-
fi re response, prevention and
preparedness eff orts.
Vilsack is co-chair of
the Biden Administration’s
Wildfi re Resilience Inter-
agency Working Group and
Interagency Drought Relief
Working Group.