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THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, JUNE 25, 2022
IN BRIEF
New Youngs Bay Bridge
to close for nightly repair work
The New Youngs Bay Bridge will be closed to traﬃ c
nightly for about three weeks for a rehabilitation project
beginning on Sunday.
From about 9 p.m. to 6 a.m., drivers will be rerouted
to U.S. Highway 101 Business using the Old Youngs
Bay Bridge. The old bridge has a 25-ton weight limit,
according to the state Department of Transportation.
The project area will extend to the intersection of S.E.
Neptune Drive in Warrenton.
Bridge replacement project to reroute
traﬃ c on Youngs River Road
A replacement of the 66-year-old Klaskanine River
bridge on Youngs River Road will reroute traﬃ c starting
on Monday, the Clatsop County Public Works Depart-
ment said.
As an alternate route, drivers can use Olney Cutoﬀ
Road to get from Youngs River Road to Oregon Route
202, the county said.
The $2.5 million upgrade may not be completed until
next spring or summer, the county said.
New county planning
commissioners appointed
The Clatsop County Board of Commissioners appointed
three new planning commissioners on Wednesday.
Michael Magyar, of Lewis and Clark/Olney Wall-
ooskee, is a surveyor who previously served on the com-
mission. Katy Pritchard, of Astoria, serves as state Rep.
Suzanne Weber’s constituent services director. And Jer-
emy Linder, of Lewis and Clark/Olney Wallooskee,
works for Ag-Bag Forage Solutions.
The new commissioners were chosen from an applicant
pool of eight. Their terms expire at the end of June 2026.
County Commissioner Pamela Wev voted against
Pritchard’s appointment.
The terms of Commissioner Nadia Gardner, the com-
mission’s chairwoman, Commissioner John Orr and
Commissioner Lam Quang, end on June 30.
Gardner and Orr did not apply for reappointment.
Quang applied to retain his seat, but county commis-
sioners chose not to reappoint him.
City Council, Port raise concerns
about oﬀ shore wind development
Letters directed
to federal and
state agencies
By ALEXIS WEISEND
The Astorian
The Astoria City Coun-
cil and the Port of Astoria
Commission want to slow
down the process of devel-
oping oﬀ shore wind energy
to understand the impact
on ﬁ sheries, marine life and
the economies of coastal
communities.
In letters to the federal
Bureau of Ocean Energy
Management and the Ore-
gon Department of Energy,
the city and the Port recom-
mended a small demonstra-
tion to test oﬀ shore wind
technology. The letters also
urged the bureau to con-
duct environmental impact
statements before leases are
granted.
The letters are a reaction
to federal and state inter-
est in oﬀ shore wind energy
development on the Oregon
C oast.
Under
legislation
approved i n 2021, the state
Department of Energy will
develop a report identifying
the beneﬁ ts and challenges
of integrating 3 gigawatts
of ﬂ oating oﬀ shore wind by
2030.
Michael Dwyer/AP Photo
Oﬀ shore wind turbines are shown near Block Island, Rhode Island.
In April, the Bureau of
Ocean Energy Management
announced that it identiﬁ ed
two call areas — places that
could potentially be leased
for wind energy develop-
ment — on the Oregon C oast
as part of the Biden admin-
istration’s goal to deploy 30
gigawatts of oﬀ shore wind
energy by 2030.
The call areas, identiﬁ ed
as Coos Bay and Brookings,
total over a million acres .
Oﬀ shore wind energy
development in those areas
could coincide with ﬁ shing
activities, sparking concerns
that ﬁ sheries could face dis-
placement, increased compe-
tition and ﬁ nancial impacts.
Lori Steele, the exec-
utive director of the West
Coast Seafood Proces-
sors Association , said oﬀ -
shore wind energy devel-
opment in s outhern Oregon
would aﬀ ect Astoria’s ﬁ sh-
ing activities.
“Most ﬁ shermen, when
they head out to go ﬁ shing,
love to take a left turn and
head south,” she said. “Some
of those ﬁ shing grounds that
are in those two call areas are
our prime ﬁ shing grounds
for a number of ﬁ sheries.”
The Port Commission
voted unanimously on Tues-
day to send the letter.
C ommissioner
Rob-
ert Stevens said oﬀ shore
wind energy development
could impact the naviga-
tion of ships. “If you catch
ﬁ sh, deliver ﬁ sh, sell ﬁ sh,
buy ﬁ sh, buy it or eat it, you
should be concerned,” he
said.
Steele said the goal is
not to oppose oﬀ shore wind
development, but to support
a deliberative process that
evaluates environmental and
economic impacts.
The city recommended
moving all Oregon call areas
outside of a 1,300-meter
depth to avoid displacing
ﬁ shery activities.
At the Astoria City Coun-
cil on Monday, t he resolu-
tion triggered a debate over
the value of oﬀ shore wind
energy .
City Councilor Tom Hil-
ton questioned whether
oﬀ shore wind energy is
an important component
of Oregon’s transition to
cleaner fuel .
“I don’t think we should
have one of those oﬀ our
coast at all,” he said. “The
privatization of the ocean is
what we’re looking at. It will
deﬁ nitely devastate com-
mercial ﬁ shing.”
City Councilor Thomas
Brownson said the develop-
ment needs to happen with
consideration to ﬁ sheries
and other stakeholders.
“Climate change — it’s
not my opinion,” he said.
“As far as I’m concerned, it’s
for real, and we need to, as
societies, do everything pos-
sible to mitigate that.”
Brownson abstained on
the City Council vote in
favor of sending the letter.
County commissioners
approve child care grants
Summer intern assigned to The Astorian
A Clatsop County grant program to secure funding
for existing North Coast child care providers and encour-
age new ones will go forward.
The county Board of Commissioners on Wednesday
approved a set of program recommendations from the
county’s child care advisory group, a task force composed
of local specialists, stakeholders and community leaders.
— The Astorian
Weisend is a
student at UO
DEATHS
June 23, 2022
Deaths
BACKER,
Wil-
liam C., 74, of Seaside,
died in Seaside. Ocean
View Funeral & Cre-
mation Service of Asto-
ria is in charge of the
arrangements.
June 22, 2022
BOWLBY,
Robert
Simpson, 86, of Tolovana
Park, died in Seaside.
Caldwell’s
Luce-Lay-
ton Mortuary of Asto-
ria is in charge of the
arrangements.
DYER, Gladys Jean,
88, of Warrenton, died
in Seaside. Caldwell’s
Luce-Layton Mortuary of
Astoria is in charge of the
arrangements.
June 19, 2022
LENTZ,
Cheyene
Marie, 47, of Astoria, died
in Centralia, Washing-
ton. Ocean View Funeral
& Cremation Service of
Astoria is in charge of the
arrangements.
Assault
criminal mischief. The
On
the
Record
• Alisa
Lee Bowers,
alleged crimes took place
at Walmart in Warrenton.
DUII
• Arielle Mae Corri-
gan, 21, of Astoria, was
arrested on June 15 for
driving under the inﬂ u-
ence of intoxicants and
following too close. She
was allegedly involved
in a two-vehicle crash
near the intersection of
U.S. Highway 101 and
S.E. Ensign Lane in
Warrenton.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
MONDAY
Seaside City Council, 7 p.m., City Hall, 989 Broadway.
TUESDAY
Clatsop County Planning Commission, 10 a.m., (elec-
tronic meeting).
Astoria Planning Commission, 5:30 p.m., City Hall, 1095
Duane St.
Warrenton City Commission, 6 p.m., City Hall, 225 S. Main
Ave.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
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DailyAstorian.com
With passions for writing
and social issues, pursuing
journalism became the natu-
ral choice for Alexis Weisend.
Now joining The Asto-
rian as a summer intern, she
is looking forward to honing
her writing skills and mak-
ing connections within the
community.
“I want to explore what
issues matter here and learn
more about those (issues) so
I can take that to other jobs
Circulation phone number:
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that journalism provides
in breaking down com-
plex issues to help the pub-
lic stay informed and make
decisions, especially within
smaller communities.
Weisend said she is par-
ticularly interested in cover-
ing government and business,
but is willing to take on any
topics while reporting on the
North Coast.
With an eye for political
reporting, Weisend hopes to
eventually explore a number
of writing styles and roles in
the future, including long-
form journalism and investi-
gative reporting.
“I want to dip my toes into
everything,” she said.
‘I could be named the best chugger on Earth’
McKirdy to compete
on Coney Island
ON THE RECORD
23, of Beaverton, was
arrested on Wednesday at
Fred Meyer in Warrenton
for fourth-degree assault,
third-degree
criminal
mischief, second-degree
disorderly conduct and
resisting arrest.
Theft
• Kenneth Leslie
Yoho, 58, of Portland,
was arrested on Wednes-
day for second-degree
theft and third-degree
By ETHAN MYERS
The Astorian
and stuﬀ like that,”
sity’s
independent
Weisend said. “And
student newspaper,
maybe bring an out-
The Daily Emerald.
side perspective.”
She will take over as
Weisend, origi-
news editor for her
nally from the Bay
ﬁ nal year.
Area in Califor-
In taking on a new
nia, landed on the Alexis Weisend environment in Asto-
North Coast via the
ria, Weisend expects
Snowden internship program, to gain valuable experience
which is oﬀ ered through from her internship.
the University of Oregon.
“It’s a great experience
Weisend, also a student at working in an actual news-
the university, will enter her room. I haven’t gotten that
senior year in the fall.
because of the pandemic,”
Double majoring in jour- she said. “I like that Astoria
nalism and political science, is a small town. I have never
Weisend has ﬁ lled several worked in a small town and
reporting roles, including it’s so diﬀ erent from working
covering student and city in a bigger city.”
government, at the univer-
Weisend sees the value
By R.J. MARX
The Astorian
SEASIDE — On July
Fourth, Cameron McKirdy
will join other competitors
in New York’s Coney Island
for Nathan’s second annual
chugging contest.
The contest accompanies
Nathan’s Famous Fourth of
July Hot Dog Eating Con-
test. ESPN will air the event,
with a live audience of
35,000 fans.
McKirdy, of Seaside, is
one of seven chuggers cho-
sen to take on Eric “Bad-
lands” Booker, the “godfa-
ther of chugging,” a social
media star known for chug-
ging gallons of liquid in a
small amount of time. Bad-
lands was the champion of
last year’s chugging contest,
drinking a gallon of lemon-
ade in 40 seconds.
McKirdy, a professional
eater, hopes to bring the
chugging championship tro-
phy back to Oregon, what he
Cameron McKirdy practices
his technique.
calls “the true epicenter of
gastric-centric sports.”
McKirdy has worn a
variety of hats in his career
— none of them taught in
school — DoorDash driver,
professional cuddler, van-
life aﬁ cionado and creator
of the YouTube channel Sur-
vival Bros.
“I honestly learned about
my own eating greatness
at Pizza Harbor as a third
grader,” he said. “I remem-
ber eating 18 slices of pizza
with cake and ice cream
and still being able to play
games.”
McKirdy ﬁ rst got into
competitive eating after
watching the movie “Stand
monday, july 4, 2022
3 P.M. in Warrenton
Parade on Main
10 P.M. in Astoria
Fireworks over the river
Details on these events and
more at oldoregon.com
& at the Astoria-Warrenton
Area Chamber of Commerce.
Thank you to our sponsors
for making the holiday a blast!
by Me.”
“I love the pie-eating
scene, and wanted to be just
like Lardass,” he said, refer-
ring to the character known
for his legendary indigestion.
McKirdy has competed
up and down the West Coast,
even challenging against hot
dog champion Joey Chest-
nut in a deep-fried aspara-
gus-eating competition in
Stockton, California.
McKirdy’s personal best
is 26 hot dogs and buns at
a competition in Las Vegas,
only to be disqualiﬁ ed when
he was unable to keep the
food down.
“I am done eating franks
in competition,” he said.
“The meat sweats are brutal.
I prefer sweets, like pie. I will
never get sick of dessert.”
On July Fourth, McKirdy
will stick to lemonade.
He alternates speed
training one day, capacity
another. He chugs at super-
markets and convenience
stores, posting videos of
himself downing lemonade
at Fred Meyer and Gatorade
at Dollar General.
“Taqueria Pelayos 3 is my
go-to in Seaside for massive
burritos and to chug horch-
ata,” he said. “They have to
make more of the cinnamon
beverage after I order.”
McKirdy, who at one time
worked at Seaside bumper
cars, said the Coney Island
backdrop reminds him of his
hometown.
“Coney Island is and was
America’s playground,” he
said. “Seaside took inspi-
ration from Coney Island.
Look at the bumper cars,
amusement park, and odd-
ball attractions. I can’t wait
to ride the scooters at Coney.
I’m gonna smash everyone,
no matter the age.”
While he has the money to
get to New York, he doesn’t
have enough to get back to
Oregon.
But, he added, “I’m ﬁ ne
being stranded there.”
McKirdy is conﬁ dent he
can stand belly-to-belly with
Booker, who he described
as a “6XL beast, a living
legend.”
“I’m gonna get in his
head,” McKirdy said. “I
could be named the best
chugger on E arth.”
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