A2 THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, JULY 16, 2022 IN BRIEF County again extends vacation rental moratorium The Clatsop County Board of Commissioners on Wednesday extended a moratorium on issuing new vacation rental permits. It is the third extension in a year, as the county has worked to zone and regulate the enterprises. A moratorium was originally approved in August and went into eff ect in September. The county voted to extend the freeze in December and April. The latest extension comes three weeks after com- missioners approved an ordinance that allowed vaca- tion rentals as a permitted use in commercial and resi- dential zones in unincorporated areas. County staff is working on a plan to cap the num- ber of vacation rentals allowed in certain areas. That plan is due to arrive in a few weeks, but the full work on limiting the proliferation of the rentals would have continued after the second extension was set to expire in late August. The latest extension is scheduled to end on Dec. 24. Fires erupt at Camp Rilea during military exercise Wildfi res erupted during a military exercise at Camp Rilea Armed Forces Training Center in Warren- ton on Thursday afternoon. The fi res, which began before 2 p.m., were started by tracer bullets. The largest fi re, called the Bad Shot fi re, burned about 12 1/2 acres of beach grass, according to Jeff Golightly, the fi re chief at Lewis and Clark who served as incident commander. Another fi re, the Range fi re, burned about 5 acres within a containment line put in place last week during a prescribed burn in preparation for the exercise, Goli- ghtly said. No injuries or property damage were reported. Fishing extended on river amid strong Chinook returns Columbia River Chinook fi shing will continue uninterrupted through the rest of the summer season. The season runs from July 14 to July 31 from the Astoria Bridge to Bonneville Dam. The bag limit is two adult salmonids, limit one steelhead. Fishery managers decided to continue the season due to strong returns of summer Chinook and sockeye. The sockeye count at Bonneville Dam was 591,134 through Monday, which is the highest count to date since the dam was built in 1931. The season has the potential to break the record cumulative sockeye count of 614,179, set in 2014. County off ers virus testing at hazardous waste facility People can now get tested for the coronavirus at Clatsop County’s household hazardous waste facility on Williamsport Road in Astoria. The new site replaces the testing operation at Camp Rilea Armed Forces Training Center. The drive-thru testing site will operate 9 to 11 a.m. Tuesdays and Fridays. Testing is by appointment only and reserved for people with COVID-19 symptoms or who had a con- fi rmed contact with someone who tested positive for the virus — not for people looking to be tested for events, travel or presurgery, the county said. Astoria to hold ribbon-cutting for playground at Violet LaPlante Park An all-abilities playground will offi cially open to the public Thursday at Violet LaPlante Park in Astoria following a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The ribbon-cutting will be held by the city, Moda Health and the Portland Trail Blazers from 1 to 2 p.m. to celebrate improvements to the playground, which was installed earlier this year. Astoria was selected by the Moda Assist Program to receive funding to purchase the new equipment. The parks department received $20 for every assist the Trail Blazers made during the 2020-2021 regular season, totaling $37,000, with $10 each contributed from the Trail Blazers and Moda. The city also received a $4,500 grant from Pacifi c Power’s Community Foundation and a $5,000 grant from the Ford Family Foundation. — The Astorian DEATH July 12, 2022 TROUT, Arthur F., 67, of Seaside, died in Sea- side. Hughes-Ransom Mortuary is in charge of the arrangements. Death PUBLIC MEETINGS MONDAY Astoria City Council, 7 p.m., City Hall, 1095 Duane St. TUESDAY Port of Astoria Commission, 4 p.m., 10 Pier 1, Suite 209. Seaside Planning Commission, 7 p.m., work session, City Hall, 989 Broadway. PUBLIC MEETINGS Established July 1, 1873 (USPS 035-000) Published Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday by EO Media Group, 949 Exchange St., PO Box 210, Astoria, OR 97103 Telephone 503-325-3211, 800-781-3211 or Fax 503-325-6573. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Astorian, PO Box 210, Astoria, OR 97103-0210 OLD SCHOOL Luke Whittaker/Chinook Observer Flintlock fi rearms and tools for making ammunition during the Lewis and Clark era were on display at a historic reenactment last weekend at the Knappton Cove Heritage Center. Repair project for historic mural reaches $20K fundraising goal Artwork brings tribal culture and heritage downtown By R.J. MARX The Astorian SEASIDE — Donations from the city, the Oregon Coast Visitors Association and benefactors pushed fund- raising for a cultural history mural on Broadway over its goal of $20,000. Funds were raised to repair the 60-foot mural mounted on the Ace Hardware building damaged in November. The mural, by histori- cal artist and muralist Roger Cooke, brings the culture and heritage of the Clat- sop and Nehalem people to downtown. Cooke, a Sandy resi- dent who died in 2012, is best known for his histori- cal depictions of Northwest tribes. On the left of the mural are elders of the tribe. Among vignettes are a man carving a canoe and children playing on the beach. The mural also includes historic images of Tostum, headman of the Clatsop in the mid-1800s, and Joe Scovell, chief of the Nehalem. “The next step is we’re going to do a little clean- R.J. Marx/The Astorian The mural along Broadway before it was damaged by a crash in November. ing and sort of preparation and packaging of the exist- ing metal that’s housed in the tribal offi ces in Seaside,” Todd Lawson, an artist, archi- tect and tribe descendant, said. Sixteen of the 4-foot-by- 10-foot panels will be shipped to Seattle for restoration and then repaired and restored in Lawson’s studio. Work to repair the mural will be done by Seattle-based artist Jeff Mihalyo. “He’s a Renaissance man,” Lawson said. “Super interest- ing, super talented. You give him something, he will recre- ate it exactly if need be.” Tribal members will clean the panels with soap and water to remove corrosion before Mihalyo begins work. “We want to do it really gently,” Lawson said. “It’s got a lot of residue from the salty air coast there.” The fi rst step will be to clean “almost like the baby ducks that get in the oil spills,” Lawson said, using dishwash- ing detergent, some warm water and micro cloths. Most of the mural will survive, he said, with fi ve damaged spots “surgically removed and restored,” he said. “The real attempt is to do as little damage or intrusion as possible.” When complete, the mural will be scanned to provide a digital blueprint for future repairs. “We’ll be able to pull those out as high-defi nition scans with the original piece,” Law- son said. “If somebody did have to recreate it, it would be done as close to the original as possible.” When the work is com- plete, the Seaside Public Works Department will return to return the mural to Broad- way near Holladay, with the assistance of Ace Hardware, which will add mounting bolts. Seaside High School teachers Bill Westerholm and Kriste York, along with stu- dents in the Clatsop-Nehalem tribal history class, will add a QR code to link visitors to the tribe’s website and historical reference. Lawson said he anticipates work will be completed in August, with an unveiling in late August or September. “It’s a great opportunity to tell a bunch of diff erent sto- ries,” Lawson said. “That’s what is so exciting about it. I think that’s why both the city and the visitors association gave us the money. It tells us the story of the original inhab- itants, shows how my ances- tors lived and worked along the coast. This mural tells a great story of our history.” Reports: Dams may need to be removed to help salmon A White House council released the fi ndings By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS Associated Press SPOKANE, Wash. — The Biden administration has released two reports arguing that removing dams on the lower Snake River may be needed to restore salmon runs to sustainable levels in the Pacifi c North- west, and that replacing the energy created by the dams is possible but will cost $11 billion to $19 billion. The reports were released by the White House Council on Environmental Quality. “Business as usual will not restore salmon,” said Brenda Mallory, chair of the council. “The Columbia River system is the lifeblood of the Pacifi c Northwest.” If the four Snake River dams were ultimately removed, it would be largest such project in U.S. history. In 2012, the Elwha Dam on Washington state’s Olympic Peninsula was removed to restore habitat. At the time, the National Park Service said the elimination of the Elwha Dam was the largest such project in U.S. history. Many salmon runs con- tinue to decline, which envi- ronmentalists blame on dams, Mallory said, and her offi ce is leading mul- tiagency eff orts to restore “abundant runs of salmon to the Columbia River basin.” Mallory cautioned that the Biden administration is not endorsing any single long-term solution, includ- ing breaching the dams. A draft report by scien- tists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis- tration found changes are needed to restore salmon, ranging from removal of one to four dams on the lower Snake River to rein- troduction of salmon to areas entirely blocked by dams. A second report stud- ied how power supplies could be replaced if dams are breached. “These two reports add to the picture — that we are working alongside regional leaders to develop — of what it will take over the decades ahead to restore salmon populations, honor our commitments to tribal nations, deliver clean power and meet the many needs of stakeholders across the region,” Mallory said. More than a dozen runs of salmon and steelhead are at risk of extinction in the Columbia and Snake rivers. Billions of dollars have been spent on salmon and steelhead recovery, but the fi sh continue to decline, advocates said, and it is time to try a diff erent approach. Dam breaching is opposed by grain shippers, irriga- tors, power producers and other river users. Dam sup- porters blame declining salmon runs on other fac- tors, such as changing ocean conditions. “We need to go to larg- er-scale actions,” NOAA scientist Chris Jordan said in a briefi ng on the report Monday. VOLUNTEER Circulation phone number: 800-781-3214 Periodicals postage paid at Astoria, OR PICK OF THE WEEK ADVERTISING OWNERSHIP All advertising copy and illustrations prepared by The Astorian become the property of The Astorian and may not be reproduced for any use without explicit prior approval. Ramona NEW DAYCARE - OPEN NOW! Young female American Shorthair Subscription rates Eff ective January 12, 2021 Open year-round 3(Potty Trained) - 6 yo Monday-Friday 8am dropoff - 5pm pickup Ramona soaks up human affection and with quiet understanding returns the love. MAIL EZpay (per month) ...............................................................................................................$10.75 13 weeks in advance ...........................................................................................................$37.00 26 weeks in advance ...........................................................................................................$71.00 52 weeks in advance ........................................................................................................ $135.00 Located at LIghthouse Christian Church on Dellmoor Loop Rd. Warrenton Please call 503-738-5182 to Register Today See Petfinder.com DailyAstorian.com COPYRIGHT © Entire contents © Copyright, 2022 by The Astorian. MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS MEMBER CERTIFIED AUDIT OF CIRCULATIONS, INC. Printed on recycled paper DIGITAL EZpay (per month) .................................................................................................................$8.25 /LighthouseChristianChurch101 Sponsored by Bayshore Animal Hospital CLATSOP COUNTY ANIMAL SHELTER 1315 SE 19th St., Warrenton • 861- PETS www.dogsncats.org Noon to 4pm, Tues-Sat