T he C olumbia P ress
1
50 ¢
C latsop C ounty ’ s I ndependent W eekly n eWspaper
December 1, 2017
503-861-3331
Vol. 1, Issue 48
Make way for the king, expected here Dec. 3 Stores crack
down as thieves
get more brazen
The Columbia Press
The king is coming.
And in these parts, “king” means
the state’s highest tides of the year.
It’s the eighth year that Oregon
will participate in what’s become an
international citizen-science effort.
Volunteer photographers are being
recruited to document the event.
The set of extreme high tides –-
known as “king tides” – will be here
Dec. 3, 4 and 5. They’re caused by a
stronger than normal gravitational
pull when the sun, moon and earth
are in alignment.
The international project start-
ed in Australia and, in Oregon, is
sponsored by the Oregon Shores
Conservation Coalition, the state
Department of Land Conservation
and Development, and the Surfrider
Foundation.
It’s helpful to the state and other
agencies to see the extent of flood-
ing and erosion and the impacts they
have on infrastructure and property.
“Higher than normal high tides
alone do not necessarily cause coastal
flooding,” according to a spokesman
See ‘King tide’ on Page 5
B y C indy y ingst
The Columbia Press
Above: Tracks along
South First Street in
Coos Bay flooded
during a recent king
tide.
Photo by Robert More
Right: The Peter Ire-
dale shipwreck on the
beach in Fort Stevens
is swamped by the tide.
Courtesy Oregon King
Tides Photo Initiative
County gets business park street plans in order
The Columbia Press
The county is doing some clean-
up in preparation for additional de-
velopment at North Coast Business
Park.
The area was platted more than a
century ago and those plans don’t
mesh with today’s plans.
Several streets were laid out – at
least on paper – in the 1890s and
again in 1903. They’re in all the
wrong places and the county wants
to remove them from the books, a
legal action called “vacating.”
“This is just a housekeeping thing,”
said Michael Summers, Clatsop
County’s public works director. “Me
and the county surveyor, we are just
trying to make it easier in the future
when we divide land.”
For instance, the Clatsop County
Sheriff’s Office sits on half of a large
parcel of land in the business park.
“We’re dividing it so that the sher-
iff’s office has its own land and then
the other will be vacant land,” Sum-
mers said. “This lines it up to be
more advantageous to the county.
We’re never going to sell the piece
of land the sheriff’s office is on, but
this will give us a remaining 10 ½
acres that we can sell.”
Because it’s publically owned
land and because it sits within War-
renton’s city limits, the public gets
to have a say.
On Tuesday night, Warrenton
City Commission set a public hear-
ing on the street vacation issue for
Jan. 8.
See ‘Business’ on Page 6
Thieves are getting bold and brazen.
One stole groceries from Fred Mey-
er and then rode his bicycle through the
store from the grocery side out the mer-
chandise entrance.
A second thief left the store without pay-
ing for items, grabbed another customer’s
bicycle and used it as a get-away vehicle.
A third fought so hard with a loss-pre-
vention officer that his shoplifting charge
was upgraded to strong-arm robbery.
A fourth changed into stolen clothes in
Fred Meyer’s bathroom and left behind
a bag with a job application for a nearby
restaurant with her name and address.
“A lot of them mostly are drug-related,
and when it gets close to the holidays we
get more,” said Summer, a loss-preven-
tion officer at the store. Her last name is
being withheld for her protection.
“Fred Meyer does take pride in its secu-
rity team,” she said. “We watch the cam-
eras. We have a team out on the floor as
well. We want to make it a safe place to
shop for everyone else.”
The above incidents all occurred at Fred
Meyer during the past two weeks. There
were additional shoplifters caught who
were turned over to police without inci-
dent.
While most shoplifters who are spotted
get arrested, the crime doesn’t usually
land someone in jail. Shoplifters do have
to go to court, pay fines and live with a
criminal record.
However, those who use force while
attempting to get away, those who insti-
gate a police chase or search, those found
to have drugs on them and those with
$1,000 or more in stolen merchandise
See ‘Shoplifting’ on Page 3