March 30, 2018
T he C olumbia P ress
4
March draws 200 to Astoria streets
Around town...
Emma Edwards/The Columbia Press
Above: Easter bunny Avery Iverson poses
with sisters Adi and Annabelle Hawkins at
the Easter Bunny Breakfast.
About 200 people
braved cold, wet
weather in down-
town Astoria on Sat-
urday to be part of
the national March
For Our Lives
protest against gun
violence.
Above: Mayor Henry Balensifer reads “The Beren-
stain Bears’ Mama for Mayor” during Saturday
Storytime at Warrenton Community Library (photo
by Kelsey Balensifer).
Left: Betsy Jasmin with some of the raffle baskets
she put together (photo by Emma Edwards).
Below: Members of the Warrenton High School
football team helped serve at the Easter Bunny
Breakfast on Saturday at the Community Center.
Joyce Carrell for
The Columbia Press
Candidates forum is Tuesday
Image: City to get help while it grows
Continued from Page 1
eyesores on its main streets.
“Earl Ely’s old house on
Harbor. That’s a big dent in
the door of the city of War-
renton,” Commissioner Rick
Newton said.
“We should also deal with
the plank in our eye, which
is right across the street,”
Mayor Henry Balensifer said,
referring to the closed gas
station surrounded by junk
that’s across Main Avenue
from City Hall.
Work would begin in May,
should all go as planned.
“In the best of all possible
worlds, we start May 1 and
go, like, four to five months,”
Bosch said. “It’s not a long,
drawn-out thing.”
The process would involve
community leaders stepping
forward to work on specific
targets.
“There’s something unique
in every town,” Bosch told
commissioners. “It’s about
civic engagement and also
about civic leadership.”
The value of RDI’s contri-
bution in launching War-
renton’s economic vitality
program is about $40,000,
Bosch said.
“I’m really pleased with
the response and it feels like
Warrenton will benefit great-
ly,” she said, “not just be-
cause there’s a lot of enthu-
siasm, but the timing has to
be right. …
“Warrenton is on the map
as a regional commercial
center. If Astoria doesn’t
want those retail establish-
ments, we’ll take it.”
A candidates forum for
those running for Congressio-
nal District 1, Oregon House
of Representatives District 32
and the Clatsop County Com-
mission is set for 7 p.m. Tues-
day, April 3, in the auditori-
um of Astoria High School,
1001 W. Marine Drive.
The forum is sponsored
by the Astoria branch of the
American Association of Uni-
versity Women in conjunc-
tion with The Daily Astorian.
All candidates for those
seats have been invited and
each will be given time for
brief opening statement fol-
lowed by written questions
from the audience.
Trish Garner, state policy
chairwoman, will moderate.
For more information, con-
tact Sara Meyer at 503-325-
7969 or Liz Bartell at 503-
200-8605.
Sirens: City prepares warning system
Continued from Page 1
One will go on the roof at the
downtown fire station and
the other at the Hammond
fire station.
Some people are less than
enthusiastic about having si-
rens in the city, viewing them
as older technology.
“I don’t think they’re World
War II era, but they’re close,”
Fire Chief Tim Demers ad-
mits. Still, “if you don’t do
anything, nothing’s going to
work.”
A third siren could go at Fort
Stevens State Park, a 4,300-
acre recreational area with
more than 500 campsites.
“You start thinking about
our summer population and
there’s a whole separate city
there and at KOA,” Demers
said.