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About The Columbia press. (Astoria, Or.) 1949-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 10, 2018)
T he C olumbia P ress 1 50 ¢ C latsop C ounty ’ s I ndependent W eekly n eWspaper www.thecolumbiapress.com Voters to decide two city seats, several ballot measures B y C indy y ingst The Columbia Press The filing period is open on two Warrenton City Commission spots and Clatsop County voters also will decide at least seven ballot measures in the November general election. Warrenton’s voters will decide who’ll be mayor and who will fill commission Position 4. Henry Balensifer, 29, first was elected to the City Commission when he was 23. He was appointed to the mayor’s post by fellow commission- ers in June 2017 after Mark Kujala resigned the post. Voters will decide whether he should remain mayor for the first time in November. “Going from commissioner to may- or is actually quite a leap and a bit of a learning curve for me,” Balen- See ‘Election’ on Page 4 August 10, 2018 Vol. 2, Issue 32 Brownie troop’s good deed benefits local seniors The Columbia Press A local Brownie troop picked up the tab Monday for seniors having lunch at Warrenton Community Center. The girls donated $250 to cov- er that day’s meals. The money was a portion of what they’d raised through Girl Scout Cookie sales. The troop also gave everyone hav- ing lunch a box of Girl Scout Cookies and they stayed to mingle with the seniors, giving both a positive inter- generational moment, senior corre- spondent Emma Edwards said. The girls all enter third grade next month. New members are always wel- come, said Cindy Peel and Shawn Ford, leaders of Warrenton Troop 12491. Girl Scouts is open to those in kin- dergarten through high school and the organization focuses on building young people of courage, confidence Emma Edwards/The Columbia Press and character. Cashier Donna Searle receives a donation Monday from Girl Scout Brown- To join or to find more informa- ie Troop 12491 in Warrenton. The girls are (left to right) Caitlyn Crist, Lacey tion, go online to joingirlscouts.org. Miller, Lilly Peel and Autumn Niehuser. Drunk driver crashes into downtown restaurant The Columbia Press El Compadre Restaurant on Main Avenue sustained major damage early Tuesday when a suspected drunken driver in a stolen car lost control and drove into the back of the building. The driver, Jonathan Cody My- ers, 32, of Warrenton, was arrest- ed and booked at Clatsop County Jail for driving under the influ- The back wall of El Compadre Mexican Restaurant sustained major damage in the early Tuesday morning crash. Photo from El Compadre’s Facebook page ence of intoxicants, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, reckless driving and reckless endanger- ment of his passenger. His blood-alcohol level was re- corded at 0.21 percent, more than 2 ½ times the legal limit. A 16-year-old male passenger was injured and taken to Colum- bia Memorial Hospital. The driver, who lives near the restaurant, was headed west on Southwest First Street about 1:30 a.m. when he made a high-speed left turn into the alley that runs behind the restaurant and lost control, striking the building, ac- cording to a police report. Restaurant Manager Maria Avelar was notified of the crash during the night. When she arrived, she found a car-shaped hole in the cement brick wall at the back of the build- ing. Family members and helpers put up a temporary wall and the restaurant was open for Tuesday dinner service. Myers’ driver’s license previous- ly had been suspended. Officers administered field so- briety tests and observed an odor of alcohol and slurred speech at the scene, according to the re- port.