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About The Columbia press. (Astoria, Or.) 1949-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 14, 2018)
T he C olumbia P ress September 14, 2018 3 Suspicious package was doughnuts A suspicious tape-wrapped box found near Walmart’s Garden entrance prompted a police response for a possible bomb. Witnesses reported seeing a man with dark hair and a goatee and dressed in dark clothing leaving the area be- fore 8:30 a.m. Sept. 6. Officer Len Mossman con- tacted store employees and reviewed video surveillance, which showed two people leaving the box. While Moss- man searched inside the store, Sgt. Jim Pierce found one of the men in the parking lot at Astoria Ford. The man was carrying another box, which he held tightly. Upon questioning, the man was identified as Christopher Bernhardt, 34, of Warren- ton and he said he’d left the box near the entrance for his friend, who was shopping inside. The box contained doughnuts, he told the officer. But Bernhardt refused to dis- close the name of his friend or where he got the doughnuts. Meanwhile, Mossman locat- ed the second man and veri- fied that the box left near the entrance did, in fact, contain doughnuts. The food had been retrieved from the trash bin behind Dollar Tree, whose employ- ees had placed them there because they’d been damaged and couldn’t be sold. Petco, which is next door, has re- ported similar issues with someone using bolt cutters to access the trash receptacles. Bernhardt, who was carry- ing a pair of bolt cutters, had a warrant for this arrest. Man damages Fort Stevens fence A Bend man was arrested on suspicion of reckless endan- gering and criminal mischief after he drove down a bicycle path in the Fort Stevens his- torical area and repeatedly rammed a fence trying to get out of the park, according to a police report. Mark J. Wirges Jr., 40, was taken into custody after the 10:13 p.m. Sept. 3 case. Two days later, after park personnel had reviewed sur- veillance video, he was ar- rested again on suspicion of taking a trailer hitch and splitting maul from a park ranger’s vehicle. And the park estimated damage to the fence at $1,500. Wirges came to the War- renton police station about 4 p.m. Sept. 5 and demanded officers return a bag full of items taken from his vehicle when he was arrested, police said. “Mark Wirges was being verbally abusing and disturb- ing in the hallway,” an officer wrote. “He had to be asked a couple of times to calm down or he would be asked to leave.” The bag was found later, on the front seat of his car, which had been towed. Escapee caught after downtown chase A Roseburg man being held for attempted murder escaped from the Clatsop County Jail and led police on an hourlong foot pursuit through downtown Astoria Sept. 6. Virgil Lee Adams, 21, eluded officers by escaping through heavy brush and by entering and leaving several downtown buildings. Warrenton Police Sgt. Jim Pierce, who had just booked a warrant suspect at the jail, was one of the first officers on the scene and assisted in the pursuit. Adams was taken into cus- tody without further incident after jumping into the Colum- bia River, near 17th Street. Bonamici to have town hall Saturday Jenifer Katon of Wauna hands a ceremonial check to Pam Ackley and Debbie Morrow of Warrenton-Hammond Healthy Kids. Backpack program gets a boost Wauna Credit Union em- ployees donated $3,000 to the Warrenton-Hammond Healthy Kids BackPack Pro- gram, an amount raised in only two months. “I would just like to let ev- eryone know how much $5 can make a difference in the lives of hungry children; $5 fills a backpack for an entire weekend,” said Jenifer Ka- ton, an executive assistant at Wauna. The backpack program as- sists children in need by pro- viding weekend meals and is completely reliant on the good will of others. “This means so much to us and our kiddos to keep the growing number of back- packs filled, school supplies, playground equipment and everything else they need to concentrate on learning instead of where their next meal will come from,” said Pam Ackley, a Warrenton city commissioner and direc- tor of Warrenton-Hammond Healthy Kids. WHHK has sponsored the program since 2011. Those who would like to donate to the backpack pro- gram can do so at any Wauna branch. U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonami- ci, D-Ore., will hold six town hall meetings across the 1st Congressional District this month, including one in Sea- side. The meeting is from 1 to 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 15, at Seaside Heights Elementary School, 2000 Spruce Dr. Bonamici will take ques- tions from residents and provide an update about her work in Congress. “This is a piv- otal time in our country on many issues, so it is im- portant for peo- ple to participate in our democracy and make their Bonamici voices heard,” Bonamici said. “Town hall meetings allow me to meet with constituents in person so I can hear what matters most to them.” Members of Bonamici’s staff can assist those having problems with federal agen- cies such as Veterans Affairs, Social Security or the IRS.