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About The Columbia press. (Astoria, Or.) 1949-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 28, 2018)
T he C olumbia P ress 1 50 ¢ C latsop C ounty ’ s I ndependent W eekly n eWspaper www.thecolumbiapress.com December 28, 2018 Vol. 2, Issue 52 The right path for the new year Oregon’s state parks offer ‘First Day Hikes’ The Columbia Press Oregon’s state parks will offer res- idents a chance to take a step in the right direction on the first day of the new year. The eighth annual First Day Hike will be held at 10 a.m. Jan. 1 at Fort Stevens State Park. It’s offered through a partnership of the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department and the National Park Service. There’s another first day hike planned at Os- wald West State Park in Nehalem and at 30 other parks across the state. Above: A snow-covered path awaited hikers at last year’s First Day Hike at Stub Stewart State Park near Vernonia. Right: Breath-taking views at Cottonwood Canyon near Wasco. The usual $5 day-use fee is waived and park rangers will serve as guides for the free hikes. Hikers can register at the Ore- gon State Parks Store, bit.ly/Park- StoreEvents. Although registration is not required, it will help park staff plan for the hike and give them con- tact information should the hike be canceled because of weather or oth- er conditions. Hikers should meet at 10 a.m. Jan. 1 in Parking Lot A for an easy four- mile hike on various trails. It’s not recommended for children younger than 7. Dogs must be on a 6-foot leash. It’s a leisurely hike that makes its way along the park’s extensive paved trails and will pass Swash Lake, an intertidal marsh famous for winter wa- terfowl watching. Participants should dress in layers, wear sturdy shoes and bring water as well as a cam- era or binoculars. For more information about the Fort Stevens hike, call 503-861-3170. Oregon’s maritime workforce is di- verse and plays a key economic role in many coastal and rural communi- ties, including Clatsop County. There were nearly 19,000 maritime jobs in Oregon in 2017, with average wages exceeding most other indus- tries, according to the state. Maritime jobs include commercial fishers who live in Oregon and other states but fish the state’s waters, those who live and pay taxes in Oregon but fish else- where and active mariners in the U.S. Coast Guard or Navy. A task force created by the state Legislature in 2017 was charged with describing the industry, determining labor market information and work- ing out a plan for maritime workforce development, since it appears the sector is growing. The task force sunsets at the end of the year and the group presented its findings this month. A challenge for the state is that the maritime workforce is aging, with many employees will retire or change careers within the next 10 years. The Columbia Press Warrenton achieved some mile- stones in 2018 and the good news is most of them were positive. New shopping and dining opportu- nities came to town and the city gov- ernment got busy making Warrenton a better place to live in and look at. Here’s a month-by-month look at some of the biggest local stories this year: Many job openings are expected, pre- senting the problem of ensuring ade- quately trained replacements. To measure maritime employment, the task force sought information from employee and licensing records as well as government data on service members. Of the nearly 19,000 maritime work- ers, it found there were 10,019 cov- ered by Oregon’s Unemployment In- surance program, 3,498 commercial fishers in Oregon, 1,447 distant waters (such as Alaska) commercial fishers, J anuary Warrenton Police became the first law enforcement agency in the county to carry Naloxone, a drug that can re- vive someone dying of a heroin over- dose. Other agencies soon followed suit. Warrenton-Hammond School Dis- trict begins planning for a new cam- pus after learning it cannot expand at either of its two campuses because both are within or near tsunami inun- dation zones. District Attorney Josh Marquis an- nounces his retirement after 24 years in Clatsop County. He leaves office in January 2019. F ebruary Pacific Power lineman Gary Dick and the late Hal Snow, Warrenton’s former city attorney, receive the top awards for community service from the Astoria-Warrenton Area Cham- ber of Commerce. Spc. Devin Kuhn, a soldier from Philadelphia, dies from an acciden- tal shooting during training at Camp Rilea. Prolific car prowler Randy Stack- house pleads guilty for burglarizing dozens of vehicles and is sentenced to two years in prison. A heavy snow blankets most of Clat- See ‘Maritime’ on Page 6 See ‘2018’ on Page 4 State’s maritime workers are aging while jobs are increasing The Columbia Press and news sources A look at stories that made the news in 2018
