Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Columbia press. (Astoria, Or.) 1949-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 27, 2019)
T he C olumbia P ress 4 2019: Leaders change and development hits town Continued from Page 1 chase of a 58-acre property south of Walmart for $6.3 mil- lion. It will be the site of a new middle school, followed by a new high school and grade school. •Timothy Pior, 15, a thespi- an, athlete and musician, dies from complications of the flu. •Robbie Porter is appointed principal of Warrenton Grade School. a pril •Lingering and debilitating smoke from a contractor’s burn piles prompts the city to re-do its burn laws. •A long-anticipated Wendy’s drive-through opens to much fanfare. In the weeks and months ahead, residents will complain of the traffic snarl created by poor planning of the entry and exit. •A homeless camp behind Goodwill burns, indicative of the problems illegal camps pose for the city. •Warrenton students walk away with a trifecta of wins in their division at the state’s re- gional competition for remote- ly operated vehicles. •Yadira Lopez and Joshua Colby sign a lease with the city to put their Nicaraguan food truck in the gravel lot next to City Hall. By year’s end, the owner of a second food truck, Sasquatch Sandwiches, agrees to lease a spot. M ay •The city of Warrenton an- nounces plans to sponsor a fish and farmer’s market at Warrenton Marina. The mar- ket opens June 20. •A charrette brain-storming session is held to gather ideas for a new commercial mixed- use project loosely named “Spur 104.” •Warrenton High School places second in the state’s an- nual band and orchestra com- petition. •Scott McClaine unseats in- cumbent Bill Hunsinger for Mark Wickham Above: The Navy lands a hovercraft at Sunset Beach in June as an emer- gency exercise. Left: Wendy’s opens in April. Above right: Col. Aaron Dorf hands over the wheel at Ham- mond Marina to Mayor Henry Peggy Yingst alensifer. a seat on the Port of Astoria Board of Commissioners. •Dooger’s Seafood and Grill closes its doors after 15 years in Youngs Bay Plaza. •The county’s Emergency Operations Center at Camp Rilea could be vulnerable in a tsunami, according to new studies. J une •An aggressive mother elk goes on a rampage through a Hammond neighborhood, re- quiring police action so resi- dents can go outside. •Two amphibious landing craft owned by the Navy con- duct an experiment on Sunset Beach to ensure emergency supplies would reach Clatsop County following a disaster. •Port of Astoria Executive Di- rector Jim Knight resigns after it appears likely the Board of Commissioners will fire him. •Sofia Morrill of Warrenton is crowned Miss Scandinavia on opening night of the Scan- dinavian Midsummer Festi- val. J uly •C&S Builders holds a grand opening at its new location on South Main Avenue at 10th Street in the former Warren- ton Builders Supply store. •A series of raids on homeless camps finds needles, debris and many repeat offenders. •Don Bohn, an assistant county administrator for Washington County, is named Clatsop County Manager. a ugust •Warrenton High School’s Mara Dowaliby is crowned As- toria Regatta queen. •Sheriff Tom Bergin, who has spent 35 years in law enforce- ment in Clatsop County, an- nounces plans to retire at the end of the year. s epteMber •Seven individuals and a sports team are inducted into Warrenton High School’s Hall of Fame. They are Bob December 27, 2019 •Warrenton is recog- nized for its efforts to revitalize downtown during a statewide conference of Oregon Main Street. •Three new restau- rants are planned in Youngs Bay Plaza, in- cluding two in the for- mer Dooger’s Bar & Grill and a freestand- ing drive-through at Cindy Yingst the corner of Highway Graves, Victor Graham, Walt 101 and Harbor Drive. Ferguson, Marilyn Swindler •Warrenton Fire Chief Tim Shayegan, Daniel Sturgell, Demers resigns amid an inves- Gary McBride, Muriel Dunn, tigation of safety violations by and the 1998 WHS baseball the Occupational Safety and team. Health Administration. •Diane Collier, Warrenton’s n oVeMber official historian, announces •Warrenton residents pay she’ll retire from her unpaid less for homes, utilities and position at the Oregon Wel- property taxes than residents come Center, leaving the kiosk of other areas, according to in Youngs Bay Plaza without a an analysis by the city’s Public tenant. Works Department. •Warrenton Police Depart- •Warrenton Grade School ment swears in two new offi- science teacher Dionne Mar- cers, Dylan McCoy and Madys- shall is named Region One on Hanna. Outstanding Teacher of the •Pizza Hut closes restaurants Year by the Oregon Science in Warrenton’s Youngs Bay Teachers Association. Plaza and Seaside. •Pacific Seafoods’ workers •The city approves a contract dormitories are approved by with Big River Construction to the Planning Commission. build and landscape a park at •Veterans from Fort Stevens the four-way stop. VFW Post 10580 receive spe- •Spruce Up Warrenton, a cialized quilts from the nation- grassroots citizen group clean- wide Quilts of Valor Founda- ing up downtown, wins the tion. first-ever grant from the Reser •The park at the four-way Family Foundation. stop is officially named War- •The U.S. Army Corps of renton Memorial Plaza. Engineers turns ownership •Convicted child molester of Hammond Marina over to Larry Leach is sentenced to the city, the culmination of 42 years in prison for abusing decades of legal maneuvering three young girls. and paperwork. d eceMber •Skipanon Water Control •The Port of Astoria’s finance District leaders announce the director, Will Isom, is named district will disband. executive director after serv- o ctober ing as interim director for five •The Confederated Lower months. Chinook Tribes, purchase 10 •Brian Alsbury, a longtime acres at Tansy Point for an volunteer firefighter, is named interpretive park at the site of Warrenton’s new fire chief. the 1851 Tansy Point Treaty. •Fire destroys a home at •The city signs a contract Warrenton Marina, displac- with Bergerson Construction ing seven children and three to dredge Hammond Marina. adults.