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About The Columbia press. (Astoria, Or.) 1949-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 31, 2020)
January 31, 2020 T he C olumbia P ress Senior Moments 7 Business and development tidbits with Emma Edwards l and - use Meeting Smile! Spring is on its way Ground Hog Day is Sunday reads a current book to us, and all eyes will be on a ro- such as “The Wonky Donkey” dent named Punxsutawney and promises to bring in its Phil, a groundhog living in sequel, “The Dinky Donkey,” Punxsutawney, Penn. about Wonky Donkey’s baby Celebrations are girl. Jeanne keeps centered there as us grandparents he emerges from aware of current his burrow. Accord- trends in children’s ing to my friendly books, which helps Wikipedia (online us choose gifts for encyclopedia), if our grandchildren. it’s cloudy when he One thing about emerges on Feb. Jeanne is her sense 2 then spring will of humor. Her tele- arrive early. But if phone message ma- he’s able to see his Jeanne Moha chine even tells us shadow, then winter weather to smile. will continue for another six The definition of the word weeks. smile tells it all. I found this Anyway, it’s exciting to re- on Wikipedia: alize that spring is on the “A smile is formed primar- way. We won’t complain ily by flexing the muscles at about the rain as we already the sides of the mouth. Some see that some of our flowers smiles include a contraction are beginning to bud. Day- of the muscles at the corner light Saving Time begins this of the eyes, an action known year on March 8. And spring as ‘smiling with the eyes.’ is scheduled to arrive March Among humans, smiling is 19, with Easter then falling an expression denoting plea- on April 12. sure, sociability, happiness, Personally, I like Easter joy or amusement.” well into April rather than in What I like about a smile March. is that it’s contagious. Try it The Warrenton Senior Cit- yourself with the next person izens Inc. lunch site wants you run into. to congratulate its dining Last but not least, not so room coordinator, Jeanne long ago, a nonagenarian Moha, on her recent achieve- (George Gunn) shared a little ment. Many know Jeanne ditty with us that was found is a volunteer heading up on a gravestone more than the SMART (State Making a 200 years ago. The last two Reader Today) program at lines are said to be added by our local grade school. The hand. Remember me as you pass by, exciting news is that she has As you are now, so once was I, been chosen as the North As I am now, so you must Coast SMART Volunteer of be, the Year. Prepare for death and fol- Her son will escort her to a $250-a-plate fundraiser low me. To follow you is not my in- dinner in Portland to receive her award. It is fun to have tent ’Cause I don’t know where her working Mondays at our meal site. Sometimes she you went! More than 60 people at- tended a town hall meeting on land-use planning led by Mayor Henry Balensifer. “Land use impacts how we live … (and provides) the sense of place we have an Or- egonians,” he told the audi- ence. The three- hour meet- ing for local residents and planning commission- ers covered a variety of Phipps local, coun- ty, state and federal laws and included talks by City Attorney Spen- cer Parsons and Department of Land Conservation and Development representative Lisa Phipps. More people should engage with city leaders, Phipps said. “Your staff is here to be a sup- port to you.” C ounty jail progress Emerick Construction, the general contractor for the county jail renovation, has issued a call for subcontrac- tor bids for the setting of 150 steel foundation piles, with work set to begin June 4. Bids are due by 2 p.m. Feb. 6, with information at emer- ick.com/bidding. In Nov. 2018, Clatsop Coun- ty voters approved a $20 mil- lion bond for renovating the former Oregon Youth Au- thority facility in Warrenton into a jail capable of hous- ing 172. Additional funding from the state and county increased the budget to more than $28 million. Construction is scheduled to begin no later than May with completion by Fall 2021. F ort g eorge B reWery On Tuesday, Warrenton became the fourth and final government entity to ap- Cindy Yingst Grading and trenching for the 19,000-square-foot Tractor Supply Co. farm and garden store is under way on property behind Les Schwab Tire Center. The company has begun listing job openings for the new store, expected to open in the summer. prove an agreement with Big Beams LLC, owner of Fort George brewing company. The agreement entitles the company to a 15-year waiv- er of property taxes on the value of new investment in redeveloping the former As- toria Warehousing property on Marine Drive. It is in a county-designated enterprise zone. In exchange, Big Beams must invest at least $12.5 million in the project and create 35 new living-wage jobs. The company also will partner with Clatsop Com- munity College on courses and internships in brewing/ fermentation sciences. The tax abatement will to- tal an estimated $54,000 in revenue waived by the county over the length of the agree- ment. The enterprise zone is a partnership of Clatsop Coun- ty, the Port of Astoria and cit- ies of Astoria and Warrenton. The county was the last entity to approve the agreement. p uBliC address systeM Warrenton Grade School’s new public address system will go in and be tested over spring break. The PA system is an essen- tial part of security upgrades following school shootings elsewhere in the country. Voters to decide county fair tax Clatsop County commis- sioners approved placing a new five-year local option tax levy for the Clatsop County Fair on the May 21 primary ballot. The levy renews a tax orig- inally approved by voters in 2006, and supported again in 2011 and 2016. The original levy totaled 9 cents per $1,000 in property value; the tax was lowered to 7 cents in 2011 and to 5 cents in 2016. The 2020 levy raises the tax to 7 cents to cover increased operating and maintenance costs and allows for increased use of fairgrounds facilities. Senior lunch menu Monday, Feb. 3: Thai shrimp, brown rice with peanut sauce, mixed vegetables, potato corn chowder, berry shortcake. Thursday, Feb. 6: Meatloaf, mashed potatoes and gravy, broccoli, turkey and wild rice soup, chocolate cake. The Warrenton senior lunch program is at noon (doors open at 10:30 a.m.) Mondays and Thursdays at Warrenton Community Center, 170 SW Third St. Suggested donation is $6 for ages 55 and older; $7 for those younger. For more information, call 503-861-3502.