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About The Columbia press. (Astoria, Or.) 1949-current | View Entire Issue (April 23, 2021)
The Columbia Press 1 Clatsop County’s Independent Weekly www.thecolumbiapress.com Vol. 5, Issue 17 April 23, 2021 Coos Bay fishing vessel catches fire near marina The Columbia Press A 52-foot fishing vessel was deemed a total loss Friday after it caught fire at the mouth of the Skipanon River just offshore from Hampton Lumber. Three crew members were aboard the Pacific Cloud when the fire was reported at 12:41 p.m. All jumped in the water and made it safely to shore. “Warrenton Fire had difficulty access- ing the victims and fire due to the terrain at the bayfront property,” Fire Chief Brian Alsbury said. The firefighting effort was a great exam- ple of mutual aid and teamwork from sur- rounding agencies. Seaside Fire’s water rescue team arrived on personal watercraft. Astoria Fire sent its fire boat, Trident, although it blew an engine shortly after arriving and immedi- ately returned to its home port. Warrenton Fire Department Chaplain Kevin Byers, pastor at Anchor Baptist Church, sent his church van to retrieve Warrenton’s fire boat. Two boat crews from Coast Guard Sta- tion Cape Disappointment and an MH-60 helicopter crew from Air Station Astoria also pitched in. Above: Firefighter Gabriel Byers sprays down the Fishing Vessel Pacific Cloud while Firefighter Lenard Hansen strategizes, look- ing for flareups. Photos courtesy Warrenton Fire, Bella Byers, Cindy Hansen See ‘Fire’ on Page 4 Young women named to Scandinavian Festival court Four young women have been named to the 2021 Astoria Scandina- vian Midsummer Festival Court. They’ll represent the region and the festival throughout the spring, speaking at various lodge meetings and events about what their heritage means to them. Traditionally, the festival is held on the third full weekend of June. This year’s festival will be limited because of the pandemic, with a few of the events occurring live in downtown Astoria. Members of the court are: Lila-June Anderson, Miss Den- 50 ¢ It’s road season in the Northwest The Columbia Press The arrival of warm weather means road construction is on the horizon. Oregon Department of Transpor- tation refers to its plan for spending $800 million in road repairs this year as the “Fix-It Program.” The fix-its are included in the three- year Statewide Transportation Im- provement Program or STIP. ODOT’s Fix-It Program is the largest single funding category in the STIP – despite the fact the agency made a shift toward pedestrian safety, trails and public transit this year. “While $800 million is a lot of mon- ey, it’s still not enough to cover all the projects on our list for each STIP cycle,” the agency wrote in a media release. “For that reason, we want to show you how we decide which proj- ects make it into the STIP and why.” The multi-year process selects proj- ects by applying engineering exper- tise, consulting data on the project’s condition and safety, and looking at community needs and available funding, said Dick Upton, director of ODOT’s Fix-It Program. Transportation experts are nearly finished with early estimates of this year’s fix-its. Next, they’ll head out to each site to collect condition data, estimate construction costs, identify opportunities to combine work with other projects, and finalize the scope See ‘Fix-its’ on Page 5 Anderson Biederman Maier mark. She is a junior at Astoria High School and is sponsored by the Lower Columbia Danish Society. Her fami- ly heritage includes Swedish, Danish and Norwegian by marriage. Emma Biederman, Miss Finland. She is a senior at Astoria High School Liljenwall Morrill and has attended many festivals in the past. Her great-grandmother was 100 percent Finnish. She is on her school’s varsity soccer and softball teams and also participates in 4-H. Grace Maier, Miss Norway. She is a See ‘Festival’ on Page 4 Highway 101 in Warrenton is on fix-it list.
