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About The Columbia press. (Astoria, Or.) 1949-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 7, 2022)
The Columbia Press 4 January 7, 2022 100 years: The Columbia Press enters its second century Continued from Page 1 West, according to Armas Holmio’s “History of the Finns in Michigan.” Lännen Suometar rose from the ashes. Editor Onni Syrjäniemi, a name he later shortened to Niemi, kept As- toria’s Finns and their inter- ests in center focus. (Just an interesting side note here, Niemi’s daugh- ter was Maila Nurmi, a 1940 Astoria High School gradu- ate better known as “Vampi- ra,” the campy 1950s TV and film star. The Vampira Show, which featured late-night horror movies and the Vam- pira persona were copied later by Cassandra Peterson, who was Elvira, Mistress of the Dark; Carolyn Jones, who played Morticia Addams; and Yvonne De Carlo, who was Lily Munster.) But back to the newspaper’s history. When Niemi retired, Oke Zatterlow was named editor. In 1946, the synod sold Lännen Suometar and its commercial print shop at 575 Bond St. to Zatterlow. He briefly renamed it Län- nen Uutiset, or “Western News,” before deciding in 1951 to change the name to The Columbia Press and print in English. In 1962, the Columbia Press was sold to Hal and Edla Al- len. He had published a mil- itary post newspaper and, after the war, worked for the Walt Disney Company. His forte was as a cartoonist and political satirist. In 1978, the Allens decided Warrenton needed its own newspaper and moved their operation from Astoria into Above: The building at 87 N.E. Harbor Court was home to the city’s first post office, a barber shop and The Columbia Press. Cindy Yingst Right: The Astoria offices of Lannen Uutiset. Clatsop County Historical Society an old wooden building at 45 N.E. Harbor Court, adjacent to Warrenton Marina. The ramshackle structure is still there, owned by Born- stein Seafoods and used for storage. In late 2019, the city of Warrenton commissioned the Oregon State Historic Preservation Office to con- duct a historical properties inventory. The 1905 build- ing was the only commercial property found eligible for the National Register of His- toric Properties. “It is one of only two build- ings that remain from War- renton’s earliest commercial strip along the north side of Harbor Court,” the survey’s authors wrote. “The other, at 87 N.E. Harbor Court, has lost all integrity and is not el- igible.” Besides serving as offices for The Columbia Press, the 1905 building was the city’s first post office and also had been a barber shop. Gary Nevan, a public rela- tions director from Belling- ham, Wash., purchased the Columbia Press from the Al- lens in 1988 and became the youngest newspaper publish- er in Oregon. After using the rat-infested Harbor Court building for two years, Nevan purchased a building a few blocks away at 926 E. Harbor Drive and moved operations there in 1990. When Nevan retired at the end of 2016, the Columbia Press was sold to Clatsop County Media Services, a company owned by Cindy Yingst and her husband, D.B. Lewis. Please join us as we cele- brate the 100th year of our colorful little newspaper. Section of trail reopens; others remain closed A section of the North Coast trail system has reopened af- ter a 15-month closure, Or- egon Parks and Recreation Department reports. The 1.4-mile Arch Cape sec- tion of the Arch Cape to Cape Falcon Trail at the north end of Oswald West State Park is open and safe for hikers. Park rangers worked with Trailkeepers of Oregon and Oregon Department of Cor- rections South Fork Forest Camp to clear fallen trees and debris and rebuild damaged sections. However, the 1.6-mile sec- tion of North Neah-Kah-Nie Mountain Trail, from U.S. Highway 101 to the summit, remains closed at the south end of the park. Crews are clearing trees and repairing the trail through spring, and the parks agency plans to open the trail by summer. Two other trails on the North Coast also remain closed: • Saddle Mountain State Natural Area -- The park and trail to the summit are closed indefinitely due to unsafe trail conditions and a major water and septic system fail- ure. Ben Cox, a state park manager, is working with Clatsop County to schedule repairs. • Cape Lookout State Park -- The entire North Trail that connects the day-use area to the Cape Trail is closed. A contractor is working to clear downed trees from the trail so that staff can assess it and determine the extent of repairs needed. The state is working toward a summer 2022 opening. State Parks closed the trail sections following a wind- storm on Labor Day 2020.
