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Water Under the Bridge Compiled by Bob Duke The Daily Astorian, February 9, 2011

From the pages of Astoria's daily newspapers

10 years ago - 2001

Astoria's chances of playing at the state tournament in Corvallis are looking a lot like an Aundi Kustura free throw - a sure thing. With its 51-33 win over Seaside Monday night at the Brickhouse, the Fishermen have now won 10 straight games, and must win one of their remaining four to lock up a league title and secure a spot at state, March 5-9 at Gill Coliseum in Corvallis.

In the 1920s it was used as a log boom.

The property south of Fort Clatsop National Memorial along the Lewis and Clark River had cranes, an office, a dock and workers floated logs up and down the waterway to their new destination. Times have changed. Willamette Industries bought the property four years ago, cleaned it up and struck a deal to sell the 55 acres skirting the river on both sides to the Fort Clatsop Historical Association.

Costly measures aimed at saving salmon should be sacrificed so that a struggling Bonneville Power Administration can meet the region's power needs without going bankrupt, a top agency official told the Northwest Power Planning Council.

Schools were closed today across parts of new England as the region dug out from a nor'easter that piled up as much as 3 feet of snow, stranding some highway travelers for hours and tying up air travel.

50 years ago - 1961

First steps in the erection of a permanent memorial to the seven men who were lost at sea January 12 were taken yesterday as an 18-ton monolith was lowered into place near the Point Adams Coast Guard station.

The Strategic Air Command plastered the Sunset Empire with bombs all Wednesday afternoon and Wednesday evening, although few residents of the area apparently were aware of it.

First use of the SAC's new Astoria bomb plot scoring project at Fort Stevens occurred when SAC planes made repeated bombing runs over the target - North Head lighthouse - and a couple of other targets on the Washington shore. There will be bombing just about every day from now on. The bombers Wednesday came in at low level over the ocean after a flight from southern California, one at a time.

Noise of the bombers jet engines apparently was largely drowned out by the howling of the wind, which was blowing pretty solidly through the afternoon and evening. Weather apparently did not interfere with the electronic bombing practice.

The long sought bridge over the Columbia River between Astoria, Ore., and Megler, Wash., moved a big step closer to reality today as matching bills appeared in the legislatures of the two states.

A near-blizzard slammed up the Atlantic coast on gale winds, smothered new York City under 5 to 10 foot drifts and pounded into New England today.

75 years ago - 1936

Far up in the Canadian northwest the temperature dropped to 50 degrees below zero today, chilling huge masses of air which will follow the present sub-zero wave across the country.

Perusal of accounts of eastern and middle western weather reports give us a vivid picture of just how fortunate we are as to weather conditions. Winter in most of the United States has been the most severe reported for a century.

The death toll must be above the thousand mark and property damage and business losses have run into the millions.

Here in Astoria we have had few weather related problems as of this moment. The weather has been cold, as compared with the usual equable temperature, but there has been little snow and few storms. We have had more than our usual share of winter sunshine and the cold, crisp bright days are stimulating. We are safe from a fuel famine. Winter, which has ruled with an iron clutch elsewhere, has been gentle in this section and we hope that the same mood prevails for the brief time left of his reign.

Although 200 miles from the ocean, The Dalles, Ore., is building a seaport on dry land and plans on being an ocean port of call. For completion of the Bonneville Dam across the Columbia River will raise the water level sufficient to make The Dalles a port for ocean vessels, and a distributing point for a wide area.

Countering the moves initiated by gillnet fishermen last Saturday when representatives of the Columbia River Fishermen's Protective Union filed initiate petitions at Salem for elimination of trap and seine fishing from waters of the state of Oregon, announcement was made Tuesday by Irvi Hoff, president, and E.H. Beebe, treasurer, of the Columbia River Seiners Union, composed of seine fishing employes, that this organization planned to initiate another measure.

100 years ago this week - 1911

The state of Oregon will subscribe liberal toward the fund for holding the Centennial celebration at Astoria during the coming summer. That was decided this morning, when the House of Representatives by an enormous majority passed the bill appropriating $50,000 for the celebration, provided the people of Astoria and Clatsop County raise the sum of $40,000.

So far as the people raising the amount required, that is assured. The special tax levy will raise between $23,000 and $24,000 and subscriptions sufficient to increase this sum to upwards of $50,000 have been made.