Father dies, son rescued after their boat is swamped
http://www.katu.com/news/story.asp?ID=79221
Courtesy of Coast Guard Press Release
SEATTLE - The Coast Guard responded to a call Thursday from the master of a vessel
stating his crew had pulled two people from the waters of the Columbia River.
The research vessel Point Sir's crew spotted a father and son floating in the water 3/4
mile south of the Columbia River's mouth and called Coast Guard Group/Air Station
Astoria, Ore., at 9:52 a.m.
The pair had been in a 28-foot jet drive boat when it was swamped by a wave and
capsized. The Point Sir lowered their small boat to recover the two men. The 32-year-old
son was responsive when pulled aboard but attempts to rescucitate the father were
unsuccessful.
Group/Air Station Astoria launched an HH-60 Jayhawk helicopter to hoist the son from
the deck of the research vessel and transported him back to the air station where
emergency medical technicians were waiting. Coast Guard Station Cape Disappointment,
Wash., launched a 47-foot motor lifeboat to recover the father from the research vessel.
The father and son were not wearing lifejackets at the time the vessel became swamped
but did manage to don lifejackets before their boat capsized. The father's lifejacket was
too tight and was cut before going into the water in an attempt to make it fit better.
River bar waves at the time of the capsizing were approximately four feet tall.
### The U.S. Coast Guard is a military, maritime, multi-mission service within the
Department of Homeland Security dedicated to protecting the safety and security of
America.
Coast Guard’s role in WWII highlighted at
regional event
http://www.dailyastorian.info/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=398&ArticleID=27084&TM=50184.
75
The Daily Astorian
VANCOUVER, Wash. — Military and U.S. Coast Guard veterans from the North Coast are among those
expected to attend a giant commemoration of the end of World War II.
From 1939 to 1945, more than 400 Coast Guard cutters and upwards of 4,000 smaller boats joined fleets
operated by the Navy and Army in a war that killed hundreds of thousands of members of the U.S. military.
Those veterans and others will be honored at the three-day-long “Celebrate Freedom Salute” in Vancouver,
Wash., this weekend, expected to be one of the nation’s largest events commemorating the 60th
anniversary of World War II.
The event features a gala, a dance, speeches, exhibits, music and fireworks. It will culminate in a ceremony
honoring representives from each branch of the military, including two U.S. Coast Guard veterans who live
in Eugene. All World War II veterans who attend the final ceremony will receive World War II Veteran
badges and honorable service lapel pins.
The event starts Friday and runs through Sunday at the Vancouver National Historic Reserve.
For more information, or to register as a veteran or on behalf of a veteran, call (360) 992-1825 or visit
http://www.AmericasSalute.org
One dead, one rescued in boat mishap
http://www.dailyastorian.info/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=395&ArticleID=27082&TM=49762.
15
One man is dead and another is safe after a 28-foot jetboat capsized in the Columbia River near Clatsop
Spit this morning.
A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter crew hoisted one man from the research vessel Point Sur, which called for
help around 9:30 a.m., after its crew picked up two people in the water. Their boat had capsized in the river
near Buoy 3.
One had reportedly stopped breathing about one hour before the rescue, but was receiving cardiopulmonary
resuscitation from a retired medical officer on Point Sur, said Darin McCracken, a petty officer with the
U.S. Coast Guard.
A doctor at Air Station Astoria was briefed on the situation and decided the man was dead on arrival. His
body was taken by a motor lifeboat in Cape Disappointment to waiting emergency medical services
vehicles in Ilwaco, Wash. The survivor was taken to the air station.
The men’s names had not been released and full details of the situation were not available at The Daily
Astorian’s press time.
Girl suffers fractures in fall from cliff near Short
Sands Beach
http://www.dailyastorian.info/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=398&ArticleID=27081&TM=49661.
05
The Daily Astorian
An 11-year-old girl suffered multiple compound fractures after tumbling 40 feet from a cliff near Short
Sands Beach late Wednesday night, said Mark Dobney, civilian search and rescue controller at U.S. Coast
Guard Group Astoria.
Air Station Astoria sent an H-60 Jayhawk helicopter to assist rescue crews already on the scene after
receiving a call from Tillamook 9-1-1 around 11 p.m.
A U.S. Coast Guard crew landed on the beach in Oswald West State Park and loaded the injured girl into
the helicopter, flying her directly to Emanuel Hospital and Health Center in Portland, where she was
admitted with serious injuries.
A medic from a Manzanita ambulance flew with the Coast Guard crew. Nehalem fire and rescue teams and
the Tillamook County Sheriff’s Department also responded.
The girl, from Surf Pines, was stable during transport to Portland but had suffered serious injuries, Dobney
said. Her name has not been released.
Father dead, son rescued after capsizing
in Columbia
http://www.kgw.com/news-local/stories/kgw_082505_news_columbia_airlift.abe330fa.html
02:39 PM PDT on Thursday, August 25, 2005
By TERESA BELL, kgw.com Staff
ASTORIA, Ore. – A Coast Guard crew found a father and son floating near the
mouth of the Columbia River and pulled them both from the rough water, but only
one survived, authorities said.
kgw.com Graphic
The men were in the water for about an hour and floated toward sea several
miles before they were discovered and picked up by the research vessel Point Sur.
By the time the Coast Guard reached them, about three fourths of a mile south
of the Columbia River's mouth, the son was responsive but his father was not
breathing and the crew could not save him.
Harold Richard Cooper, 61, died, said Andrea Kennet with the Clatsop County
Sheriff's Office. The surviving son was identified as 32-year-old Richard J. Cooper.
"The younger Cooper was holding onto his father, who had stopped breathing,
and had been trying to resuscitate him in the water," Kennet said.
“The father and son were not wearing lifejackets at the time the vessel became
swamped but did manage to don lifejackets before their boat capsized,” said Adam
Eggers with the U.S. Coast Guard. “The father's lifejacket was too tight and was cut
before going into the water in an attempt to make it fit better.”
The two were on board a 28-foot jet drive boat that got swamped and capsized
just before 10 a.m. Thursday. They had been fishing for salmon when two waves
washed over the bow and filled up the boat, according to Clatsop County sheriff's
Senior Marine Deputy Willie Nyberg.
A Coast Guard helicopter crew airlifed the 32-year-old to the Astoria air station
where emergency medical technicians were waiting. His father’s body was brought to
shore on a boat.
Coast Guard rescues girl who fell from
cliff
http://www.kgw.com/news-local/stories/kgw_082505_news_cliff_fall_.aba42416.html
01:41 PM PDT on Thursday, August 25, 2005
Associated Press
NEHALEM, Ore. -- The Coast Guard has rescued an 11-year-old girl after she fell
from a cliff at Short Sands Beach, near Cape Falcon at Oswald West State Park.
kgw.com Graphic
Wednesday night, a Tillamook County 9-1-1 dispatcher contacted the Coast
Guard in Astoria. They requested a medevac because of possible injuries.
A helicopter landed on the beach at about 10:30 p.m. and picked up the injured
but conscious girl.
The helicopter took the youngster to Legacy Emanual Hospital in Portland. Her
condition is unknown.
Todd Shipyards Corporation Announces National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration Contract for the Overhaul of Ex USNS
Capable (T-AGOS 16)
http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=2005
0825005430&newsLang=en
SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 25, 2005--Todd Shipyards Corporation (NYSE:TOD)
announced today that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ("NOAA") has
awarded to its wholly owned subsidiary, Todd Pacific Shipyards Corporation ("Todd Pacific"), a
$13,176,066 contract for the overhaul and conversion of the Ex USNS Capable ("Capable") (TAGOS 16) which was transferred to NOAA by the United States Navy in September 2004. The
overhaul and conversion when completed will allow the Capable to accomplish its new mission of
research and deep ocean exploration. The contract period, during which the design,
manufacturing, overhaul and conversion will be completed, is from August 2005 through July
2007. Initial design is anticipated to be completed by February 2006, which will coincide with the
vessel's arrival at Todd Pacific's Seattle shipyard.
Todd Pacific performs a substantial amount of repair and maintenance work on commercial and
federal government vessels engaged in various seagoing trade activities in the Pacific Northwest.
Its customers include the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Coast Guard, NOAA, the Washington State Ferry
system and various other commercial and governmental customers. Todd Shipyards Corporation
has operated a shipyard in Seattle since 1916.
Hurricane Katrina leaves 4 dead in Fla.
http://www.oregonlive.com/newsflash/national/index.ssf?/base/nati
onal-50/1125060241298180.xml&storylist=ortropicalweather
8/26/2005, 6:55 a.m. PT
By JILL BARTON
The Associated Press
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Flooded streets resembled canals, sailboats sat on the sand and a
highway overpass lay in ruin Friday in the hours after Hurricane Katrina plodded across South Florida.
Four people were killed, a family of five was missing at sea and more than a million homes and businesses
lost power before the storm moved west to emerge over the Gulf of Mexico.
The state's troubles were not over, however. More heavy rain and strong wind was likely Friday in South
Florida, and Katrina was expected to grow stronger and perhaps make a second landfall in the Florida
Panhandle early next week.
Katrina's first Florida land strike came Thursday night along the line between Miami-Dade and Broward
counties.
Rain fell in horizontal sheets, seas were estimated at 15 feet and sustained wind was measured at 80 mph,
with gusts reaching 92 mph. Up to 11 1/2 inches of rain fell on Miami-Dade County.
"This place went bananas last night," said John Vazquez, 62, who rode out the storm in his oceanfront
condominium in Hallandale Beach.
Carolyne and Carter McHyman, also living on the oceanfront, said heavy downpours pelted their windows
after the eye passed.
"It's been horrible," Carolyne McHyman said. "Basically all our windows are leaking. We just keep mopping
up and taping the windows, mopping up and taping again."
Katrina weakened into a tropical storm over land, but strengthened over the gulf's warm waters and became
a hurricane again early Friday with top sustained winds of 75 mph. At 9 a.m. EDT, it was about 45 miles
north of Key West and 65 miles south of Naples. It was emerging over the Gulf of Mexico, heading erratically
westward at 6 mph, and was expected to continue gaining power.
"Maybe we can get rid of the phrase minimal hurricane," state meteorologist Ben Nelson said Friday. "There
is no such thing as a minimal hurricane."
Gov. Jeb Bush urged residents of the Panhandle and northwestern Florida — areas hit by Hurricane Ivan
last year and Hurricane Dennis this year — to monitor the storm and make preparations. He said he has
asked for federal disaster assistance for Miami-Dade and Broward.
The hurricane was hindering the Coast Guard's search for a family of five who went out boating Thursday
morning from Marathon and never reached their destination of Cape Coral on Florida's southwestern coast.
Edward and Tina Larson and their three children, ages 17, 14 and 4, were aboard a 24-foot pleasure craft.
"Unfortunately that hurricane is sitting right on top of my search area," Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Jeff Smith
said Friday.
Three people were killed by falling trees: a man in his 20s who was sitting alone in his car in Fort
Lauderdale, a 54-year-old man in Plantation, and a woman who died at a hospital in Hollywood.
A 79-year-old man in Cooper City died when his car struck a tree, officials said.
Among the injured was a driver in critical condition in Hollywood after a tree fell on his car, said Frank
Sacco, CEO of Memorial Healthcare System.
Sailboats had washed up onto the Key Biscayne beach on Friday morning. Most lay tipped on their sides,
some with ripped sails flapping in the wind. About 10 boats at the Coconut Grove marina had been pulled
from their moorings and thrown on the rocks.
In the Florida Keys, a tornado damaged a hangar and airplanes at the Marathon airport, the Monroe County
Sheriff's Office said. Two nearby homes were damaged, and part of the roof of a lumber company
collapsed, deputies said.
Fifteen to 20 small planes were damaged at Kendall-Tamiami Executive Airport in Miami-Dade County,
said aviation spokesman Mark Henderson.
The power outages were concentrated in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, where more than 1.2 million
Florida Power & Light customers were in the dark early Friday. Service was restored to about 100,000
customers.
In Key Biscayne, dozens of families were forced to evacuate their homes after they became swamped in 3
feet of water.
Three mobile home parks in Davie sustained considerable damage, including lost roofs. One person was
trapped inside a mobile home, but officials did not know whether the person was injured, according to the
Broward Emergency Management Agency.
An overpass under construction in Miami-Dade County collapsed onto a highway, authorities said. No
injuries were reported, but the freeway — a main east-west thoroughfare — was closed for 20 blocks.
The hurricane emptied the usually bustling streets of Miami Beach, a tourist haven with its nightlife and
restaurants. The city is hosting celebrities and partygoers in town for the MTV Video Music Awards. MTV
called off its pre-awards festivities Thursday and Friday.
"It's like a ghost town out here," said Mark Darress, concierge at The Astor Hotel in Miami Beach.
Yet dozens of surfers and spectators lined the beaches to take advantage of the massive waves on the
normally placid seas.
"This is the best of both worlds because it'll bring great waves, but it is not at all dangerous," said surfer Kurt
Johnston, 22.
Tourists and others hoping to get out of town before the storm were stranded as airlines canceled flights at
Miami and Fort Lauderdale airports, which both closed Thursday night. The Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood
International Airport was expected to reopen Friday with limited flights. Miami International Airport officials
have not decided when it will reopen.
Katrina, which formed Wednesday over the Bahamas, was the second hurricane to strike Florida this year
and the first to make a direct hit on Broward County since a destructive Category 4 hurricane in 1947.
Four hurricanes hit Florida last year, causing an estimated $46 billion in damage across the country.
Katrina is the 11th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which began June 1. That's seven more
than typically have formed by now in the Atlantic, Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, the National Weather
Service said. The season ends Nov. 30.
___
Don't call for rescue when this ship sinks
Vessel will submerge in bay next week
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/238116_ship26.html
By MIKE BARBER
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
Sometime early next week, most likely Tuesday, a big ship carrying a massive,
otherworldly object will enter Elliott Bay and sink.
Then it will rise again.
The resurrection of the 625-foot ship, Mighty Servant 1, will signal the end of a 13,600mile journey that began in Norfolk, Va., last month.
In a tremendous engineering challenge, the "MS1," as it is known, piggybacked the
historic and crucial Navy floating dry dock, the 522-foot USS Resolute, around Cape
Horn at the height of South American winter, to Todd Pacific Shipyards on Seattle's
Harbor Island. It lost a day avoiding Hurricane Emily in the Atlantic last month.
"It is really an amazing voyage with this tall and heavy vessel tied down with steel
cables," Todd spokesman John Lockwood said.
The MS1 is known as a heavy-lift, semisubmersible ship owned by Belgium-based
Dockwise International. The company serves a niche market for vessels that can
submerge, take on heavy loads such as oil drilling rigs and refloat for transport. The USS
Cole, damaged by terrorists in 2002, came back from Yemen on a heavy-lift ship, the
Blue Marlin.
It's only the second time in the past six years that one of Dockwise's vessels has put on a
submarine show here. Todd and public officials are alerting the public in advance this
time.
In April 1999, alarmed office workers and homeowners ringing the bay lit up
switchboards when they saw the Dockwise Swan sink -- but later refloat -- to take on a
206-foot power barge built by Todd to generate electricity for hurricane-ravaged
Nicaragua.
Todd won a competitive bid in December for a series of four five-year leases with the
Navy to use the dry dock here. The Resolute, which was refurbished several years ago, is
expected to help the shipyard's workers handle Navy frigates and destroyers from Everett
under a maintenance contact, as well as Coast Guard and National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration vessels, and commercial and working boats.
Towing the big dry dock through the Panama Canal was out of the question, in part
because of regulations. And floating dry docks are known as the worst kind of tows,
Navy officials say.
The MS1 is expected sometime Tuesday and to refloat the Resolute on Wednesday.
News from Congressman Adam Smith
Contact: Sean Eagan, Deputy District Director
(253) 896-3775 or sean.eagan@mail.house.gov
Thursday, August 25, 2005
Military Issues Update
**** If you would like to be removed from this distribution list, please send an e-mail to
sean.eagan@mail.house.gov
BRAC COMMISSION VOTES ON JOINT BASE LEWIS-McCHORD
Congressman Adam Smith made the following statement today concerning the Base
Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission's final votes on the proposed Joint Base
Lewis-McChord:
"The BRAC Commission tackled a difficult assignment in shaping the future of our
military forces to ensure that they continue to be the world's best and most effective
fighting force.
"Throughout the entire BRAC process, I along with other Members of the Washington
State delegation, have asked questions and raised concerns, particularly on the
implementation of the proposed Joint Base Lewis-McChord and the proposed reduction
in jobs affiliated with McChord Air Force Base (AFB). Having written two letters to the
Commission, outlining these concerns, I was pleased to note that the Commission is
taking an approach that allows affected military units to give input into how manpower
levels should be derived as opposed to the original proposal from the Department of
Defense that directed a prescribed number of jobs to be cut.
On the much larger question of the current BRAC round and the proposed Joint Base
Lewis-McChord, I applaud the Commission's recognition of the important military assets
we have in the Northwest. Our distinctive geography, unique military assets and
dedicated servicemen and women, combine to position Northwest facilities as highly
valuable for our nation's security. I also applaud the Commission's efforts to better
leverage local assets and improve efficiency through joint basing, particularly the
proposed Joint Base Lewis-McChord. Since this is a new concept, it is difficult to foresee
the full implications of the proposal, but the concept has merit and I am encouraged that
the Commission gave power to the local commanders to have direct input into how the
realignment will be implemented. The Joint Base concept has the potential to bolster
efficiency and joint operations, which are critical to a modern-day fighting force.
I was also pleased to see that the Commission will propose an amendment that will allow
for members of the Air Force to continue to receive medical treatment at McChord, while
moving the bulk of military families and retirees to the much larger medical facility
located next door at Fort Lewis. While questions still remain concerning the impact on
jobs that this move will create, I believe that this is a step in the right direction and
represents progress in addressing our concerns.
I will continue to monitor the military situation both in the 9th District and throughout the
country and I will work to ensure that our military and those who serve in it are given the
best equipment and the right assets to continue to do the great and heroic work that they
do each and every day."
-Sean
Eagan
Deputy District Director
Congressman Adam Smith
Uncle Sam found a way to get a national ID
card
He just makes the states do his work
http://www.chronicletribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050826/OPINION01/508260306/1014/OPINI
ON
Tucked away in the so-called emergency spending bill Congress passed last month, in among
the appropriations for supplies, weapons, ammunition and things for our armed forces, was
something called the Real ID Act.
The Real ID Act is Uncle Sam's way of foisting a national ID card upon us even though Congress
forbade the government from creating a national ID card when it created the Homeland Security
department.
So how does Uncle Sam do something he's prohibited from doing? He twists the states' arms to
they have to do it.
(Who's going to vote against a bill providing ammunition for our troops in Iraq? What better place
to hide legislation for a national ID card?)
Under the Real ID Act, states have to make their drivers licenses conform to federal standards.
So, Indiana may issue the license, but it's based on what the federal government says it has to
be.
If, however, Indiana wants to decide what it puts on its own licenses, according to news reports,
Hoosiers will not be able to use them for anything that requires an approved ID.
In three years, if you live or work in the United States, it will take federally approved identification
if you want to collect Social Security or Medicare benefits, open a bank account, travel by
airplane or use almost any government service.
Here's what will be on the cards:
n Name.
n Address.
n Birthdate.
n Sex.
n ID number.
n A digital photograph.
n A magnetic strip containing this information, such as the one on bank cards.
Not that much different from our state licenses, right. As they say in the TV commercials, "But,
wait! There's more."
Homeland Security also has permission to requiring such things as a retinal scan or fingerprints, if
the department thinks that's necessary.
According to news reports, the total estimate of states' costs to implement all this stands at about
$1 billion. Congress has helped out by setting aside $100 million. It's a good guess it'll be more
than the current $14.
What the national ID card does is create a detailed federal database of citizens. It allows the
government to have personal information - probably more than it does now - about Americans
who have never broken a law or who have been accused of wrongdoing.
Even though national security is the announced basis for the card, a national ID card would not
have prevented the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks or any other terrorist attacks. Determined terrorists
will find ways to get around obstacles, whether they are barricades, laws or ID cards.
Bioterror readiness called to task
http://www.nynewsday.com/news/health/nyusagro264398418aug26,0,5150866.story?coll=ny-health-headlines
BY DEBORAH BARFIELD BERRY
WASHINGTON BUREAU
August 26, 2005
WASHINGTON -- Concerned that the country is sufficiently prepared for a bioterrorism attack,
federal officials are looking harder into setting up and upgrading advanced research labs,
including one on Plum Island.
Some experts, lawmakers and government officials have warned that government bureaucracy
has hampered some preparation efforts.
"We're totally directionless ..." said Michael Greenberger of the University of Maryland's Center
for Health and Homeland Security. Legislation to address some problems has fallen short, he
said.
"We've taken the first step in the 1,000-step journey, but it's taken 15 months to do that,
which means it's going to be a long time before the journey is complete," he said.
Federal officials acknowledge that much more needs to be done, but say there have been
improvements, including increasing the stockpile of smallpox vaccine so there's enough for
every American.
"The number of threat agents against which we could guard ourselves is endless," Stewart
Simonson, assistant secretary of Health and Human Services, told a House Homeland Security
subcommittee in July. "... Although we cannot be prepared for every threat, we have the
ability to create a strategic approach to identifying and combating the greatest threats."
Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford), chairman of that Homeland Committee subcommittee, said he's
concerned about whether federal officials are working closely enough with drug companies so
they can be ready with vaccines. "The pathogens we're looking at now are only the tip of the
iceberg," King said.
Federal health and Homeland Security officials recently submitted an interim report to the
House subcommittee assessing whether there are enough research facilities. A final public
report is expected next month.
Homeland Security officials this week announced plans to spend $23 million to assess what to
do with Plum Island, from an upgrade to a closure.
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said federal officials haven't done enough on bioterrorism and
Plum Island is important in that effort. "Any talk of dismantling it would be inappropriate given
its unique expertise and resources," he said.
Experts and lawmakers, however, say the aging facility is in desperate need of updating.
Alan Pearson of the nonprofit Center for Arms Control and Proliferation said officials have
known for a long time that something had to be done at Plum Island. Since last year the issue
seems to have risen on the priority list.
"It's not a new concern. It's just poked more through the radar screen," said Pearson. "It may
simply reflect a greater concern about agricultural bio-terrorism threats."