75 years ago

Aug. 29, 1941

The Pacific Titanium Products company soon will construct a 25 to 30 ton crusher and concentrating plant east of Elma to produce titanium commercially and the Green Electric Furnace company of Seattle is considering construction of a big Harbor plant for processing manganese, it was learned today.

The Elma plant will produce five tons of titanium oxide daily, company officials predicted. Should enough manganese ore be mined for commercial production, Albert Greene of Seattle may set up an electric furnace smelting plant here.

Meanwhile Bob Steele, who with Henry Egge, has developed a mine at Stevens creek near Neilton, announced they would begin delivery next week of five tons of ore daily to Greene’s newly constructed pilot plant in Seattle. It will be the first time manganese has been produced commercially in the Northwest.

50 years ago

Aug. 29, 1966

The Astoria Bridge, once labeled “a bridge to nowhere” by its detractors, was formally dedicated Saturday in the highlight event of the city’s annual Regatta.

The $24 million, 4.12-mile long span, which took four years to build, was closed for more than three hours during the ceremonies, and autos were backed up for about two miles on both sides of the Columbia River. Gov. Mark Hatfield noted the new bridge was the “longest truss span in the world,” and said the bridge is “a symbol of new greatness for the lower Columbia region.”

25 years ago

Aug. 29, 1991

• Three young men stabbed a 50-year-old North Beach woman to death early Monday because she knew they planned to bring in drugs from Oregon, prosecutors say.

Apparently they feared Virginia Barsic was going to “rat” on them.

The alleged “ringleader” Raymond Lee Bacs, 18 of Ocean Shores, was formally charged with first-degree murder Wednesday in District Court. Judge Stephen Brown set bail at $300,000 cash.

• At a hearing Wednesday evening in Aberdeen City Hall, Mary Weed of Hoquiam testified on behalf of the League of Women Voters. She told the redistricting commissioners that the 2nd Congressional District, which includes northern Grays Harbor County, is “certainly the strangest congressional district in the state,” because it includes areas as different as the remote Olympic Peninsula and the populous North Puget Sound area.

The bipartisan five-member commission must submit a plan to the Legislature by Jan. 1, and the new boundaries will apply to the 1992 elections.

Compiled from the archives of The Daily World by Karen Barkstrom