10A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, APRIL 6, 2015
Town hall: Merkley, Bonamici touch on LNG issue, fracking
Continued from Page 1A
“Now that we see fracking
in full force, we have a huge
problem with fugitive meth-
ane gas that escapes. Methane
is a very potent global warm-
ing gas. By some estimates
now, natural gas is equiv-
alent to coal in terms of its
global warming impact,” he
said. “My basic feeling is, we
should have a ‘go slow’ strat-
egy, in part so we can under-
stand the science.”
Josie Peper, of Astoria,
wondered if the Lower Co-
lumbia River estuary could be
granted federal protection as
a National Scenic Area, like
the Columbia River Gorge,
to avoid environmentally un-
sound projects altogether.
Merkley said he does not
view federal protection status
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area, where there’s economic
development to be undertak-
en.”
However, he is work-
ing with other Northwestern
states — Washington, Idaho
and Montana — to create leg-
islation that would provide for
the river’s “protection and de-
contamination,” he said.
Cannon Beach
Academy
Jacob Dewey, 8, the ho-
ERICK BENGEL — EO Media Group
Sen. Jeff Merkley speaks with Josie Peper, of Astoria, after
the town hall meeting the senator held Friday in Cannon
Beach with U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici. In the back-
ground, Bonamici mingles with her staff and constituents.
meschooled son of Kellye
and Ryan Dewey, of Can-
non Beach, told the elected
officials, “We need a school
in Cannon Beach. I want to
know how you can help us
with that.”
In June 2013, the Sea-
side School District closed
Cannon Beach Elementary
School and transferred its
students to Seaside Heights
Elementary School. Since
then, a grassroots move-
ment to set up a charter
school, the Cannon Beach
Academy, has taken shape,
with the school’s organizers
now aiming for a fall 2016
opening.
Though the federal gov-
ernment doesn’t directly
help communities build
schools, Merkley said it
may be possible for some
Federal Emergency Man-
agement Agency funds to
help finance the academy
since new schools must be
located outside the tsunami
inundation zone.
Bonamici noted that, be-
cause the academy would
be a public charter school,
additional funds might be
available. “So we’ll be
ERICK BENGEL — EO Media Group
Rep. Suzanne Bonamici talks with a constituent after the
town hall forum she conducted last week with Sen. Jeff
Merkley.
looking into that as well,
because we’d like to help
you get a school,” she said.
Other concerns
• Nadia Gardner, of Arch
Cape, asked about the pos-
sibility of fully funding and
permanently reauthorizing
the federal Land and Wa-
ter Conservation Fund pro-
gram, which provides funds
and grants to regional con-
servation projects through-
out the country. The fund
expires in September.
Merkley said he will use
his position on the Com-
mittee on Appropriations to
advocate for the continued
funding of the program.
• Roberta Basch, cul-
tural adviser to the Clat-
sop-Nehalem Confederated
Tribes, asked for Merkley
and Bonamici’s support in
restoring federal recogni-
tion to the tribe. She said
the tribe would then be giv-
en rights to allow them to
preserve both their culture
and sites sacred to them for
future generations.
Bonamici, who intro-
duced a bill in the last Con-
gress to restore the tribe’s
federal recognition, said she
will continue to work on the
issue.
However, “I just want
to be realistic and say that
there wasn’t much appetite
on the other side of the aisle
to even move the bill into a
hearing,” she added. “Re-
storing rights to a tribe is a
big process. It takes time.”
• Ed Johnson, a Cannon
Beach resident, expressed
concern that the state had
bypassed Cannon Beach’s
residents last month, when
the Oregon Department of
Transportation
removed
about 30 trees 8 inches
or more in diameter from
U.S. Highway 101’s scenic
byway. Because the trees
were in a state right of way,
ODOT was legally able to
carry out the project with-
out first obtaining a city
permit.
Merkley said his staff
will look into the issue to
see where among the dif-
ferent levels of government
coordination may be possi-
ble on future tree-removal
projects.
Bonamici added she
would work with Merkley’s
office and those of state rep-
resentatives “on better coor-
dination to make sure that
the local needs are more
recognized.”
Livar: ‘We’re dealing
in a world where
we are a minority’
Continued from Page 1A
JOSHUA BESSEX — The Daily Astorian
William Mueller, from Astoria Parks and Recreation, hangs signs along the Astoria Riverwalk warning people to
stay away from sea lions Friday.
Sea lions: ‘They can be quite dangerous’
Continued from Page 1A
The wily pinnipeds are
regulars in Astoria, drawn
by smelt and salmon. Un-
usually warm water tem-
peratures and a lack of food
in California appear to have
expanded the sea lion inva-
sion this year, luring tour-
ists while causing nuisances
along the docks.
Sea lions are a popu-
lar attraction at Buoy Beer,
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customers close-up views of
the barking beasts.
Angela Cosby, the city’s
Parks and Recreation direc-
tor, warns against getting
too close. “They can be
quite dangerous,” she said.
“And they can move ex-
tremely quickly, too.”
March for Babies is May 2 in Astoria
May 2 at Maritime Memo-
rial Park in Astoria, families
and business leaders will join
together in the March of Dimes
annual March for Babies, the
nation’s oldest walk fundraiser
honoring babies born healthy
and those who need help to
survive and thrive. Joining will
be local businesses, including
Columbia Memorial Hospital,
Providence Seaside Hospital,
Columbia Bank and Clatsop
Community Bank.
Registration begins at 8
a.m. with the 5K walk kick-
ing off at 9 a.m. Join the walk
and begin fundraising at www.
marchforbabies.org
Funds raised by March for
Babies in Oregon and South-
west Washington support
prenatal wellness programs,
research grants, information
for families experiencing a
newborn intensive care unit
hospitalization and advocacy
efforts for stronger, healthier
babies. Premature birth is the
most urgent infant health prob-
lem in the U.S. It affects nearly
500,000 babies each year, in-
cluding 4,264 in Oregon.
March of Dimes has pro-
vided research, education,
vaccines and other services for
more than 75 years. Find out
more at marchforbabies.org.
Locally, March for Babies is
Suspect: Three people
were injured in the assault
Continued from Page 1A
juries from a chemical spray
that was discharged in the
Astoria Police obtained house at the time of the as-
felony warrants for Lane’s saults.
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gree robbery, second-degree two suspects, one possibly
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glary.
assaulted the occupants at
Lane is considered armed gunpoint. They struck the two
and dangerous, police said.
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If anyone knows Lane’s and batons and took items
location, notify law enforce- from the home, according to
ment immediately.
police.
Three people were injured
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in the assault at gunpoint. in an Oldsmobile Bravada
Astoria Police initially re- with Oregon license plate
sponded at 8:25 a.m. Friday 913ARU. One of the people
to a report of someone shot at in the car was believed to be
WKH DSDUWPHQW :KHQ RI¿FHUV a possible hostage. However,
arrived, no one was shot, but police said, the reported hos-
two men had been assaulted at tage was never in the vehicle
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head and body injuries.
before police arrived because
A third person suffered in- she had a warrant. She was
later located and arrested for
the warrant.
At 8:48 a.m. Friday, a Sea-
side detective found the Old-
smobile Bravada at Arnie’s
Cafe in Warrenton, but the
vehicle was unoccupied.
Astoria Police, Warrenton
Police and the Clatsop County
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people believed to be related
to the incident Friday, and
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a suspect.
The Astoria Police De-
partment is continuing to
investigate and follow up on
leads.
Anyone with information
about Friday’s incident or
the whereabouts of Lane can
contact Astoria Police at 503-
325-4411 or Detective Nicole
Riley at nriley@astoria.or.us
sponsored by First Tech Feder-
al Credit Union, Big 5, CMH,
Providence Seaside, Columbia
Bank and Clatsop Community
Bank. The 2015 March for Ba-
bies is sponsored nationally by
the March of Dimes’ top cor-
porate supporters, including
Kmart, Famous Footwear, Ma-
cy’s, Cigna, United Airlines
and Mission Pharmacal.
population of San Antonio
is Hispanic, for example —
identify challenges.
Jorge Gutierrez, the execu-
tive director of the Lower Co-
lumbia Hispanic Council, who
moved to Astoria from South-
ern California three years ago,
said he initially found the ex-
perience puzzling.
The difference between
what he saw happening with-
in the council and in the com-
munity, he said, was “two
very different worlds that just
didn’t make sense to me.”
Gutierrez described a
disconnect between what
community leaders, includ-
ing some Hispanic leaders,
thought the Hispanic commu-
nity needed and what Hispan-
ics list as priorities.
Issues such as access to
Spanish translators at hospi-
tals and public schools, for
example, have recently taken
on a sharper focus after His-
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services.
Gutierrez believes, how-
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balance, and there’s this order
of power that’s been in this
community for a very long
time. And so you come in
as an outsider and you don’t
want to upset that, because
you don’t know what the re-
percussions are going to be.
“Like you don’t know if all
this goodwill that you’re see-
ing right now, if it’s still going
to be there once you actually
start standing up for yourself
and your community and ask-
ing for things to get done that
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munity.”
Overcoming obstacles
Livar, 51, was born and
raised in San Antonio and
earned a bachelor’s degree
in philosophy and a master’s
degree in spirituality from
Santa Clara University in
California.
A former chaplain at Bap-
tist Health System in San
Antonio, she has also served
as a chemical dependency
counselor for parolees, a
public educator for a sexual
assault crisis center, and an
advocate for job training.
Livar is an instructor for
Clatsop Community Col-
lege’s Lives in Transition
program, which helps pre-
pare adults, including single
mothers and workers who
have lost their jobs, to com-
plete their education.
Livar, who is on the steer-
ing committee for the Lower
Columbia Diversity Project,
wants to instill a sense of
empowerment among His-
panics and lower the obsta-
cles to community participa-
tion.
She is cognizant, though,
that some activism might
be seen as “crossing bound-
aries” by the community.
“We’re dealing in a world
where we are a minority,”
she said. “And we want to
continue to make strides and,
at the same time, there’s an
acknowledgment that we’re
not always encouraged to
take that lead.
“And what do we do
when we have those kinds
of obstacles, in our personal
lives, professional lives or
as we’re trying to help oth-
ers?”
— Derrick DePledge