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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 24, 2015)
SECOND-GRADERS WRITE LETTERS TO SANTA » INSIDE LIGHTS. CAMERA. CHRISTMAS » THURSDAY EXTRA • 1C 143rd YEAR, No. 127 THURSDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2015 • HOLIDAY EDITION ONE DOLLAR On the record Bill requires recording grand juries; 1993 Clatsop County case cited By PARIS ACHEN Capital Bureau A VERY FLAVEL CHRISTMAS Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian Lights adorn the balcony and front porch of the Flavel House. Flavel House’s new owner restores power, holiday cheer to long-neglected mansion By ERICK BENGEL The Daily Astorian T he tumbledown turn-of-the-20th-century Flavel House, abandoned for 25 years, is showing signs of life again — and the warm glow of Christmas cheer. Brightly colored Christmas lights hang from the upper and lower railings. A wreath, also strewn with lights, is mounted on the front door. Two large electric candles with red-orange bulbs — decades old and recovered from beneath the front stairs — shine from the dining room. And a small Christmas tree, partly adorned with orna- ments owned by the Flavels, completes the scene. Though the decorations themselves are rath- er modest, the lights alone make a bold state- ment: This house has power again, and it will soon be someone’s home. That someone is Greg Newenhof, who owns City Lumber with his brother, Jeff. Greg pur- chased the house at Franklin Avenue and 15th Street earlier this year. “I tell everybody it’ll be next week I’m mov- ing in. Just like, ‘There’s free beer tomorrow in the taverns’: Next week never really comes,” he said, smiling. “But I’ll probably — hopefully — in the springtime have enough done so that I can move in.” For now, Newenhof — who lives two blocks away on 17th Street and plans to make the Fla- vel House his permanent home — is making his presence felt through the simple gesture of hol- iday spirit, which began when his neighbors to the southeast, Curt and Rosemary Johnson, gave him the wreath. “So I put the wreath up there and said, ‘Well, I need some lights to go with it,” Newenhof said. The Curt and Rosemary moved into their home not long after the last Flavels to occupy the mansion moved out. The Johnsons and their neighbors across the street, Ron and Muriel Jen- sen, have watched the house slowly decline into a neighborhood eyesore, a sorry shadow of its former self. But the new festive look — and all that it promises for the house’s future — warms the Johnsons’ hearts, they said. “It’s a house that’s going to be lived in and have things going on, and not just, ‘He’s reno- vating an old home,’” Rosemary Johnson said. “The fact that he decorated before he moved in — he’s even got a Christmas tree in the window! — It’s just fantastic.” See FLAVEL HOUSE, Page 9A SALEM — The chairman of the state Senate Judiciary Committee is reviving legislation proposed in the last session he says will bring more transparency to secret grand jury pro- ceedings. Oregon is one of the few states where grand jury proceedings are not recorded. Sen. Floyd Prozanski, D-Eugene, is reviving legislation from that would require all grand jury testimony to be recorded. The bill, originally proposed by Rep. Jennifer Williamson, D-Port- land, stalled during the 2015 session in the Senate because lawmakers wanted more time for deliberation. Prozanski, who is a lawyer, said he plans to sub- mit the bill again in February. Prozanski said the 2015 bill is “the starter.” “That is not the end point,” he said. Federal courts and more than 40 states mandate that grand jury pro- ceedings be electronically recorded, according to a count by the Oregon Criminal Defense Association, which supports the bill. “The national norm is when you have grand jury testimony, it needs to be recorded verbatim,” said Gail Mey- er, lobbyist for the criminal defense association. What happens to the recordings af- ter the proceedings differs from state to state. Prozanski’s bill would require all grand jury proceedings to be record- ed except deliberations and voting. In case of indictment, the transcript would be released to the district attor- ney and defense counsel. If there were no indictment, the transcript would not be released except when the accused was a public servant such as a police RI¿FHU See BILL, Page 8A Warrenton man killed in crash The Daily Astorian Daily Astorian/File Photo Greg Newenhoff holds up Nellie Flavel’s photograph album in August. Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian A Christmas tree lights up a window of the Flavel House. Boys and Girls Club blooms on the peninsula By KATHERYN HOUGHTON EO Media Group LONG BEACH, Wash. — Kid per- formers cartwheeled into the room as the Boys and Girls Club staff herded roughly 50 students into the gym to showcase what they had learned during the semester. The group was nearly twice as large as it would have been a year ago, despite some students being out on vacation. Attendance grew from last year’s roughly 30 students a day to more than 70 students, said Hannah Williams, pro- gram coordinator for the Boys and Girls Club of the Long Beach Peninsula. “This growth has been amazing to watch,” Williams said. “But it’s import- ant to know, we’re not making money off See CLUB, Page 7A Natalie St. John/EO Media Group Older students in the after-school program enjoy the opportunity to socialize with their friends in an area that is dedicated to reading, relaxing and conversation. CLATSKANIE — A 55-year-old Warrenton man was killed in a head- on crash between a semi-truck and a sedan Wednesday morning on U.S. Highway 30 just west of Clatskanie. Zai G. Yang, 55, was riding in the passenger seat of a 2004 Pontiac sedan, traveling westbound at about 8 a.m., when for an unknown reason the car crossed over the centerline and struck an eastbound 1981 Ken- worth semi-truck head-on, according to Oregon State Police. Yang was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the Pontiac, Qiong- fang Peng, 49, of Portland, was transported to Legacy Emanuel Medical Center for treatment of mi- nor injuries. The semi-truck driver, Dennis R. Erickson, 37, Sheridan, had minor injuries and was treated at the scene. After the impact, OSP said, the Pontiac left the roadway and became SDUWLDOO\VXEPHUJHGLQDZDWHU¿OOHG ditch next to the highway. The truck, pulling a trailer loaded with lumber, also crashed into the ditch. Crews also had to clean up a large diesel spill. $OOODQHVZHUHRSHQHGWRWUDI¿FLQ both directions before 5 p.m. Oregon Department of Transpor- tation, Columbia County Sheriff’s 2I¿FHDQGWKH&ODWVNDQLH5XUDO)LUH District assisted OSP.