10A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, JANUARY 29, 2015
Carbon: Part of revenue would
Scam: 290,000
go into capital improvement fund scam calls have
been reported
Continued from Page 1A
But the city harvests
about 750,000 board feet of
timber a year. Last year, the
harvest was larger — just
under 850,000 board feet
— and the city netted about
$350,000 for the capital im-
provement fund.
Revenue from the car-
bon credits would also go
into the capital improvement
fund.
“The harvest level that
we’re able to do annually
under this program is no dif-
ferent than what we’ve been
doing,” said Ken Cook, As-
toria Public Works director.
“So this is not crimping our
style necessarily. The level
we’ve been harvesting en-
sures that the water quality
is not harmed.”
Continued from Page 1A
JOSHUA BESSEX — The Daily Astorian
Hemlock grows in a area of the watershed blown down during the 2007 storm. The hem-
lock was planted in 2009.
Pantry: 32 people showed up asking
for food for each of their families
Continued from Page 1A
As the pantry’s opening
drew near, the pantry volun-
teers told their customers of
the impending transition. Still,
the volunteers always knew
there was a chance that some-
thing would go wrong.
The numbers spoke for
themselves: 32 customers,
each representing his or her
own household showed up,
requesting food for a total of
121 people (the all-time record
is slightly more than 130), ac-
cording to Molly Edison, the
pantry manager. The largest
order went to eight adults and
three children.
The previous week, it was
21 households requesting food
for 97 people. Before that, it
was 19 households requesting
food for 76 customers.
it like any other shopping trip.
“We just have fun.”
The pantry, which is open 3
to 5 p.m. Wednesdays, doesn’t
necessarily provide enough
food to last their customers for
an entire week, “but it gives
them a good start,” Wood said.
‘Thrilled’
ERICK BENGEL —EO Media Group
Judy Wood, a pantry volunteer, grabs some canned goods
to fill out a customer’s order. Each pantry volunteer man-
ages a specific section of the packing room.
teer, said. “They usually wait
until they’re very hungry to
come.”
Upon arriving, each cus-
WRPHU¿OOVRXWDVKRSSLQJOLVW
which often includes items for
Loading up
health and hygiene. An order
“We always get hit hard and packed with wheat crackers,
KHDY\ LQ WKH ¿UVW KDOI KRXU´ peanut butter and frozen green
Judy Mace, a volunteer, said. beans may also contain dog
But, nearly an hour into their food, diapers and detergent.
work, the customers just kept Every order — replete with
streaming in, Nancy Littell, a groceries donated from Costco
volunteer, observed.
and community members, or
Though relieved that most purchased through the Clatsop
FXVWRPHUVKDGQRWURXEOH¿QG- Community Action Region-
ing the pantry, one distressing al Food Bank — comes with
detail stood out: Three new beans and rice. Generally, cus-
families had placed orders.
tomers wait no longer than 20
“Usually, when they’re minutes for their order, Wood
new, they’re more desperate, said.
so we load them up (with gro-
While the volunteers, ever
ceries),” Barb Knop, a volun- quick on their feet, loaded
up tubs with everything from
eggs and butter to toothpaste
and toilet paper, the customers,
some with walkers or power-
chairs, scanned tables overrun
with loafs of bread and fresh
fruits and vegetables, depos-
iting a few into the bags and
boxes they brought with them.
Meanwhile, volunteer Me-
lissa Corwin, the “kid lady,”
played in the corner with the
children, who occupied them-
selves with Legos and coloring
books. Asked if any of the chil-
dren, who normally range from
2 to 10 years old, can concep-
tualize what the pantry is all
about, and why their mom or
dad goes there every week,
she said, “I have no idea. They
just come and play,” adding
that they probably experience
In their larger, roomier
1,710-square-foot oceanview
home — which Pastor Da-
vid Robinson, of the Cannon
Beach Community Church,
blessed shortly before custom-
ers started showing up — the
volunteers noticed that “We’re
walking a lot more,” Knop
said, smiling.
“Which is good,” Wood
added.
But what really matters,
volunteer Susan Martin said, is
what the customers think.
“They’re thrilled,” said
Edison, adding that she didn’t
hear any criticism. (For rea-
VRQVRIFRQ¿GHQWLDOLW\WKLVUH-
porter wasn’t able to interview
customers.)
That the pantry — which
operates “like a little family,”
Duncan Fenison, a 14-year-
old volunteer, said — needs to
exist at all in response to local
hunger needs, however, can be
painful to dwell on.
“It breaks my heart,”
Rockne Wickham, a volunteer,
said. “I wish there (were) more
jobs for people. Hopefully, the
recovery keeps on going.”
ing a debt, even when they
really do owe money.
contact the elderly, recent
³7KH ¿UVW ,56 FRQWDFW
immigrants, and those with taxpayers is usually
who are not native English through the mail. Taxpay-
speakers. Some callers ers have rights, and this is
threaten their targets with not how we do business,”
serious consequences such Koskinen said.
as arrest, deportation or
Nonetheless, these calls
license suspension if they can be surprisingly con-
don’t immediately send vincing, because the scams
cash or prepaid debit cards have gotten quite sophis-
to cover a debt, while oth- ticated. According to the
ers tell the target that they press release, “Scammers
have a refund coming, and are able to alter caller ID
try to trick them into pro- numbers to make it look
YLGLQJSULYDWH¿QDQFLDOLQ- like the IRS is calling.
formation.
They use fake names and
Since October 2013, the bogus IRS badge numbers.
Treasury Inspector Gener- They often leave ‘urgent’
al for Tax Administration callback requests.” The
(TIGTA) has received re- callers may even know a
ports of roughly 290,000 lot about their intended
of these scam calls. They victims.
estimate that about 3,000
According to the IRS,
victims have collectively there are several tell-tale
paid over $14 million as a signs that a caller may be
result of the scam.
a con artist:
In late 2014, a local
• Scammers demand
couple told the Chinook immediate payment, but
Observer about an alarm- the IRS provides oppor-
ing exchange with a man tunities to discuss the
who demanded money DPRXQW RI WKH GHEW RU ¿OH
for a nonexistent tax debt an appeal.
— they did not pay, and
• Real IRS workers
reported the incident to QHYHU GHPDQG D VSHFL¿F
the police. But another payment method, such as
local couple was not so a prepaid calling card, and
lucky. Tuesday morning, they never ask for debit or
a spokesperson for the credit card numbers over
Long Beach (Wash.) Po- the phone.
lice Department said that
• Scammers often
a woman visited to the po- threaten to call the police
OLFHVWDWLRQWRZDUQRI¿FHUV or make an arrest. The IRS
about the scam. When a does not send local law
man claiming to work for enforcement to handle tax
the Treasury threatened issues.
her with legal consequenc-
What to do:
es, she rushed to purchase
• If you know you owe
$5,000 in prepaid debit
cards and read the card taxes or think you might
numbers to the man over owe, call the IRS at 800-
the phone. The represen- 829-1040. The IRS work-
tative said this incident ers can help you with a
shows just how convinc- payment issue.
• If you know you don’t
ing these criminals can be,
because the victim was a owe taxes or have no rea-
well-educated woman who son to believe that you do,
was quite savvy in other report the incident to the
regards. County dispatch- TIGTA at 800-366-4484 or
ers’ call reports show that at www.tigta.gov.
• If you’ve been tar-
D KDQGIXO RI RWKHU 3DFL¿F
County, Wash., residents geted by this scam, also
received similar calls in contact the Federal Trade
Commission and use their
late 2014.
In the press release, “FTC Complaint Assis-
IRS Commissioner John tant” at FTC.gov. Please
Koskinen said that federal add “IRS Telephone
workers never try to shock Scam” to the comments of
or scare citizens into pay- your complaint.
Vision: ‘Why would you want to live anywhere else?’
Continued from Page 1A
“I’m very happy with what has been com-
piled,” Commissioner Sarah Nebeker said. “It
sounds like a utopia. Why would you want to
live anywhere else?”
Clatsop Vision 2030 Together also identi-
¿HVFRPPXQLW\YDOXHVWRSURWHFWRYHUWLPH
including the natural setting, quality of life,
living wages jobs and accessible health care.
The initiative’s mission states, in part,“To-
gether, we ensure that Clatsop County will re-
main our shared home — a special place where
future generations grow together as we live,
work, recreate, contribute and thrive.”
Doug Zenn, of Zenn Associates, previously
told the Board of Commissioners in a Septem-
ber work session the single largest theme he
heard from the public workshops was about the
county’s natural setting, whether it be protect-
LQJQDWXUHOHYHUDJLQJLW¿QDQFLDOO\RUXVLQJLW
for tourism and employment.
“Natural setting — that is probably the sin-
gle biggest theme that we heard from the com-
munity process in some manner,” Zenn said at
the time. “It was by far the most frequent thing
we heard.”
Zenn Associates made at total of 13 trips
to Clatsop County over the past year. The
firm has completed similar vision projects
in Hillsboro, Tualatin and Coeur d’Alene,
Idaho.
County Manager Scott Somers said the
next step is for staff to bring back an imple-
mentation plan for Clatsop Vision 2030 To-
gether. Somers expects staff to have a plan
ready by the Board of Commissioners’ annual
retreat planned this spring. No date has been
set.
“I would anticipate probably March, maybe
February, maybe somewhere around the board
retreat might be a time to present an implemen-
tation plan,” Somers said.
The implementation plan would potentially
include involvement from groups such as the
local chamber of commerces, arts council and
Rotary clubs.
Commission Chairman Scott Lee encour-
ages the community to view more information
about the initiative online at www.2030togeth-
er.com
Daily Astorian file
The once-proposed Bradwood Landing
liquefied natural gas terminal site hugs
the Columbia River near Georgia Pacif-
ic’s Wauna Mill, background, in a photo
from 2007. When putting together the fi-
nal draft of Clatsop Vision 2030 Together,
Portland-based consultant Doug Zenn, of
Zenn Associates, said the largest theme
to come out of the public workshops held
throughout the county was natural setting,
whether it be protecting nature or leverag-
ing it financially.
Daily Astorian file
Frank Bernards, of Roy, taps his shovel handle on the ground while hunting for razor
clams at low tide on Indian Beach in Ecola State Park last summer. One of the six focus
areas of Clatsop Vision 2030 Together is environment, natural resources and recreation.
³$WWKHERDUGUHWUHDWZHZLOOGH¿QLWHO\WDON principles and instructions associated with
about Clatsop Vision 2030 Together and im- the county’s preparation of its annual bud-
plementation and ways to move forward,” Lee get. The board approved it unanimously.
• The commissioners approved an in-
said.
crease to the vaccine administration fee
In other business:
to better recover the costs involved.
• The Board of Commissioners agreed to The county recently contracted
change its meeting times and hold both of its with insurance companies to pay
monthly meetings at 6 p.m Wednesday. Previ- a set vaccine administration fee of
RXVO\WKH¿UVWPHHWLQJRIWKHPRQWKZDVKHOG $54.77 for the initial vaccine and
at 10 a.m.
$14.19 for each subsequent vac-
• Association of Oregon Counties Execu- cine given at the same time. The
tive Director Mike McArthur offered to have contract would result in full cost
WKH$2&DVVLVWWKHFRXQW\LQ¿QGLQJD¿UPWR recovery. The current administra-
conduct a 360 performance review of County tion fee of $21.96 for the initial
Manager Scott Somers, which Somers request- vaccine is half of what it costs to
ed at the last meeting. The commissioners will administer vaccines.
set a workshop next month with AOC to dis-
• The Board of Commissioners
cuss the matter further.
directed the newly formed ad hoc Wet-
• Budget Director Monica Steele asked lands Advisory Committee to address Arch
the Board of Commissioners to consid- Cape-Cove Beach Local Wetland and Riparian
er and adopt the county’s 2015-16 budget Corridor inventories. The inventory informa-
policies and strategic plan/budget reduc- tion was completed in 2011, but has not been
tion strategy. The policies establish guiding adopted by the board.
Zenn Associates graphic