Futsal spins
into town
FRIDAY EXTRA • 1C
Artist’s Sketchbook:
Tuba Quartet
WEEKEND
EDITION
FRIDAY EXTRA • 2C
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2015
142nd YEAR, No. 163
ONE DOLLAR
WILL THE WALDORF
GET ANOTHER
REPRIEVE?
Seaside
couple’s
trial set
in toddler
murder
Judge denies
defense request
to bar cameras
By KYLE SPURR
The Daily Astorian
Photo by Jeff Daly
This photo is part of an exhibit at Toni’s Boutique, 1130 Commercial St., during the Saturday Art Walk. Shot at night with a 3-minute
exposure, this is the Waldorf Hotel lobby with the registration desk in the foreground. Someone scraped some of the paint off the front
window to give passers-by a glimpse into this building, which has been shuttered for more than two decades. In its day, the entrance was
impressive with 14-foot ceilings.
Astoria library expansion into the
venerable, but vacant, hotel in doubt
one,” said LaMear, a retired librar-
ian, who hopes the council will
instruct city staff how to proceed
ommunity Action Team Inc., a after the work session.
6W+HOHQVQRQSUR¿WWKDWKHOSV
Price would prefer the focus
combat poverty, conducted a be back on the library, which has
two-year study on the potential rede- structural and accessibility chal-
velopment of the old Waldorf Hotel lenges, and not the fate of the Wal-
and came to some unavoidable con- dorf. She would also like to put the
clusions: the historic hotel appears to library into the broader context of
have little, if any, value in its current urban renewal, such as the redevel-
condition. And it is clear that demoli- opment of Heritage Square.
tion is not yet an acceptable answer to
“I just really want us to look
many in Astoria.
outside the box,” she told residents
That was in 2004. A decade lat- Thursday afternoon at a “saloni-
er, Astoria appears to be in exactly cal,” or meet-and-greet, at the li-
the same place.
brary.
The Astoria City Council might
Exploring other options for the
undo a decision made last year to library would take the City Coun-
expand the Astoria Public Library cil off the track it had committed to
into the Waldorf, sparing the va- last year — a track endorsed by the
cant hotel between the library and city’s Library Board — and pro-
City Hall from a wrecking ball that vide another unlikely reprieve for
has hovered since the building was the Waldorf.
closed for health and safety code
Politics, preservation
violations in 1989.
The latest spark to spare the
Mayor Arline LaMear, who
supports the estimated $4.6 million Waldorf, formerly known as the
library renovation into the Waldorf, Merwyn, was triggered by politics
has called a work session Tuesday and historic preservation.
Larry Taylor, the Intel technol-
to hear where the council stands.
Three councilors — Drew Herzig ogy manager who lost to LaMear
and the newly elected Zetty Nem- in the November election, opposed
lowill and Cindy Price — have the demolition of the Waldorf
misgivings about the library ren- during the campaign. A Save the
ovation plan, suggesting that the Historic Merwyn Hotel Facebook
page — which shares a similar
council might change direction.
“I want to make sure that this is
See WALDORF, Page 10A
a council decision, not a personal
By DERRICK DePLEDGE
The Daily Astorian
C
Photo by Jeff Daly
The Waldorf Hotel sign behind some railings inside the Merwyn Building.
Photo by Jeff Daly
The east wall of the hotel is almost attached to the remodeled Asto-
ria City Hall. This the light well between the two buildings.
A trial date has been scheduled
for the mother and her live-in boy-
friend accused of murdering the
woman’s 2-year-old daughter at their
Seaside home Dec. 20.
Dorothy Ann Wing, 24, and Ran-
dy Lee Roden, 26, are tentatively
scheduled for trial beginning April
5, 2016. The couple will be tried to-
gether as co-defendants at the trial.
The couple appeared Thursday in
Clatsop County Circuit Court, which
was heavily secured with a metal de-
tector outside the courtroom and half
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Roden allegedly made threats
prior to the hearing regarding media
cameras in the courtroom.
Roden’s defense lawyer Conor
+XVHE\ ¿OHG DQ REMHFWLRQ EHIRUH
Thursday’s hearing to deny both still
and video cameras in the courtroom.
Judge Paula Brownhill denied
Huseby’s objection, stating there
has to be a substantial reason to bar
cameras. At this point in the case,
Brownhill felt there was no such rea-
son.
“What I’m asking for is not cra-
zy,” Huseby said. “It happens in
federal courtrooms every single day
across the county.”
Most of Thursday’s hearing was
VSHQWRQ¿QGLQJDWULDOGDWH%RWKWKH
prosecution and defense said they
have other capital murder cases in
the next year, so scheduling would
be limited.
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their preparation for the June 2016
trial of Jessica Smith, the mother ac-
cused of drugging and murdering her
2-year-old daughter and attempting
to kill her 13-year-old daughter in a
Cannon Beach hotel last summer.
The lawyers on both sides ini-
tially wanted a trial in fall 2016,
but Brownhill refused to wait that
long, citing the defendants’ right to
a speedy trial.
Huseby felt an earlier trial date
would end up being pushed back
anyway, and both parties would not
be properly prepared. He said it tra-
ditionally takes at least 18 months to
prepare.
Brownhill allowed the possibili-
ty of postponing the trial date if re-
quested at a later hearing.
“The enormity of the job we have
to do is massive,” Huseby said. “It’s
a huge undertaking.”
Wing, who is being represented
by defense lawyer John Gutbezahl of
See TRIAL, Page 8A
Democrats ask Governor Kitzhaber to quit
Party leaders say trust is gone
speculate about the mental state of
Kitzhaber, who turns 68 March 5.
Kotek was also unsure of
Kitzhaber’s plans.
SALEM — Gov. John Kitzhaber
“I really don’t know,” Kotek
is now under renewed pressure by said. “I really don’t know. He did
Democratic leaders to resign in re- not give any indication either way.”
VSRQVHWRWKHLQÀXHQFHSHGGOLQJDO
Although Courtney and Kotek
OHJDWLRQVDJDLQVWKLPDQG¿UVWODG\ agreed Kitzhaber should resign,
Cylvia Hayes.
they cited different reasons.
Senate President Peter Courtney,
“It has become clear to both of
D-Salem, said he and House Speak- us that the ongoing investigations
er Tina Kotek, D-Portland, urged surrounding the governor and Cyl-
the Democratic chief executive to via Hayes have resulted in a loss
resign — just one month into his of the people’s trust, and have un-
fourth term — when they met in the dermined his ability to effectively
JRYHUQRU¶VSULYDWHRI¿FH7KXUVGD\ lead as our state’s chief executive,”
Kitzhaber’s response? “The man Kotek said.
is struggling,” Courtney told report-
See KITZHABER, Page 9A
ers afterward, though he declined to
By PETER WONG
and HILLARY BORRUD
Capital Bureau
Gov. John A.
Kitzhaber
AP Photo/Timothy J. Gonzalez
Peter Courtney
Media gather around Oregon House Speaker Tina Kotek
during a news conference in her office at the Capitol, in Sa-
lem, Thursday. Oregon’s top Democrats urged Gov. John
Kitzhaber to resign Thursday, saying he cannot lead the state
effectively amid a growing ethics scandal involving his fian-
cée, a green-energy consultant accused of using her relation-
ship with the governor to land contracts for her business.