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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 25, 2015)
7A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2015 Facebook: Social network has nearly 1.4 billion users Continued from Page 1A Facebook, which has near- ly 1.4 billion users, won’t say how many accounts are memorialized, though Face- book product manager Vanes- sa Callison-Burch said there have been “hundreds of thou- sands” of requests from loved ones to do so. Other Internet companies also offer ways to posthu- mously manage your accounts. On Google, a tool called “in- active account manager” lets you choose to have your data deleted after three, six or 12 months of inactivity. Or you can choose someone, such as a parent or a spouse, to receive the data. The tool covers not just email but also other Goo- gle services such as Google Plus, YouTube and Blogger. Twitter, meanwhile, will deactivate your account if contacted by a family mem- ber or a person authorized to act on behalf of your estate, after verifying not only that you died but that the Twitter account is yours, since many people don’t use their full names on the site. AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File A Facebook employee walks past a sign at Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif., in March 2013. Facebook is giving more options to decide what happens to users’ accounts after they die. The world’s biggest online social network will now let users pick a trusted contact who can manage their account or elect to have the account deleted, the company announced Feb. 12. Port: Policy violations alleged LQJSRVLWLRQDQGGHÀHFWHGEODPH onto subordinates. Browne’s and Herman’s • Attempted to give union complaints allege that, while staff and himself a more favor- auditioning to be the perma- able vacation accrual provision, nent director, Weston abused which, if approved, would have his authority to help him cost the Port up to $156,800 in succeed and alienated his annual personnel costs. workforce with repeated ac- • Gave lease discounts to cusations of disloyalty and certain businesses connected to threats to “get rid of” anyone individual Port commissioners, who questioned his actions or which cost the Port $51,000 an- reported his conduct to Port nually, to gain support in his bid commissioners. to be permanent director. • Hired several employees A bad review without authority, against a Port Earlier this month, the Port Commission-mandated hiring refused a public records request freeze and without the funds from The Daily Astorian for a necessary to pay their salary and report done by the Local Gov- EHQH¿WV D SRWHQWLDO ORVV WR WKH ernment Personnel Institute, Port of $350,000. Once his ac- which looked into complaints tions were discovered, the com- Browne and Herman made plaints add, Weston threatened against Weston less than four to use layoffs and furloughs to months before they were both balance the budget. terminated. But the lawsuits • Waived the new employ- ¿OHGE\)RVWHUGHWDLOWKHLUDOOH- ees’ probationary status to pro- gations against Weston and the tect them from the Port’s layoff Port. policy. During the initial months • Gave himself and his new with Weston as interim direc- “executive team” additional/ tor, Browne’s and Herman’s accelerated accrual of vacation complaints allege, they ob- time, full medical coverage and VHUYHG KH ZDV XQTXDOL¿HG fully employer-covered retire- and incompetent, even on an ment contributions; guaranteed interim basis. “He grossly mis- KLPVHOI WKH LPSURYHG EHQH¿WV PDQDJHG WKH 3RUW¶V ¿QDQFLDO in case he didn’t become per- affairs, causing loss or waste manent director; and asked his of public funds, and abused (or “executive team” to keep the attempted to abuse) his interim contracts secret from the Port authority for personal and/or Commission and Internation- political gain.” al Longshore and Warehouse The complaints allege that Union. Weston: • Intentionally gave the Port • Abandoned or mismanaged Commission inaccurate or in- continuing projects in his exist- FRPSOHWH ¿QDQFLDO LQIRUPDWLRQ Continued from Page 1A WRIDOVHO\LPSO\WKH3RUW¶V¿QDQ- cial condition was improving under his stewardship. • Compromised the Port Commission’s governance by failing to fully disclose his suc- cessful and attempted self-inter- ested transactions and by asking staff to stay quiet. • Abused his authority by threatening the job status of any employee who opposed or reported his actions to the Port Commission. • Violated the Port’s person- nel policy by keeping secret notes critical of certain employ- ees without their knowledge or an opportunity to respond. The lawsuits said, on or around July 17, Browne and Herman met with Port Com- missioner John Raichl and were promised protection from retali- ation by Weston in exchange for speaking openly. The two wom- en then disclosed the aforemen- tioned allegations. Browne and Herman “did not provide written authoriza- tion allowing the Port to dis- close her identity to Weston,” both complaints said. “Rather, plaintiff wanted her identity kept secret for fear that Weston would use the knowledge to retaliate against her in the work- place — which is exactly what happened.” Retaliation The complaints said Weston publicly accused Browne and Herman of insubordination in meetings and emails; placed Browne on administrative leave Warrenton: Measure 91 doesn’t affect state’s medical marijuana, dispensary programs Continued from Page 1A law enforcement concerns as if the current version of Mea- sure 91 is in effect.” Last year, 146 Oregon cities — including Warren- ton, Gearhart, Seaside and Cannon Beach — agreed to moratoriums on medi- cal marijuana dispensaries, along with 26 counties. The moratoriums are intended to give local governments time to prepare for dispensaries but cannot extend beyond May 1. More than 60 cities — including Warrenton, Gearhart, Seaside and Can- non Beach — opted to tax marijuana before the Mea- sure 91 vote. Legal experts differ on whether taxes ad- opted before the vote are legal, since the measure specifically prohibits local taxes on the drug, but state lawmakers are now debat- ing whether to allow local taxation. City Manager Kurt Fritsch suggested during the work session that the City Commission might consider rescinding the local marijua- na tax if it appears residents are interested in a ballot ini- tiative to restrict local sales Aug. 18; blocked Herman, on medical leave from workplace injuries to her tailbone, from the Port’s network while she worked from home; leveled complaints against both that mirrored their earlier complaints against him; and put the complaints into their SHUVRQQHO¿OHV7KHDFWLRQVZHUH all taken without their notice or ability to appeal, the lawsuits said, in violation of the Port’s personnel policies. %URZQH¶V ¿OLQJ VD\V VKH complained to Raichl about the retaliation but was told he’d do nothing to stop it. +HUPDQ¶V ¿OLQJ DOOHJHV IXU- ther retaliation by Weston as she visited work and returned to her job in early September. It says that Weston refused to accommodate her doctor’s orders regarding physical ac- tivity, and that her condition Daily Astorian file Mike Weston, then interim executive director of the Port of Astoria, described logging and fishing operations at the Port to Upward Bound Summer Academy students during a tour of Pier 1 in July. Weston is under fire in allegations from lawsuits filed by to former Port employees. was eventually changed to disabled. In October, the Port Com- mission hired Knight. By early November, Browne and Herman ZHUHQRWL¿HGRIWKH3RUW¶VLQWHQW WR¿UHWKHP³7KH3RUW¶VQHZH[- ecutive director, Jim Knight, ex- plained he was merely following Weston’s recommendation.” By mid-November, the two were terminated, less than four months after they made com- plaints against Weston. Bergerson Tile & Stone s t e n i b a C d an Fea turing ONSITE MEASURING FREE QUOTES ‘It is a bucket of monkeys, can of worms, whatever you want to say. And it is going to change the landscape of our community.’ — Matt Workman Warrenton police chief of marijuana legalization so as not to send conflicting messages. “We’ve sent one mes- sage,” Fritsch said of the local tax. “So if we’re going to change message — and that’s OK — we’d have to consider rescinding that. Of course it may be moot if it’s proven to be not legal. “But we need to think about that with the messages we send.” Police Chief Matt Work- man cautioned that the city will have to sort through several legal and policy is- sues in response to marijua- na legalization. “It is a bucket of mon- keys, can of worms, what- ever you want to say. And it is going to change the landscape of our communi- ty,” the police chief warned. “Whatever we do.” Measure 91 does not change the state’s medical marijuana and dispensary programs, so cities will po- tentially have to adapt to re- tail outlets for recreational use, which will be limited based on age, and dispensa- ries for medicinal use, which are restricted to patients with doctor-endorsed medical marijuana cards. Speaking personally, Workman questioned how marijuana can be both a rec- reational drug and a pow- erful medication to relieve pain: “Last time I went to my doctor, I couldn’t get a prescription Budweiser.” G • O ver 100 option s Hav olly! e you seen that to ch oose from showroom down at in cludin g w ood, Bergerson’s? style a n d colors • Sem i-custom design s • M odern or tra dition a l design s a va ila ble • F a m ily ow n ed a n d opera ted for m ore th a n 50 yea rs 2 0 / 2 0 DIGITA L REN DERIN G VISIT OUR SHOWROOM E-mail: bergersontile@seasurf.net 1033 Marine Dr. | Astoria 503-325-7767