Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (March 13, 2015)
How does your garden grow? FRIDAY EXTRA • 2C Seagulls take a tumble WEEKEND EDITION SPORTS • 7A FRIDAY, MARCH 13, 2015 142nd YEAR, No. 183 ONE DOLLAR Chinook Tribe left out of school lessons Courtesy Lower Columbia Engineering This map shows how the donated land will be redeveloped in line with the Westport Corridor & Community Plan. ‘IT’S A REBIRTH OF WESTPORT’ Many things old will be new again in East County town By KYLE SPURR The Daily Astorian W ESTPORT — Leoann Douma’s fondest mem- ories of raising her fam- ily in Westport revolve around the town’s waterfront park and boat launch on the Columbia River es- tuary. Douma’s two children, now 48 DQGJUHZXS¿VKLQJVZLPPLQJ and boating on the river. “They grew up having an abso- lute blast biking, swimming off the dock at the boat launch and going out in little rafts. The river has al- ways been the biggest (attraction),” Douma said. Over the 50 years since Dou- ma moved to Westport, the un- incorporated town’s waterfront has shown signs of disrepair. Lo- FDO ¿VKHUPDQ FRQVLGHU WKH ERDW launch unusable at low tide, and the parking lot has potholes and is JOSHUA BESSEX — The Daily Astorian inadequate during the busy spring Part-time deckhands Mark Hoover, left, and Brian McClain, right, direct the Oscar B Ferry into the tem- salmon season. However, plans are in the works porary landing during a test run Feb. 27. to revitalize the popular park and boat launch area. *HRUJLD3DFL¿F :DXQD 0LOO recently completed a 27-acre land Andrew Niemi, of Lower Columbia donation, valued at $230,000, to Engineering, speaks at a celebra- Clatsop County Parks Department tion event to recognize the land that will launch the county’s West- donation that opens the door for a port Corridor & Community Plan. new Westport park Jan. 16. As own- The county’s plan outlines im- er of the land, the county can now provements to the boat launch, submit grant applications to fund park area and access to the adja- the proposed parks projects. cent Westport Ferry landing, which LV EHLQJ UHEXLOW WR ¿W :DKNLDNXP County, Wash.’s new ferry, Oscar B. JOSHUA BESSEX The Daily Astorian See WESTPORT, Page 8A OLYMPIA, Wash. — Bay Center-based Chinook Indian Na- WLRQ DQG VWDWH 6HQ %ULDQ +DW¿HOG D-Raymond, unsuccessfully sought this week to have the tribe includ- ed among those Washington state students will learn about in public schools. The tribe sent an urgent action request to members and supporters Wednesday asking them to lobby lawmakers to include the Chinook Indian Nation in Senate Bill 5433. Under SB5433, school districts would be required include the history of the state’s 29 federally recognized Indian tribes in their curriculum. “Washington State Senate Bill 5433 has wonderful intentions — to mandate the teaching of Indian His- tory in Washington Schools,” the tribe said in its Wednesday appeal. “Each school will be responsible to teach the history of their local fed- erally recognized tribe. Chinook is NOT federally recognized and there- IRUH ZLOO EH OHIW RXW RI 3DFL¿F DQG Wahkaikum counties school’s histo- ry lessons. Imagine our local school- children not learning about the tribe who hosted Lewis and Clark!” The Chinook Tribe has waged a decadeslong campaign to achieve federal legal status. It was granted in the closing days of the Bill Clin- ton administration, but withdrawn a year later by the George W. Bush administration, which said a Clin- WRQDSSRLQWHGRI¿FLDOLQWKH%XUHDX of Indian Affairs had turned a blind eye to shortcomings in the Chinooks’ recognition case. Recent changes in BIA rules have provided the tribe with a glimmer of hope that they may yet overcome these issues, but nothing much has happened so far. +DW¿HOG RIIHUHG DQ DPHQGPHQW to SB5433 that would have includ- ed tribes that still seek federal rec- ognition, such as the Chinook Indian See TRIBE, Page 8A Everyday People MONDAY Counsel for kids It’s a lie! Fake IRS agents target many in scam Tell friends: Many locals have been called, harassed WASHINGTON (AP) — Fake IRS agents have target- ed more than 366,000 people with harassing phone calls de- manding payments and threat- ening jail in the largest scam of its kind in the history of the agency, a federal investigator said Thursday. More than 3,000 people have fallen for the ruse since 2013, said Timothy Camus, a Treasury deputy inspector general for tax administration. They were conned out of a to- tal of $15.5 million. The scam has claimed vic- tims in almost every state, Camus said. One unidenti- ¿HG YLFWLP ORVW PRUH WKDQ $500,000. “The criminals do not discriminate. They are call- ing people everywhere, of all income levels and back- grounds,” Camus told the Senate Finance Committee at a hearing. “The callers often warned the victims that if they hung up, local police would come to their homes to arrest them.” The scam is so widespread that investigators believe there is more than one group of perpetrators, including some overseas. Camus said even he re- AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File This is the exterior of the Internal Revenue Service build- ing in Washington in 2013. Fake IRS agents have targeted more than 366,000 people with harassing phone calls de- manding payments and threatening jail as part of a huge nationwide tax scam that has cost taxpayers $15.5 million. ceived a call from one of the scammers at his home on a Saturday. He said he had a stern message for the caller: “Your day will come.” Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., said he got a similar call, but realized it wasn’t a real IRS agent. “It was a very convincing, convincing phone call,” Isak- son said. So far, two people in Flori- da have been arrested, Camus said. They were accused of being part of a scam that in- volved people in call centers in India contacting U.S. tax- payers and pretending to be IRS agents. “These criminal acts are perpetrated by thieves hiding behind telephone lines and computers, preying on hon- est taxpayers and robbing the See SCAM, Page 8A
