Loggers stay
in state play
Camp Rilea troops
return home
SPORTS • 4A
NORTH COAST • 3A
MONDAY, JUNE 1, 2015
142nd YEAR, No. 239
ONE DOLLAR
BUSINESS IS BOOMING
Weston
taken to
task for
actions
5HSRUWDI¿UPVVRPH
allegations against
former Port leader
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
EDWARD STRATTON — The Daily Astorian
Earlier this month, Lisa and Gordon Clement opened Clemente’s Seafood at its new location in the Pilot House Building at 175 14th St.
New, expanding businesses mean Astoria is awash in unique options
E
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
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ers around downtown Astoria, while the
surviving perennials from winter expand
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EDWARD STRATTON — The Daily Astorian
Gordon Clement cooks some cioppino in Clemente’s Seafood’s new location
in the Pilot House Building.
More than 10 new busi-
nesses have opened in down-
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months of this year, with
several more coming soon.
Meanwhile, several others
have relocated, expanded or
changed ownership within
the downtown core.
Alana Garner, director of
the Astoria Downtown His-
toric District Association,
is tasked with tracking the
movement of what she esti-
mated is more than 200 busi-
nesses downtown, including
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“I think Astoria is be-
coming a very diverse and
eclectic mix of businesses
and the restaurants,” she
said. And, each business
can bring one to three em-
ployees, on average. “What
I like to tell people about
downtown is that downtown
is like your outdoor shop-
ping mall.
“There’s something about
Astoria. It sucks you in in the
best way possible.”
Spring arrivals
EDWARD STRATTON — The Daily Astorian
John Gentner opened Metal Head four months ago at 1126 Marine Drive.
This year, the downtown
association expanded the
scope of the downtown core
from the waterfront south to
Exchange Street, and from
Fifth to 17th streets, Garner
said. Within that core, more
than 10 new businesses have
or will soon be opening.
A growing concern
Within that core, about 20
businesses have opened, re-
located and expanded. They
range from smoke shops and
party supply centers to cloth-
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On 14th Street, next to
Eric Betchard’s expanding
restaurant Albatross, friends
Staci Daniels and Sara Knigh-
ton opened Maiden Astoria, a
local and regional handmade
gift store. The name plays on
both its offerings, from can-
dles and soaps to bowls made
from rolled magazines, and
its female owners, who met
during a weaving class at the
Astoria Fiber Arts Academy
and decided to pursue their
dream of being Astoria’s cen-
ter for handmade gifts.
“Probably 25 to 30 per-
cent is local,” Daniels said of
items made in Astoria, add-
ing between 30 and 40 artists
are showcased in the store.
Next to the Columbian
Cafe on Marine Drive sits Met-
al Head, owner John Gentner’s
own heavy metal haven.
Gentner said he worked
retail most of his life but al-
ways had a passion for heavy
See BUSINESS, Page 10A
The Port of Astoria released a
report Friday sustaining allegations
that Mike Weston, when he was the
Port’s
inter-
im executive
director, had
broken hiring
rules, been un-
truthful to the
Port Commis-
sion, engaged
in
deceptive
contract mod-
L¿FDWLRQV DQG
unethically
Mike
taken a tenant’s
Weston
abandoned
property for his personal use.
The report, performed last sum-
mer by the Local Government Per-
sonnel Institute at the request of the
Port Commission chairman, also
See WESTON, Page 10A
Keeping
it in the
Capitol
Bill extending
transparency to
Legislature dies
By HILLARY BORRUD
Capital Bureau
SALEM — Lawmakers in Salem
love to repeat the quote attributed to
Otto von Bismarck, that bill writing
is akin to sausage making.
“I was talking to a friend and he
said to me, ‘if you like laws or if
you like sausage, it’s probably best
not to see either one of them getting
made’,” Rep. Ann Lininger, D-Lake
Oswego, said during a committee
meeting in May.
In fact, Oregon statute allows
lawmakers the option to keep much
of that sausage making private,
thanks to an exemption to the state’s
public records law when the Legisla-
ture is in session. Many other states
have similar provisions.
See BILL, Page 10A
Astoria Youth Baseball is in good hands
I
n his championship years
with the New York Yan-
kees, Reggie Jackson once
called himself “the straw that
stirs the drink.“
If Reggie Jackson was the
straw that stirred the Yankees,
then Kati Perry Junes is the
“straw that stirs the drink” for
Astoria Youth Baseball.
In addition to seeking out
sponsors for AYB, she orga-
nizes volunteer schedules and
sets up fundraising activities.
She also keeps the conces-
sion stand stocked, runs the
Astoria Youth Baseball Face-
book page, holds down three
other jobs, and performed
at halftime of Super Bowl
XLIX. (Oops, sorry — differ-
ent Kati Perry. Although she
probably could have, with her
looks and cool tattoos).
This Kati Perry has spent
the last three years or so giv-
ing up a lot of her time and
most of her spring and sum-
mer, making sure that Astoria
Youth Baseball stays ahead of
the game, literally.
When she’s not watching
her own kids play, she’s work-
ing the snack shack and just
making sure everything runs
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With the spring season
winding down and the sum-
mer “All-Stars” season heat-
Submitted Photo
Kati Perry Junes works the concession stand at last year’s
Majors state tournament, hosted by Astoria at Columbia Field.
ing up, so does the volunteer
work for Kati Perry Junes.
“Kenny (Hageman, pres-
ident of Astoria Youth Base-
ball) does a lot, and I take care
of the fundraising and keep
the snack shack stocked,” said
Junes, a longtime Astorian.
“This year was big, be-
cause we merged with Lew-
is & Clark (baseball). So
instead of just one, we have
all of Lewis & Clark to run
as well.
“It was awesome to merge
with Lewis & Clark,” she
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to play on, and it makes our
program so much stronger.”
And that, she said, is the
key to everything baseball in
and around Astoria.
It’s not so much signing
up more players (although
numbers are through the
roof at the Minors level),
it’s keeping kids occupied
during the spring and sum-
mer months.
See JUNES, Page 7A