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WEEKEND
EDITION
INSIDE
143rd YEAR, No. 3
FRIDAY EXTRA • 3C
FRIDAY, JULY 3, 2015
ONE DOLLAR
Riverwalk
Inn lease still
up for grabs
Lease transfer
never happened
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
Combustible mix
JOSHUA BESSEX — The Daily Astorian
Customers browse through the selection of fireworks and the firework stand in the parking lot of Fred Meyer in Warrenton.
Authorities advise
people to stay safe
on Fourth of July
See LEASE, Page 8A
Recreational
pot bill goes
to governor
By KYLE SPURR
The Daily Astorian
8nusually dry weather, À ocks of
tourists and legal marijuana are cre-
ating a potentially dangerous combi-
nation for local law enforcement this
Fourth of July weekend.
Add in the annual concerns about
illegal ¿ reworks, and of¿ cials have
their hands full.
“I think most local folks are pret-
ty well versed in what they can and
cannot do or should or should not
do,” Astoria Fire Chief Ted Ames
said. “When we get such a large in-
À ux of out-of-town folks, therein lies
the issue we have, especially folks
from different states. But my biggest
concern this year is how dry it is.”
Each year, Ames suggests people
follow the state Fire Marshal’s Of¿ ce
directives known as the Four B’s of
safe ¿ reworks use
Be prepared before lighting ¿ re-
works and keep water available by
using a garden hose or bucket;
Be safe when lighting ¿ reworks
and keep children and pets away
from ¿ reworks;
• Be responsible after lighting
¿ reworks and never relight a dud.
Wait 15 to 20 minutes then soak it in
a bucket of water before disposal;
• Be aware and use only legal
¿ reworks and use them only in legal
places.
Ames said people also need to be
aware that Oregon has different ¿ re-
The Astoria Riverwalk Inn might
still be up for grabs, a month after
the Port of Astoria Commission vot-
ed to allow the lease to transfer from
Brad Smithart’s Hospitality Masters
to Ganesh Sonpatki’s Param Hotel
Group.
Sonpatki offered to pay off Smi-
thart’s large debts to the Port, the city
of Astoria and Clatsop C ounty, in ex-
change for assuming his lease.
But the lease transfer never hap-
pened, Smithart still owes lots of
money, and the people trying to
make a deal happen are having trou-
ble reaching him.
“With Brad, it’s always hard to
tell whether this is a purposeful stall-
ing,” Jim Knight, the Port’s e xecu-
tive d irector, said. “Maybe it’s be-
cause he’s negotiating with another
potential party.”
Smithart did not respond to multi-
ple requests for an interview.
Knight estimated Smithart’s past-
due rent and revenue sharing owed
to the Port at upward of $250,000.
Susan Brooks, director of ¿ nance
for the city of Astoria, said Smithart
owed the city $92,000 in lodging
taxes and $13,000 in past-due water
JOSHUA BESSEX — The Daily Astorian
Fireworks on display at the fire-
works stand in the Fred Meyer
parking lot.
JOSHUA BESSEX — The Daily Astorian
Tom Ank helps customers at the fireworks stand in the Fred Meyer
parking lot Thursday.
works laws than Washington state or
Idaho. Fireworks that explode, eject
balls of ¿ re, À y into the air, or travel
more than 6 feet on the ground or 12
inches into the air are illegal in Or-
egon.
The Astoria Fire Department
spent time inspecting ¿ reworks
stands and assisted with preparing
the Astoria ¿ reworks display for the
Fourth of July.
With high ¿ re danger around
the region, Ames said, people need
to use common sense and not light
off ¿ reworks in their backyards, but
rather on pavement or cement.
The dry conditions have already
caused Ilwaco, Wash., and South
Bend, Wash., to ban the use of pro-
jectile and aerial ¿ reworks. No bans
are in effect in Clatsop County.
“It makes me nervous over here
with the hillside and urban forest we
have,” Ames said. “The biggest thing
for folks to do is use their good com-
mon sense and be safe doing this,
please.”
Extra patrols
Seaside Police Chief Dave Ham
said his department will be assisted
by Oregon State Police and the Can-
non Beach Police Department during
the Fourth of July.
State police will send nine troop-
ers to help with traf¿ c enforcement
and crowd control in downtown Sea-
side. Cannon Beach Police will send
two of¿ cers to Seaside.
Ham said his department sends
of¿ cers to help with Cannon Beach’s
large events such as the recent Sand-
castle Contest. Having Cannon
Beach Police send of¿ cers for the
Fourth is just them returning the fa-
vor, he said.
In addition to the 11 extra of¿ -
cers, Seaside’s own patrol of¿ cers
plan to work overtime .
The extra staf¿ ng is necessary,
Ham said, especially with the holi-
day falling on such a warm weekend.
Temperatures are expected to reach
triple digits in the Portland metro
area and Willamette Valley.
“The weather pattern is one of the
best we have seen,” he said. “With
the heat in the v alley, (visitors) are
going to be coming here.”
Besides preparing for more visi-
tors, Ham is prepping his of¿ cers on
how to handle the recent legalization
of marijuana in Oregon. People can
use marijuana in their own homes as
of July 1, but are not allowed to take
the drug out in public, which Ham
is concerned people will try to do
during Fourth of July festivities.
“We are little bit concerned
and paying attention to that,” Ham
said.
See FIREWORKS, Page 8A
Medical shops
could sell to all
adults in October
By HILLARY BORRUD
Capital Bureau
SALEM — Oregon medical mar-
ijuana dispensaries would be allowed
to temporarily sell limited amounts
of pot to all adults in Oregon starting
Oct. 1, under a bill headed to Gov.
Kate Brown for a signature.
Lawmakers want to provide a
legal way for Oregonians to pur-
chase marijuana, because the state’s
recreational marijuana retail system
likely will not launch until late 2016.
Possession and consumption of mar-
ijuana for adults age 21 and older be-
came legal in Oregon Wednesday un-
der Measure 91, which voters passed
in November.
Senate Bill 460 would allow rec-
reational customers to purchase can-
nabis seeds, plants that are not À ow-
ering and up to one-quarter ounce
of marijuana À owers or leaves from
medical marijuana dispensaries. The
Oregon House passed the bill 40-19
on Thursday. The legislation had
See POT, Page 8A
Court tosses exceptional murder sentence
Former Oregon police of¿ cer
had been sentenced to 88 years
By NATALIE ST. JOHN
EO Media Group
OLYMPIA, Wash. — The
Washington State Supreme
Court has ruled that the s tate
Court of Appeals made the right
decision in May 2014 when it
threw out convicted murderer
Brian Brush’s exceptional 88-
year sentence.
In an opinion ¿ led Thurs-
day , a panel of four justices
concluded that by providing
jurors with guidance about how
to evaluate the case, the Paci¿ c
County Superior Court violated
a rule that prohibits judges from
commenting on evidence.
That decision means that
Brush is still guilty of ¿ rst-de-
gree murder, but Paci¿ c County
will have to hold the sentencing
phase of his trial again. And
Brush — who has been serving
his sentence in the Washington
State Penitentiary in Walla Wal-
la — will have to return to Pacif-
ic County until his fate has been
decided again.
The ruling “… is manifest-
ly unfair to the victim and her
family, and an appalling miscar-
riage of justice,” Paci¿ c Coun-
ty Prosecutor Mark McClain
said in an email Thursday. “Mr.
Brush received an appropriate
sentence for his actions the ¿ rst
time around and now this family
has to be put through this again.
Simply tragic.”
McClain said the county has
two options. First, prosecutors
could try to sentence Brush to
something in the standard sen-
tencing range for ¿ rst-degree
murder with a ¿ rearm. That
would result in a sentence of
somewhere between 25 and
about 31 years, minus time
served. Second, the prosecutors
could again try to convince the
judge that Brush deserves an ex-
ceptional sentence.
McClain said he has spoken
brieÀ y with the victim’s family.
He plans to talk with them again
See MURDER, Page 8A
EO Media Group File
Brian Brush, center with bald head, sat with his attorneys
in the Pacific County Courtroom during his original sen-
tencing in February 2012. He will be heading back to court
for reconsideration of that sentence following a Washing-
ton State Supreme Court decision Thursday.