143rd YEAR, No. 20
TUESDAY, JULY 28, 2015
ONE DOLLAR
New suitors
emerge for
Astoria inn
Potential $2 million
restoration budget
By DERRICK DePLEDGE
The Daily Astorian
Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian
Curt DuPey Jr., left, and Gerald Yadon, right, work on constructing the Tornado, a spinning ride, at the Clatsop County Fairgrounds Mon-
day. Yadon, the foreman of the ride, travels with the ride all over the Northwest. The ride takes approximately an hour and a half to set up.
READY, SET, FAIR!
By JOSHUA BESSEX
The Daily Astorian
New investors have approached
the Port of Astoria about leasing the
Astoria Riverwalk Inn, promising to
pay off $350,000 in debts and pump
$2 million into renovation.
William Orr, the president of Sig-
nature Seafoods in Seattle, who is
from Astoria, would manage a part-
nership that would include Chester
Trabucco, the developer behind the
Hotel Elliott.
The new suitors are among sever-
al interested in the potentially valu-
able Uniontown property.
Ganesh Sonpatki, a Portland ho-
telier, has claimed to have a contract
to take over the inn. A Marriott group
may also make a pitch.
Kruparao Kancharla and his fam-
ily, who own a restaurant and adult
foster care homes around Astoria,
had stepped forward to operate the
inn. But Jim Knight, the Port’s ex-
ecutive director, said today that the
Kancharla family has withdrawn
See RIVERWALK, Page 10A
State
prepares
to collect
millions in
pot taxes
T
he Clatsop County Fairgrounds
buzzed with activity Monday
as people constructed rides,
cleaned livestock, and set up booths
in preparation for the Clatsop County
Fair.
The fair begins today and continues
through Saturday.
The theme of the fair is “Forest,
Farms and Foam.”
For more information go to
www.clatsopfairgrounds.com
Large amounts
of cash expected
By HILLARY BORRUD
Capital Bureau
Colton Scheel weighs a Cornish Cross
chicken for market.
ABOVE LEFT: Sugar, a pig owned by Sydney Johnson, chews on a hose after being cleaned up for the Clatsop County Fair Monday.
ABOVE MIDDLE: Zip Security, owned by Kaitlyn Landwehr, of Knappa, stands in a stall at the Clatsop County Fairgrounds Monday.
ABOVE RIGHT: From left: Tucker Delay, Bayle McCall, and Nolan Kinney try to get Mariner, Kinney’s pig, to go inside the arena during set
up for the Clatsop County Fair Monday.
The Oregon Department of Rev-
enue is preparing to accept large
amounts of cash from legal recre-
ational pot businesses next year,
when a state sales tax on the drug
takes effect.
Spokeswoman Joy P. Krawczyk
said the agency will collect the tax-
es on a quarterly basis, and revenue
of¿cials plan to release details in the
next couple of weeks on how they
will handle the tax payments.
“It’s still really early in the pro-
cess, and our special programs folks
are working on putting together a
solid plan,” Krawczyk said.
See POT, Page 10A
For pet owners, a quick stop can mean a hot dog
Experts caution
against leaving
dogs in cars
By McKINLEY SMITH
The Daily Astorian
As temperatures rise during
summer, so does the health risk
for dogs left in sweltering cars.
Most dog owners know bet-
ter, yet many occasionally leave
their pets in cars when making
quick stops at the market, bank
or shop. Without the windows
rolled down, cars can become
hot after about 10 minutes and
like ovens after an hour.
Others know better, too.
Police routinely get emergency
calls from concerned residents
reporting dogs in danger.
Between June 1 and July 8,
the Astoria Police Department
received 14 calls about dogs left
in cars.
Warrenton Police Chief Matt
Workman said the department
received 15 calls in that same
period, though none of those
calls resulted in charges.
,n most cases, the of¿cers
determined the dogs were ¿ne
or the owners had already re-
turned.
Workman said his of¿cers
speak to pet owners about the
dangers and possible charges
each time they are able to ¿nd
the owners.
In one instance, Astoria police
received a report that two dogs
appeared to be distressed after
they had been left in a van for at
least an hour without the windows
rolled down. Police contacted the
owner as the owner was taking the
dogs out of the van.
2014 5 C LATS O P
Heats up fast
Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian
A sign asking dog owners to not leave their dogs in the
car hangs in the window of Commercial Street Antiques
and Collectibles. Mary LaPlante Krettler, the owner of the
store, says she welcomes dogs coming into the store and
has water and treats for them.
“People think ‘Well, all
I’m going to do is run inside,’”
Workman said.
Five minute trips can quick-
ly turn into longer ones, he add-
ed.
W EDN ES DAY IS
C OUN TY F AIR SEN IOR D A Y
OPEN S TODAY
! th ru
AUGUST 1
On June 9, the Warrenton
Police Department posted a
chart to its Facebook page
to show how long it takes
for a car to heat up. On a 68
degree day — which has not
been uncommon this summer
on the North Coast — a car
can heat up to 81 degrees in
10 minutes and 115 degrees
in an hour, according to the
chart.
Preliminary data for June
from the National Weather
Service recorded Astoria’s
highest temperature at 85
degrees — 10 degrees high-
er than June 2014’s highest.
The average maximum tem-
perature for June was 67.9
degrees.
“A lot of people think if
F a ir hou rs
10a m -9p m
Ca rn iva l hou rs
2-9p m
Seniors (61 & up) get in for $1
F or m ore in form a tion go to w w w .cla tsopfa irgrou n d s.com
See HOT DOGS, Page 7A