75 years ago
in Astoria
Osprey play
tough, but tumble
COAST WEEKEND
SPORTS • 4A
143rd YEAR, No. 67
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2015
ONE DOLLAR
Lawmakers press FERC on Oregon LNG
Wyden, Merkley, Bonamici ask about land use dispute with Army Corps
By ERICK BENGEL
The Daily Astorian
Oregon lawmakers who represent the
North Coast have sent a letter to the Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission highlight-
ing that Oregon LNG’s terminal and pipeline
planned for Warrenton’s Skipanon Peninsula
conflicts with a U.S. Army Corps of Engi-
neers easement on the land and questioning
whether the project can move forward.
Without the necessary land rights, or with
a challenge to the land rights still pending,
it will be difficult for the energy company’s
$6 billion project to proceed, U.S. Sen. Ron
Wyden, U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, and U.S.
Rep. Suzanne Bonamici said in letter dated
Friday.
“The Army Corps continues to assert its
easement rights, and claims that the pro-
posed Oregon LNG project would interfere
with those rights,” the lawmakers wrote.
The letter doesn’t take a position on
whether the LNG project belongs in War-
renton. But it does question whether
Oregon LNG will ever be able to use
Small businesses
can crowdsource
from Oregonians
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
See HATCH OREGON, Page 4A
the land — a concern that LNG opponents
have voiced in recent public meetings.
FERC gives Jordan Cove project
environmental OK, see Page 10A.
Hard questions
mission has handled it. They also questioned
whether the commission has ever suspended
review of a project until the property rights
question is resolved.
“Throughout this process, we have urged
FERC to take all possible steps to ensure
that the review process is as transparent as
possible and that the process incorporates
Wyden, Merkley and Bonamici asked
how the commission handles situations
where “the applicant lacks an unencumbered
right to the land,” even as the project is still
under review.
Specifically, the Democrats asked wheth-
er the commission has encountered similar
cases where an applicant doesn’t have a clear
right to the land, and, if so, how the com-
See LNG, Page 10A
ELK IN A RUT
NOT IN THE
MOOD
Hatch Oregon
keeps money
close to home
Early this year, Oregon became
the 16th state in the country to allow
local small businesses to crowd-
source capital through community
public offerings, with Oregon resi-
dents as the investors.
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itating the new offerings, stopped at
Clatsop Community College in As-
toria Wednesday as part of a state-
wide tour promoting the new form
of investment.
The new crowdfunding law cre-
ated the Oregon Intrastate Offering
Exemption in securities regulation,
which allows entrepreneurs based in
Oregon to raise up $250,000 in cap-
ital directly from Oregon residents,
with a cap of $2,500 a person, per
company.
“This exchange is what makes
the world go round, and we’d like
to retain some of it, instead of send-
ing 99.9 percent to Wall Street,” said
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Hatch Innovation and an architect of
Oregon’s public offering rules.
Traveling with Pearl was Heath-
er Stafford, the assistant director of
innovation for Business Oregon, the
state’s economic development agen-
cy. Stafford’s position was created to
help local business grow, as Business
Oregon shifts its focus from out-of-
state recruitment to homegrown in-
novation.
Stafford said outside Portland,
Oregon has never been very com-
petitive for attracting large busi-
nesses. More than 70 percent of net
job creation in Oregon is from Ore-
gon-based businesses, she said, and
about 98 percent of Oregon’s busi-
nesses have 100 or fewer employees.
“You get to participate in invest-
ing in companies,” she said. “It’s no
longer relegated to the 1 percent.”
RELATED STORY
Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian
A bull elk looks over its shoulder while standing in Hammond. There have been numerous reports of aggressive elk recently.
Give animals wide berth as mating season
brings out aggression toward people
By KYLE SPURR
The Daily Astorian
E
lk are usually more aggres-
sive in the fall when search-
ing for a mate. But what is
surprising this year is that more elk
are turning that aggression toward
people, which has led to injuries
and property damage.
Law enforcement and wildlife
RI¿FLDOV KDYH UHVSRQGHG WR PXO
tiple reports of aggressive elk in
the past few weeks and worry that
people who are feeding or taking
pictures of the animals are in dan-
ger.
“This year, it is odd they actual-
ly made contact with humans and
caused some injuries,” Warrenton
Police Chief Matt Workman said.
“Every year, we get reports of ag-
gressive elk because it’s that time
RIWKH\HDU7KLVLVWKH¿UVWWLPH,
remember them making contact
with humans.”
The most notable incident oc-
curred in Hammond last month
when a man and teenage girl were
chased by a bull elk. The man was
Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian
Drivers pull over to take photos of a bull elk near Sixth Street in
Hammond Tuesday.
checking his mail when the elk
charged at him, knocked him to the
ground with its antlers and chased
him back into his house. The man
had scratches on his side from the
antlers.
Sgt. Joe Warwick, from the Or-
egon State Police Fish and Wild-
life Division, responded to the in-
cident. He kept an eye on the elk
for four days and heard from other
people who said the elk was acting
aggressive. After consulting with
the Oregon Department of Fish and
Wildlife , Warwick had to shoot and
kill the aggressive elk.
“I had him in a safe place where
I could identify him 100 percent.
, KDG WR XVH D ¿UHDUP WR GLVSDWFK
him,” Warwick said. “The decision
to remove him from the herd was
not made lightly.”
About a week later, Warrenton
Police responded to a report of a
juvenile elk blocking a teenage
girl and her younger brother from
going to a school bus stop in Ham-
mond.
Workman drove up in his vehi-
cle, which eventually scared the elk
away.
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to move and giving them the stare
down,” Workman said. “Even a
young, juvenile elk is big and prob-
ably could hurt a human.”
Just days later, a man was driv-
ing his Toyota Tundra pickup near
Nygaard Logging in Warrenton
when he claims an elk charged his
vehicle, causing damage to the side
of his truck.
See ELK, Page 10A
Ready, set, buy! Recreational marijuana sales begin
said of being able to buy rec-
reational marijuana.
PORTLAND — Oregon
At Portland’s Shango Pre-
marijuana shops began selling mium Cannabis, co-founder
marijuana Thursday for the 6KDQH 0F.HH VDLG WKH ¿UVW
¿UVWWLPHWRUHFUHDWLRQDOXVHUV sale to an excited customer
marking a big day for the bud- came about a minute after
ding pot industry.
midnight, with many others
Some of the more than waiting.
250 dispensaries that already
“It looks like there is about
offer medical marijuana in 60-70 in line out front,” he
Oregon opened their doors said in a telephone interview
soon after midnight — just shortly after midnight. “They
moments after it became le- all seem extremely eager.”
gal to sell to anyone who is
7KDW ¿UVW EX\HU 'DYLD
at least 21.
Fleming of Portland, said the
In Astoria, Sweet Relief sales launch was important.
Natural Medicine opened just
“I was really excited about
after midnight to a line of cus- that,” said Fleming, who uses
tomers.
the drug for medicinal pur-
Christopher Williams was poses. “It’s the end of a pro-
WKH ¿UVW FXVWRPHU LQ OLQH WR hibition.”
buy recreational pot at the
She described the atmo-
shop. “It feels wonderful,” he sphere inside the store as
The Associated Press
“beautiful. ... very friendly;
everyone is upbeat.”
Store owners say they’re
hopeful they can avoid the
shortages and price spikes
that followed the start of legal
sales last year in Washington
and Colorado, the only oth-
er states where the drug can
now be sold for recreational
use. Alaska could begin retail
sales next year.
Customers can buy as much
as seven grams at a time of
GULHG PDULMXDQD ÀRZHU DQG
leaf — the part that’s general-
ly smoked — plus plants and
seeds. For the next year or so,
marijuana infused candy, cook-
ies, oils and lotions will be
available only to people with
medical marijuana cards as the
state works on retail regulations
involving those products.
Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian
Christopher Williams, left, makes a purchase of marijuana
from Gary Reynolds, right, at Sweet Relief Natural Medicine
just after midnight Thursday morning. Williams was the
first customer in line to buy recreational pot at the shop.