Live on
the beach
Fishermen
À\DW'XOFLFK
INSIDE
SPORTS • 7A
143rd YEAR, No. 129
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2015
ONE DOLLAR
Two strikes for Oregon LNG in Army Corps conflict
Judge rules company did not prove Corps abandoned site
%\ERICK BENGEL
The Daily Astorian
A federal magistrate judge has
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pute with the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers over whether the Army
Corps abandoned the property on
Warrenton’s Skipanon Peninsula
where the energy company wants to
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The decision, handed down by
Magistrate Judge John V. Acosta
before Christmas, states that Ore-
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trol of the easement property, which
covers land the company leased from
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showing the Corps “clearly and un-
Last summer, Acosta ruled in
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in the property where the agency has /1*FODLPHGWKH&RUSVKDVQRULJKW
held an easement to deposit dredging to the land beneath the water where
spoils since 1957.
the company’s proposed facility
The lawsuit marked Oregon would be built.
See LNG, Page 10A
Port
settles
with
staff
Port of Astoria has
one more active
lawsuit remaining
DECK THE
CREEKS WITH
BOUGHS OF
JOLLY
%\EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian
Jenny Bell, a National Park Services biological technician, gestures to locations where Christmas trees and wreaths will be placed at the
Colewort Creek restoration site at Lewis and Clark National Historical Park.
Park Service effort puts Christmas trees to use for coho
%\KYLE SPURR
The Daily Astorian
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hristmas trees can serve another purpose
beyond keeping homes festive during the
holiday season.
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— is collecting old Christmas trees at its Colewort
Creek restoration site to provide additional habitat
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Trees will be collected until Jan. 16, when
park staff and volunteers will host a work par-
ty to place the trees into the creek. The event,
known as Cocoa and Coho, is in its third year.
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year and 75 trees last year.
Jenny Bell, a biological technician at the park,
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the creek’s ecosystem. Once the trees are put into
the channels of the creek, within a few days the
trees become covered in algae, which attract in-
Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian
sects. The insects then attract the salmon.
“It’s this whole ecosystem you end up get- Jenny Bell, a National Park Services biological technician, stands near trees that have al-
ready been dropped off at the Colewort Creek restoration site at Lewis and Clark National
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Colewort Creek’s channels have become Historical Park Monday.
a juvenile rearing habitat. In the summer, Bell
said, she sees young salmon, about 3 inches
‘It’s this whole ecosystem you
long, in the creek. It shows her the Christmas
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end up getting from these trees.’
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See TREES, Page 10A
The Army Corps moved to dis-
miss the company’s claims, arguing
that the 12-year statute of limita-
tions to bring the claim under federal
law had expired. The federal court
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lawsuit.
The company then tried to amend
Jenny Bell
a biological technician at the Lewis and Clark National Historical Park
The Port of Astoria is closing the
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employees in February.
Tammie Herman, the agency’s
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of judgment earlier this month from
the Port and Michael Weston, the
former director of business develop-
ment and operations.
Herman’s acceptance of judg-
ment brings to an end the legal quag-
mire the Port has been in nearly a
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nance department staff. Herman and
Colleen Browne, the Port’s former
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tor Jim Knight shortly after he took
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claiming Weston, who was interim
executive director between when
Hank Bynaker resigned in Septem-
ber 2013 and when Knight was hired
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ty in trying to become the permanent
director. The lawsuits also alleged
Herman and Browne were retaliated
against by the Port after reporting
Weston’s indiscretions.
The judgment accepts all claims
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Weston, named as a defendant in
lawsuits brought by both Herman
and Browne. Herman and her lawyer
get $255,000 in the offer of judg-
ment, plus attorneys fees. Her law-
yer, Anne Foster, applied for more
time to calculate those fees.
Browne recently settled with the
Port and Weston. She and her law-
yer, also Foster, received a total of
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See PORT, Page 10A
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Entrepreneur
makes a home
in Gearhart
%\KATHERINE
LACAZE
EO Media Group
GEARHART — Entre-
preneur and writer Gideon
For-mukwai was a bit un-
certain when he moved from
Singapore to Gearhart in late
August, but over the months,
he became intrigued by the
stories to be told of sailors,
shipwrecks, indigenous peo-
ple and other local interests.
“I’m very fascinated by the
OUR NEW
NEIGHBORS
HIGHLIGHTING PEOPLE WHO ARE NEW TO THE COMMUNITY
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“Cape Disappointment, the
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all these things are new to me,
and they’re very, very intrigu-
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He moved to Clatsop
County because of his wife,
Dr. Pamela Soh, who works
as a pharmacist at Providence
Seaside Hospital.
For-mukwai, founder of
Business Storytelling Acade-
my, is a native of Cameroon,
Africa. From humble begin-
nings, he used the power of
storytelling to plot a journey
that took him to undergrad-
uate school in South Africa,
to Singapore for specialized
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a master’s degree in new me-
dia journalism and then back
to Singapore. For-mukwai has
Katherine Lacaze/EO Media Group
See NEIGHBOR, Page 10A
Author Gideon For-mukwai moved to Seaside this year.