Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 1, 2016)
3A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JANUARY 1, 2016 Kitzhaber scandal, mass shooting top Oregon stories of 2015 1: GOVERNOR RESIGNS: Just weeks after being sworn in for his fourth term, Gov. PORTLAND — Gov. John Kitzhaber surrendered to po- Kitzhaber’s unprecedented litical pressure and quit over fourth term turned into an un- DOOHJDWLRQVKLVOLYHLQ¿DQFHH precedented short term, and Cylvia Hayes, used their rela- his abrupt February resigna- tionship to win contracts for tion was selected Oregon’s her consulting business and story of the year in the annual failed to report the income vote conducted by The Asso- on her taxes. Federal agents launched a criminal inves- ciated Press. Every editor or news di- tigation in February, but no rector who submitted a bal- FKDUJHVKDGEHHQ¿OHGDV lot of 10 top stories had the drew to a close. Kitzhaber has governor’s downfall as either denied wrongdoing. Secretary the biggest or second-biggest of State Kate Brown assumed story of 2015. Those who 2UHJRQ¶V KLJKHVW RI¿FH DIWHU didn’t put Kitzhaber in the Kitzhaber ended his four-de- top spot chose the massacre cade political career. 2: COLLEGE SHOOT- at Umpqua Community Col- OHJHZKLFK¿QLVKHGLQVHFRQG ING: A 26-year-old gunman place, just ahead of the legal- RSHQHG¿UHDW8PSTXD&RP- munity College, fatally shoot- ization of recreational pot. Those were the only sto- ing nine people before killing ries named on every ballot as himself. The Oct. 1 attack editors went all over the map shattered the Roseburg com- with their remaining picks. munity and immediately re- 5HÀHFWLQJWKHYDULHW\RIRSLQ- ignited national debates about ions, the three stories that just gun violence, school safe- missed the top 10 included ty, mental health and media the rollout of Common Core- coverage. President Barack aligned testing, the Portland Obama lamented that mass Timbers winning the Major shootings and the reaction to League Soccer champion- them have become “routine.” ship and — of course!— the He visited the timber town to improbable stardom of the meet privately with grieving Portland International Airport families, ignoring protests from gun-rights activists. carpet. 3: MARIJUANA LE- Here are 2015’s top 10 sto- GALIZATION: The deci- ries: By STEVEN DUBOIS Associated Press Don Ryan/AP Photo/File Gov. John Kitzhaber kisses fiancee, Cylvia Hayes, in Jan- uary after he is sworn in for an unprecedented fourth term as governor in Salem. Kitzhaber resigned in February af- ter influence-peddling allegations. sion by Oregon voters to ap- prove recreational marijuana was last year’s No. 1 story. The process of putting legal- ization into practice remained a major topic throughout 2015. The highlight day was Oct. 1, when medical pot dispensaries began selling to recreational users over 21. Some shops opened at mid- night, giving away free food and T-shirts, and offering dis- counted marijuana. 4: DROUGHT: Last winter saw a dreadfully low snow- pack, and the continuing dry weather led Gov. Brown to declare drought emergen- Housekeeper convicted for stealing from Astoria couple cies for more than two dozen counties. Record December precipitation that triggered ÀRRGLQJDQGODQGVOLGHVHDVHG the drought, with much of the rain and snow occurring after the ballots had been sent. 5: HOUSES BURN: Of- ¿FLDOV DQG UXUDO KRPHRZQHUV IHDUHG D EDG ZLOG¿UH VHDVRQ because the land was so dry. Their fears were realized in many parts of the state as ÀDPHVUDJHGWKURXJKSDUFKHG forests and grasslands. A lightning-sparked blaze near John Day burned 172 square miles and destroyed more than 40 homes. No Oregon different local shop, had already been melted down, according to police. The amount of restitution Scott will The woman who stole from an As- owe is still being determined. It will be toria couple after responding to their ad at least $1,000. The couple gave a statement during for a housekeeper on a local Facebook page was convicted Thursday in Clatsop the court hearing Thursday, describing how they felt betrayed. It will County Circuit Court. take a while before they can Kourtney Marie Scott, 25, trust someone again, they of Astoria, was sentenced to said. two years probation and 20 Scott will get credit for the days in jail after pleading no few days she already spent in FRQWHVWWR¿UVWGHJUHHWKHIW jail. She is eligible to serve Scott was arrested in Octo- the remaining jail time al- ber following a police inves- ternatively, such as on home tigation into multiple thefts monitoring. from the couple who hired In addition, Judge Cindee her as a housekeeper from the Matyas ordered Scott to com- Facebook page “Astoria Ore- Kourtney plete 40 hours of community gon Virtual Yard Sales.” Marie Scott service. The couple told police Police warn the public about hiring they noticed cash, jewelry, clothing and electronic items missing from their people from sites like the Facebook home and cars. They helped detectives page. The page, and others including conduct surveillance at their home. Astoria Police Detective Thomas “GoonieVille Buy & Sell,” allow lo- Litwin watched Scott break into the vic- cals to offer goods and services for sale, tims’ car to take money. She was then though most pages have an informal policy that the pages should only be arrested. Detectives were able to recover some XVHG WR VHOO RU WU\ WR ¿QG LWHPV +RZ- of the stolen items including jewelry ever, people routinely use the pages to which had been sold to a local jewelry post jobs and services and advertise shop. However, other jewelry, sold to a their businesses. estimated 68 to 70 percent of vege- tated tidal wetlands have been lost LQWKH&ROXPELD5LYHUÀRRGSODLQRI which the Chinook River is a part, according to the Lower Columbia River Estuary Partnership. Loss of this habitat is cited by biologists as EO Media Group a key factor in long-term declines in CHINOOK, Wash. — A major salmon numbers. Increasing the amount of these land purchase on the inland side of Chinook will place 250 acres wetlands accessible to migrating in permanent conservation status. salmon is a key goal for agencies, This is part of more than $1 million including the U.S. Army Corps of in grant-funded salmon habitat ef- Engineers and the Washington State IRUWVUHFHQWO\DQQRXQFHGIRU3DFL¿F Department of Fish and Wildlife. County by the Washington Salmon The wildlife department has ex- Recovery Funding Board and the panded its land holdings on the Chi- nook River in recent years and now Puget Sound Partnership. Elsewhere in the county, the owns 1,000 acres. Now, aided with $450,500 Cowlitz Indian Tribe was granted more than $180,000 for ongoing in state grants announced earlier habitat restoration in the Grays Riv- this month and $89,500 in federal HUZDWHUVKHG$QGWKH3DFL¿F&RXQ- funds, Vancouver-based Columbia ty Anglers were awarded $382,354 /DQG7UXVWZLOOEX\DPLOHRI¿VK WR UHVWRUH ¿VK SDVVDJH RQ 6WULQJ- habitat on the Chinook River from er Creek south of Menlo in north Chinook resident Brian Wirkkala and associated owners. More than county. 200 acres of the acquisition are wet- lands. Chinook River “The acquisition will enable Lands along the Chinook River have been eyed for more than 20 habitat restoration and support lo- years as offering the potential to cal and out-of-basin populations of restore tidal wetlands that juvenile fall Chinook, chum and coho salm- salmon and other species heavily on, and steelhead, all of which are listed as threatened with extinction rely on for food and shelter. Since white settlement began, an under the federal Endangered Spe- Cowlitz Tribe expands efforts to restore salmon New highway signs honor Oregon veterans Camp Rilea Armed Forces Training Center in Warrenton will host a dedication cere- mony at 11 a.m. Jan. 9 for the 338-mile Persian Gulf, Af- ghanistan and Iraq Veterans Memorial Highway on U.S. Highway 101. At the dedication, a new highway sign will be un- veiled honoring veterans who served during the wars begin- ning 25 years ago. A total of 67 signs are be- ing installed on six Oregon highways. The six highways cover 2,040 miles. One sign is already in- stalled near the north end of U.S. Highway 101 in War- renton. Nine signs will be installed and dedicated early this year along the Oregon Coast be- tween Astoria and Brook- ings. The border-to-border veterans memorial highway on U.S. Highway 101 is the ¿UVW RI LWV NLQG DFURVV WKH country. Legislation for the six war veterans’ highways was re- quested in 2008 by Bend He- roes Foundation. The Bend Heroes Founda- tion managed the project in cooperation with the state Leg- islature, veterans groups, sign sponsors and the state Depart- ment of Transportation. All signs are funded by donations to Bend Heroes Learn as a Beginner o r Improve Your Skills! 9 LESSONS BEGINNING JAN 12•9:30-11:30 AM Bridge Teachers- Sandra Baker & Ann Gramson ACBL Certified Bridge Teachers Sa nd ra 503-7 38-07 82 b a k erss@ q .com Contact: Steve Axtell • 360-430-0885 or John Anderson • 360-269-2500 Gracie See video at www.dogsncats.org Sponsored by CLATSOP COUNTY ANIMAL SHELTER 1315 SE 19th St., Warrenton • 861- PETS www.dogsncats.org Noon to 4pm, Tues-Sat $5 PER LESSON: FIRST CLASS FREE! ENCORE MEMBERS FREE N orth w es t H a rdw oods • Lon gview , W A 2 1/2 year old Red Pet Terrier -- Pure-bred sweetheart who, in a short time, will become a dear old friend. TUESDAY MORNINGS Port of Astoria Office Building 10 Pier 1, Suite 209 Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber VOLUN T E E R PICK OF THE WEE K Foundation. The foundation uses donations to pay the De- partment of Transportation $900 to fabricate and install each sign on U.S Highway 101. B RIDGE L ESSON S - R - U S W A NTED Ann M a rie 503-86 1 -1 1 33 g ila nd a nng ra m son@ cha rter.net A storia B a n d B oosters C A N & B OTTL E D R IVE 1 P .M . - 3 P .M . • S UND A Y , JA N. 3 R D A T A S TOR IA HIGH S C HOOL P game, but dreams of bringing a national title back to Eugene crumbled in a 42-20 loss to Ohio State. Mariota passed for two touchdowns, but the Ducks were held to their low- est point total of the season. 9: PORT OF PORTLAND: Two major shipping com- panies stopped serving the Port of Portland amid labor turmoil. Hanjin and Ha- pag-Lloyd, which represent- ed more than 90 percent of FRQWDLQHU WUDI¿F DW WKH SRUW said their move was based on low productivity. Businesses that relied on the contain- er terminal for internation- al shipping are now paying more to send their goods to out-of-state ports via truck or rail. 10: DRILLING PRO- TEST: Greenpeace activists rappelled off Portland’s St. Johns Bridge this summer in a dramatic attempt to stop a Royal Dutch Shell icebreaker from leaving the city to join an Arctic drilling operation. The vessel even- tually threaded its way past the dangling demonstrators. But late in September, Shell announced it was ending further exploration in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas because of disappointing results from an exploratory well. Chinook River lands eyed for conservation By KYLE SPURR The Daily Astorian The Daily Astorian ZLOG¿UH VLQFH WKH *UHDW 'H- pression has destroyed more homes. 6: PUBLIC PENSIONS: The Oregon Supreme Court ruled in April that some cuts to public-employee retirement EHQH¿WV DUH XQFRQVWLWXWLRQDO wiping out much of the sav- ings lawmakers were trying to attain. The justices said work- ers were promised an annual LQÀDWLRQ LQFUHDVH RI XS WR percent, and the Legislature couldn’t scale it back retroac- tively. It was the second time in a decade the court rejected legislative efforts to curtail SHQVLRQ EHQH¿WV DOUHDG\ DF- crued. 7: GUNS-BACKGROUND CHECKS: Oregon legisla- tors approved a law requiring background checks for private gun transactions. The law re- quires gun buyers and sellers who aren’t related to visit a licensed gun dealer who can run a background check. Re- publicans opposed the mea- sure, saying it would burden gun owners who are commit- ted to following the law with- out changing the behavior of people willing to break it. 8: OREGON DUCKS FOOTBALL: Heisman win- ner Marcus Mariota led the University of Oregon to the ¿UVW &ROOHJH )RRWEDOO 3OD\- off national championship L E A SE , N O E A RL Y D RO P - O FFS Th e Ban d Boosters are th e on ly sou rc e of fu n d s to k eep A storia’s sc h ool b an d program s fu n c tion in g, provid in g in stru m en ts, u n iform s, equ ipm en t, m u sic , tran sportation — everyth in g b esid es th e b an d d irec tor’s salary. P lease h elp b y d roppin g off you r em pties or m ak in g a d on ation . Ca ll (503) 791-6596 to a rra n ge picku p of la rge a m ou n ts. cies Act as well as listed eulachon (also called smelt),” according to the Salmon Recovery Funding Board. When completed, the purchase will be one of Columbia Land Trust’s larger acquisitions in Pacif- ic County, where it already owns 45 parcels, according to the Pacif- LF&RXQW\$VVHVVRU¶V2I¿FH,WKDV major holdings in the Long Beach Peninsula’s interior lakes region, acquisitions which were indirectly ¿QDQFHG E\ 0LUFRVRIW FRIRXQGHU Paul Allen. On the Columbia estu- DU\LQ3DFL¿F&RXQW\WKHODQGWUXVW DOUHDG\ KDV VLJQL¿FDQW KROGLQJV near the mouth of the Wallacut Riv- er in Ilwaco’s Stringtown neighbor- hood, and near Knappton just off State Route 401. Cowlitz Tribe The Cowlitz Indian Tribe has been taking an interest in salm- on-restoration projects in the Co- lumbia estuary in about the past two years in cooperation with Bonneville Power Administra- tion, though this area is outside the tribe’s traditional sphere of LQÀXHQFH 6WDUWLQJ LQ WKH tribe managed habitat work in &ODWVRS&RXQW\DWWKHFRQÀXHQFH of the Wallooskee and Youngs rivers.
