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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 6, 2016)
143rd YEAR, No. 130 WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 6, 2016 ONE DOLLAR Taking sea lions to task Port committee looks at options to thwart invaders By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian Natalie St. John/EO Media Group Workers at Jessie’s Ilwaco Fish helped to unload thousands of pounds of crab during a late-night shift Monday . Crab kicks into gear with healthy start Quality, quantity, prices all good Port of Astoria Commissioner Bill Hunsinger marshaled his fellow FRPPHUFLDO ¿VKHUPHQ 7XHVGD\ WR talk about what the agency can do to VWRSVHDOLRQVIURPUXLQLQJ¿VKLQJRQ the Columbia River. Hunsinger added the Sea Lion Committee to he Port Commis- sion agenda for the meeting Tues- day, which was packed to the gills with commercial DQG JXLGH ¿VK- ermen who largely feel the river’s endan- gered salmon runs, and by extension their Bill livelihoods, are Hunsinger threatened by pinnipeds. In the front row was a small contingent from the Sea Lion Defense Brigade, a group formed several years ago to monitor hazing and other violence against sea lions in Astoria and at the Bonneville Dam, where they feed at WKH¿VKODGGHUV Over the last few years, the Port has become a focal point for the See SEA LIONS, Page 10A By KATIE WILSON EO Media Group I LWACO and CHINOOK, Wash. — It’s only a few days into this year’s commercial Dungeness FUDE VHDVRQ DQG ¿VKHUPHQ DOUHDG\ believe they are looking at a better run than last year. 'DQ$\UHVFRDVWDOVKHOO¿VKPDQ- ager with the Washington Depart- ment of Fish and Wildlife, won’t have initial landing numbers for an- other week or so but, he said, “The ZRUGZH¶UHJHWWLQJIURPWKHÀHHWLV that it looks better than last year.” After getting the all-clear from state health departments, Oregon and Washington’s commercial Dunge- QHVV FUDE ¿VKHUPHQ ¿QDOO\ KLW WKH water Monday after being delayed for weeks due to elevated levels of the marine toxin domoic acid. The season traditionally opens Dec. 1, though it has been pushed back into January before when crabs have not reached proper size. A delay be- yond Christmastime is particularly GLI¿FXOW IRU FUDEELQJ IDPLOLHV ZKR rely on those paychecks for holiday spending. The toxin shut down nearly half of the Washington coastline to commercial crabbing last summer. Though the price per pound had been high and the crab looked big and healthy, landings had been few and far between through the winter and spring. When the 90-mile-long closure was announced, the season ended, abruptly, on an already low note. The opener went smoothly off the Washington coast this week, though, according to Ayres. There were no reports of vessel accidents or other emergencies nor any reports of ille- Natalie St. John/EO Media Group Dozens of bins of live crab awaited processing at Bell Buoy in the Port of Chinook Tuesday. Each of these bins, harvested on Monday, held between 500 and 600 pounds of crab. ‘The word we’re getting from the fleet is that it looks better than last year.’ Dan Ayres coastal shellfish manager with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife director of the Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission, which also helps WKH2UHJRQÀHHWZLWKPDUNHWLQJDQG Natalie St. John/EO Media Group A worker at Bell Buoy moved heavy tubs of crab into the plant, for advertising. Link says the issues with domo- processing Tuesday. ic acid and the delayed start date did JDOJHDUVHWWLQJ)RUWKH¿UVWWLPHWKH deadly effects of the toxin on humans not seem to complicate price ne- coastwide start time for Washington who consume contaminated seafood gotiations in Oregon. Commercial opener was shifted from midnight to ² ¿OOHG PHGLD UHSRUWV DORQJ WKH crabbers started the season at $2.90 DPJLYLQJ¿VKHUPHQWKRVHH[WUD West Coast leading up to the opener, SHUSRXQG/DVW\HDUWKHÀHHWVWDUWHG hours to rest between setting their WKHLQGXVWU\LVFRQ¿GHQWLQERWKWKH at around $3.10 per pound, but that ¿UVWORDGVRIJHDUDQGWKHQ¿VKLQJ safety of the crab now and consum- price quickly climbed. The average price for the 2014-15 season reached ers’ desire to still eat crab. “Most of the concerns seemed about $4.11, but landings were low Safety message Though reports of high domoic to be, ‘When is it going to open and acid levels — and warnings of the when can I buy it?’” said Hugh Link, See CRAB, Page 10A The best present Jail deputy has a miraculous recovery after nearly dying By KYLE SPURR The Daily Astorian Doctors were prepared to pro- nounce Dave Hillard dead on Dec. 4, ¿YHGD\VDIWHUWKH\HDUROG&ODW- sop County Jail deputy suffered a heart attack at his Astoria home. The left side of Hillard’s heart was dead, and doctors did not see any signs of improvement. Hil- lard’s organs were being shopped for donation. Just as his family started gathering to say their goodbyes, Hillard’s wife, Michelle, overheard two doctors whispering to each other. One doc- tor came over and said they noticed activity in Hillard’s heart, and that it was beginning to beat on its own. “They had no medical explana- tion,” Michelle Hillard said. Hillard woke up a week later to one of his brothers asking, “Do you know who I am?” He did. See DEPUTY, Page 5A Yogi, budtender, entrepreneur, ‘Goonie’ Afrika talks about family’s rough landing, escaping the corporate world OUR NEW NEIGHBORS HIGHLIGHTING PEOPLE WHO ARE NEW TO THE COMMUNITY By ERICK BENGEL The Daily Astorian Raja Afrika’s journey to Astoria was a traumatic one, something he still gets emo- tional about. Though he quickly rose to a manager position at Hi Ca- sual Cannabis Astoria — the city’s newest marijuana dis- Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian Raja Afrika sits behind the front desk at Hi in Astoria. pensary — the 40-year-old Afrika didn’t know whether his family’s move from Port- land in early October would pan out. It all began a year ago. Afrika, a successful com- puter programmer for 20 years, was working as a con- sultant for Benson Industries, DQ DUFKLWHFWXUDO ¿UP WKDW GH- signs and installs windows in skyscrapers worldwide, including the new World Trade Center building in low- er Manhattan. The company used his software to, among other things, track the inven- tory of parts, “so I had a hand in that. I’m really proud of that,” he said. But when another com- pany bought Benson, Afrika lost his job, and soon he could no longer afford his condo in Hillsdale, where he lived with his wife, Kathleen, and their 2-year-old son, Tenzin. The couple had savings set aside, but they used much of See AFRIKA, Page 10A