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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 8, 2016)
Missing pages in your family’s story The long road to acceptance OPINION • 4A 143rd YEAR, No. 132 EXTRA • 1C ONE DOLLAR FRIDAY, JANUARY 8, 2016 • WEEKEND EDITION +LJKZD\¿[OHDYHVUHVLGHQWVVRJJ\ 6RPHIHDUÀRRGLQJZLOOZRUVHQ By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian Construction crews will replace a collapsed culvert along Highway 202 just south of Ordway Lane near the Youngs River, raising hope that the roadway might reopen by the end of next week. %XW WKH ¿[ E\ WKH VWDWH 'HSDUW ment of Transportation is bittersweet for several property owners on the other side of the highway. They worry the two new culverts being in- VWDOOHGZLOOZRUVHQÀRRGLQJRQWKHLU land and potentially threaten their homes. 7KHSURSHUW\RZQHUV'HSDUWPHQW of Transportation staff and others gathered Wednesday afternoon in WKHGHSDUWPHQW¶V$VWRULDFRQIHUHQFH room around s tate Sen. Betsy John- son, who was trying to play arbitra- tor . The culvert collapsed amid heavy UDLQV DQG VWRUP VXUJHV GXULQJ 'H FHPEHU¶V UHFRUGUDLQIDOOFORVLQJWKH highway and sparking an emergency repair. Bo Miller, a hydraulics engineer ZLWK WKH 'HSDUWPHQW RI 7UDQVSRU tation, said construction crews are installing sheet pilings on the river side to isolate a construction site KEEPING WATCH New body cameras record Astoria police on patrol and pull out the failed culvert, a 36- inch pipe. On Monday, he said, Big River Construction Inc. will start excavat- ing to replace the failed pipe with two 6-foot culverts. Miller said the hope is to open the highway by the end of next week. See HIGHWAY, Page 8A Seaside mother pleads guilty to role in daughter’s murder She will testify against boyfriend By KYLE SPURR The Daily Astorian Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian Sgt. Chris McNeary wears his Watchguard Vista body camera during an interview Thursday. The Astoria Police Department purchased 12 body cameras and are in the process of implementing them. By KYLE SPURR The Daily Astorian A storia Police have been equipped with new body cameras but will have the discretion over when to record, a bal- ancing act between the public interest and privacy rights. 3ROLFHRI¿FHUVZLOOPDNHFDVHE\FDVHGHFLVLRQVLQWKH¿HOG on whether to turn on the cameras based on their assessments of the encounters. “Any time we are making contact with someone, we are likely to record,” Astoria Police Chief Brad Johnston said. Law enforcement leaders and civil-rights activists have SUDLVHGWKHJURZLQJXVHRIERG\FDPHUDVE\SROLFHRI¿FHUVDVD positive step toward transparency that can protect police and po- tential suspects. In a climate of distrust nationally after high-pro- ¿OH SROLFH VKRRWLQJV ERG\ FDPHUDV FDQ KHOS LQVXODWH SROLFH DJDLQVWIDOVHDFFXVDWLRQVDQGKROGZD\ZDUGRI¿FHUVDFFRXQWDEOH But some civil-rights activists are concerned about giving po- lice greater surveillance power and have demanded restrictions. The new body cameras in Astoria come six months after the state Legislature passed a law requiring law enforcement to es- tablish policies and procedures on the use of cameras. The state law requires that police body cameras be set to re- cord continuously to capture the entirety of interactions with the public over possible crimes and violations, with exceptions based on reasonable privacy concerns, emergency circumstances, or the safety of police or others. New cameras and software Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian Sgt. Chris McNeary wears his Watchguard Vista body camera during an interview with The Daily As- torian Thursday. The camera records in high defini- tion and has a coverage range of 130 degrees. Astoria Police recently unveiled a dozen new body cameras, part of a $50,000 purchase that includes four new vehicle-mount- ed cameras and software from the company Watchguard Video. Warrenton, Seaside and Cannon Beach p olice also use Watch- guard Video equipment. See BODY CAMERAS, Page 8A The Seaside mother ac- cused of having a role in her \HDUROG GDXJKWHU¶V PXUGHU pleaded guilty Thursday in Clatsop County Circuit Court WR ¿UVWGHJUHH PDQVODXJKWHU DQGWZRFRXQWVRI¿UVWGHJUHH criminal mistreatment. 'RURWK\ $QQ :LQJ will be sentenced to more than 15 years in prison, but only after she truthfully testi- ¿HV DW WKH WULDO RI KHU OLYHLQ boyfriend Randy Lee Roden, 27, who is accused of mur- GHULQJ DQG WRUWXULQJ :LQJ¶V daughter. 5RGHQ¶V WULDO LV VFKHGXOHG for April . If Wing refuses to testify or is deemed to have lied during her testimony, the 'LVWULFW$WWRUQH\¶V2I¿FHZLOO set aside her pleas and she would be back to square one regarding her charges, accord- ing to the plea agreement. The couple allegedly com- mitted the crimes between 2FW WR'HF $Q DXWRSV\IRXQG:LQJ¶VGDXJK ter, Evangelina Marie Wing, was the victim of homicide and apparently died from blunt force trauma. She would KDYHWXUQHGRQ-DQ Wing is accused of man- slaughter for the neglect and maltreatment of her daugh- ter, a factor in her death. The criminal mistreatment charges relate to Wing leaving her two sons, ages 3 and 6, unattend- ed with Roden over a period of time that likely endangered their health and welfare, ac- cording to the indictment. “She was a beautiful child, full of life and promise,” Judge Paula Brownhill told :LQJ ³$QG :LQJ¶V VRQV also were just sweet little guys, and their lives have changed forever because of you. You are their mother. It was your responsibility to NHHSWKHPVDIHDQG\RXGLGQ¶W do that.” Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian Dorothy Wing, right, looks over as her attorney, John Gutbezahl, makes com- ments during Wing’s plea hearing Thursday. Numerous injuries The couple told investi- gators about incidents where the 2-year-old girl fell coming from a bus stop, fell off of a toilet and got in tussles with :LQJ¶V WZR VRQV ZKR ZHUH found injured the same day :LQJ¶V GDXJKWHU ZDV IRXQG dead. The boys were hospital- ized and placed in state pro- tective custody. Wing made numerous statements about injuries to her children that occurred while she was at work. She made statements about a bro- ken arm that her daughter suf- IHUHG ZKLOH LQ 5RGHQ¶V FDUH again while she was out of the house. Wing was originally in- dicted on counts of murder E\ DEXVH ¿UVWGHJUHH PDQ slaughter and six counts of criminal mistreatment. She was facing about 25 years in prison. She was sentenced Thursday to 35 months, out of the pending 190-month sentence, while she waits to WHVWLI\DW5RGHQ¶VWULDO Death penalty Roden is serving a 100-month sentence at Two Rivers Correctional Facility near Umatilla for a probation violation from a previous do- mestic violence conviction. He violated his probation by possessing marijuana, See WING, Page 8A New cell tower at Shively Park brought into focus Forester had challenged previous depictions as inaccurate By DERRICK DePLEDGE The Daily Astorian Ron Zilli was right. A new Verizon Wireless communications tower at Shively Park would be more visible than the company and city previously described. Zilli, a forester who lives near the historic park, had told the city the 150-foot mono- pole would be visible well above the tree line and could be seen from other parts of the city. He has appealed de- cisions by the Astoria Historic Landmarks Commission and the Planning Commission to approve the project, arguing that the tower is incompatible with the park. New photographic mock- ups of the monopole from 9HUL]RQ FRQ¿UP =LOOL¶V SRLQW about visibility, and the City Council, which will hear his appeals on Jan. 19, will have to determine whether the re- vised mock-ups justify walk- ing back the project. See TOWER, Page 7A New photo simulations suggest a 150-foot Veri- zon monopole proposed for Shively Park will be more visible than previously described. Submitted Photo
