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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 11, 2016)
A memorial to veterans Wrestlers clash at Pac Rim tourney INSIDE • 3A SPORTS • 5A 143rd YEAR, No. 133 MONDAY, JANUARY 11, 2016 ONE DOLLAR Oregon LNG pulls out of Army Corps litigation Judge orders case dismissed ‘without prejudice’ By ERICK BENGEL The Daily Astorian Oregon LNG has voluntarily withdrawn from litigation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers be- fore a federal district court judge could of¿cially dismiss the energy company’s claims. In late December, Magistrate Judge John V. Acosta ruled against Oregon LNG in a lawsuit the com- pany ¿led against the Army Corps. Oregon LNG failed to prove, Acosta said, that the Corps has abandoned property on Warrenton’s Skipanon Peninsula where the company seeks to build a liTue¿ed natural gas facili- ty, and where the Corps holds a near- ly 60-year-old easement to deposit dredging spoils. Acosta’s ruling still needs to be signed by Anna J. Brown, a federal district court judge, to become of¿- cial. But, with Oregon LNG choosing to void its lawsuit ahead of Brown’s signature, the judgment will specify that the company’s claims are dis- missed “without prejudice.” This means that, in theory, the company can re¿le the complaint against the Corps based on the same set of facts. Oregon LNG could not immedi- ately be reached for comment, but opponents of the $6 billion termi- nal and pipeline project welcomed the move as another setback for the company. See LNG, Page 10A DIGGING OUT Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian Crews work to remove soil from Heritage Square on Friday. The dirt, which is considered lightly contaminated, is being hauled off to an old quarry that the city owns off Pipeline Road. The city considers the soil removal as progress toward the eventual redevelopment of the former Safeway site. Wyden stresses the ‘Oregon way’ Solutions, not standoffs, the senator says By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian Edward Stratton/The Daily Astorian U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, left, opened Saturday by honoring Seaside School District Superintendent Doug Dougherty, retiring after this year but continuing his work on a bond measure on November’s ballot to build a new K-12 cam- pus out of the tsunami inundation zone. Whether addressing low graduation rates, sea lions migrating to the Colum- bia 5iver or armed protesters in Harney County, U.S. Sen. 5on Wyden stressed during a Saturday town hall what he called “the Oregon way: solutions and not standoffs.” The gathering was Wyden’s 759th town hall since joining the U.S. Senate 20 years ago, when he promised to visit each of Oregon’s 36 counties once a year. The Democrat started by honoring town hall moderator and Seaside School District Superintendent Doug Dougherty. After 35 years in Seaside, Dougherty will retire this summer but continue working to pass a November bond measure to build a new K-12 campus out of the tsu- nami inundation zone. Wyden said he is proud of Oregon in many ways, but not about its four- year high school graduation rate, the fourth-lowest in the country and an issue he said he will focus on in the coming year. Wyden has applauded the recent Ev- ery Child Succeeds Act, passed by Con- gress in December to replace the con- troversial No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 covering federal oversight of K-12 education. Wyden wrote provisions in the bill to expand apprenticeship and mento- ring programs for at-risk students, while providing more funding for one-on-one counseling. “I want to make sure during this year we’re going to empower students to give us their ideas about what needs to be done to increase Oregon’s graduation rate,” Wyden said, introducing Astoria High School student Clay Williams, who he said will act as his Clatsop County li- aison gathering students’ ideas. Solutions, not standoffs As a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Wyden said he stays in regular contact with au- thorities about the Malheur National See WYDEN, Page 10A Astoria’s Keyser leads the way at Haystack Rock Coordinator seeks outreach, education ANNON BEACH — Melissa Keyser’s pas- sion for the environment has her out on the beach and coordinating tasks from her of¿ce as the Haystack 5ock Awareness Program’s leader. She began as the interim coordinator in July, after Sa- mantha Furber left for grad- uate school, then became the permanent coordinator in Sep- tember. “I love working for this program. Environmental stew- C ardship is what I’ve always wanted to do. So to ¿nd a pro- gram that essentially focuses on environmental stewardship is just fantastic,” she said. “It’s really amazing when you ac- tually enjoy going to work ev- eryday.” Mission to protect ecology 7he Haystack 5ock Aware- ness Program’s mission is to protect the intertidal and bird ecology of Haystack 5ock’s marine garden and Oregon Islands National :ildlife 5ef- uge. As coordinator, Keyser said goals include more out- reach through social media outlets and more partnerships with schools and other envi- ronmental agencies. The new Cape Falcon Marine 5eserve is one group she would like the Haystack 5ock Awareness Program to work closely with. She and the program’s new Volunteer Coordinator Kelsey Brown and Education Coordi- nator Lisa Habecker are also working to extend beach hours. Erick Bengel/The Daily Astorian See KEYSER, Page 10A Melissa Keyser, who lives in Astoria with her family, is the coordinator of the Haystack Rock Awareness Program.
