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withdrawn from litigation with the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.