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AN ASTORIA ART RIVER & SEA WEDDINGS BOOM FRIDAY EXTRA • 1C INSIDE 143rd YEAR, No. 142 ONE DOLLAR FRIDAY, JANUARY 22, 2016 • WEEKEND EDITION Family recalls Harkless as proud father, hard worker Loved ¿ shing, dirt bikes and his Toyota truck By KYLE SPURR The Daily Astorian Submitted Photo Kyle Harkless married his high school sweetheart, Amanda, last June. Anywhere Kyle Harkless went, his young son, Logan, likely fol- lowed. The two were inseparable, just like Kyle was with his father while growing up in Astoria. “Logan was just his little side- kick,” Lucille Jordan, Harkless’ grandmother, said. “If you saw one then you saw the other.” Harkless, 27, drowned Sun- day when a canoe he and Logan were in capsized on Smith Lake in Warrenton. Rescuers determined Harkless was not wearing a life jacket when the canoe overturned sometime in the mid-afternoon. Logan, 7, who wore a life jacket, was rescued by several witnesses and taken to Columbia Memorial Hospital. The boy is expected to make a full recovery. Family and friends are taking solace in the fact that Harkless died doing something he loved — playing and ¿ shing with his son. Helena Hines, Hark less’ moth- er, said he would regularly ¿ sh with Logan on the water or at one of their favorite spots off the dock at Coffenbury Lake in Fort Ste- vens State Park. The family is reassuring Lo- See HARKLESS, Page 8A Smith to undergo further mental exams Care to dance? Performers needed for Palm Sunday sacred dance ensemble By ERICK BENGEL The Daily Astorian Defense argues she is not ¿ t to aid in her own defense at murder trial T he North Coast community is cordially invited to share in a sacred dance en- semble — a Palm Sunday production that will blend singing, dancing, acting and pantomime to tell the tale of Jesus Christ, from his coming to Jerusalem to his cruci¿ xion. Sandra Ray-Hunter, the director and chore- ographer, is seeking a minimum of four to six dancers, but more would be better, she said. In addition, she is issuing a call for speakers and actors — men, wom en and children. At 7 p.m. Feb. 2, Ray-Hunter will hold an informational meeting for possible players in the s ocial r oom at Astoria’s Peace Lutheran Church , where she will show videos of previ- ous ensembles to give interested participants an idea of what to look forward to. Though the show’s content is Christian, and though the rehearsals and ¿ nal performance will take place in a church, Ray-Hunter wants to make one thing clear: People of every spiritual stripe and from any faith or wisdom tradition — even nonbelievers — are welcome to join. “My hope would be that everyone who came to this, or participated in it, would have their own unique experience of it,” Ray-Hunter said. “I’m not trying to convert anyone to anything.” Dance and music and creative collabora- tion, after all, can be enjoyed for religious and secular reasons. “‘Sacred’ is a very broad word to me,” she said. “There is an element of me that (believes) dance needs to be sacred; it needs to be spiritu- al. The art of it is, to me, sacred.” So, if people partake in Ray-Hunter’s dance ensemble to express their faith, great. If they do it for fun, that’s great, too. As long as they can hear the music and commit to the rehearsal schedule — 7 p.m. Tuesdays, beginning Feb. 9, until the March 20 performance — they can sign up. “Basically, they just need to want to do it,” she said. “It can be such a wonderful, beautiful experience. Such a freeing experience.” gan, who is suffering survivor’s guilt, that the accident was not his fault. Logan is reminded that there is nothing he could have done, especially about the cold water and the possibility of hypo- thermia . “It was not Logan’s fault by any means,” Jordan said. “He will grow up and carry on a full life. We will see so much of his dad in him.” By KYLE SPURR The Daily Astorian David Robinson/Submitted Photo From left: Trina Robinson, Karina Cohrs, Nadine Nordquist, Patti MacGregor, Bonny Gorsuch and Katie Harris perform at the Cannon Beach Community Church last sum- mer in a sacred dance ensemble, directed and choreographed by Sandra Ray-Hunter. “‘Sacred’ is a very broad word to me. There is an element of me that (believes) dance needs to be sacred; it needs to be spiritual. The art of it is, to me, sacred.” Sandra Ray-Hunter director and choreographer The church won’t charge admission, but attendees will have a chance to donate to the Astoria Warming Center. Martyrs The Palm Sunday production dramatizes the usual narrative highlights: Jesus confront- ing the money changers in the Temple, calling out the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, presiding over the Last Supper and dying at the hands of “the powers that be,” Ray-Hunter said. But just as the performance art transcends the religious subject matter, so, too, does the message, she argues. “For me, it’s about social injustice, and I think for a lot of people it is,” she said. “The underlying current (of several monologues) is the social injustice of the time,” she said. However, “I also try to project that this is not over. This is not a one-time event,” she said. “Jesus is certainly not the only martyr in the world. We have them still, on a daily basis. And to separate that event from the rest of history is a mistake.” “We just don’t seem to be able to get past ‘I’m right, you’re wrong, and therefore you deserve to die,’” she continued. “History doesn’t change, it just changes on the surface, but the underlying currents never seem to re- ally change. We don’t seem to get the mes- sage that everyone is equal.” Jessica Smith will be evaluated further to determine if she is mentally un¿ t to pro- ceed in her murder trial. Clatsop County Circuit Court Judge Cindee Matyas said Thursday she has not observed any unusual behavior from Smith in court, and found her attentive, focused and cooperative in a videotaped evaluation with a state-hired psy- chologist. But the judge or- dered Smith to be independently evalu- ated by a state or pri- vate expert based on Jessica the defense expert’s Smith claims that Smith has severe mood changes, abstract thinking and reasoning and untreat- ed mental health issues. “I have really no option but to conclude that the question of the defendant’s ¿ tness to proceed has been raised to where I ¿ nd it appropriate to have an evaluation of the defendant,” Matyas said. Matyas will consider recommendations from the defense and prosecution before making her decision on an expert in the next couple of days. The evaluation process could take up to 60 days. A hearing scheduled next month was postponed until April. The trial is still scheduled for late June. See ENSEMBLE, Page 7A See SMITH, Page 8A Oregon school board adopts exception to Indian mascot ban Warrenton can keep ‘Warriors’ if tribe agrees Enter your baby in The Daily Astorian’s Cutest Baby Contest for 2015 If your baby was born between Jan 1st & Dec 31st of 2015 , you can submit your By PARIS ACHEN Capital Bureau newborn’s picture either via email at SALEM — The Oregon Board of Education approved a compromise Thursday that makes an exception to a strict ban on American Indian mas- cots. The rule allows 15 school districts with Indian mascots — including the Warrenton-Ham- mond School District, the home of the Warriors — to keep the mascots if the districts obtain approval from one of the state’s nine federally recognized tribes. Warrenton High School one of our offices in Astoria or Seaside classifieds@dailyastorian.com or drop by and we can scan in the photo for you. Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian The Warrenton-Hammond School District, home of the Warriors, has moved away from a Native American vis- age as its symbol, opting for a spear and a feather jutting through the school letter. Principal Rod Heyen has al- ready met with the Confeder- ated Tribes of Grand Ronde to iron out an agreement that would allow the district to keep the Warriors mascot. See MASCOT, Page 8A Deadline to enter is Tuesday, January 26th at 5:00 pm . Entries will be printed in The Daily Astorian on January 29th.
