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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 1, 2016)
SEASIDE SOARS OVER ASTORIA FISHERMEN WIN IN DOUBLE OT SPORTS • 7A SPORTS • 7A 143rd YEAR, No. 148 MONDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2016 ONE DOLLAR Astoria may ask voters for pot tax MOVIE // THE FINEST HOURS 3 percent local tax would bring levy to 20 percent By DERRICK DePLEDGE The Daily Astorian Photos by Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian Members of the U.S. Coast Guard and Coast Guard Auxiliary watch “The Finest Hours” during a special screening at Nep- tune Theater in Long Beach, Wash ., on Friday. BELOW: Members of the U.S. Coast G uard come in from heavy surf training near the North Jetty on Friday. HOLLYWOOD ENDING FOR DARING SURFMEN Voters in Astoria may be asked in November whether to impose a local tax on recreational marijuana. Astoria Police Chief Brad Johnston is recommending the tax to help offset what he describes as an increase in marijuana-related police calls since the drug became legal in Oregon last year. “We do see a local impact from this new business in our community,” Johnston said. “To be honest, as a police department, we’re now forced to spend more time thinking about marijuana than we did prior to its legalization, which is kind of counterintuitive.” While most of the calls are about legal activity, Johnston said, police still have to spend time explaining the law. “As with most of the work we’re doing these days, it’s not enforcement work, but it’s that community resource work,” he said. The City Council on Monday night is expected to discuss putting the local tax option on the ballot. See POT, Page 10A Thriller about rescue a source of pride, honor for Coasties By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian L ONG BEACH, Wash. — U.S. Coast Guardsmen traveled en masse to theaters over the weekend to see “The Finest Hours,” the Disney thriller about one of the service’s most famous rescues at sea. What some senior surfmen from Station Cape Disappointment saw was an homage to one of the greatest operations in Coast Guard history, a bit of drama and a reminder of how far their life saving tech- nology has come. The movie recounted the rescue of 32 of 33 mariners trapped aboard the stern section of the SS Pendleton, an oil tanker split in two by rough seas and run aground on a shoal . The rescue crew, coxswain Bernard Webber and three other Coast Guardsmen from Chatham, Massachu- setts, was awarded the Gold Lifesaving Medal, one of the highest honors in the Coast Guard. See MOVIE, Page 10A )RUPHU&%¿UH chief amends lawsuit, ups ante Public records request yields CB Fire District warnings By R.J. MARX The Daily Astorian CANNON BEACH — The former Cannon Beach ¿ re chief is seeking more money and relief from retaliation and harassment in his lawsuit against the Cannon Beach Rural Fire Protection District. An amended complaint ups the damages Mike Balzer seeks to more than $677,000 and asks for the reinstatement of his employment bene¿ ts. Balzer also asks the court for relief from “ further retali- ation or harassment” after his ¿ ring in October. Balzer was ¿ re chief from Mike Balzer January 2012 until Oct. 12 , when the ¿ re district’s board voted 4-1 for his discharge. Balzer’s original contract term ran through June 2017. In the amended complaint ¿ led in Clatsop County Circuit Court last week , Balzer said the board retaliated against him because of See CHIEF, Page 10A ‘MUSIC SPEAKS TO THE INNER SELF’ R OU Y E E RV C A L L S E R 1 TO EA RT 5-321 H 32 - 503 FEBRUARY 12TH CLASSIFIEDS WILL BE Love-themed three-singer recital planned Sunday in Nehalem C ANNON BEACH — Even before she talked, Susan Buehler sang; that’s what her mother often told her. Now a voice and piano instructor who gives private lessons out of her Cannon Beach home, Buehler’s living — really, her whole life and that of her husband, John — has revolved around music. “I know that that’s not always the norm. Generally, people have a job and they do something else. But that, literally, has been pretty much our whole livelihood, on and offstage,” she said. The soprano is hosting and performing in a recital at St. Catherine Episcopal Church, located between Nehalem and Manzanita, on Sunday . (Yes, that’s Super Bowl Sunday, but the recital runs from 2 to 3:15 p.m., 15 minutes before kickoff.) In honor of Valentine’s Day, the recital is all about love — romantic love, unre- quited love, love lost, love found, love of spring, love of God, ¿ lial love, brotherly love — “a real expression of all the colors of love,” said Deac Guidi, a performer. Guidi, a bass-baritone from Warrenton and one of Buehler’s students, will join her onstage, along with Adam Schwend, a baritone from Tillamook who directs the United Methodist Church Choir in Nehalem; hence, the show’s title: “Love x 3: A Celebration in Song.” See BUEHLER, Page 10A OR EMAIL CLASSIFIEDS @ DAILYASTORIAN . COM DEADLINE IS FEBRUARY 9 th DEDICATED TO LOVE! E ACH HEART PLACED WILL BE ENTERED INTO A DRAWING TO SP EC IAL MESSAG E CONV ERSA TION HEART S $30 ea . W IN A bouquet of flow ers and a gift card to T . P auls S upper C lub
