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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 5, 2016)
FOR THE LOVE OF GULLS 143rd YEAR, No. 152 A TALE OF TWO SHERIFFS FRIDAY EXTRA • 1C OPINION • 4A FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2016 • WEEKEND EDITION It could be your mom, dad, friend Elder abuse is rising. Some ways may surprise you ONE DOLLAR Clatsop County hires new manager Hailing from Illinois, Moore starts in April By KYLE SPURR The Daily Astorian The Clatsop County Board of Commis- sioners has hired a new county manager. Cameron Moore, of Mahomet, Illi- nois, accepted the position this week, replacing former County Manager Scott Somers, who resigned last year to take a job in Maryland. Moore was one of three ¿ nalists inter- viewed last week by the Board of Commis- Cameron sioners, county depart- Moore ment heads, elected of¿ cials and stakeholders. An employment contract is scheduled to be approved next week. Moore will join the county April 6. His starting salary will be $150,000 annually, higher than Somers’ annual salary of $137,000. See MANAGER, Page 8A Photos by Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian Steve Hawks, an adult protective service worker through Northwest Senior and Disability Services, is tasked with investigating elder abuse in Clatsop County. By KYLE SPURR The Daily Astorian HOW TO REPORT ELDER ABUSE A n elderly woman with dementia in a Lake Oswego assisted -living facility had no idea her only living relative, a niece in Seaside, was stealing $350,000 from her. Instead of making payments to the assist- ed -living facility and pharmacies, the niece, who controlled her aunt’s ¿ nances, used the money on her own home improvements and to purchase a Mercedes-Benz sports car. The niece told investigators the purchases were what her aunt would have wanted. By the time a police investigation began, the aunt had died. Investigators had to pore over ¿ nancial records with help from the aunt’s friends to successfully prosecute the niece, who is now on probation and required to pay back the money. “There are many cases I’ve reviewed that I haven’t been able to take to prosecution,” Clatsop County Deputy District Attorney Dawn Buzzard said. “This one, it was obvious she was only supposed to use the money for her aunt’s good.” Northwest Senior and Disability Services is a state agency serving seniors and people with disabilities in Clatsop, Marion, Polk, Tillamook and Yamhill counties. Elder abuse can be reported to the agency by calling 800-846-9165. In 2015, Clatsop County received 224 referrals with 133 cases assigned for investiga- tion. In the five-county area, the agency last year received 3,420 referrals and assigned 1,946 cases for investigation. More information can be found online at www.nwsds.org. Gearhart’s short-term landlords may see tax Code change could ¿ nance costs of rentals By R.J. MARX The Daily Astorian GEARHART —The city of Gearhart took the ¿ rst step in implementing new short-term rental policy Wednesday. By seeking to repeal an exemption to the local transient lodging tax, the City Council opened the door to imposing the city’s 7 percent lodging tax on any single-family dwelling. The city intends to use the funds to ¿ nance expenses associated with short-term rental properties. The state de¿ nes transient lodging as hotels, condominiums and single-family dwellings available for occupancy for periods of less than 30 days. Gearhart code provides an exemption from the tax for “any occupant whose rent is paid for a single-family dwelling” — a clause of¿ cials seek to strike. City Administrator Chad Sweet said his “conservative estimate” is removing the exemption will bring in an additional $140,000. See ELDER ABUSE, Page 8A Some detectives and officers around Clatsop County carry a pocket guide for legal issues related to elder abuse. The pocket guide includes definitions for the different types of elder abuse. See TAX, Page 8A Entrepreneurial buzz surrounds marijuana industry By ERIC MORTENSON Capital Press PORTLAND — The thing is, when you attend a cannabis convention in this city, everything starts to sound like Dope Humor of the Seventies. A seminar emcee talks about the rollout of the cannabis industry. The OLCC director says his agency has 1.6 million hits on its website. Whoa. But there’s no denying an entrepreneurial buzz (see?) accompanied the legalization of weed in Oregon and elsewhere. A stroll down the vendor aisles of the Cannabis Collab- orative Conference, held Wednesday and Thursday at the Portland Expo Center, makes that clear. Specialty manufacturers are jumping into the cannabis trade, starting new or adapting their business to take advantage. Bud Bar Displays, based in Gold River, Calif., makes plastic sample pods with a magnifying lens and a row of sniff holes built into the lid , which allows customers to take a good look at the pot plant bud within, and to smell it. “The way cannabis is sold,” the company said on its website. Bud Bar is a division of All Plastic Corp ., and the owners started it up 25 years ago strictly for the pot trade. A Salem company, Adaptive Plastics Inc., makes a brand of translucent, twin-walled greenhouse panels called Solexx. They diffuse light and insulate well, and you can’t see what’s growing inside. Blair Busenbark, the chief operating of¿ cer and sales boss, said the company also sells to Eric Mortenson/Capital Press traditional plant nurseries and to orchardists, Booth ambassadors for Dope magazine greet people attending but marijuana growers are the new market. the Cannabis Collaborative Convention in Portland Wednesday See POT INDUSTRY, Page 8A and Thursday.
