143rd YEAR, No. 160
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2016
ONE DOLLAR
Sheriff: Ferry should have been in prison
17-time felon should not have been
free on street to shoot Goodding
By KYLE SPURR
The Daily Astorian
Clatsop County Sheriff Tom Bergin
says the man who shot and killed Seaside
Police Sgt. Jason Goodding should have
been in prison.
The fact that Phillip Max Ferry, a
17-time felon, was free that night points
to the failings of reduced prison sentences
and legislation that keeps criminals out of
prison, Bergin said.
Bergin spoke Tuesday at a press con-
ference held to release the ¿ndings of the
shooting investigation.
His comments echoed state Sen. Betsy
Johnson, D-Scappoose, who spoke at
Goodding’s memorial service Friday. The
state senator called out fellow lawmak-
ers in the state Legislature who have been
experimenting with justice reinvestment
programs that keep some criminals out of
prison.
“The individual who shot our friend,
our neighbor and our great police of¿cer
in this community should have been in
prison,” Bergin said. “He wasn’t and it’s
unfortunate.”
Ferry, 55, had an extensive criminal
history that included 17 felony and 21
misdemeanor convictions since 1983. He
has been in and out of the Clatsop County
Jail 41 times.
Ferry was high on methamphetamine,
alcohol and marijuana when he shot
Goodding. He was then shot and killed by
another Seaside Police of¿cer.
Almost every law enforcement agency
in Clatsop County had dealt with Ferry at
some point. Bergin said even he wrestled
with Ferry. “We want people rehabilitated.
But I’m sorry, a lot of people need to be
incarcerated,” Bergin said. “They need to
be held accountable.”
Ferry, a felon who was not allowed to
possess a ¿rearm, used a semi-automatic
pistol to kill Goodding.
Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian
See SHERIFF, Page 7A
Clatsop County Sheriff Tom Bergin speaks during a press
conference at the Judge Guy Boyington Building on Tuesday.
ASTORIA SENIOR CENTER // TRANSFORMATION
‘Truly remarkable’
Respite
center
lacks
locks
Police, city decry
lack of locked beds
at respite center
By DERRICK DePLEDGE
The Daily Astorian
SEASIDE — Tsunami preparedness was
the focus of Seaside High School’s special
assembly Tuesday morning that included a
presentation by some of the school’s student
leaders and a visit from U.S. Rep. Suzanne
Bonamici.
“We know we can’t prevent an earth-
quake and a tsunami, we can’t,” Bonamici
said. “But we can work on resilience, which
is how we prepare to get through those
events and how we come back from them
after they happen.”
One way Seaside School District board,
staff and students want to prepare is by mov-
ing at least three of the district’s four schools
to a higher location, where they will be out of
A crisis respite center that is sup-
posed to provide a life-saving safety
net for the mentally ill is being criti-
cized before it even opens because of
a lack of locked beds.
City leaders in Astoria and War-
renton agree with law enforcement
that potentially violent patients will
walk away from the planned 16-bed
center in Warrenton unless they are
locked down.
The crisis respite center is
expected to help mental health
patients who may not immediately
need acute psychiatric care but do
not belong at Columbia Memorial
Hospital, Providence Seaside Hospi-
tal or Clatsop County Jail.
Without some locked beds, Asto-
ria Police Chief Brad Johnston said,
the problem may simply be trans-
ferred from Astoria and Seaside to
Warrenton, which has fewer police
of¿cers to corral violent patients
who might walk away.
“That ability
to restrain people
who do not wish to
be compliant, that
are suffering from
mental illnesses,
is something that,
Brad
from a public
Johnston
safety perspective,
I think, is essential
to a business plan,” Johnston said.
The police chief countered the
notion that putting patients into
a more therapeutic environment
would “cause them to be compliant.”
“I have a different view of human
behavior,” he said, “especially those
that are suffering from the severe
mental illnesses.”
The crisis respite center, which
will be operated by Clatsop Behav-
ioral Healthcare, is a collaboration
between Clatsop County, Columbia
See SEASIDE, Page 7A
See RESPITE, Page 10A
Photos by Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian
From left: Larry Miller, director of the Senior Center, John Ryan, Mayor Arline LaMear, Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, Councilor Drew Herzig, and
Yvonne McCann, take part in a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Astoria Senior Center on Tuesday.
Congresswoman working to reauthorize
Older Americans Act, applauds center
Lawmaker talks tsunami
awareness in Seaside
By KATHERINE LACAZE
EO Media Group
By ERICK BENGEL
The Daily Astorian
U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici held a town hall
meeting a few years ago at the Astoria Senior
Center, which back then was “just one big funky
room,” she said.
:ell, the senior center no longer ¿ts that
description, she observed.
The Oregon Democrat visited the newly
revamped senior center Tuesday — three weeks
after the facility reopened in its old Exchange
Street location — for an open house and rib-
bon-cutting ceremony that drew dignitaries and
community members, who packed the reception
area.
“I can’t believe this transformation,” she said
after touring the facility. “It is truly remarkable.”
See CENTER, Page 7A
Rep. Suzanne Bonamici speaks at the Se-
nior Center on Tuesday.
GXOOV ZLQ CODWVoS CODVK, LQ WLH Ior ¿rVW
By GARY HENLEY
The Daily Astorian
SEASIDE — The Game of
the Night in 4A boys basketball
took place in Seaside Tuesday,
where the No. 2-ranked Gulls
hosted Astoria in a little Feb-
ruary “March Madness” party.
The intensity was up, the
bleachers were packed and it
was standing room only for
the third Clatsop Clash of the
season, with the No. 7-ranked
Fishermen hoping for a victory
and a Cowapa League title that
would go with it.
Chances are, there will be
a fourth Clatsop Clash meet-
ing somewhere down the line
— possibly a tie-breaker next
week at a neutral site (or the
second week of March, in
Hillsboro?), but until then, the
bragging rights are back with
the Gulls, who posted a 61-44
win over Astoria. Both teams
are now 7-2 in league play, tied
atop the Cowapa League with
one game remaining.
And this time, Seaside did
not need double overtime — or
even a single overtime. Actu-
ally, the Gulls didn’t even need
the fourth quarter, since they
held a 47-37 lead after the
third.
“We were all pumped up,”
said Seaside’s Hunter Thomp-
son, who pumped in a game-
high 20 points. “The last time
(a 63-57 Astoria win Jan.
29), we could not hit our free
throws at the end, and we just
weren’t as ready to go that
game. We should have hit
those free throws and put the
game away.”
The Gulls made 10-of-11
free throws in Tuesday’s win,
and used their defense to set
the tone.
“We wanted to go baseline
to baseline defensively,” said
Seaside coach Bill Wester-
holm. “We feel like if we can
get them in a full court game,
it bene¿ts us.”
Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian
See CLASH, Page 10A
Seaside’s Jackson Januik, No. 3, goes up for a shot in the
first quarter of the Clatsop Clash in Seaside on Tuesday.