Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 18, 2016)
143rd YEAR, No. 161 THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2016 ONE DOLLAR Respite center commits to secure rooms Police, city leaders were worried patients might walk away By DERRICK DePLEDGE The Daily Astorian A crisis respite center for the mentally ill will have up to four secure rooms, the interim Clatsop County manager said Wednesday, soothing police and city leaders who feared potentially violent patients would be free to walk away. The security improvements to the 16-bed center in Warrenton will likely increase costs and delay a tentative April opening by four to eight weeks. “The changes affected other issues that need to be resolved. But I’m optimistic that the concept of secure rooms will become a reality,” said Rich Mays, the interim county manager. Astoria Police Chief Brad Johnston and others in law enforcement were concerned that violent patients would be able to walk away from the respite center, undermining the purpose of providing a mental health safety net that could function as an alterna- tive to local hospitals and jail. Photos by Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian Steve Sontag, right, drives a log truck from Pier 3 to Pier 1 while longshoreman Patrick Jasper, left, sits in the passenger seat Tuesday. ‘GHOST RIDERS’ REQUIRED Port of Astoria subsidizes log movement for exporters By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian See CENTER, Page 5A L og trucks rumble back and forth along Gateway Avenue at the Port of Astoria each weekday, hired by Astoria Forest Products to move timber from the company’s storage and processing yard on Pier 3 to the union long- shoremen on Pier 1 who load the logs on oceangoing carriers. State labor dismisses Tongue Point suit Fired employee had alleged discrimination The company is also obligated to pay for so-called “ghost riders” from the Interna- tional Longshore and Warehouse Union to ride shotgun on the trucks, because the union has jurisdiction over cargo on Port property. But Astoria Forest Products has balked at paying for “ghost riders” to stack logs at Pier 1 before ships arrive, so the Port has been tem- porarily covering the tab. Over the past sev- eral months, though, the company has stopped SD\LQJDWDOODQGDFFRUGLQJWR3RUW¿QDQFLDO staff, still owes the agency more than $72,000 in back wages for the longshoremen. “We’ll get that, but not likely without a battle,” said Jim Knight, the Port’s executive director, who shared his concerns over the log operation at a Port Commission goal-set- ting workshop last week. The subsidy has prevented the Port from WDNLQJ IXOO ¿QDQFLDO DGYDQWDJH RI ZKDW KDV become a booming log export operation. The Port became the third-largest public exporter of logs on the West Coast in 2015, according to Jones Stevedoring, after ports in Longview and Olympia, Washington. Logs have become a cash cow for the Port. But Knight said the agency only approaches a break-even point while having to cover the ghost riders. “That worries me, because we will have to start pinching pennies for infra- structure issues,” he said. Labeled logs are stacked along Pier 1. By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian The state Bureau of Labor and Industries has dismissed a civil rights claim brought by a former culinary instructor at Tongue Point -RE&RUSV&HQWHUZKRZDV¿UHGD\HDUDJR 'HERUDK )HUJXVRQ KDG ¿OHG D FRP- plaint against Management and Training Corp., which operates the Job Corps Cen- ter in Astoria, claiming her dismissal was because of her disability and gender. She claimed to have faced a hostile work envi- ronment and sexual harassment and alleged she was forced to pass a student under threat of dismissal. “Although evidence established female employees were treated differently, com- plainant was unable to offer substantial evi- dence it rose to the level of a violation of law,” Tiffany Ray, an investigator, wrote in a memo recommending dismissal of Fergu- son’s complaint. See SUIT, Page 5A After the logs are unloaded, a driver and longshoreman drive back to Pier 3 to collect more logs. See PORT, Page 10A Lowering the boom on peninsula’s rowdy Fourth Fireworks safety group, state parks aim to spread word a head during the 2015 celebrations. These included a still-unsolved assault death. The draft recommendations include a total of $14,500 to fund measures meant to improve communication to visitors and help enforce existing regulations, among other efforts. Those funds will ideally come from By CYNTHIA WASHICKO a number of agencies along the peninsula EO Media Group and in the county donating funds to come LONG BEACH, Wash. — A group ded- up with the total amount, said group leaders. The proposed funds include $3,500 to icated to reforming the way the Fourth of July is celebrated on the Long Beach Pen- place lighted signs at access points to the insula has developed a list of recommenda- peninsula to remind visitors that camping on tions that it hopes will improve future cele- the beach is not allowed, and another $6,000 to pay for additional dumpsters at beach brations of the holiday. Not a Ban — A Better Plan laid out a approaches. The idea behind the recommendations is series of recommendations for changes in messaging, enforcement and environmental to promote what the group calls responsible SURWHFWLRQ LQ D OHWWHU WR DJHQFLHV LQ 3DFL¿F tourism. County. The recommendations are meant to prevent some of the problems that came to See JULY 4, Page 10A EO Media Group/File Photo A beach visitor watches the July 4, 2014, festivities.
