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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 25, 2016)
DailyAstorian.com // THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2016 143RD YEAR, NO. 166 ONE DOLLAR INSIDE: MEDICAL POT NOW, RECREATIONAL TO FOLLOW IN SEASIDE • 2A 70 miles shielded Conservation efforts save thousands of acres in 3aci¿c County By MATT WINTERS EO Media Group Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian Daric Williams paints one of the probation offices in the new Clatsop County Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday. MORE SPACE, MORE JAIL BEDS Sheriff’s 2f¿ce soon to move to Warrenton L21* BE$CH, Wash ² In the past Tuarter century, 3aci¿c County has become a focal point for land-conservation efforts 3rivate groups based elsewhere in the 3aci¿c 1orthwest presently own more than 16 sTuare miles of land here, in addition to about 50 to 55 sTuare miles of conservation property managed by federal, state and local agencies 7he armed takeover of the 0alheur 1ational Wildlife Refuge in Southern 2re- gon heightened public awareness of some of the trade-offs of conserving land ver- sus using it for income-producing activities such as forestry and ranching 7he refuge’s former occupiers are incensed about federal land ownership in the West However, with legal title to about 25 percent of the land in 3aci¿c County, the federal government is a substantial (but not dominant) property owner here 1evertheless, a small but vocal group of county residents has expressed concerns for years about incremental losses from local tax rolls 7heir worries stem from property being acTuired and set aside by conserva- tion groups and public agencies, sometimes working together See PACIFIC COUNTY, Page 10A Legislators rush to pass minimum wage credits By KYLE SPURR The Daily Astorian $RRE1721 ² 7he Clat- sop County Sheriff’s 2f¿ce is less than two months away from relocating to a remod- eled building in Warrenton, a move that could free up space in $storia and ease jail overcrowding 7he Sheriff’s 2f¿ce is moving from its current location below the county jail in $storia to a ren- ovated building it will share with the 3arole and 3robation Division Sheriff 7om Bergin said he plans to turn the empty space in $storia into an opportunity for the overcrowded jail to add more beds 7he tentative plan is to move administrative of¿ces and the con- trol center downstairs, opening room upstairs for 15 to 20 extra beds in the 60-bed jail “I’m hoping to be able to increase the upstairs by Tuite a few beds,” Bergin said “I’m hoping I could at least increase the jail by 25 percent” Expanding the county jail has been a goal of Bergin’s for years He says the community needs a jail that is three times the size Each year, about 3,500 peo- ple are booked and released Inmates are regularly released without having to post bail due to the overcrowding 7he jail rents about 10 beds from 7illamook County for at least $200,000 a year In 2012, voters rejected a $14 W By PARIS ACHEN Capital Bureau $long with remodeling the ,500 sTuare-foot 3arole and 3roba- tion building, a new 1,200-sTuare- foot modular building is being con- structed to store evidence $n entire building used for evidence storage is a welcome upgrade, Bergin said, compared to the small lockers currently used to store evidence $dditional evi- dence is stored upstairs in the old jail, which is now the 2regon )ilm 0useum 7he Board of Commission- ers approved a $42,581 contract with Spacesaver Specialists Inc Wednesday night to install an evi- dence storage system inside the modular building S$LE0 ² $ bipartisan duo in the state House of Representatives is working to forge an 11th hour deal to offset the cost of minimum wage increases to small busi- nesses, nonpro¿ts and employers in natural resources industries State Reps Brian Clem, D-Salem, and -ohn Davis, R-Wilsonville, have proposed giving tax credits to certain employers who are most likely to struggle ¿nancially to meet the reTuirements of a new three-tier mini- mum wage plan “Clearly, based on the vote in the House and Senate, the only bipartisan thing about the minimum wage bill was bipartisan oppo- sition to it,” Davis said “Even among those who voted for it, there was a lot of conster- nation and reluctance $s part of that, there also were assurances from leadership that we would be able to work on the proposals fur- ther $fter the bill passed, more folks real- ized the devastating effects the bill is going to have on small businesses” Clem, who voted for the bill, said he was concerned that small employers would have to lay off workers due to the cost of See RELOCATION, Page 5A See CREDITS, Page 5A Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian Clatsop County Sheriff Tom Bergin walks through the construction site for the new Clatsop Coun- ty Sheriff’s Office. ‘I’m hoping to be able to increase the upstairs by quite a few beds. I’m hoping I could at least increase the jail by 25 percent.’ Tom Bergin Clatsop County sheriff million proposal to add 100 beds to the jail 7he voters have spoken, Bergin said, and he is now focused on ¿nd- ing ways to address jail overcrowding without relying on a bond measure 7he $15 million relocation project is being funded through a special project budget approved by the Clatsop County Board of Commissioners “Instead of going to the peo- ple and saying ‘I need all of this money’ It’s just better to try to hopefully give the jail a little breathing room,” Bergin said Evidence storage Groups seek emergency measures to save salmon Hot summer led to massive sockeye die-off By GEORGE PLAVEN EO Media Group Last year took a massive toll on sockeye salmon in the Columbia and Snake rivers, as high water tempera- tures killed hundreds of thousands of ¿sh returning from the 3aci¿c 2cean Conservation groups are pointing the ¿nger at federal dam operators, and have asked the 8S $rmy Corps of Engineers to come up with emer- gency measures to avoid a repeat in 2n )eb , groups sent a letter to Col -ose $guilar in 3ortland criti- cizing the Corps’ “inability to pro- tect returning adult salmon from high water temperatures,” and said another major die-off could push Snake River sockeye to the brink of e[tinction “,f the $rmy Corps fails to adopt and implement emergency mea- sures, it risks causing further massive ¿sh kills, unauthorized take, failure of mandatory legal duties to protect endangered species and jeopardizing the continued existence of the Snake and Columbia rivers’ salmon and steelhead populations in 2016 and future years,” the letter states Both Columbia Riverkeeper and Snake River Waterkeeper signed onto the letter, which does not propose any speci¿c measures but points to sev- eral statistics underlining the urgency of the situation 7hey emphasized 6 percent of endangered Snake River sockeye died before ever making it to Lower *ranite 'am in 201 7he Clean Water $ct reTuires temperatures in the Columbia River to stay at or below 68 degrees to pro- tect native salmon and steelhead Rock 3eters, senior ¿sheries biolo- gist for the $rmy Corps’ 1orthwest Division, said temperatures varied in 201 but eclipsed 0 degrees in -uly See SALMON, Page 5A Contributed photo High water temperatures led to a massive die-off of sockeye salmon on the Columbia and Snake rivers in 2015.
