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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (March 16, 2016)
DailyAstorian.com // WEDNESDAY, MARCH 16, 2016 143RD YEAR, NO. 180 ONE DOLLAR Ocean salmon seasons may be shuttered ‘Fishing is our lifeblood. Fishing is our Boeing and our Microsoft.’ By CASSANDRA PROFITA Oregon Public Broadcasting To protect fragile runs of coho, regional ¿shery managers are consider- ing a rare total closure of Oregon and :ashington ocean salmon ¿sheries north of Cape Falcon, near Manzanita. State, tribal and federal ¿shery man- agers have three options for non-treaty ocean salmon ¿sheries north of Cape Falcon. Two options would permit some salmon ¿shing this year, but one would close both recreational and com- mercial ocean ¿sheries for chinook and coho salmon. Managers are not considering a total closure option for salmon ¿sheries south of Cape Falcon. Butch Smith, owner of Coho Char- ters in Ilwaco, Washington, said a no-¿shing option would be devastating to coastal communities on the Washing- ton and northern Oregon coasts. “Fishing is our lifeblood,´ he said. “Fishing is our Boeing and our Microsoft.´ He said his recreational ¿shing char- ter depends on ocean salmon ¿shing for about 85 percent of its business, and a lot of other coastal businesses depend on salmon ¿sheries in one way or another. Smith, who sits on an advisory panel that helps managers set salmon seasons coastwide, said the last total ¿shing clo- sure he can recall off Washington was in 14 in 2008, ocean salmon ¿sh- ing was severely restricted and resulted in a disaster declaration. That allowed ¿shing-dependent businesses to apply for disaster relief funds. He’s hoping that won’t be the outcome of this year’s season. See SALMON, Page 7A ‘This Creeping casualty of climate change woman is the devil’ SHRINKING GLACIERS Woman gets 30 years for stealing $214,000 from Seaside business By KYLE SPURR The Daily Astorian Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian Jon Riedel, a National Park Service geologist at North Cascades National Park in Washington state, discusses the velocity of glacial movement around Mount Rainier during the Columbia Forum on Tuesday. Washington state geologist points to warming, carbon emissions By ERICK BENGEL The Daily Astorian he shrinking of glaciers in the Paci¿c 1orthwest is reducing the summer water supply in regional water- sheds, according to a geologist for the 1ational Park Service. Jon Riedel, a researcher with 1orth Cascades 1ational Park, delivered the alarming news at the Columbia Forum, held Tuesday evening at the Columbia Memorial Hospital Community Center. Using data from his glacier-monitoring studies and the work of other scientists, Riedel discussed how higher global temperatures impact glaciers in Washington state’s national parks and what it means for the wider ecology. So what happens when a watershed loses its glaciers? Rie- del pointed to the Skagit watershed, the largest valley draining into the Puget Sound, as a case study. In 1959, the summer glacial runoff in the Skagit Basin pro- vided about 171 billion gallons of cold freshwater to the Skagit River and surrounding waterways. By 2013, the amount was 129 billion — a 24 percent decrease. The loss equals about a 100-year supply of water at the current annual use rate in Skagit County. “That is a pretty dramatic amount of loss,´ Riedel said. Though glaciers cover only 2 percent of the Skagit water- shed, they provide 6 to 12 percent of total summer runoff in the valley; it’s twice that amount — between 12 and 24 per- cent — in August and September. T See FORUM, Page 12A Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian National Park Service geologist Jon Riedel points out points of data that show the gain and loss of ice each year at the North Klawatti Glacier in North Cas- cades National Park. A former employee at Diamond Heating in Seaside was sentenced Tuesday to 30 years in prison for stealing more than $214,000 from the local business. Deana Lynn Freauff, 52, was found guilty last week of ¿rst-degree theft, six counts of aggra- vated ¿rst-degree theft and seven counts of aggravated identity Deana Lynn theft after a trial in Freauff Clatsop County Cir- cuit Court. Judge Philip 1elson said the amount she embezzled is close to the most he has ever seen as the lon- gest serving public of¿cial in Clatsop County. “I’ve seen some minor ones, candy bar money from Little League teams,´ 1elson said. “In your case, if it’s not the most I’ve seen in 24 years, it’s close to it.´ Seaside Police arrested Freauff in October 2014 after a six-month investigation. The charges date back to January 2011. The company caught on to the theft in April 2014. Dan 1elson, owner of Diamond Heating, said Freauff started scam- ming his company from day one. When she was hired as a ¿nancial manager, she was on probation from a 2009 conviction for embezzling more than $300,000 from two title compa- nies in the Portland-metro area. Her probation of¿cer should have stopped her from being hired, but she fraudulently wrote a letter to the of¿- cer that appeared to be written by Dan 1elson claiming he wanted to hire her even though she stole the money from the title companies. 1elson never wrote the letter, and wished the probation of¿cer would have followed up with him to con- ¿rm. He said he was unaware of her criminal past. See FREAUFF, Page 9A Principal Roley to take top Seaside schools post Board approves 11th-hour application By NANCY McCARTHY For The Daily Astorian SEASIDE — Sheila Roley is the new Seaside School Dis- trict superintendent. Although the deadline to receive applications from potential candidates was Fri- day, the Seaside School Board unanimously approved Roley’s appointment at a board meet- ing Tuesday night. Roley will begin her new job July 1, following the retire- ment of Superinten- Roley, 64, has been dent Doug Dougherty. with the district for 26 A salary hasn’t been years, eight as a teacher determined, but the job and 18 as a principal of description calls for a Cannon Beach Elemen- range of $118,000 to tary, Broadway Mid- $128,000. dle and Seaside High Sheila ³The Tuali¿cations schools. She recently Roley for the superinten- announced her retire- dent ¿t Sheila to a T,´ ment as Seaside High said board member Tom Malt- principal, effective June 30. man, who noted that 125 com- But last Thursday, Roley munity members had told the contacted school board Chair- school board what they wanted man Steve Phillips and told in a district superintendent. him she had “re-evaluated her ³There was a de¿nite con- retirement and put her hat in cern by teachers, students and the ring for Doug’s job,´ Phil- the community about a super- lips said. intendent who would not know Phillips said his ¿rst reac- the district. This made sense to tion to Roley’s application was me.´ excitement about the “oppor- tunity´ her experience pre- sented to the district. “But I was genuinely con- cerned that we had started a process (to search for candi- dates) and what it would look like to the community,´ he said. He also wondered why she hadn’t applied sooner. Phillips decided to put the board members in two groups to interview Roley. By hav- ing the groups meet sepa- rately, they wouldn’t have a quorum and would be com- plying with Oregon’s open meeting laws. The process was similar to the way the board had inter- viewed Dougherty when he was appointed superintendent after serving as a principal, Phillips said. The two groups had not discussed the interviews until Tuesday’s board meeting, he said. “My decision was to put this on the agenda,´ he said. “I don’t want to waste the dis- trict’s money to continue the search and the stakeholders’ time.´ Board member Lynn Ulbricht noted that Seaside Heights Elementary School Principal Sande Brown also planned to retire June 30 and that Roley would provide con- tinuity in the district. See ROLEY, Page 9A
