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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (June 29, 2016)
143RD YEAR, NO. 255 DailyAstorian.com // WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29, 2016 ONE DOLLAR POYER CAMP STILL GOING STRONG IN ITS THIRD YEAR SPORTS • 7A INSIDE Board backs new library at Heritage Square Top pick goes to Astoria City Council in July By DERRICK DePLEDGE The Daily Astorian The Astoria Library Board on Tuesday night recommended the city build a new, modern library at Heri- tage Square, describing the project as a “cultural, social and economic benefi t to Astoria for generations to come.” An 18,000-square-foot library east of the Garden of Surging Waves could cost between $8.7 million and $10.1 million. The board found that a new library would be more economi- cal than renovating the aging library on 10th Street and could be a more enticing project to private donors. The recommendation will be heard at a special meeting of the City Council in July. The board’s advice could help the council make a deci- sion after 18 months of uncertainty over a library project. Kate Summers, the chairwoman of the Library Board, said there are few better investments than a library. “That’s what I hope that Astorians will see. That a library will be expen- sive to build,” she said, “but we’ll get that money back in what it means to the city.” Six options The City Council had supported a plan to renovate the existing library, which was built in the 1960s and is suffering from age and structural defi - ciencies, and expand into the vacant Waldorf Hotel. But after Mayor Arline LaMear and two new council- ors took power last year, the council agreed to consider a new library with housing at Heritage Square. Consultants have outlined six options that involve renovating the existing library, expanding the library See LIBRARY, Page 10A Warrenton role model gets his due Paris Achen/Pamplin Media Group Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum and Gov. Kate Brown announce two set- tlements with Volkswagen over an emis- sions-cheating scandal. VW to pay Oregonians $85 million About 13,000 diesel vehicle owners will get $5,100 each By PARIS ACHEN and KEVIN HARDEN Capital Bureau Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian tila has been to so many students throughout the decades. Along with coaching, Mattila taught for more than 30 years . Morrow said the hope is to gather players, coaches and other people from Mattila’s past for a dedication party Sept. 2, when the Warriors open the season against rival Knappa High School. PORTLAND — The state and federal government have settled two lawsuits with Volkswagen related to the company misrep- resenting the amount of emissions its die- sel-powered vehicles produced. The federal settlement, which has yet to receive fi nal approval, requires Volkswagen to pay more than $68.2 million into a trust to support diesel-emission reduction programs in Oregon and to make cash payments of $5,100 each to 13,000 Oregonians who pur- chased the falsely-marketed vehicles. Volk- swagen also has agreed to buy back or fi x certain VW and Audi diesel vehicles. Other states will receive similarly funded emission reductions programs. In a separate multistate settlement reached by Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum and 37 other attorneys general, Volkswagen has agreed to pay $570 million for violating state laws prohibiting unfair or deceptive trade practices. Oregon receives $17 million of that payment. Oregon was among six states that led the investigation into the company’s decep- tive trade practices, in part because Oregon has the highest per-capita ownership of the affected VW vehicles in the nation, Rosen- blum said. The attorneys general investigation con- fi rmed that VW and Porsche sold more than See MATTILA, Page 10A See VW, Page 5A John Mattila, f ormer Warrenton High School football coach , poses for a portrait Tuesday at Warrenton High School. The football field will be dedicated to Mattila in September. School honors coach Mattila’s dedication on gridiron, court ‘The man has given a lot to the school, and he won a lot of games along the way.’ By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian W ARRENTON — With 38 years and more than 500 career wins coach- ing football and basketball, John Mattila has left an indelible mark on youth sports in Warrenton. The Warrenton-Hammond School Board returned the favor last week, voting to name War- renton High School’s gridiron Mattila Field in his honor. “I appreciate it,” said Mat- tila, who retired from teaching in 2003 and coaching in 2011. “Not many people get that honor.” The Mattila name is omni- present for anyone talking War- renton football or taking in a Rod Heyen Gary Henley/The Daily Astorian Warrenton coach John Mattila talks over strategies with Nate Mc- Bride (10), Andy Forney (41) and Nick Smith (23) during the War- riors’ first-round win over Weston-McEwen in November 2002. game at the high school, where a scoreboard donated by retired Warrenton businessman Dennis Bjork is dedicated to him. The idea of naming the high school’s fi eld after Mattila, 69, is more than a decade old. Principal Rod Heyen and baseball coach Lenny Wolfe recently brought the idea back up to the s chool b oard. “The man has given a lot to the school, and he won a lot of games along the way,” Heyen said. More than just honoring his coaching career, Debbie Mor- row, the board chairwoman, said naming the fi eld is a way to honor what a positive role model Mat- principal, Warrenton High School ‘Not a Ban’ aims to tame rowdy Long Beach Fourth Collaborators team up to tackle consistent rules enforcement By NATALIE ST. JOHN EO Media Group LONG BEACH, Wash. — After a year of meetings, workshops, negotiations and plans, members of the “Not a Ban, a Better Plan” group are cautiously hopeful that this year’s Fourth of July celebra- tion will be more orderly than the raucous 2015 holiday. Though county commis- sioners would not consider changing the county fi reworks ordinance, residents and rep- resentatives from numerous state and local bodies that have jurisdiction over the beach worked together well and made a solid effort to prevent another chaotic holiday, “Not a Ban” member Bonnie Lou Cozby said Tuesday . Collaborators in the “Beach-friendly Fourth” cam- paign include Washington Department of Fish and Wild- life, State Parks, Long Beach Police, Pacifi c County Sher- iff’s Offi ce, as well as local fi re departments, business leaders, tourism experts and city and county offi cials, according to State Parks press release. Steep “learning curve” The Not a Ban group formed last July after the enor- mous, wild celebration left many locals feeling angry and frightened. According to the release, an estimated 100,000 people spent their holiday in the area, and many of them illegally camped on the beach. On July 4, Jeffery Beach, a 36-year-old Auburn man, was killed in an apparent assault on the beach. Some jurisdictions, including the city of Long Beach, allowed beach bonfi res, See ‘NOT A BAN’, Page 5A Natalie St. John/EO Media Group One beachgoer climbed on top of his truck to record the deafening spectacle of hundreds of fireworks exploding simultaneously in 2014. The peninsula-wide fireworks free-for-all kicked off around sunset on the Fourth, and continued well into the early hours of the next day.
