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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (July 8, 2016)
144TH YEAR, NO. 6 ONE DOLLAR WEEKEND EDITION // FRIDAY, JULY 8, 2016 FIVE DALLAS POLICE OFFICERS SLAIN IN DEADLIEST DAY FOR POLICE SINCE 9/11 PAGE 3A Stakes for bond rise as state enters Seaside fi rst on list for funds to move schools By R.J. MARX The Daily Astorian Doug Dougherty SEASIDE — The push to move Seaside schools to safety got a big boost Thursday as Super- intendent Dr. Doug Dougherty announced the district was “the fi rst school district on a waiting list to receive $4 million in state grant funds.” The grant is a result of a ran- dom draw through the Oregon School Capital Improvement Matching grant program. The dis- trict was one of 29 school districts that applied for these funds on July 1. “I am optimistic because in the May election, every school dis- trict that was on the waiting list and passed their bond received the funding,” Dougherty said. The funds are contingent on the district passing a bond in Novem- ber. The 2015 Legislature autho- rized $125 million in state match- ing bonds to provide incentives to school districts seeking approval for capital projects. The Oregon Department of Finance Offi ce of Administration Offi ce of School Facilities could contribute $4 mil- lion on a $99.7 million bond cost, according to pre-election grant results. “For almost two decades, Sea- side School District has been seek- ing state and federal funding to See SEASIDE, Page 8A PULLING THE PLUG ON ONLINE SEX ABUSE Detectives use new tools to track, convict predators Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian Jessica Smith prepares to enter the courtroom for a hearing on Thursday at Clatsop County Cir- cuit Court in Astoria. By KYLE SPURR The Daily Astorian Court sees video of accused murderer I n the parking lot of the Clack- amas Town Center last fall, 22-year-old Colby Greer sat in his Toyota pickup expecting to meet his 13-year-old girlfriend. Greer had been messaging online with the Clatsop County girl for about a month. They met in person twice. He prodded her for “sexy pics,” and they eventually exchanged nude photos. The girl’s parents caught on to the inappropriate relationship and had two offi cers take over her online accounts. For almost a week, Clatsop County Sheriff’s Offi ce Detective Ryan Humphrey and Deputy Seann Luedke replied to messages as the girl and even sent a random scandalous photo from the internet to keep Greer on the hook. When the offi cers approached Greer in the mall parking lot, he was confused and asked what they were doing there. Humphrey then sent him a message as the girl that read, “Hi Colby.” The Molalla man was arrested for online and physical sex abuse. He told the offi cers he knew his activities with the girl were wrong. “I just didn’t think it through,” he said. Clatsop County law enforce- ment are using new technology ABOVE: Astoria Police Detective Thomas Litwin demonstrates how the police depart- ment uses the Celleb- rite software to obtain information from cell- phones Wednesday at the Astoria Police Department . LEFT: Lit- win shows the police department’s Celleb- rite kit that provides a variety of adapters to accommodate almost all phones in order obtain information from cell phones. Photos by Danny Miller The Daily Astorian See TOOLS, Page 8A Mom describes events leading up to toddler’s death, teen’s slashing By KYLE SPURR The Daily Astorian A video interview of accused mur- derer Jessica Smith gives her thoughts leading up to allegedly murdering her infant and slashing her teenager two years ago in a Cannon Beach resort. The video, taken in the Seaside Police Department the day she was arrested, was played Thursday during a pretrial hearing in Clatsop County Circuit Court. Smith described a fun getaway with her 2-year-old, Isabella Smith, and 13-year-old, Alana Smith, to the beach that turned stressful after she received See SMITH, Page 8A ‘Hot, wet and wild’ 2016 weather as US has warmest June 2016 is heading for weather disaster record By SETH BORENSTEIN AP Science Writer WASHINGTON — Ameri- ca’s warm, wild and costly weather broke another record with the hot- test June, federal meteorologists say. And if that’s not enough, they calcu- lated that 2016 is fl irting with the U.S. record for most billion-dollar weather disasters. The month’s average tempera- ture in the Lower 48 states was 71.8 degrees, 3.3 degrees above normal, surpassing the Dust Bowl record set in 1933 by a couple tenths of a degree, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported Thursday. Every state in the nation was warmer than normal through the midpoint of the year, with Utah and Arizona having their hottest Junes. “2016 has been hot, wet and wild for the contiguous U.S.,” NOAA climate scientist Jake Crouch said Thursday. The nation had its third hottest fi rst half of the year. June’s record heat is from a combination of natural vari- ability and long-term global warm- ing, Crouch said. Records go back to 1895. But there’s been a wet and wild aspect of the year, too. So far, NOAA calculates that there have been eight billion-dollar weather disasters in the fi rst half of this year, not count- ing the West Virginia fl ooding, which is still being calculated. They’ve been a combination of severe storms with 2016 Clatsop County Fair August 2-6 For more information go to www.clatsopfairgrounds.com e Blu on! b Rib tornadoes and heavy rains and down- pours that cause damaging fl ooding. Seven of those have hit Texas. NOAA calculates billion-dollar disasters , adjusting for infl ation, to show trends in the most extreme and damaging weather. Since 1980, the U.S. has averaged fi ve billion-dol- lar disasters a year, but in the last fi ve years the country has averaged nearly 11 a year. There were eight in 2015. The record is 16 different billion-dol- lar disasters in 2011. “The main lesson is that it shows us how vulnerable we are to climate change,” Texas A&M climate scien- tist Andrew Dessler said in an email. “People frequently think that, ‘Oh, we’ll just adapt to climate change.’ But we’re learning that it’s going to be a lot harder than people realize to do that. How do you adapt to the amount of rain that West Virginia got?” AP Photo/Matt York A sign, in direct sunlight, indicates 120 degrees, in Phoenix on June 20. Federal meteorologists say America’s warm, wild and costly weather broke another record this summer: hottest June. 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