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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